City Lord Jackson was a leader who stayed close to the common folk and cared deeply about agricultural production. In his youth, he frequently toured the farmlands and ranches outside the city, including the farm owned by old Sven's family.
The old ghoul's wife had just passed away at the time, leaving him to care for a son and daughter on his late wife's farm. What did a ghoul know about farming? Clumsy and hopeless with soil and crops, it was only thanks to the city lord personally offering guidance that the farm didn't suffer a total crop failure that year.
From then on, the two sides became acquainted. The city lord never realized the true nature of the Sven family, viewing them simply as familiar commoners.
Later, Stephen Sven left the city alongside her teacher, the arcanist Leonardo. When she returned years later, the city lord surprisingly still recognized her. Knowing she was an arcanist and an old acquaintance, he took good care of her—so much so that even the knights of the city defense force held her in high regard.
“That's why I didn't want to believe Jackson was up to no good, but I won't hold back on his account either,” Dr. Sven sighed. “Nick's corpse is indeed gone, which leaves me no choice but to suspect him. Do you really think he did something this mad just to resurrect his dead son?”
Movies and TV shows from my past life have already explored every conceivable trope, so don't mind if I borrow from them, creators of the world.
Lynch sighed and said solemnly, “That's my guess, or at least it's related. What's more... whoever is behind this is probably close to pulling it off.”
“Indeed,” Miss Diana agreed. “If his goal was to resurrect his child, he wouldn't use the boy's body as a test subject. On the contrary, he would hide his true intentions at all costs. And the best way to hide it would be to keep the body right where it belongs, avoiding all this hassle. Taking the risk of being discovered to dig up the corpse means they are finally ready to carry it out.”
“Then we need to move faster,” Dr. Sven said. “We'll stick to what we discussed yesterday and approach this from two angles. On the mastermind's side, since the city lord is the primary suspect, we'll focus on him for now. Meanwhile, the core factor behind this ghoul disease really is a headache...”
“Wait,” Lynch raised a hand to interrupt her. “Since that culprit probably dug up the city lord's son, can't you track them by scent?”
Dr. Sven shot Lynch a sidelong glance, grumbling in dissatisfaction, “Why do I feel like there's a heavy dose of offense packed into that question?”
“No, no, absolutely not. You're just imagining things,” Lynch laughed dryly. “Aren't you sensitive to scents? You could even smell things from half a month ago.”
“That's true, but my own scent interferes too much, making it nearly impossible to track him.” Dr. Sven frowned in silence for a moment. “If we can't find the ghoul, finding the source that triggered all this works just as well.”
“What do you mean?”
“How this all started,” Dr. Sven explained. “If it was poison, we need to find the venom. If it was a curse, we need to find the hex. If it was a ritual, we need to find the procedure...”
Miss Diana looked enlightened. “The information regarding the core factor is usually embedded within the source, isn't it? Still, that's not much easier than finding our ghoul friend—at least he's a conspicuous target.”
“Which is why I didn't mention it earlier.” Dr. Sven nodded. “As for the core factor, I'll see if I can find a way through Leonard and those four afflicted soldiers. And as for Jackson...”
Saying so, she cast a meaningful glance at Steward Locke and the servants, who were diligently patrolling the grounds.
Lynch asked thoughtfully, “You know him?”
“Of course.”
“Then there's no harm in asking him. We just need a good pretext so they don't suspect anything.” Lynch muttered with the three ladies for a moment before asking, “Those travelers killed by ghouls earlier—didn't Terry say they were buried here?”
“Yes, right over there.” The doctor's eyes lit up. “That's a great excuse.”
Miss Diana added, “And asking him directly will make it seem like we don't suspect them at all.”
“Let's go together,” Lynch said. “It's probably no secret in town that we've been accompanying you anyway. No need to hide it.”
After discussing it a bit longer, the five walked briskly out from behind the trees in high spirits, as if they had merely strolled along the city walls, and made their way toward the cemetery.
