Chapter 38

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Chapter 038: The Forgotten Suspect

To be honest, Jesse wasn’t keen on going. He had plans to visit the library in the afternoon to look for books on the Language Orcish to check the contents of that mysterious scroll in advance.

He knew he had to handle this on his own. Putting aside the lack of updates from Malin regarding the Language Orcish course, even if there were any, waiting for classes and learning enough vocabulary and grammar would take forever.

Not to mention, those teachers themselves haven’t fully mastered the Language Orcish, so the progress would definitely be slow.

He reluctantly said, "I have something to do this afternoon."

Hearing Jesse’s words, Greed replied unhappily, "You asked for my help, and I agreed right away."

Agreed right away? Wasn’t it after a lot of persuasion and only after negotiating the terms?

Of course, Jesse also knew the price Greed paid in Duskwood.

"Okay, I’ll be off work soon."

After work, Jesse bought a small piece of crab meat cake, tore off a little crab meat on top and tasted it, strange in its sweetness and saltiness.

Crab meat in the Kingdom of Stormwind is very cheap, in Westfall, near Sentinel Hill, crab meat is really easy to eat and never ending.

Coastal crabs are everywhere, and the crabs caught at Stormwind Harbor are so abundant that they are practically worthless.

When Jesse was involved in a harbor construction project, he often saw fishermen bringing ashore giant sea crabs bigger than calves, sharing them live with people right on the dock.

Back in Malin’s study, Malin took the cake, closed his eyes, sipped deeply as if relieving some great craving.

After swallowing a bite, he placed the cake next to the teacup and asked, "Why were you gone so long?"

"In line," Jesse said. "So many people were buying snacks, Master, the Blue Recluse was really crowded this morning."

"That’s true," Malin said. "Maybe that place should be expanded. There are actually quite a few children who discover their magical abilities during the war, and many new apprentices have joined here."

Jesse cleared his throat and sat at the table, saying, "By the way, Master, I need to take a day off tomorrow."

"Sure."

"That was easy."

"Deducting money."

"I’ll try to come as soon as possible."

Malin glanced at Jesse, flipped through the book, and said, "Continuing from the previous topic—about the Worgen of Raven Hill, we have a few theories. One possibility is that a large ghoul was mistaken for a Worgen. Secondly, it could be hidden Orc assassins. You know, many Orcs carry weapons enchanted by warlocks, and the victims show severe signs of shadow corruption. The third possibility, which we haven’t considered before, but now seems likely, is the leader of the Gnolls."

"Gnoll leader?" Jesse asked. "Are you saying, the huge Gnoll that attacked the food convoy I was escorting that day?"

Malin said, "I think it’s very likely. The Gnoll Tribe has already started invading Elwynn Forest. Since they can move north, why can’t they move south as well?"

Even though a big Gnoll is most likely mistaken for a Worgen, there is something strange about it.

Jesse said, "Stormwind didn’t notice the big Gnoll before, but the migration from Raven Hill started years ago."

Malin closed the book she had been reading, leaned back in her chair and said, "We can’t use Stormwind not noticing the Gnoll to dismiss the possibility that the people of Raven Hill mistook it for a Worgen. After all, the residents of Raven Hill may have been attacked by the big Gnoll before the guards of Stormwind."

Malin made sense, but Jesse remembered his conversation with Morgan that day, when Morgan thought the people of Raven Hill could distinguish between ghoul attacks and Worgen attacks.

The residents of Elwynn Forest have been fighting Gnolls for hundreds of years, so they should be familiar with Gnoll attacks.

Besides, Gnolls always attack in groups, causing great chaos. Would a Gnoll chieftain ambush lone travelers around their settlement? This goes against Gnolls’ nature and especially against Hogger’s nature.

If we believe the townspeople, it means there is only one answer – Orcs are causing trouble.

Is there any other possibility? Are there any other beings that could be mistaken for Worgen?

Jesse said, "Gnoll… doesn’t quite fit."

"There is another possibility," Malin said. "Actually, due to the erosion of Dark Energy, South Elwynn is no longer suitable for humans to live in, so migrating out is a natural choice. Many people are unwilling to admit that they are leaving because the sky is darkening, instead blaming the so-called Worgen legend, to justify their departure in front of family and friends. I hope that the people of the entire South Elwynn region will recognize the reality sooner and move to live elsewhere. If the Dark Portal changes, it will once again become a frontline. Perhaps one day renaming it to Duskwood could encourage the stubborn locals to leave sooner."

