A few days before entering the village of Moonbrook Town at night, Bossia often gazed into the campfire and fell into contemplation. Jorgen knew she had spent a lot of time imagining what she would say and how she would react when she saw Neil's ex-fiancee. But it seems that these thoughts were a waste of time. Now Bossia stood in the corner, staring at the black-haired woman in the hut in front of her for several minutes with uncertainty.
Through the window, you could see her tidying up the room.
"Bossia, how about this," Jorgen said, "you go back to the inn, I'll go find her first to understand the situation. Come over when you feel calm enough."
"No."
"Listen, I'm here to investigate, not stare at you. I'm going to talk to her now."
"Don't always sound like I'm dragging you down. I'm ready. Let's go."
"Don't reveal your identity casually. Understand?"
"Of course."
"Okay."
Jorgen walked up and knocked on the door. Bossia stood behind him.
"Who's outside?" came the voice of the black-haired woman from inside.
"I'm from Stormwind City, I have to talk to Katie Uwell. Is that you?"
"Yes...yes."
"Please open the door."
"Wait a moment."
The wait was longer than expected. Bossia wanted to lean close to the window to look inside, Jorgen stopped her. His right hand was on the hilt of his dagger, signaling Bossia to move back a little further.
After a rattling sound of the door bolts, the wooden door opened inward. The black-haired woman of about the same age as Bossia said "please come in" and quickly retreated to the wooden table in the center of the house.
"Thank you." Jorgen stepped into the house and then slammed the door panel hard with the hilt of his knife. The wooden door bounced back and hit something, bouncing back again with a cry from a man. Jorgen hit it again, and this time the man hiding behind fell down, his upper body emerging from the shadow behind the door, the ax in his hand falling to the ground.
Jorgen knew this was just a civilian act of self-defense. The man's breathing was so heavy that it could be heard outside the door. This little attack was nothing, just letting him curl up on the ground, trembling in fear of further blows. Jorgen warned the black-haired woman not to act rashly, then entered the house with Bossia and closed the door. He looked around and found that compared to an ordinary house, this was still a decent house, but the walls around were piled with parts of various colors, materials and strange shapes.
"Answer me honestly. Are you really Katie Uwell?" Jorgen turned his attention to the woman.
"Yes." The woman nodded anxiously, looking at the man lying on the ground.
"Then who is this man? What's his name?"
"He is my brother, Hisek."
"You can help him up now."
Katie hurried over to help Hisek up. There was a noticeable bruise on his left forehead. Jorgen said, "Sit down over there," and they sat down at the table again. They looked very scared and carefully watched Jorgen.
"Relax," Jorgen said, "I have no ill intentions. But you two, why do such a thing?"
"You said you were from Stormwind City and were looking for Katie. I thought..." Hisek said.
"Thought we were here to make trouble?"
"Forgive my brother. I told him not to hurt anyone, but he wouldn't listen." Katie said.
"Don't worry, girl. He couldn't hurt anyone like that. Listen, we came from Stormwind City to investigate Neil Jessie's case. Why do you two have such excessive vigilance? Is someone threatening your lives?"
The siblings looked at each other. Hisek spoke up, "I don't know. But my own sister's fiance was killed in such a strange way, and in prison too—"
"So you're going to ambush anyone from Stormwind City looking for your sister? That doesn't make sense. As far as I know, Katie has not been subject to any investigation, and she returned from Stormwind City to this place without any obstacles. There must be some other reason for your vigilance."
At this point, he looked back at Bossia. Bossia had been staring at Katie, but when she realized Jorgen was looking at her, she turned her head away, her arms folded across her chest, staring at the grayish corner of the wall. It was obvious that Katie did not recognize her. Bossia began to feel that perhaps Neil had never mentioned her to Katie.
Jorgen felt that Bossia's performance was normal, so he continued to say to the siblings, "Listen. We can't reveal our identities for the time being, but whoever threatens you will not be us. The best way is to answer my questions honestly. Do you understand?"
