[Rare Area Quest: The Missing Lady]
[Normal Achievement Condition: Find the missing Margaret Swain (alive or dead)]
[Perfect Achievement Condition: Find the missing Margaret Swain (alive or dead); successfully witness the Mad Monk and report his physical features to the Temple of Life.]
[Quest Reward: Monetary reward [Normal]; Friendship of the Lord of Whitebird City [Normal]; Huge bounty on the Mad Monk [Perfect]; Friendship of the Temple of Life [Perfect]]t
'Indeed, the requirement of this quest was "alive or dead",' Nol thought.
His speculation was too optimistic. Perhaps Witch Lynn just found the crime scene of Margaret and accidentally learned something, hence coming up with the theory of "man-made disaster".
Finding Margaret and gaining the friendship of the City Lord… Thinking about this reward was somewhat sickening. The City Lord was waiting for unrelated people to find the body, so he could wash his hands of the matter.
But what about the "Mad Monk" serial killer? Could the City Lord be the legendary Mad Monk?
No, that couldn't be right. They've "witnessed" the City Lord several times, and the system never gave any hints. Or did they need evidence, or to be certain that he's the Mad Monk, for it to count?
[Could the City Lord be the 'Mad Monk'?] Nol decided to seek his teammate's opinions.
[Definitely not,] Teest responded firmly. [It's said that the 'Mad Monk' likes to commit crimes in big cities. Lord Swain doesn't have that much time to go out. Moreover, according to Kurt, the 'Mad Monk' likes to flaunt his victims openly—just now, the City Lord was complaining about the "Demon Lord's" flamboyant actions.]
[Before Margaret's death, she proclaimed everywhere that she had seen the Mad Monk,] Nol muttered.
Teest shrugged. [Maybe the whimsical 'Demon Lord' is the Mad Monk. Who knows?]
Nol sighed. As expected of the "perfect achievement condition", it was indeed challenging.
In front of them, the conversation between two Eternalists continued.
"Your prudence is reassuring, Swain," the raspy voice said, hinting a bit of amusement.
A hand emerged from the enveloping darkness, stretching towards the City Lord. It wore a featureless white glove, and it looked old.
The hand held a round, three-necked flask. It looked like a heart made of glass, filled with a blue-black ink-like liquid, shimmering like stars.
Lord Swain bowed lower, taking the flask. "All for the Eternal Son."
"There's one more thing."
When the hand retracted into the dark, Swain spoke again. "A few days ago, the Demon Lord almost killed an Investigation Knight. Please advise on my behalf… With the Investigation Knights here, it wouldn't hurt to be a bit low-key. Even if Eugene is investigating the disappearance of the stray children, I can handle it myself."
"The Demon Lord does as he pleases," the voice repeated. "God's test, Swain, God's test."
The moment the voice faded, the candle's flame went out, plunging everything into darkness.
Swain sighed deeply. He wrapped the candle and the flask in soft silk and carefully tucked them into his pocket. Finally, he whispered a spell, and a ball of white light appeared in his palm.
Nol patted the skeleton hound's head. The creature wagged its tail reluctantly and sunk into the ground. He then signaled Teest to follow closely—while undead creatures had night vision, living humans like Teest didn't.
Lord Swain, maintaining the light spell, ventured deeper into the darkness.
At the end of the secret passage was a large room, originally a bedroom for the City Lord's secret rendezvous. Swain pushed the heavy wooden door and threw the ball of light onto a lamp holder. The room was instantly illuminated.
Thankfully, the old door closed slowly. Nol and Teest squeezed in hurriedly, almost making a noise.
The sight inside sent chills down Nol's spine.
Bones. Piles and piles of bones. At a glance, it resembled the underground catacombs of the capital of country F. Leg bones, skulls, and other bones were neatly and tightly stacked, covering the stone walls, forming a new "wall".
The skulls were delicate, and the leg bones were slender—all were the bones of children.
Because of the invisibility spell, Teest still stood behind him. Now, sensing something, Teest moved his arm to embrace Nol and comfort him.
The warmth of the living was ever more pronounced for Nol after he transformed into an undead. As Nol was gently embraced by Teest against his chest, the scorching warmth from his back made him take several deep breaths before finally exhaling silently.
[Thank you,] Nol said.
[You're welcome. Any normal person couldn't stand this,] Teest replied, releasing his embrace.
As things calmed, Nol shifted his attention to the center of the room.
There was a… device there. It was difficult to describe, resembling some sort of complex alchemical apparatus.
Various glass containers connected to one another, with distillation equipment, filtration systems, and heating tools all available. They were several times larger than their typical sizes, arranged in a chaotic manner yet still giving a sense of eerie order, akin to the innards of a beast.
From ceiling to floor, these giant devices occupied about a quarter of the room's space. Various reflections intermingled until both stopped at a particular spot, revealing the core of this apparatus—
Inside a vertically placed glass cylinder was the body of a child.
It was a naked boy, pale and skinny, with numerous scars of varying depths covering his body, indicating malnutrition. His eyes were wide open, and his body was swollen and discolored, showing he had been dead for some time.
Lord Swain frowned deeply, examining the body closely. He seemed displeased with the state of the corpse.
"Damn Temple," he cursed silently.
With that, he took a small bottle from his pocket and connected it to an inlet of the massive apparatus, then carefully attached a tube.
