The Laws of Werewolf Hunting

Chapter 377: Berdalabik Nursery Rhyme

There used to be a lot of residents in Bodalabik, but now there is a serious population loss.

This place was once famous for its ever-bumper harvest of hops, a very valuable cash crop. Hop merchants signed a long-term agreement with the local lords. As long as the land here was used more for growing hops, countless money would flow into the lords' coffers. In order to increase income, the local lords asked engineering teams to dig up the ancient moat beside the castle and connect it to the natural river. Then the new ditches extending from the moat ran through the fields, making it convenient for farmers to get water for irrigation.

At that time, every Berdalabik lived a prosperous life. Hops could be used to make wine and was also a natural fermentation agent. Its contribution to the food industry was like that of whale oil to industry.

But as industrial waste gas in the city obscured the sky, the water source here began to be polluted, becoming turbid and smelly. Using such water to irrigate the land, there was not enough sunlight, and the hop harvest here began to be affected.

As the saying goes, "hops are either a success or a failure." If this delicate plant is not properly cared for, it is common for the entire plant to die.

For a businessman who invests in hops, a good harvest is equivalent to gaining a manor, but a failure is equivalent to losing a manor.

Environmental changes have brought devastating blows to them, and as a result, more and more people are losing their wealth.

Merchants began to leave, and young people left their homes in search of other hopes of making a fortune.

The lord was of course aware of this change, and he and his business partners spent a lot of money and hired many wizards, botanists, and even clergymen to heal the land and water. Their methods were effective, but could not be sustained.

As long as the industrial construction of Weiodi does not stop, no matter what remedial measures the lord takes, it will be of no avail.

Several consecutive years of failed hop investments caused the merchants who had signed the agreements to go bankrupt and commit suicide, and also made the merchants who were still on the sidelines lose confidence in the land here. They withdrew their gaze and looked to other places and other industries, and were no longer willing to stop in the once prosperous Berdalabik.

The economy of Berdalabik has never recovered since then, and the local lord has gradually reduced the number of times he appears in public. He and other family members stay in the ancient castle passed down from their ancestors all day long, and only when major events occur will he appoint a family member to come forward.

This happened thirty years ago. The lord who grew hops has died, but local residents can still hear faint sighs coming from behind the thick stone walls when they go to the castle to fetch water. At night, a pair of glowing green eyes can often be seen in the highest window of the castle. They look at the land destroyed by industrial development and the dense chimneys of Weiodi with hatred. People say that it is the ghost of the old lord. He is trapped in his castle by this resentment and can never ascend to heaven.

After discovering that hops could not be grown, local farmers used those fields to grow wheat instead. However, because the water source was polluted, the quality of the crops grown was of the worst quality, and making bread could not change the deep-rooted smell of sewage.

This is not the fault of the farmers or bakers, but the curse of the crazy idea that everything can be controlled by technology.

Julius sat at a round table in the lobby of the tavern, his arms folded expressionlessly, listening to the tall, rustically dressed bartender talking about this history behind the counter.

He was a man of good speech, but he had never heard of anyone using such a long speech, quoting classics, and criticizing current affairs to explain why his own bread was so bad. He even admired it.

But he couldn't forgive the other person for waking up and having to eat something that tasted and tasted like sawdust.

Normally, he would have used witchcraft to punish the unscrupulous merchants who sold this "junk", but he couldn't cause trouble now.

Julius scratched his right arm with his nails through his clothes. Even though the birdcage symbol was just lying quietly on his skin, he felt a psychological itch - it shouldn't be there.

Clayton, who was sitting far away, waved to the bartender, his voice cutting through the noise of the surrounding drinkers:

"Hey man, who should you contact to rent a boat here?"

The bartender stopped his speech and looked at the tall foreigner: "Rent a boat? How much cargo do you have?"

"Just me and some carry-on luggage. If you factor in my weight, it's about the weight of three people."

"Then it would be more convenient for you to take a carriage to Weaudy and take the train."

Clayton sighed, "The security in Wei'aodi is too chaotic, and the crowd is full of thieves. I just came out of there, and now I really don't want to go back."

Seeing such a tall and strong man say such weak words, the people around him laughed, but there was not much real ridicule in it. As the nearest city, Weiodi absorbed many young people from Berdalabik to work, and they were its biggest victims.

The chaos in this city was already well known, and they just felt that finally there were outsiders who were willing to share the hardships with them.

Clayton was not bothered by the laughter: "Besides the boat, I want to ask one more thing, have you ever seen two people like this?"

