Theodore took a deep breath, his lips squirmed, and his words surged to his mouth but were swallowed back again. He seemed to be afraid of something.

"Hey, is your throat blocked by stones?" Little Klein behind Simon looked at Theodore with red blood on his clothes, and couldn't help holding his hand on the handle of the axe at his waist. "Speak out whatever he wants."

"Lord, I regret to bring you a sad news," Theodore found it so difficult to speak out when he was really standing in front of the lord. He was not clear about the character of the new lord. He was too afraid to face unknown punishment. "Last night, someone murdered your cow and sheep in the ranch."

"Well," Simon raised his eyebrows. It was really unforgivable that someone was so bold to provoke him when he had just taken office. "Who did it? How much is the loss?"

"I don't know who did it," Theodore's legs were trembling, his voice was trembling, "A ox and a sheep died."

Simon pondered for a while, and when he spoke again, it seemed to stimulate Theodore's highly tense nerves, which scared him to jump up with a "wow".

The guards at the door immediately pulled out their weapons from their waists and rushed in, only to realize that it was a false alarm.

"Don't be so nervous. I'm not a devil. I won't eat you," Simon rubbed his forehead and said with some headache. "Now, don't let people go in the ranch anymore. Little Klein, send someone to Deeth Village, and ask Sir Bill to take his hound to Esbait Village. He knows what to do."

"Okay Master." After saying that, Klein looked at Theodore deeply, and walked towards the gate of the tower.

"What were you doing last night? Didn't the sound of a beast come out when it was killed?" Simon looked at Theodore with a scrutiny. He always felt that this was a bit strange.

"This is my fault, sir," Theodore almost buried his head in the soles of his feet. "I should have gone to the small house next to the ranch to watch the night, but in the evening a businessman from the southern road asked me for directions. After asking, he asked me to drink as a thank you. I thought, since nothing has happened in several years, drinking tonight should be fine, but I didn't expect..."

"Suspicious businessman," Simon stroked his golden beard, "What after?"

"The businessman had a strong accent from the outsider. We went to the stump tavern together. He was extremely enthusiastic. After asking me for a drink, he helped me refill it. I thought, someone invited me to drink and the fool didn't drink it. Later, I couldn't remember anything. After I woke up at dawn, the traveling businessman disappeared. When I returned to the ranch, the blood was flowing all over the ground in the tramway, and frightened animals were everywhere."

"He has accomplices, and all of this is carefully planned."

Simon was very angry. Is this a warning from some people in the village to the new lord? Or is it simply a frame-up against the good old man Theodore? Or is it all directed and acted by Theodore?

As a shepherd who helped the lord raise animals, Theodore had no motivation to do such a stupid thing to harm himself. In the end, he would be punished no matter what. What's more, the villagers' evaluation of him is pretty good.

So is this a warning from some people to themselves? The faces of village chief Duden, militia Adam, and priest Hanns flashed through Simon's mind, and each of them had different degrees of suspicion.

"Theodore, no matter what, this is your dereliction of duty. You are responsible for the death of these two animals," Simon knocked on the wooden armrest of the backrest chair. "I remember that as before, the Lord paid you every quarter. From this season, your salary is gone, when is it enough for the price of these two animals, and when will your salary be restored."

Theodore showed an injured expression. He couldn't help but lift up the hem of tears and mud, rubbing the sweat that oozed from his forehead, but the more he wiped, the dirtier it became. Before he could breathe a sigh of relief, Simon's next words made him fall into an ice cave.

"If there are animals killed due to your negligence during this period, you can hand over all your property to pay off your debts and get out of the territory."

"I remember, Lord Lord, I promise that this will not happen again! Even if someone gives me gold next time, I will not leave the ranch again!"

…………………………………

During lunch, Simon found himself a little anorexia.

This is really a frustration. The bread, porridge, bacon, and cheese day after day made Simon feel more and more nauseous, while the fish soup used to replace meat in Fast Day always has a fishy smell that cannot be removed.

Simon thought he had had enough and could no longer bear it.