Thump. Thump.
Once connected, the three-necked flask began to beat like a real heart.
Thump. Thump. Thump. Thump.
The dark liquid quickly diluted into a beautiful translucent azure. It swiftly flowed over the corpse, seeping to the base of the cylinder, only to be redirected back to the top. The body, like an ice cube under running water, began to melt.
Nol morosely thought how much he had grown. Now he could even resist the urge to retch and force himself to watch.
Flesh and blood disintegrated, and hair dissolved. The azure liquid gradually turned muddy, taking on a deep, meaty hue. After being filtered multiple times, it became a clear, purplish-red color, similar to ripe grapes.
Finally, after hundreds of cycles, only a pale skeleton remained inside the glass cylinder, while only gritty impurities were left on the sieve. The purplish-red liquid underwent distillation and condensation, turning into a dark-red viscous substance, dripping into a silver flask.
…This was the so-called "rejuvenation potion".
Much like the best perfumers extracting essential oils, Lord Swain extracted something from the pitiable corpse—perhaps its flesh and blood, or perhaps death itself. Nol couldn't be sure.
After securing the flask, Lord Swain adeptly removed the skeleton and built it into the bone wall.
"May everything be eternal," he muttered, drawing a perfect circle over his chest.
[What if we kill him? Two against one, ambush him now,] Teest mentally communicated. [Then fabricate the scene, leaving clues to point towards the 'Demon Lord', killing two birds with one stone.]
Always rushing towards death because you can't die, aren't you?
[No,] Nol immediately responded. [We don't know what he has up his sleeve. A blind attack is unwise. Judging by the decay of the body… while the Investigation Knights are still around, the City Lord won't act recklessly. We still have time.]
[It's because he won't act in the short term that this opportunity is precious,] Teest lamented. [Don't you know the weak points of monsters?]
[…Lord Swain is still somewhat human,] Nol replied, rubbing his temples.
Being a prominent figure, with major tasks at hand and being a backbone within the Eternal Church, it would be foolish to believe that Lord Swain didn't have any ultimate safeguard.
Even when battling the same boss, there was a stark difference between "exploring unknown territory" and "having a strategy guide". Nol was reluctant to act recklessly.
Teest rested his chin on Nol's shoulder and sighed dejectedly. [Guess I'll have to compromise. Maybe this is the hardship of marriage.]
[However, about how to deal with this guy, I have an idea,] Nol said, glancing at the wall of bones. [I think you'll like it.]
...
"No, I don't like it."
Teest sat cross-legged on the bed, sounding rather morose.
"You get to do all the fun stuff. It's not fair."
"If you hadn't been so eager to hurt yourself yesterday, I could have come up with something more fun." Nol took a sip of hot tea, imitating Teest's tone. "That's what you get for being impulsive, honey."
Nol's proposal was simple—communicate with Witch Lynn and hide Margaret's corpse. If the body couldn't be found, the Investigation Knights would stay longer, which was what Lord Swain didn't want.
Once the City Lord started to feel anxious, Nol, as a "mysterious member of the Eternal Church", could stir things up. As for what story to come up with then, Nol already had several plans in mind.
Teest lay down in bed resentfully, turned over, and buried his face into the pillow. "Haa, I also wanted to play a part…"
Nol took another sip of his tea. "Your hair and eyes are too distinctive."
"I can dye them with magic," Teest replied, full of hope.
Nol put down the teacup and deactivated his "Physical Form" skill. Teest turned his head to see his handsome companion turn into a skeleton. Even though he couldn't read the skeleton's expression, he knew Nol was laughing.
"Is any disguise better than mine?" The skeleton said in the cold voice characteristic of the undead.
Teest lay back and slowly covered himself with a blanket. "…You win."
...
Near Whitebird City, deep in the forest.
"Oh my, the little girl's body is missing," a playful young male voice said.
"Probably taken by wild animals," another, deeper voice replied, sounding older. "That Swain is an idiot. He should have someone watching the body."
"Hmm? I think he's quite clever. If someone had been nearby, they would have left traces. It doesn't matter if animals took it. Some bones should remain… Tell me, big guy, are you one of those fools who 'always return to the scene of the crime'?"
"..."
"Really?! And you've never been caught?"
"I was caught once. Lucky to still be alive." The "big guy" sounded a bit annoyed. "Of course, I can't compare to a famous person like you. How many people have you killed?"
"Secret." The playful voice laughed. "All I can say is, everything is God's will."
"Haha." The big guy chuckled. "Let's go back and tell Swain."
"Why? That guy is incredibly boring, and his method of killing lacks taste. I'd rather see him stressed out," the playful young man said. "Let's go back and have a drink."
"We are on the same side, after all."
"Doesn't matter. Didn't I tell you? Everything is God's will. Ah, it's so boring, and we can't kill that knight captain. Lord, I pray to you—"
The young man began praying sweetly.
"—I want a more interesting opponent."
The author has something to say:
Lord above for the one praying: Your order is on the way (×
I must admit, very effective.
This story tells us to find a reliable job. It's not godlike opponents that are to be feared, but teammates who are just in it for the fun…
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The underground tomb in this chapter is referenced from the Catacombs of Paris. This is pure fiction, and real-world country or city names won't appear~
Kinky Thoughts:
Country F most likely refers to France, which is where the Catacombs of Paris are.