Witch, Fireball and Steam Evil God

Chapter 332 The Truth is Hidden in the Book

That night, the people of Dark Furnace City were in a state of panic. The news of Sheriff Shu Jia's murder in the manor spread like wildfire throughout the city. At midnight, there were hardly any people on the streets. The police officers patrolled in groups of five, but their actual patrol range was limited to the main roads of Dark Furnace City. They dared not venture into the deserted alleys.

"Controlling ghouls..."

Ethan sat in the Darkhearth Library, carefully browsing through "100 Dark Creatures" and other occult books related to ghouls. The Darkhearth Library's collection was much richer than that of Riverwood, containing not only bestsellers like those by the legendary Witcher Augustus, but also many other related series.

Perhaps due to the frequent famines in the early years, ghoul culture was very popular in Darkhearth, and in addition to research books, there were also many literary books.

The ethical issues arising from family members turning into ghouls have even led to novels where a nobleman, after witnessing his children transform into ghouls, refuses to kill them and instead raises them in his basement, feeding them with corpses, animals, and even living people.

Ethan read with great interest; the alienation of ghouls was indeed suitable for ethical artistic creation.

The author is a renowned anonymous gentleman.

This is understandable, after all, the nobleman who secretly raises ghouls in the novel's plot is implicated, and leaving his name might lead to persecution—especially a few years ago, if you were labeled as "engaged in the study of evil gods," you would be burned at the stake by the church.

The title of the book, "Tales of Darkhearth," is rather obscure, and the opening chapters devote a large portion to describing the local customs and culture of Darkhearth. Unless one has read the entire book, it would be difficult to associate this novel with ghouls. Ethan noticed this book because someone had placed it in the ghoul section of the occult bookshelf beforehand.

In terms of detailed book classification, the Dark Furnace City Library even surpasses the Imperial Capital. It is so meticulous that it subdivides occult books into categories such as "vampires," "werewolfs," and "shapeshifters," greatly saving visitors the time spent searching for books.

A very good library.

The only thing that Ethan found lacking was that he could feel a strong gaze from time to time while he was reading the novel. The gaze came from the librarian, an old man who looked to be in his early fifties, which was considered quite old in Darkforge City.

The elderly librarian always stared at him with deep eyes, and to make matters worse, he looked exactly like the librarian from the Conan Library Murder Case. Coupled with the gas lamps placed in front of the counter, looking up suddenly gave him a rather scary movie vibe.

Tonight, Ethan truly understood the meaning of the phrase "fear stems from the unknown."

If the old man suddenly pulled out a knife, revealed a bloodthirsty smile, and charged at him, or if he convulsed and grinned to reveal a mouthful of sharp fangs that were not human, then the situation wouldn't be so terrifying.

But the old man just stood behind the counter, looking at him intently.

“Sir, you can really go home. I’m not a thief. The police officers at the local police station can vouch for me.”

After being startled when he looked up for the third time, Ethan had no choice but to bite the bullet and say something.

The old man's deep gaze severely distracted Ethan from his reading, making him wonder if he had come to the library so late at night that the old man, who had already closed for the night, had been called in at the last minute, causing the old man to give him a cold shoulder from the start. But that was only natural. Putting himself in the old man's shoes, Ethan thought that if he were suddenly called to the office to work overtime after getting off work and had to stay all night, his expression wouldn't be much better than the old man's.

The old man didn't say anything, he just silently shook his head.

This was the third time he had rejected Ethan.

"Do you have any targets? Don't worry, if anyone asks me tomorrow, I'll just say you spent the night in the library."

He still shook his head silently.

The silence already made Ethan feel that the atmosphere in the library was somewhat eerie; the expressionless old librarian, illuminated by the gaslight, seemed almost inhuman.

"If I were you, I wouldn't continue the investigation."

The old man's deep, weathered voice was the first thing he said to Ethan since they met.

"why?"

Ethan turned the book upside down on the table and asked the other person curiously.

“I warned him.”

The old man's cloudy eyes darted around a few times. He lowered his head and muttered to himself, his body trembling slightly as if he were experiencing great fear, "But you are all the same, you are all the same, you can't listen to advice."

"...You mean Mr. Fisher?"

The old man was startled, and his gaze toward him turned somewhat fierce, which seemed to be the only way he could dispel his fear.

Through the information provided by Ivy, Ethan learned about Fisher's relationship with the library. The first thing Fisher did after leaving the Truth Society and returning to his hometown was to renovate the library in Darkhearth. He valued education and used his connections with colleagues in the society to add many items to the library's collection. Ethan guessed that the library's detailed divisions were also Fisher's doing.

