From Hogwarts to Strixhaven.

Chapter 493 Mutilated Corpses
“Father Logan was a truly good man, he didn’t deserve such a…disgraceful end…” Karak complained. “We must find the murderer, that dwarf in red!”

The dead are much more honest than the living.

Although Father Logan's body had one hand cut off, it was not so badly damaged that he was unable to answer questions.

According to the deceased's own account, he was killed in the cellar of the Temple of Mercy while helping the refugee Brig to evade the pursuit of Flame Fist.

The murderer was a dwarf wearing red leather armor.

The method of the crime was the same as that of Duke Belina Steme, who was assassinated at the Elf Song Tavern. First, a paralyzing poison was used to deprive the victim of the ability to move, and then their hands were cut off to cause them to bleed to death.

The investigators not only dug up Father Logan's body for their own use, but they also turned the entire temple upside down.

In the dormitory of the clergy of the Temple of Compassion, the adventurers found Father Logan's bed.

Meanwhile, in the box belonging to him by the bedside, Xie Nian, with his keen senses, noticed a confession hidden in a compartment.

True to his title as the God of Suffering in Ilmet, Father Logan persisted in helping refugees who fled to Livington despite the pursuit and expulsion by Flame Fist and the City Council, even hiding them in the cellar beneath the temple.

Karak was so indignant because he had read his confession.

Now that we know the location of the murder, how can we not go and investigate it on site?

After all, no one in the entire Temple of Compassion had ever mentioned a pattern resembling a cult emblem.

In the murder case of the Song of the Elves, the murderer used the victim's blood to carefully carve a symbol belonging to the Supreme God on the floor.

Now, adventurers are venturing underground in search of cult symbols found at the crime scene.

In addition to serving as a wine cellar and storage room, the cellar below the kitchen also connects to a small chapel.

Long benches with candles and incense were scattered throughout the stone room, while Ecclesiastes belonging to Ilmet sat on the pulpit.

What clashes with the sacred and solemn religious atmosphere are the pools of blood on the ground that are not yet completely dry.

This appears to be the scene of Father Logan and refugee Brig's murder.

"What are your thoughts, Jashira?" Ivy's gaze followed the high-ranking harpist's movements, circling the square chapel.

“Strange,” the astute harpist shared his insight. “The square room has separate doors on three walls, used to store supplies, scrolls and books, and the sarcophagus of the clergy. Why would only the last wall be left open?”

As Jahira said, in addition to the storeroom where Ivy and the others came in, the small chapel was connected to two other rooms.

Behind the pulpit, between the two statues, is an empty wall.

“Empty.” The evil thought tapped with its prosthetic arm. Unlike the dull thud of solidity, the sound coming from behind the stone wall was crisper. “But I couldn’t find the keyhole…”

She shifted her gaze to Ivy. Now all her teammates knew that Ivy was extremely skilled in earth magic; making a hole in a stone wall was incredibly easy for her.

“No.” Ivy shook her head and refused. “This is the temple of Ilmet. Even if it’s to find out the truth about the death of the clergy, smashing down the wall would be too blasphemous. But since it’s a secret passage, there must be some mechanism. Let’s look for it carefully.”

"It's a badge!" After circling the chapel a few times, Karak's head lit up with a few sparks, like a detective suddenly struck by inspiration. "Father Logan often mentions badges in his confession. Maybe besides Brig, he's hiding other refugees underground!"

"Yay!" Sure enough, there were buttons under the two Ilmet badges facing each other. Seeing the stone door on the wall open, Karak couldn't help but pump her fist. She never thought that Karak would use her brain instead of her muscles to solve problems.

As the stone door opened, what rushed out was not the cool, damp air of the cave, but a strong, pungent smell of blood.

The adventurers realized that the situation was not simple; this was definitely not something that could be caused by the death of just one or two people.

Behind the chapel are caves hidden among the rocks. A few wooden structures indicate that people live here, but there is no noise in the caves. Apart from pools of blood on the ground, there is not a single corpse to be seen.

