Witch, Fireball and Steam Evil God

Chapter 333, Fourteenth Day

Thus, the murdered Sheriff Shuga became connected to the case of Fisher's murder.

Shuga took over the student abduction case, which was just one of many unremarkable cases in his record as a sheriff, and could even be considered to have a satisfactory ending. Thanks to the Duke of Belamore's generous provision of compensation, the families of the missing students were satisfied with the outcome.

Everything came to a perfect end, except for Fisher, who was always meddling in other people's business.

After glimpsing the librarian's fragmented thoughts, Ethan pieced together many disjointed events. Then, he flipped through a dozen pages of "Tales of Darkhearth," where the previously seemingly meaningless background information about Darkhearth suddenly became meaningful.

Outwardly generous, but inwardly hypocritical nobles.

An arrogant and domineering sheriff who takes bribes.

The ignorant and easily deceived inhabitants of Darkhearth City.

Furthermore, there are even deeper secrets hidden within Darkforge City.

If the plot of the novel can be matched one-to-one with the real-life prototypes, then is the story in the book an artistic creation or real life? And the true identity of the "Anonymous" gentleman seems to be about to be revealed. As the person who called on the residents of Darkhearth City to rebuild the library, Fisher could naturally place such a book with "personal agenda" in the ghoul category of occult books without attracting attention.

It wasn't hidden very well, but the Duke of Belamore never had the habit of browsing books in the library. The sheriff and ignorant residents mentioned by the author wouldn't come to the library to read books, so even if it had been placed in the most conspicuous corner from the beginning, it would have been difficult for anyone to find it.

In fact, even a year later, with Julius's forces destroyed and Darkforge City thriving, the residents here still do not have the habit of coming to the library to read books, and with Fisher's death, the branch of the Society of Truth he opened in Darkforge City also came to an end.

Through the text of "The Tale of Darkhearth," Ethan can clearly feel Fisher's difficult situation at the time.

After the student went missing, he became the only person who cared about what had happened to the student that night. Even the student's family kept quiet after receiving a sum of money as compensation, and had no intention of pursuing the matter any further.

The third chapter of the novel mentions the disappearance case in Darkhearth City.

This was no accident. When the protagonist of the story—a detective who graduated from the Society of Truth—began his investigation, he discovered many striking similarities among the numerous disappearances in Darkhearth City.

Similar time and place.

The last time missing persons were seen was often near the post office.

Witness testimonies indicated that these individuals showed no abnormalities. If recent student disappearances are included, there have been as many as 28 disappearances with similar characteristics in the past three years. This means that almost every month, around nightfall, someone would disappear near the post office.

Unfortunately, the family of the student who went missing most recently was unwilling to cooperate with the detective's investigation. When he came to ask if the student had encountered any strange things recently, or mentioned being followed, or having a grudge against someone, the family thought the detective was meddling and kicked him out of the house.

The police station was equally unwilling to provide the detective with any clues, and as for that hypocritical nobleman? He would always put on a sorrowful expression and spout nonsense that was of no help to the case.

The detectives also failed to find any clues from the missing people. The missing people came from all walks of life and their ages and occupations were diverse. Most of them had never crossed paths with each other and it seemed that they had simply wandered into a special area at a special time and place.

The investigation at the post office also yielded no results. When the detectives went to great lengths to sneak into the post office's basement, they found it to be just an ordinary storage room.

"This resembles some kind of evil god ritual."

This passage is highlighted in the book.

The detective believes that usually only the practice of worshipping evil gods requires offering sacrifices to the evil god at a specific time and place in a fixed manner.

If you treat "Tales of Darkhearth" as a detective novel, it is undoubtedly a terrible work, because the protagonist accomplishes almost nothing in the process of investigating, and the novel is also abandoned. The author raises many doubts from the perspective of a detective, but abruptly ends when these doubts are resolved one by one.

The last date was April 14th.

This is the last clue the author left in the book.

The detective in the novel decides to test the correctness of his reasoning by risking his life on this special day.

Fisher's body was discovered by a caravan on the outskirts of the city on the morning of April 16, with multiple signs of being eaten.

This news saddened many people, but it also seemed to confirm that the detective's reasoning was correct.

Only those who know the truth will be silenced, and before his death, Mr. Fisher seems to have few ways to leave behind the truth he knows.

Thinking of this, Ethan suddenly paused.

He vaguely understood the hidden message in Ms. Valerie's letter.

August 5, early morning.