Initially, there was no school in Darkhearth, and Fisher was not from a wealthy family. He lived in the commoners' area of ​​Darkhearth and had an apartment of less than 100 square meters. Unable to convert his apartment into a classroom, he brought his students to the Darkhearth library for classes. His actions once attracted the attention of the Duke of Belamore, who generously sponsored Fisher with a classroom, so that his students finally had a decent classroom.

"Grand Duke Bellamor's Charitable Donation" - This event even made the headlines of the Darkhearth Daily. The black and white photo shows him and Grand Duke Fisher standing in front of a school, with photos of the school's students behind them.

"And that woman, I warned her too..." After hearing Fisher's name, the old man became somewhat neurotic, and it was not hard to see that the former's death had left an indelible psychological shadow on him.

This further complicated matters, as Fisher was murdered while investigating a case.

If we include the missing Ms. Valerie, the number of people who have met with misfortune has reached four, including a fourth-order follower of the God of Truth! This is definitely not the kind of casualties that could be caused by a ghoul case. In any adventurer's guild, even a case involving a group of ghouls would only be defined as an E-rank request, which means that any adventurer or hunter is qualified to accept such a request.

Things like ghouls infiltrating the Darkhearth sheriff's manor, attacking it, and then devouring it usually only happen in ghost stories people make up.

The case does involve ghouls, but Ethan always felt that the ghouls they were facing were not the same species as the low-level dark creatures mentioned in "100 Dark Creatures to Know".

Perhaps ghouls can also evolve?
Ethan had this thought, but right now, he had something more important to confirm: "Are you talking about a woman who looks to be in her early thirties, with long brown hair, and wearing a brown trench coat?"

This is Ivy's description of Ms. Valerie. Although she is over forty years old, she has mastered the art of preserving her youth and always looks like she is in her early thirties.

“I told her to go back; I’ve already warned her.”

"What warning did you give her?"

"Go back, go back, go back!"

The old man became increasingly agitated, shouting, "You go back too!"

"Sir, please calm down."

Clearly, given the old man's current mental state, it was not suitable to conduct more detailed questioning. Ethan was not a real Sherlock Holmes and could not keenly deduce what the old man had experienced from his clothes, demeanor, or the calluses on his hands. Therefore, as a novice detective, he could only resort to some clumsy methods.

His words, accompanied by flashing arcs of electricity, reached the old man's mind, and under the influence of the arcs, the old man's emotions gradually calmed down.

Ethan got the answer he wanted.

Same time, same scene, same location.

One year ago, the old librarian was greeted by an unexpected guest in the middle of the night. She asked him to open the library door in the dead of night, in a tone that left no room for refusal.

That's mind control magic used by believers of the God of Truth.

Of course, this is how laymen like Ethan address it. Ivy dislikes this name, believing it to be a stigmatization of the followers of the God of Truth. Although the effect is very similar to a magician's mind control, the followers of the God of Truth achieve their desired results by persuading others with their extensive knowledge and eloquent speech.

Ethan slowly closed his eyes. In the fragments of memory brought by the electric arc, he became the librarian. That night, Valerie sat in the same spot as he was now, with books about ghouls piled up on the table. However, his vision could only be described as blurry. The old man's eyesight was very poor, but he wasn't wearing glasses. At this distance, he couldn't see which books Ms. Valerie had been looking at.

Or perhaps the old man simply didn't want to know; he just wanted Valerie to leave Darkhearth, just as he had advised Fisher.

However, neither of them adopted his advice, so he could only watch helplessly as they walked step by step into the abyss.

And the starting point of all this...

It all started with a missing person case.

One of the students in the academy has gone missing.

She left school at the usual time and left the school at the usual time. The last time she was seen was at a hotel near the post office, and then she disappeared without a trace.

But this would have been perfectly normal a year ago. Perhaps the student encountered robbers on his way home, or perhaps he left Darkforge City because he was playing around.

The Grand Duke of Belamore was deeply saddened upon learning of the incident. He visited the families of the missing students and provided them with a sum of money as compensation.

The student's family was very satisfied with the compensation and voluntarily gave up any further investigation.

Life goes on; the key is what will happen tomorrow.

The Grand Duke of Belamore spoke these words to the father of the missing student, his eyes filled with sorrow.

Everyone will soon forget about it, except for Fisher.

He needs to know the specific time, place, and reason.

He needs to know what exactly happened on the night his student went missing.

(End of this chapter)