Chapter 41

The Béry family, a household of over a dozen people, all crammed into a dilapidated two-story house. Lumián, familiar with the place, glanced at the open front door and carefully circled around to the back, where a wooden fence enclosed an empty space.

Under the eaves of the empty space, there were piles of hay and firewood, and three white sheep, which appeared brown due to the dirt, were wandering around.

Lumián had come here to check on the sheep because Aurore had mentioned that something seemed odd about the few sheep Pierre Béry had brought back this time, though she couldn't pinpoint what was strange. He took advantage of the shepherd's absence, as he had gone to pray at the church, to inspect the sheep.

Although he had never been a shepherd, living in a village like Cordu, which was close to the highland pastures, he had seen at least seventy or eighty sheep, so he was far from unfamiliar with them.

After a careful observation, Lumián found nothing unusual about the three sheep and muttered to himself:

"Can't tell by just looking, do I need to use extraordinary abilities?"

But a "Hunter" didn't have such abilities.

Lumián had already used his enhanced vision, sense of smell, and keen observation of various traces, yet found nothing amiss.

The only thing he found slightly odd was that the sheep's droppings were all piled in one corner instead of scattered around.

Of course, this was likely because the Béry family regularly cleaned up the droppings to use them more effectively.

After another few dozen seconds, Lumián whispered:

"Just looking and smelling doesn't seem to work... should I touch them directly?"

Without hesitation, he pushed the fence and climbed over, as if he were returning to his own home.

The three sheep turned their heads to look at Lumián, and he immediately smiled:

"Come, I'll check you over."

He wasn't worried about being caught by the owner, as he had done similar pranks before, and everyone in the village knew he was good at causing mischief with sheep as his props.

As Lumián put it:

"When your reputation is already bad, there are benefits to having a bad reputation."

With the title of "King of Pranks," he could do almost anything in Cordu without arousing too much suspicion. Even if he were caught by those who suspected something, they couldn't directly confirm he was the culprit.

Of course, in such a situation, the parish priest Guillaume and the shepherd Pierre might follow the principle of "better to kill the wrong person than to let the guilty go free" and silence him. So, he still needed to be cautious.

"Baa! Baa! Baa!"

Seemingly sensing Lumián's ill intentions, the three sheep retreated behind the hay pile, their calls not very loud.

But how could they escape a "Hunter"?

Lumián caught one of the sheep, patted its side, and forcibly checked its teeth.

"Nothing wrong..." he muttered.

Seeing the sheep look at him, he added with a malicious smile:

"You're in good health, so you'd make a nice stew with peas."

He said this to test the sheep's intelligence.

Since there was no physical issue, he had to approach it this way.

The sheep's eyes suddenly became vacant.

Lumián laughed:

"Very perceptive, do you understand what I'm saying?"

The sheep's eyes returned to normal, and it turned its head to eat the hay.

"Ignore me?" Lumián stroked his chin, "I'll buy you back from Pierre Béry and eat you tonight!"

The sheep didn't react.

It bit into some hay and pulled it out forcefully.

The hay pile suddenly collapsed, and Lumián, with his keen eyesight, saw something.

His expression turned serious as he approached and squatted down to examine it closely.

It was a few fingernails wrapped in black hair, freshly cut.

"How did this end up outside the house?" Lumián whispered in surprise.

As a Cordu resident, he was familiar with the funeral customs of the Dijon region, where after a family member died, some of their hair and nails were cut and secretly hidden in the house to avoid affecting the family's constellation and to retain good luck.

Why would such things be found in the hay pile outside the house?

Lumián picked up the nails and hair, examining them carefully.

They look new, like they were just cut... he quickly concluded.

But no one had died in Cordu recently!

Lumián suspected this might be a form of witchcraft similar to funeral customs and decided to consult his sister.

To avoid arousing suspicion, he put the nails and hair back into the hay pile and restored the scene to its original state.

After completing this, he walked towards the wooden fence.

Taking a few steps, he turned back to the three sheep, and with a mindset of "nothing to lose," he muttered:

"Pierre Béry is really acting strange, coming back to the village before May...

"Did he commit a crime outside?

"As a good citizen of Intis and a devout believer, should I go to Dijon and investigate?"

The three sheep just looked at him, with no other movements or changes in their eyes.

Their intelligence doesn't seem special... Lumián sighed inwardly, feeling disappointed.

