The time of day.

That would certainly help eliminate one of the options of who killed poor Darien, if it wasn't at night. It's a long shot and it's not the most vital of questions at this time, but it'll clear up some of the mystery.

Marius looked to the merchant, "Darien was killed while trying to store some rice he purchased from here, I'm assuming. That would give reason to believe the **** was not too far after the purchase. Did Darien buy rice from you, and what time of day was he here?"

The merchant narrowed his eyes and spat, "Aye...he bought rice from me. Didn't think I'd be the last one to see him alive, though. Poor sod. He often buys in bulk because he's too busy repairing this and that, making fences and shacks. It's pretty often he comes in the late evening before closing time."

Marius grunted, "Late evening, huh? How long before sundown came after he left?"

The merchant shrugged, "I dunno...few minutes at best. By the time he was out of sight, the sun was close to being gone and the moon rising."

Marius stroked his chin in thought as he tried to do the calculations. If this was accurate, then the sun would have been gone by the time he got home and have his blood drained. That meant vampires or one of their thralls were still on the table as possible suspects. That didn't bode well for the Rune Blade. Sure, he had training in fighting such beasts and have done so in the past, but that didn't change the fact that the specialty of a Rune Blades were wizards.

Plus, the unnatural speed of a vampire or a thrall while unimpeded by the sun would mean that the creature was probably long gone. He'll need to get a local map of the area to find possible hideouts the creature or mage could be hiding in while they recover or hiding from whatever they're on the run from. Hopefully it is just a blood mage.

Coming out of his thoughts, Marius looked over the merchant again and saw the impatience of the man. It seemed he might be able to get another question on a different topic out of him before he gets fed up and start having another fit. The Rune Blade better make it worth it.