Witch, Fireball and Steam Evil God

Chapter 330 The Ghoul of the Foggy City

In the evening, Ivy, carrying a thick stack of parchment books, knocked on Ethan's door.

Time seemed to have turned back to Riverwood a year ago, when she was still the sheriff of Riverwood. Whenever she encountered a difficult problem involving the occult, she would go to the Adventurers' Guild and knock on Ethan's door.

Seeing the gas lamp illuminating the table, Ivy smiled slightly.

"Ghouls, what do you know about them?"

"The most common dark creatures in the Empire, according to the book 'Take You to Understand 100 Dark Creatures,' are the product of humans cannibalism. The initial symptoms are mood swings, fear of light, and a surge in appetite. They begin to devour raw meat, and the smell of blood can easily drive them into madness."

Ethan blurted out.

This can be considered one of his insignificant talents after "transmigrating": any knowledge he reads will be firmly imprinted in his mind. It's a pity that this talent awakened too late; otherwise, if it were in his high school days, he would have been a genius in exam-oriented education.

Early symptoms mean there is still a possibility of recovery. "The ghoul virus is highly contagious. Those bitten or scratched by them will soon develop the same symptoms. The author of this book, the Witcher Augustus, once tried to tie up the infected with thick ropes when passing through a border village of the Empire and watered their bodies with holy water blessed by the Church of Life every day. Two of the infected recovered after a week of treatment."

A total of 10 people participated in the treatment.

Therefore, the cure rate is about 20%, and those who survive are all strong and healthy young people, and the wounds caused by the ghouls are not deep.

As for those ghouls that have already been completely transformed...

Augustus's advice in the book is that no matter how tragic their past, whether they became ghouls willingly or by depravity, giving them a quick release is the only thing that can be done.

The moment the transformation was complete, their humanity was stripped from their bodies, and they degenerated into monstrous aliens.

"You are as reliable as ever."

Ivy moved a chair over. Since returning to the capital, she hadn't investigated any cases for a while, busy with various work reports every day, and the skills she had learned from the Truth Society had become quite rusty.

“I found the Darkhearth Daily from a year ago.”

Ivy spent the entire afternoon running around Darkforge City. These days, it's not easy to find reports from a year ago, especially after Darkforge City experienced two upheavals, during which the newspaper suffered varying degrees of damage. Even a year after Mr. Julius's death, he could still cause Ivy a lot of trouble.

Simply put, a year ago, the Church of Darkhearth and the Imperial military industry were thriving, with so many corpses every day that they had to be transported by cart, and countless people went missing. Often, even the families of the missing no longer bothered to search for their whereabouts.

As for the ghoul attack incident, such a trivial matter is not worthy of being featured in the Darkhearth Daily.

As Ethan said, ghouls are monsters driven by hunger and devoid of humanity. But even if they were allowed to eat to their hearts' content, could the deaths and injuries they caused compare to those burned at the stake by the Church? Or the workers who died from overtime in the sweatshops of the Imperial military industry?
Back then, Darkforge was practically a ghoul's paradise. After reviewing reports from a year ago, she felt that the ghouls had no reason to attack the residents of Darkforge. They could eat the corpses being transported out of the city every day until they were too full to walk.

"Only one newspaper mentioned Ms. Valerie; she came because of Mr. Fisher."

"Mr. Fisher?"

“A teacher at the Truth Society, a good friend of Teacher Valerie, Darkforge was his hometown. After the Violet Commune incident, he was utterly disappointed with the Council of Seven at the time, resigned from his job at the Truth Society, and returned to Darkforge to teach... until one day, his body was found by a caravan in the suburbs in the early morning, with many signs of being eaten.”

The mysterious death of a follower of a third-order God of Truth in Darkforge City is the only news that made it into the Darkforge City Daily.

"Even if a follower of the third-order God of Truth is attacked by a group of ghouls, he can still escape alive."

Ethan immediately pointed out the suspicious points.

The book "Take You to Understand 100 Dark Creatures" defines ghouls as dark creatures that are close to Tier 1 or Tier 2. Although mutations give them powerful self-healing abilities and make them incredibly strong, they also deprive them of their intelligence, making them unable to think like humans.

The Witcher Augustus believed that as long as one understood the habits and weaknesses of these creatures, even an ordinary person could kill them, or at the very least escape safely from them.

The third stage is the watershed moment when each person's path enters the realm of the extraordinary. At this stage, they already possess power beyond that of ordinary people.

"Mr. Fisher's wife believed that the ghouls were a smokescreen used by the murderer and had reported this issue to the sheriff of Darkhearth City several times. However, the sheriff's final conclusion was that Mr. Fisher died from an attack by ghouls."

