On the road to the Tussock River in the East District, the carriage swayed and jolted along.
Inside the cabin, Silas and Dunn stared at each other wordlessly.
The atmosphere is a bit awkward. Better find something to talk about.
Silas thought to himself.
"By the way, Captain. How's your potion digestion going?"
He quickly thought of a topic and spoke up.
"Fairly smoothly. I've already finished digesting Sleepless. Right now I'm re-enacting the 'Midnight Poet.'"
Dunn replied.
But I haven't seen you buy any poetry collections...
Silas recalled Leonard's usual frivolous demeanor and really couldn't figure out how to enact "Midnight Poet."
"That's good. Once you finish enacting Midnight Poet and digest the 'Nightmare' potion, you can seek advancement."
Unexpectedly, Dunn shook his head.
"My enactment at Sequence 7 will probably not go very smoothly." He said calmly. "It will likely take more time than the average Sequence 7, possibly even two or three extra years."
"Why?"
Silas asked instinctively.
"..."
However, Dunn only remained silent and didn't answer.
Seems like there's some hidden circumstances. Better not press further.
Silas wisely shut his mouth.
And so, the carriage continued on until it arrived at the banks of the Tussock River in the East District.
The location where the body was discovered was three blocks away from where Silas had dumped it.
The corpse must have floated up and drifted downstream before getting caught on the shore and being found.
It was afternoon, and the Tussock riverbank was bustling with activity.
Besides the gawking onlookers in the distance, there was also a large contingent of police maintaining order and investigating the scene.
Klein and Frye stood on a slope by the riverbank, at their feet a human-shaped object covered by a white sheet.
So noisy...
As soon as Silas got out of the carriage, he couldn't help but frown. After adjusting the sensitivity of his hearing, he walked over.
Before he even reached Klein's side, a putrid corpse stench came blowing on the wind.
It was an indescribable foul odor that seemed to assault the brain, instinctively provoking disgust and nausea.
"Urgh!"
Several nearby police officers immediately covered their mouths and retreated.
Silas couldn't help but stop in his tracks. He looked toward Dunn, only to find the man continuing forward as if he hadn't smelled anything at all.
He had no choice but to pinch his nose and follow behind, arriving at the corpse.
The body was covered by the white sheet, yet the horrifying wounds were still visible on the surface.
Corpse fluid had soaked through the white cloth, seeping out in pale yellow water stains.
"Captain, Silas."
Frye and Klein greeted them.
"How's it going?"
Dunn asked while pulling on black gloves.
"I found no clues," Klein shook his head.
"The body was interfered with through a ritual. I couldn't divine any useful information.
Plus, the time of death was too early, so there's no way to channel the spirit either."
Dunn looked toward Frye.
The cold-tempered "Corpse Collector" said without a trace of emotion, "All of the deceased's internal organs were removed, but the direct cause of death should be the gunshot wound to the head."
"Gunshot wound? Can you determine what type of gun was used?"
"The police are searching the area for shell casings, but haven't found any yet."
Go ahead and search. It'll be a miracle if you find anything, since I collected all the casings.
Silas chuckled inwardly. This feeling of scheming against his own people was actually rather interesting.
"Also, the killer probably wasn't very familiar with human anatomy. From the wounds on the corpse, you can tell that when he removed the internal organs, his technique was quite clumsy."
Frye said.
Hearing this, the corner of Silas's mouth twitched involuntarily.
Heh, no dissection experience and whatnot, really sorry about that!
After listening to both their reports, Dunn nodded and reached out to grasp the white cloth, slowly lifting it.
As Mrs. Sharon's corpse was exposed to the air, the stench of decay grew even stronger.
The corpse odor was so overwhelming that Silas could barely breathe, even feeling somewhat nauseous.
Just as Silas was suffering, Frye brought a square pewter-colored flask to his nose.
After removing the cap, it gave off a mixture of mint leaves, tobacco, disinfectant, and other things, a strongly stimulating yet refreshing scent that immediately made his breathing much easier.
"Thanks."
Silas said to Frye. For helping him out, he'd forgive him for calling his dissection technique clumsy.
"You'll get used to it."
Frye only nodded coldly, putting the pewter flask back in his pocket.
Silas steadied his breathing and returned to stand before the corpse.
Good afternoon, Mrs. Sharon. Haven't seen you in a while, but you're looking as lovely as ever.
Full of dark humor, Silas greeted the corpse in his heart.
He saw that Mrs. Sharon's body had turned pale from soaking.
Because the weather was still quite hot, the corpse was decomposing rapidly.
Add to that the fact that he had opened up her chest and abdomen and blown open her skull with a bullet, and the upper body was already a complete mess.
Only the expensive dress she wore could prove the originally noble status of its owner.
"Well? Have you discovered anything?"
Noticing Silas's gaze, Dunn spoke up. The other two also looked over, their eyes carrying a certain expectation.
With divination, channeling, and on-site investigation all proving ineffective, Silas was their last hope.
Unfortunately, the one they were relying on was the very perpetrator of the case.
"I see traces of extraordinary power on the corpse."
Silas deliberately furrowed his brow, putting on a pained expression. "Her flesh and blood carry an aura of corruption and madness... It seems to come from the Secrets Suppliant sequence."
Sure enough, when he said this, all three men's expressions grew grave.
"The Aurora Order?"
Dunn said in a heavy voice.
"I can only say it's very likely."
Silas pointed to the marks on the wounds. "There are traces of flesh magic on the body. I know this kind of ritual. The killer probably used it to extract the internal organs."
What he said was completely accurate; he just concealed part of the truth.
For instance, the person who used the flesh ritual was himself.
The three were silent for a moment. Klein said quietly, "When I tried to divine just now, I was interfered with by invisible ravings and didn't discover anything."
His statement further confirmed Silas's words.
Dunn took a deep breath, his voice slightly cold:
"...It hasn't been that long, and the Aurora Order's forces have already returned to Tingen.
I really hope we can find their trail soon and root them out completely."
That's right, it was all done by those lunatics from the Aurora Order!
Silas thought to himself.
"But why, Mrs. Sharon? And why remove her internal organs?"
After his moment of emotion, Dunn thought of the key questions.
"Regarding that point, I actually have a theory."
Silas said. "Besides the aura of madness, I also sensed an aura similar to Trissy's on her corpse."
"You're saying there was also a Witch among those who killed her?"
"No, what I mean is that she herself was very likely a Witch."