Following the trail of blood forward, the sound of a heavy object hitting the ground suddenly came.

Ivy's gaze pierced through the darkness, revealing what was happening.

There were several people cleaning up the scene.

They gathered all the bodies from the cave and piled them up in a large open space, complaining as they worked.

"Why are we always the ones doing this dirty work? Zom? That guy named Doro is certainly ambitious, but his methods are so crude! I can still smell the poison on his dagger. Did he drop his weapon?"

"Quiet! Rud! Get your job done! We have other places to go!"

After being reminded by their leader, the cultists responsible for cleaning up the corpses in the cave finally shut up and focused on their work.

Seeing that they were no longer willing to reveal information, Ivy, who was hiding on the other side of the cave, led her companions to make a sudden attack.

The cultists responsible for cleaning up the murder scene were few in number, but their races and forms were so varied that one couldn't help but suspect they were shapeshifters under Orin's command.

Indeed, this was the case. After Minsk, howling battle cries of "justice" and "buttocks," smashed several cultists into small pancakes, their skin and clothing immediately lost their vitality and turned into grayish-white slime.

Aside from a letter evaluating the murderer, the only other noteworthy item among these shapeshifting creatures is a strangely shaped key.

The key looked like a twisted flower, constantly oozing blood. "Olin is really a pervert." The evil thought covered his nose and surveyed the environment in the cave. Apart from the five corpses arranged in a special way, all the other refugees in the cave had also been brutally murdered.

According to information revealed by the shapeshifters, the red-clad dwarf murderer is named Doro, and is an assassin undergoing trials at the Murder Tribunal.

However, aside from killing and cutting off hands, all other tasks of setting up the crime scene were done by the shapeshifters.

“This is Baal’s emblem…” Jahira, standing on a high platform, stared at the corpse on the ground for a long time before coming to her conclusion.

“Pale skulls and blood swirling counter-clockwise… The pattern isn’t finished yet, but the corpses have indeed been arranged counter-clockwise…” Jashila gestured with his hands. “I suspect this isn’t just a murder, but more like some kind of organized ritual… using blood and death to appease their corrupt masters.”

After listening to Jashira's words, Ivy activated her arcane vision and observed the murder scene several times, but still couldn't find any magical aura.

“Whether it’s a sacrificial ritual or a magical ceremony, if it can truly summon some kind of power, it will definitely leave a trace…” Ivy said somewhat solemnly. Ever since he foresaw the clash of divine powers between Melkor and Losanda, he would not take anything related to gods lightly. “But I didn’t find any trace of special power here… Perhaps it’s because we disturbed the scene?”

“I hope it’s just my imagination…” Jasira shook her head. “At least we didn’t make a wasted trip; we learned the killer’s name is Doro, a dwarf in red. It’s a pity we don’t know his next target, so we can’t prevent the murder from happening in time…”

“Duke Sterme and Father Logan are both people who frequently appear in the public eye. If Dolo’s murder victim is some unknown nobody, our investigation will immediately hit a dead end.” Ivy was also a little worried. The fantasy Middle Ages is not like Earth in the 21st century, where cameras are everywhere. If we are unlucky and no one discovers the body, the investigation of the murder case will immediately come to a standstill.

“We can’t just run up to any red-clad dwarf and ask him if he’s the murderer, can we?” Ivy had previously considered using object location magic to track down the killer, but this spell has a limitation: the object must be something the caster is familiar with, or at least has seen once. If they want to find Duke Stemer’s or Father Logan’s hand, then Ivy would at least have seen them before they were alive.

"In any case, we should at least inform the clergy of the Temple of Compassion about these findings."

"what is this?"

Just as the adventurers were preparing to return to the surface, the evil spirit suddenly lifted a large piece from the pile of corpses.