This is clearly a perfunctory excuse.

Those who can become sheriffs in a place like Dark Furnace City are all shrewd individuals; they know the outcome of investigating such cases.

"So, with nowhere else to turn, Mrs. Fisher could only send a letter to the Truth Society in the capital, hoping that the society could bring the real culprit to justice."

“This is at least a clue.” Ethan glanced at the sky outside the window. “It should still be in time to visit Mrs. Fisher.”

"...No need."

Ivy shook her head. "Mrs. Fisher had already disappeared before Ms. Valerie arrived."

The clues went cold, but this only confirmed Ivy's suspicions.

Some people do not want this case to be investigated further. Considering that Mr. Fisher was a traditional believer in the God of Truth, his mysterious death may have been caused by uncovering some secrets that he should not have known, thus bringing trouble upon himself.

"But no one can be sure of the exact time of Valerie's disappearance. The sheriff said that she visited the sheriff after arriving in Darkhearth and looked at the case files from them, and there has been no news of her since then."

A year ago in Darkforge City, disappearances were commonplace; similar incidents occurred daily. The deeper Ivy delved into the case, the more she sensed the undercurrents swirling within Darkforge City.

She lowered her head in thought, wondering if she were Ms. Valerie...

After arriving in Darkhearth and learning about the sheriff's attitude and Mrs. Fisher's mysterious disappearance, what will she do?

"Investigate all cases of ghoul attacks from a year ago, or any mysterious deaths that occurred in Darkhearth."

Ethan spoke her mind, “First, we need to find out what Mr. Fisher was investigating before he died.”

This surprised Ivy. "You have the potential to become a follower of the Truth Society."

In fact, she had thought so back in Riverwood. She had originally planned to take Ethan back to the capital, recommend him to study at the Truth Academy, and sponsor his tuition.

"It seems we'll have to trouble the sheriff again."

Ethan was certain that the sheriff of Darkhearth City would not be happy to see them.

This is definitely a troublesome thing for him.

"I'll go and negotiate with him this time."

After a satisfying meal, Ethan planned to take a stroll around Darkforge City. Before leaving, he declined Grand Duke Bellamor's offer to accompany him personally. He didn't want the entourage to look like an inspection by a superior, nor did he want to give the officials of Darkforge City a chance to exchange glances. He also concealed the purpose of his trip from Bellamor, only telling him that taking a walk after dinner was his habit.

Walking through the smog-shrouded alley, he dialed Winter's number.

The message from Winter arrived quickly via the communication shell.

"How is Darkforge City?"

"The smog pollution is severe; it's not advisable to stay here for long."

He then had a brief chat with Winter about the Fisher and ghoul case, in order to understand how Winter, once the Empire's most wanted criminal, viewed this special city.

“This city is unusual,” Winter said after a moment’s thought. “Dream Eclipse has never issued any requests involving this city.”

No one wanted to spend money to kill the Duke of Belamore, the High Priest, or the owner of the sweatshop.

Logically, cities like this should be the hardest hit by the commission.

"Now that you mention it, I do remember."

Winter said from the other end, “Dark Furnace City has church influence, the businesses of tycoon Flor, and the dark creatures and various murders and disappearances you mentioned... but there are no followers of evil gods there.”

It is a fertile ground for the breeding of followers of evil gods, yet not a single follower of evil gods can be found.

But Winter was not a believer in the God of Truth, and she did not have such a strong curiosity. If Ethan had not mentioned it on the phone, she would not have cared about the anomalies in Darkhearth City at all.

More than the ghouls and political legacies, she was worried about the smog pollution that Ethan mentioned.

You must wear a mask when you go out!

She gave a stern warning over the phone.

"Bring it."

Do you think I'm deaf?

Winter immediately exposed Ethan's lie. Ethan could easily imagine Winter's wide eyes and fierce expression on the other end of the phone, "That's not your voice when you're wearing a mask."

Ethan chuckled. "Okay, I'll go buy one in a bit."

“I have to check it every day.”

Winter wouldn't let it go, "Every time I catch you doing this, I'll put it on record. You'll be sorry when you get back!"

"Roger that!"

Before he knew it, Ethan had arrived downstairs at the police station. Thanks to Duke Bellamor's efforts, the place looked much quieter. Compared to the chaotic situation a year ago, the number of murders and missing persons in Darkhearth City had plummeted, and it was even in the "off-season" for cases. The police station staff could leisurely stay in the room, brew a cup of red tea, and spend the afternoon in peace.

"I've arrived."

"Boom~"

(End of this chapter)