Jesse couldn’t be convinced, recalling the conversation he had with Morgan, he said, "I don’t deny that such a situation may exist, but the murdered bodies are real. Did the mages from the Wizard’s Sanctum not examine the bodies killed by Worgen when they went to Raven Hill?"

"That is also a serious issue," Malin took another bite of cake, sipped tea, and said, "The people there cannot find a body killed by Worgen. They all claim that these bodies were infected by the Worgen curse and disappeared the next day. Our mages did not encounter the right accidents at the right time, and could not obtain any concrete evidence, returning empty-handed."

The missing bodies, Shadow Power. Jesse traced circles on the table with his finger, feeling like he was about to grasp a crucial keyword, but couldn’t remember it all at once.

Bodies… shadows, tall creatures walking like Worgen, unlike normal people.

Wait, there is a forgotten existence that roughly fits this impression.

That would be the Death Knight created by Gul’dan.

Malin had mentioned the Death Knight before, when discussing the disappearance of the Red Dragon Queen and the Black Dragon’s assistance to the Orcs in war, citing the recent Battle of Alterac Valley as an example. In that battle, the Orc Legion mounted on Black Dragons entered Alterac Valley, resulting in a major defeat for the Alliance defenders.

Leading the Orc Legion was Teron Gorefiend, the world’s first Death Knight.

Unlike the Death Knights loyal to the Lich King that most players know, the first batch of Death Knights created by Gul’dan may be even more "deathly."

The Death Knights of the Lich King are mostly fallen humans who wield rune swords, control necromantic power, and command the dead to fight, but they themselves may not have truly died.

For them, death is not a necessary condition.

But the Death Knights created by Gul’dan are truly resurrected dead, as he guides the dark souls of his loyal Orc Warlocks into the bodies of the bravest human knights to bring them back to life.

Mixing dark magic with powerful undead creates an effect greater than the sum of its parts, ultimately forming a terrifying group of meat grinders.

In the Orc Wars, these Death Knights made significant contributions to Gul’dan’s conquest of the human territories north of Khaz Modan, also becoming the nightmares of many survivors.

If it weren’t for The Silver Hand Knights using the power of the Holy Light to bravely resist and stop the footsteps of the Death Knight army in the Hillsbrad Foothills, they might have already entered the royal city of Lordaeron, and the calamity of the Scourge could have occurred twenty years earlier.

These Death Knights, having Orc souls within them, behave and think entirely like Orcs, with human souls long stripped away, leaving only a body with muscle memory carrying another soul.

So, although they have human bodies, they walk and fight like Orcs, hunched over, taking heavy steps, and using barbaric and brutal combat techniques and magic.

Because of the dark forces, these humans grew exceptionally tall, towering over normal people like monstrous giants. Even their warhorses had to be undead creatures grown in the darkness to bear their weight, as regular horses and Worgs could not support these heavily armored warriors.

The Death Knights fought continuously in the north of Khaz Modan. In the south, within the Kingdom of Stormwind, there were few Death Knights rampage, as this area had fallen under the control of the Orcs. There was no need for these fearsome warriors to charge into battle or subjugate humans to maintain order.

Many people in Stormwind had never seen a Death Knight because when they returned to human rule, the Orc tribe had already failed, with most fleeing through the Dark Portal, missing the chance to witness the terrifying power of the Death Knight.

After the war, there was no reason to learn more about them. Only a few veterans and refugees arrived from the north shared stories about the legends of the dark reaper.

Grave robbing, shadow attacks, and the tall, hunched silhouette of the Worgen only appeared at night…

Jesse couldn’t shake off the possibility of the Death Knight from his mind.

This speculation had flaws. Gul’dan’s Death Knights were always officers or elite vanguards among the Horde. How could they appear alone in a place like Raven Hill and harm the civilians who saw them?

At that moment, Jesse remembered the scroll he had hidden in his house.

An Orc Warlock appearing in Duskwood, a Death Knight appearing in Raven Hill…

It feels like everything is connecting and moving in the same direction.

He couldn’t wait and wanted to immediately find a way to translate all the contents in the scroll.

But, Greed had to help clean up the wolves in someone else’s farm in the afternoon.

Thinking about this, Jesse anxiously tapped the table with his fingers until Malin said, "We still have 10 minutes before work ends, Mr. Seso, be patient."