It was something out of place in its surroundings, a chest that should belong to someone, but apart from the chest, the head, arms, and lower body were all gone. The colorful clothes remaining on the body parts looked as if they had been deliberately placed there to mock someone.

“Eek—” Yingxin, who was standing next to Ivy, took a half step back. “Please don’t sit next to me at dinner tonight, thank you.”

"Don't you think it's suspicious?" the evil thought asked. "We didn't see any mutilated bodies, did we? So this must be part of a victim!"

Even the high-ranking harpist Minsara had to admit that only the Son of Baal could understand his thought process. Although his evil thoughts weren't as insane as Orin's, she still understood Orin's purpose very easily.

"This is a challenge and a mockery of us!" the evil thought declared confidently. "I believe the owner of this body was definitely murdered in Livington, but Orin sent his men to scatter the body parts at various murder scenes. When we find all the body parts, that will be the moment we face Orin head-on!"

"Is it really necessary?" Although Ivy's lab was not lacking in blood and various tissue specimens, he did not accept this kind of ritualistic killing. Moreover, he hated following the enemy's lead, and Orin's actions were like dancing on his minefield.

He preferred to use magic or other means to deal with Orin.

However, in a city with many ordinary people, a shapeshifter that can change its appearance at any time obviously has a natural hidden advantage.

It's impossible for Ivy to use magic to raze Baldur's Gate to the ground just for the sake of Orin.

Therefore, despite their dissatisfaction with the inefficient plan, the adventure team eventually split into several smaller groups, each dispersing to conduct investigations in Livington.

There was still plenty of time before the curfew set by Flamefist and Iron Guard, and Livington was far enough away from the mastermind's hideout, so the squads had ample time to operate.

Before splitting up, Ivy and her companions even set up a secret code to prevent the possibility of the entire team being replaced by a shapeshifter.

The harpist's example is still fresh in our minds, so we must act with caution.

Since Ivy didn't really think it was a good idea to investigate the body parts in the hands of the evil spirits separately, this solo operation was more like a date with a third wheel for him and Yingxin.

“Gotash will be crowned in the High Hall.” Karak stared at the portrait next to the Doomsday Circus poster, then spat into the sewage. “Pah! The thought of the entire city falling into the hands of a fraudulent tyrant makes me furious!”

"Don't let people like this ruin your fun," Yingxin advised from the side. "We came for the circus, right?"

"You're so thoughtful, Little Shadow!" Karak's anger came and went quickly. "I never thought that heroism could spare half a day for fooling around! Let's go! I can't wait to see what fun things they have to do!"

The Doomsday Circus must have rented an abandoned manor. Amidst the overgrown vegetation, colorful tents were erected, and various torches and braziers burned with magical flames, reminding Ivy of the scenes at the Quidditch World Cup.

Wizards also set up numerous tents like this, filled with magical items from different cultural spheres around the world, amidst the shouts and curses of the crowd.

The doomsday circus's tent layout was clearly better than the wizards', and their customers were ordinary people who had never seen magic before, so they were more amazed and envious, and conflicts between customers and vendors were rare.

After passing a mummy tent selling mummy powder cosmetics, the three arrived at a stall belonging to a giant spirit.

"A spinning wheel game!" Karak exclaimed excitedly. "I've been wanting to try it for ages!"

The red-skinned giant immediately beckoned customers: "You have excellent taste, Ugly... cough cough. This is Akabby's Wheel of Miracles! Spin the wheel and win prizes beyond your wildest imagination!"

Giants are all elemental beings, but in reality, they are more like genies from mythology or spirits from Eastern European fantasy stories—large, legless creatures. Belts and armbands are their only adornments.

As the leader of the Spellcaster Clan, Ivy is identified as the Giant Spirit Clan Leader due to the origin of the [Supreme Spellcaster] magic, which is somewhat similar to the Qi Giant Spirit in front of him.

The impolite guy clearly noticed this too, and several times he coughed to stop the swear words that were about to slip out of his mouth.

(End of this chapter)