“Halt! Who are you, and what are you doing here?” A patrolling townsman intercepted them at once. “Are you ghoul spies? Let me tell you, we're experts at spotting ghouls. One look and we'll see right through you!”
“Aba, aba.”
Since Lynch couldn't understand the local dialect anyway, he simply played dumb. The man immediately spotted Dr. Sven, however, and broke into a grin. “Good morning, Ms. Sven! Ah, so you're the one leading them. I thought they were ghouls.”
“Don't worry, none of them are ghouls. They're travelers, old friends who came to visit me, only to get caught in the city's troubles.” Dr. Sven kept her usual fierce, scowling expression. “What are you all doing here? You aren't taking advantage of the mess to rob graves, are you? Hmm? Ah, Steward Locke, you're here too? What's going on?”
“The city lord cares deeply for our people, so he sent us to guard everyone's ancestors against desecration by those damned monsters.” The middle-aged steward motioned for the patrollers to get back to work and pulled the five aside. “Fortunately, the ghouls shouldn't dare venture this close to the city. What brings you here...? Oh, those dead travelers? They're right over there. I'll have the men dig them up for you; don't dirty your own hands.”
“Mm, thank you. But why did Jackson suddenly think of the cemetery? Wasn't everything normal the day before yesterday?”
“To tell you the truth, Lord Jackson made this decision on a whim,” the steward whispered after ensuring nobody was listening. “Yesterday, Lord Jackson was missing the young master. Looking at his portrait, he suddenly remembered the young master's grave and grew worried those damned monsters might disturb it. So he made up an excuse to rally folks to patrol the area. Sigh, the young master's death was far too devastating a blow to his lordship. Just a few days ago, he finally seemed to have walked out of the shadow, deciding to put the past behind him. He even had someone move all the young master's belongings into the basement and lock them away, only to be reminded of it all over again yesterday.”
Hm?
Lynch's eyes flashed as he listened. This was likely the real reason why the four South Gate soldiers had abandoned their posts. And... moving the relics to the basement? That hardly sounded like someone trying to forget the past.
Mulling it over, Lynch whispered to the three ladies beside him, “Do you think he's telling the truth?”
“Yes, quite obviously, unless he's received specialized training,” Miss Diana replied without hesitation. “I'm afraid he really is just an errand boy who knows nothing.”
“Then that locked basement is prime real estate for an investigation. I think we should sneak inside if we get the chance...”
“We've dug them up!”
A cheer from the side interrupted the quartet's whispered scheming as the travelers saw the light of day once more.
Lynch's mouth twitched. Corpses that had been buried for days were terrible for the appetite, and he had no desire for an up-close inspection—what if one of them woke up with a morning temper like Natalie? But since he had come up with the excuse himself, he had to see it through, tears and all. The group could only trail after Dr. Sven toward the bodies.
All of them were stripped bare, covered in shocking, gaping wounds just like Kemitt. The laborers working nearby cursed the ghouls' cruelty with bitter hatred, while Dr. Sven focused intently on prodding and turning the corpses using a patroller's weapon. She didn't find them revolting in the slightest; in fact, she even seemed to feel a bit hungry.
Standing beside her, Lynch wore a professional air, nodding along as though inspecting them thoroughly. Yet as he watched, he suddenly noticed an issue. Grabbing Dr. Sven, he pulled her aside and asked in a hushed whisper:
“Who performed the autopsies on the bodies?”
“I examined two of them. Why?”
“Do you people not have a habit of dissecting the body during an autopsy around here?”
“Huh? Why would we dissect them?”
“I have a suggestion. Leonard, Kemitt, the four South Gate guards, and these bodies that were likely used as test subjects—perhaps we should perform dissections on them.” Lynch glanced back at the rotting corpses, inwardly lamenting how unprofessional post-mortem examinations were in this era. “Check their stomach contents. Maybe what we're looking for is right inside.”
“The source?”
“It's possible.”
Rate on N.U.
