Morris answered the door the same way as before, in a skimpy outfit consisting of a simple towel around his hips.

"What?" He asked the two newcomers.

Monica who didn't see the man before, only heard his words, was baffled as Morris didn't look like a villager. He was muscular, but it was obvious that it was more of a visual preference to keep something on the bones rather than a need for strength. He looked as if he worked out, like some of the soldiers at the army camp back in the capital, not as if his muscles were formed by long hours of work. He wasn't very tall but still had considerable height, somewhat amplified by his long, straight blonde hair. He was incredibly handsome, his eyes were sparkling in the sunlight. He looked like a twenty-year-old would look, for a person in their forties he was impossible to recognise as such.

"Hello, can we come in? Or did we interrupt something?" Asked Adam who stood in front of the host.

"What's your business?" Inquired Morris, who looked for a second at Adam's face and asked again, after realising he had seen the guy before. "Didn't I tell you where is the governor's house already? Why are you bothering me again?"

"We wanted to ask you some questions about the thefts in recent times." Said Adam.

"And what connection do I have to them? What's your iquire?" Asked Morris with annoyance.

"That's exactly what we want to find out. Let me clarify that we don't hold any ill intent towards you, but when such a big wave of robberies hits, it would be stupid not to ask the wealthiest man in the village about his opinion." Adam assured his interlocutor.

Morris sighed and answered. "OK, wait in the living room while I change my clothes."

Adam nodded at Monica and went inside, his companion behind him.

The living room was quite nice, but not in a way that would be expected after seeing that this is the biggest house in the village. The room was cosy, with a table in the middle, surrounded by plain but comfortable chairs. There were some rugs on the walls and a fireplace in the corner, warming up the room.

Morris returned and sat down on the main chair by the table, next to Adam and Monica.

"Ask and you will be answered, or not." He said after taking his place.

Monica took out her notepad and a pencil, while Adam started to ask questions.

"Let's start with the simple ones. Do you have any connection with the robberies or the crime activities in the village of Grimos? Do you have any knowledge about people who could be, or know something about the robbers?" Asked Adam.

"No. I don't have any connection with any crime circles, and as for suspicious people, I would say that the victims are quite as such. How come none of them notice the thieves?" Accused Morris.

"Well, but why would they do that? I don't see any benefit in them losing their animals." Replied Adam.

"Oh, they would get a huge compensation from the person who robbed them, if they could prove it true. That's probably why you were told I was one of the suspects. But let's be real, I have nothing to gain from such thefts, my herd is the biggest in the surrounding villages, some few animals would add nor deduct from my wealth." He explained, and what he said made much sense in Adam's head.

"Okay, let's leave those behind. Did you leave the village in the past few months? Going to the city, selling cattle, everything counts." The mage set the next question.

"Yes, I went to the neighbouring city about a month and a half ago." Answered Morris.

"In what purpose?"

"I was visiting a friend, one that I met through my connection with Todd. If you don't know, Todd is the wandering mage from the Harop family who helped me to rise from the rubble." A strange glint passed by in Morris's eyes.

"Ok, how about..." Adam's next question was cut off in the middle of the sentence, as a knocking sound came from the front door.

"Ehhh, I will annswer it." Morris stood up and opened the door.

A villager stood outside, he was visibly tired and out of breath.

"I am looking for the investigators, Adam and Monica. Are they here?" He asked the host after catching his breath.

"They are here, as you see." Answered Morris, turning his head towards the living room and gesturing for his guests to answer the man's inquiry.

"Oh, I have news!" The messenger outcried when he saw them. "Another robbery happened this night, at the Torak's farm. Come with me, your leader wants the whole group to investigate the area." The man stopped talking and started to walk quickly in the southern direction.

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They marched in silence and arrived at their destination.

The southern part of the village was quite different from the northern, it was full of large households, telling the story of the town. After seeing those two areas, Adam concluded that the northern one is very new, while the southern one is way older, making it home to bigger, families, or sometimes even second or third generation. While the north was inhabited by those who didn't want to live with their parents or arrived from different places in search of new life.

It was also seen in the residency in the central parts of the village. Morris, who is middle-aged lived in the western district, and that matched with his rise to wealth, which happened some time ago, but when the village was still expanding rapidly.

Torak household was on the rim, like the other robbed places. But there was a major difference between this example and the others. This time, when Adam arrived before it, no animals were heard from the inside of the barn, it stood open and empty. Its doors pointed at the fence, which was devastatingly destroyed.

"What the hell happened here?" Adam questioned out loud looking at the fence

"A ferocious herd of animals charged through.." Max said, emerging from the barn. "This time, the thieves made quite the ruckus.