At the end of the letter, Valerie specifically noted the time the letter was sent, which was not in accordance with the usual imperial letter format; they would not specifically add a morning or evening note after the date.

In reality, no one really knew the exact time of Valerie's disappearance. For a long time, even the Grand Duke of Belamore and Sheriff Shuga believed that Valerie had returned to the capital after the investigation yielded no results.

"Does this library offer book lending? Or can I buy this book?" Ethan put the other books back on the shelves, but took "Tales of Darkhearth" to the counter. The librarian, who had calmed down, fell silent again and nodded without saying a word.

Ethan decided to tell Ivy, who was still at the Grand Duchy of Bellamore, about his discovery, but as he walked out of the library, he suddenly slowed down.

Prolonged exposure to smog can easily cause hallucinations. The moment Ethan stepped out of the library, he heard a voice coming from the depths of the fog.

The sounds seemed to be from children playing and laughing. If you listened carefully, you could also hear the sound of blacksmithing and other lively noises from the city. The sky outside also seemed to be bright. This illusion lasted for about three to four seconds before the scene on the street returned to normal.

The night grew deeper, and even the patrolling police officers had vanished. The entire city felt so desolate, as if he were the only person left.

At the same time, a vague restlessness arose within him.

Ethan quickened his pace and plunged into the fog.

Unlike the timid sheriffs, he was hoping a murderer or ghoul would jump out of the smog and attack him. However, his journey was surprisingly smooth. Even though he deliberately made his footsteps very clear, the ghoul hiding somewhere in the city did not take any interest in him.

It appears to be satiated from having recently devoured Sheriff Shuga and his pet monsters.

The lights were still on at the Grand Duke of Bellamor's estate, and to Ethan's surprise, he saw the anxious-looking Grand Duke of Bellamor as soon as he entered.

In an instant, the restlessness in my heart became unprecedentedly strong.

Grand Duke Bellamor lived a very comfortable life. He was somewhat overweight, but because of his love of hunting, he wasn't entirely covered in fat.

this means……

It should have a very chewy texture.

Ethan froze on the spot, unable to understand why such a thought had suddenly popped into his head, even changing his opinion of Duke Bellamor from a hypocritical nobleman to a delicious piece of meat.

Ethan quickly dismissed the wicked thought, and as he tried to find out where it came from, the restlessness in his heart vanished instantly.

He returned to the real world and noticed that, apart from Grand Duke Bellamor, the other maids were busy running around the manor, carrying basins of water and going in and out of Ivy's room. This gave Ethan a sense of foreboding.

"what happened?"

“It’s like this, Ivy seems to have caught a cold due to overwork and the long journey,” Grand Duke Bellamor said quickly. “Don’t worry, I’ve already invited the best doctor from Darkforge City, and the priests from the Church of Life have also come… Oh, I mean, they’re all hospital staff now. This is their diagnosis. Fortunately, Ivy’s illness isn’t serious; they said she’ll recover after a few days of rest.”

"I'll go see her."

Ethan went into Ivy's room.

At this moment, Ivy was wrapped tightly in the quilt, which outlined her petite body. The shape of the quilt was trembling slightly. There was a basin of water on the bedside table, and the maid came and went several times.

She has taken the medicine prescribed by the doctor, and now she should be getting a good night's sleep.

The doctor's diagnosis was quite reasonable. Ivy was a workaholic in the new cabinet, often working late into the night. Recently, she had been having sleepless nights because of the strange letters Valerie sent. Overall, Ivy's body was considered to be very resilient, but even an iron man can break down eventually.

"...Ethan?"

Ivy's faint calls could be heard from inside the blanket.

"I'm here."

Ethan walked around to stand in front of her. "I've made some progress on your teacher's and Mr. Fisher's case. You should rest well these next few days. I—"

When Ivy opened her eyes on the bed, Ethan's words came to an abrupt halt.

What came into view was a pair of bloodshot eyes; the whites of Ivy's eyes had turned completely blood red.

“I’m sick…” she curled up into a ball, “and I think the doctor’s diagnosis is wrong, this… isn’t a cold.”

The maid applied a towel to her face, but she still couldn't stop the cold sweat from seeping out. The blond hair on her head blended into her beautiful golden hair, as if it had entered a dormant state.

Ivy's sapphire blue pupils contrasted sharply with her bloodshot eyes.

“I’m very hungry, Ethan.”

She said, "I'm extremely hungry."

(End of this chapter)