He described the appearance of Ginger and Edgar, but did not say that they were his helpers. Instead, he described them as witnesses to an accident and that he was a forensic investigator for an insurance company. Because the accident involved the people served by his insurance company, and the other eyewitnesses to the accident had died, he hoped to get a complete eyewitness record from them.

"I hope they're still alive, too." Clayton concluded with these words.

The noise in the pub suddenly quieted down. Everyone looked at Clayton. Some glanced at the bartender, but finally returned to Clayton.

Clayton showed an uneasy look at the right time, but he was calm in his heart.

The people here definitely know something.

The bartender was calm and composed about the situation. He nodded thoughtfully: "Have you asked the people at the hotel?"

"I've asked, the people at the hotel haven't seen these two people, maybe they are staying at someone they know's house." Clayton said, "I only know from their colleagues that they are coming to Berdalabik, I don't know anything else." "Maybe they made a mistake, or maybe these two people went somewhere else, anyway, I haven't seen them."

"Maybe. I'm planning to leave. This is a shitty company that only reimburses four days of travel expenses."

Clayton's answer seemed satisfactory, and the others began to talk in low voices again, and within a few seconds the noise returned to what it was when he came in.

The tall bartender pointed to the east and said, "If you want to rent a boat, just keep going that way. Old Lind is at the dock. He has five speedboats. They are not old boats that need oars. They are all powered by electric motors. As long as there is enough whale oil, he can take you to Tallinn in ten days. However, the only food on the boat is canned whale meat. If the journey is long, you may not be able to bear it. Maybe you want to prepare something else yourself."

Whatever the bartender had hidden, these reminders were sufficient. Clayton thanked the bartender, cleared the table of food and drinks, and left the tavern.

Julius pretended to wait at his seat for another ten minutes before following the bartender's instructions.

Bodalabik is more lively than Gevo, but the price is that there is so much livestock manure on the ground that it is difficult to walk. Julius didn't pay attention to the ground when he was in a hurry to get to the hotel, and walked briskly. Now that he is full of energy, he is cautious with every step and walks much slower.

Although he walked slowly, he still caught up with Clayton.

The werewolf employer was not waiting at the dock, but was sitting on a public bench by the roadside, his yellow eyes focused on watching several children playing in front of the house opposite.

Julius hesitated, not knowing whether he should go up and meet him now. After thinking about it, he decided to wait at a distance.

The nursery rhymes that the children sang while playing came to the wizard's ears. He listened carefully and found that the lyrics were a bit strange, but he also understood a little why Clayton stopped here.

"There was a knight who loved dogs so much that he forgot to return home when he went hunting."

"Until his beard grows longer than his chest, a knight will not take a bride."

"The couple is so loving and everyone praises their good looks."

"Suddenly a horn sounded, and the knight's hounds marched to another place."

"The blood and corpses blocked the legs, and the sharp swords and fangs competed for the edge."

"It's so fun to drive the hounds and hunt, and the knight has forgotten his beloved wife."

"If you are hungry, you don't need to return to the camp. You can fill your stomach right here."

"When the enemies were lying everywhere, the knight finally returned home."

"The wife looked with the baby in her arms, and saw her husband rushing over."

"With your family and hounds by your side, there is no happiness like it."

"I took the baby but lost it, and the child fell beside the hounds."

"The big dog mistook it for food, and drank the blood and ate the meat in a hurry."

"A mad woman screams loudly, and in return a sword pierces her heart."

"The knight thought again after seeing the blood, and decided to fill his hungry stomach."

"I bit my bones until they crackled, and from then on I never returned home after hunting."

After listening to it several times, Julius finally couldn't help it. He pretended to pass by, and when he walked behind Clayton's chair, he hit the back of the chair with his suitcase, making a bang, and then walked straight forward. When he reached a place where there was no one, Clayton followed him.

"What did you come up with after listening to such a weird song?" asked Julius.

"I'm just thinking." Clayton spoke from a distance to avoid mixing their scents again.

Although this nursery rhyme is full of evil, it can also represent a part of history and people's views on certain behaviors in the past.

When he heard it, he realized that this might be a ballad written for the local werewolf nobles, and then Clayton began to hope that someone would compose such a ballad for his family in the future, whether for good or bad.

The idea came out of the blue, but Clayton felt it was a great feeling to be a part of history.

"This ballad is probably a tribute from the locals to their Conrioteer," Julius said. "I don't know how long this song has been around. Maybe the Hound Knight in the lyrics is still alive. Are you thinking about meeting him?"

Clayton shook his head. He just wanted to do one last investigation and then return to Sasha City.

Although there are fellow werewolves here, since he has joined the Elders Council, there is no need for him to meet with them specifically. Although the werewolf clan is united, it is also xenophobic.