"How did we not get notified of it before, it's nearly noon!" Adam questioned the man who brought him here, anger hidden in his voice.

"We think the owner of the animals followed them in the forest the second he saw the damages, We didn't want to send for you as it could be just something else, the animals may just have been scared, which could be caused by many reasons." Answered the messenger.

"Huh?" Anger didn't leave Adam's voice.

"Leave him by, we will venture out into the forest in ten minutes. The owner of the livestock is still in there, so finding him will be our priority." Max announced his orders.

"Okay." Agreed the ice mage.

In the meantime, Adam took a closer look at the tracks left in the snow. Near the barn, the footprints the animals created were calm, shallow and steady as if the animals took a stroll. That changed about halfway to the fence, there the footprints became more erratic, deep and explosive, meaning that their makers sped up fiercely.

"Something out of the ordinary happened here, It looks as if something scared the animals right after they left the barn, making them crash through the fence." Adam talked half to himself, half to Monica.

"Maybe it was their owner? The messenger told us that he went after them immediately." She guessed.

"Nah, it's practically impossible, They wouldn't be scared of the person who takes care of them on a daily basis. That would be messed up." He commented.

"I would be scared if my mom visited me in the middle of the night, or even early in the morning." Monica remarked.

"You live with your mother? I thought you slept in the camp." Adam asked.

"Depends, if we have a longer break I go to my parent's house in the city. It's much more comfortable than a tent, no matter its size... My mother was a famous adventurer you know?

She supposedly met my father when he was on a business trip in Holrom City, he was a wandering merchant back there. Now, they stay in the capital all the time.

How about yours? I have never heard you talk about family." The archer asked after having loosened up a little.

"I am the last one left from my family." Answered Adam.

"Oh... I'm sorry." Apologised Monica, her face full of pity.

"Don't 'Oh..' me, I'm over it. It happened a long time ago, during a beast tide, when no one knew there was a dungeon near Ferston. My parents were in the forest teaching my older sister how to shoot the bow when it happened... I heard they died as heroes, many monsters were slain by them as they tried to return.

From then on I lived with my 'uncle' Derek. He isn't really my uncle, but he was a close friend of my father's, so I guess he is the closest thing I have to a family.

And he became even more after that, a father figure and a mentor." Adam smiled weakly, looking down at his hands, which still had marks from the use of the bow and other work Derek taught him, and made him do instead of him.

Monica stood in silence, listening to Adam's monologue. She didn't know what to say, she never comforted people. In the end, she said silent, figuring that saying something improper is worse than not saying anything.

Time to venture into the wilds came fast, as both of them were lost in thoughts. Adam reminisced about his lost family and Monica thought about what she would do if her parents passed away.

The whole team of 'Refrigerators' gathered at the forest's opening. They grouped themselves in their usual formation and set out towards the deep, relatively safe forest.

The tracks were exceptionally visible, especially the human ones, which were alone among the animals. That brought some confusion between the team members, cause they believed someone else had to lead the animals, but there was only one track - The owners.

They followed them for a long time, deeper and deeper into the woods. Though they went further away from the village, the safety of the surrounding areas didn't change. It wasn't a green zone for no reason.

The monsters here weren't very powerful, so much so that the village's guard team led the surrounding animals to be scared of humans. And the most powerful person in the village was only in the intermediate realm.

Eventually, they arrived in a small valley, inside which was a clearing. The trees towered above on the higher grounds all around, while the grass of the clearing was full of flowers and small bushes with plenty of fruits.

They walked closer to find out what caused such abundance in the area, as it was a very abnormal sight in the winter. There was also no snow in the clearing as if the winter didn't touch it at all.

The high grass, covered up the plenitude while rocks scattered on the ground, piling into small heaps and sometimes covered with moss.

Berta walked closer, deeper into the clearing and bent down to take a look at those weird pieces of stone.

She took one of the ground, it was long, with bulbous protrusions on both sides. After scraping off the moss and the dirt, an unnaturally white colour revealed itself, as if the snow returned.

The warrior was cleaning off the rest of the rock when she concluded what she held in her arms.

I was a bone.

The clearing was full of bones.

Berta jumped back after realising what she held, throwing it away at the same time.

"It's all bones!" She shouted in horror.

"Keep calm and prepare to fight!" Ordered Max, who stayed clear-headed.

The Refrigerators gathered into a defensive formation when a low growl escaped a cave on the other side of the clearing, one which no one managed to notice before.

A huge puma stood there, growling at the newcomers. Its muscles tense, ready to pounce and rip the outsiders apart.