The siblings were still hesitant. Hisek said, "You are..."
"Don't ask. You answer my questions honestly, then we will honestly explain. There is no other choice. I won't do anything dangerous unless you two want to make trouble. Do you understand? If so, answer the first question. Tell me in detail about your relationship with Neil. Especially you, girl."
Bossia pricked up her ears. She felt that Jorgen seemed to have asked specifically for her.
"We've known each other since we were little," Hisek said. "Almost grew up together. Neil was the same age as my sister. He started wandering around and selling songs at the age of thirteen. He even tried to smuggle himself to another continent, luckily he didn't succeed. When he came back at the age of seventeen, he stayed for a summer and then got engaged to Katie."
"What?"
Bossia's voice attracted everyone's attention. She quickly put her hand on her forehead, turned her face away, but her unnatural pursed lips betrayed the anxiety in her heart.
"Go on." Jorgen said.
"Ah, well... I was opposed at the time. Because I didn't feel Neil's attitude was serious at all..."
"Brother." Katie said.
"That's how it was, Katie. Doesn't this look like child's play? He swore an oath and then left again, this time for more than two years. When he finally came back, he started making trouble again and ended up in prison. Who would want their sister to get married in prison?"
"I won't allow you to say that."
"You can argue as much as you like after answering my questions. The above words cannot explain why you are so vigilant against people from Stormwind City."
"But... he was killed there."
"Anything else?"
After a moment of silence, Hisek said, "Sir, you said you wouldn't hurt us, right?"
"I have no personal grudges against you or obey anyone to come here. So as long as we cooperate, there's no need to worry. This is the last time I emphasize."
The siblings looked at each other in distress, seeming to have reached some compromise, then Hisek spoke, "Neil was not the first mysterious death around us. There was also my sister and I's foster father. We were abandoned at the village entrance as children, and he not only adopted us but also taught us skills to make a living - making toys. This was much better than farming."
Now Jorgen knew what the little things piled around the room were.
"Father had a friend," Hisek continued, "at least... I always thought they were friends. Whenever he came, Father always sent us out of the house. Probably since we could remember, they had been associating for over ten years. "
"What kind of person was he? What's his name?"
"We never got close to him because he looked terrifying. We don't even know his name, Father only used 'my friend' in front of us. He made the most thoughtful toy of his life for that man."
"Toy?"
"A music box, the kind with a winding key. I've seen part of the design before...such precision design far beyond my imagination. Later Father told me it was a music box designed so that it could not be disassembled and reassembled. Not only that, but even errors in use, such as the number and angle of turns of the key, would destroy the music box internally. When I finally saw the finished product and heard the music coming from it, I believed that even a thousand gold coins couldn't buy such a work of art. With my father's savings, it was impossible to afford such expensive materials, so I thought the man might have provided the funds. The corners of the box were inlaid with diamonds, and even the keys were made of pure gold..."
"Pure gold?"
"Yes. The whole key was made of gold."
Bossia's right hand pressed down on her neck. The gold key Neil had given her made her palm feel a burning pain even through her clothes.
"Father was very careful to preserve the music box, but the key was always with him. But later he got drunk outside...then the key was gone. To this day we don't know if it was stolen or lost somewhere. When he came home, he was so angry that he almost smashed everything in the house. He cut his hands and legs with the debris, no matter how we tried to stop him. He said he could never make the same key again, then tore up the design in front of us. Without the same key, the music box could not be used. My sister and I had a bad feeling at the time, suspecting that the man who provided the funds would do something, but we didn't expect..."
Hisek did not continue. His flickering yet mournful eyes and pale complexion fully revealed the shock he felt when he saw his foster father's corpse.
"And...that man took away the music box."
"When did this happen?"
"Over two years ago. Father adopted us when he was nearly fifty, and I always thought we could let him enjoy his later years..."
"Then, how old was your 'friend'?"
"Probably about the same age as Father. I suppose he was seventy years old."