He then raised his hands, thumbs up and index fingers down, making a gesture of contempt.

What's the problem with mocking sheep when you're in a bad mood?

The next second, the sheep Lumián had examined took a few steps forward, its eyes seeming to gain a glimmer of hope.

It lifted its front hoof and started drawing on the muddy ground.

Lumián was confused and dazed for a moment.

Soon, he came to his senses and quickly approached the sheep.

The sheep seemed to be drawing letters, which Lumián found familiar but couldn't recognize.

He frowned and speculated:

"This script should be related to Intis...

"But I only know Intis and some ancient Fussac..."

At that moment, Lumián realized from another angle what Aurore meant by "knowledge is power."

The sheep quickly finished drawing, took a few steps back, and looked at Lumián with pleading eyes. The other two sheep also showed similar emotions and bleated softly.

Lumián looked at the word on the ground, lost in thought.

His mind was filled with questions like "What does this mean?" and "How should I respond?"

After a second or two, he had an idea and nodded solemnly at the three sheep.

At the same time, he extended his right foot and erased the word on the ground.

Although he couldn't understand it, he could at least pretend he did!

He would fool the sheep for now and consult his sister later!

Without waiting for the sheep to "respond," he nodded slowly and seriously, as if saying, "Wait a moment, I'll think of a way," and walked towards the fence.

Leaving the sheep pen, Lumián went straight home and found Aurore lounging in a chair in the study, reading a book.

"Sister," he called out eagerly, "I have something to tell you."

"Calling me 'sister' right away..." Aurore immediately became alert, "What trouble have you gotten into this time?"

Lumián calmed himself and organized his thoughts:

"Didn't you say the three sheep Pierre Béry brought back were strange?

"I went to check them out while Pierre was praying at the church. Guess what I found?"

Aurore's expression turned serious:

"You should have told me before doing this. It's dangerous now, and no one is protecting you."

But if you knew beforehand, you probably wouldn't have let me go... Lumián was touched by his sister's concern but thought to himself.

"I'll remember that next time," he promised sincerely.

He had said similar things dozens of times.

Aurore could distinguish between urgent information and things that could wait, so she nodded, signaling Lumián to share his findings.

Lumián quickly recounted his experience in the sheep pen, and Aurore's expression grew increasingly grave.

"Write down that word," she said, getting up from her chair, finding paper and a pen, and handing them to Lumián.

Lumián had memorized the word and quickly reproduced it.

Aurore glanced at it and said solemnly:

"The problem is serious."

I know... Lumián thought.

And he believed the problem was even bigger than his sister imagined.

"What's the problem?" he asked.

Aurore pointed to the word:

"This is Highland language, the official language of the Fénepot Kingdom, which, like Intis, is derived from ancient Fussac.

"It means..."

Aurore paused and said in a grave voice:

"Help!"

"Help?" Lumián exclaimed, "The three sheep are asking for help?"

Aurore nodded:

"I suspect they aren't sheep.

"They were originally people!"

"People?" Lumián asked in surprise.

This was beyond his knowledge.

He had only thought the sheep were very intelligent, had human-like emotions, and knew some human language, but he never equated them with humans.

To him, people turning into sheep only existed in imaginative stories!

But as soon as he said it, Lumián was no longer shocked.

With time loops appearing, why would it be strange for people to turn into sheep?

In the world of mysticism, the bizarre and absurd are not uncommon.

Faced with his brother's confusion, Aurore nodded solemnly:

"I'm not sure if there's a secret art that can turn people into sheep, but all the details point to this possibility."

"Indeed," Lumián agreed.

The more he thought about it, the more he believed the three sheep were people.

Pierre Béry was herding people?

Lumián then asked:

"Why were the nails and hair hidden outside the house?"

Aurore pursed her lips:

"This is one of the funeral customs in the Dijon region, but it's rarely used, and many people have forgotten about it.

"As a 'Sorceress,' I have studied this to see if I could gain useful knowledge."

She then explained:

"When a family member commits suicide, is murdered by a relative, or has a very bad character that brings significant harm to the family, the hair and nails cut after death must be hidden outside the house to avoid affecting the family's constellation and bringing bad luck."

Suicide or murdered by a relative? Lumián suddenly thought of something:

"In the last time loop, Ponce Béné entered Naroque's house without following the funeral customs.

"Was he there to take Naroque's hair and nails?"