He urgently needed an iron pot and spatula for cooking and frying, so that this group of medieval countrymen could see what the real delicacy was.

"It's so damn it's important to bring a blacksmith back when I go to Deventel Church to find Lind's brother in a few days."

The "gurgling" stomach pulled Simon back to reality, and he had to endure the unforgettable disgust to pile up food in his mouth.

In the afternoon, Simon took Little Klein to find Village Chief Du Deng, the number one suspect in his heart, to find out the situation.

The old slut went to find the widow Sousse with his nephew Adam last night. When Duden heard the news of the attack on the ranch, the old guy was shocked.

Simon observed his expression carefully, and the surprise seemed to be coming from his bones. Simon did not see anything wrong.

"Am I suspicious?" Simon shook his head.

Simon asked Duden again about some questions such as whether there were any suspicious people in the village recently and whether they had witnessed the murderer last night, but they did not get a satisfactory answer.

Now, Duden and his nephew Adam have a perfect absent proof.

Just as Simon was about to leave, Du Deng asked him a question: "How to deal with the dereliction of duty Theodore?"

Simon cheered up and looked at Duden again and said, "Because this was a carefully planned attack, I decided to exempt Theodore's quarterly salary until the losses of the two livestock were paid."

In an instant, Simon captured a subtle feeling of disappointment, but Duden quickly smiled and added: "Lord, I think this punishment is too light for Theodore. I heard from the tavern owner Helta that Theodore is a perfect drunkard. God knows what losses will be brought to you in the future!"

"Oh? Then what do you do?" Simon said to Du Deng in a calm tone.

He vaguely felt that the fox was about to reveal his tail, but don't let it slip away.

"Let Theodore get out of his way, and then let the miller Kolif take over his place." Duden's words were about to slide out of his throat, but he also keenly noticed the unique charm of Simon's tone, so he immediately swallowed the words that came to his mouth and laughed flatteringly.

"You are the Lord, you are the biggest master in this land," Duden's flattering face that disgusted Simon appeared again. "Since you have made a decision, how could I have objections? I respect all your decisions, my Lord."

"snort!"

Simon's face turned cold, and Du Deng knew that this time the flattery hit the horse's legs.

"What a moody and difficult guy to serve." Du Deng said in a secret voice.

………………………………

In the evening, Bill returned to the village of Esbai with his hound and the edict.

"Ri'an, my lord." Bill laughed and jumped off the horse's back and handed the reins to the horse boy.

"How about the new territory, Sir Bill?" Simon noticed that Bill had pinned the sword he had given him last time to the most conspicuous place.

"To be honest, sir, it's a little tricky," Bill smiled bitterly. "A guy in the logging field heard the news that the old lord had fled, and took a risk. In the middle of the night, he stole a full carriage of wood to escape. He was intercepted by me. I executed him, and now the gang members are a little afraid of me."

"You did it right," Simon patted Bill on the shoulder. "As a lord, you cannot indulge these things, and at the same time, you cannot guarantee that every lord will be satisfied with you. Let's go into the tower, and dinner is ready."

Bill was eating bread at the dining table and listening to Simon telling what happened last night.

"The murderer must be framing the shepherd Theodore," Bill expressed his first opinion after hearing this. "If they just wanted to get lamb and beef, they wouldn't just stab the beast to death and run away."

"You're right." Simon nodded in agreement. Bill deserves to be a scheming person and grasps the core of the matter in an instant.

"From this point of view, the murderer who killed the cattle and sheep must have obtained greater benefits than fresh meat from the messenger behind the scenes. Otherwise, I believe that those greedy guys will definitely cut off a few pieces of meat as spoils to take them away." Bill continued to infer.

"So, do you think the person behind the scenes is in the village, and the murderer of cattle and sheep may be bandits wandering in the nearby forest?"

"It's very likely. Since there are bandits in the mountains and forests taking money to act in the village, there must be someone in the middle that is connecting the bridge. I think the miller Kolif, who lives by the river, may have contact with those who are not irrelevant."

"I'll send someone to ask him tomorrow." Simon's hand knocked on the table.
Chapter completed!