Chapter 79: The Price To Pay For Volta's Life

"It is truly regrettable."

"How can someone commit such a crime?"

Outside Hernu's house, the Mage Tribunal Judges expressed grief as they exited. The two people accompanying me as escorts frowned at the sight of the corpse, as if it was their first time seeing such a thing.

"...."

Yet, even as their gazes subtly turned towards me, there was a sense of anticipation, perhaps they hoped I had noticed something.

After a moment of contemplation, I asked the two instead what they noticed from that sight.

"The corpse is preserved in different states."

The Judge, named Thema, with a rather longish chin, responded.

Both individuals, too, should possess some knowledge in this field, given their positions as executioners.

"That's right. Based on the condition of the body and the maggots found writhing in it, the progression starts from the torso, then to the left hand, right hand, left leg, and finally the right leg."

Judge Doven, with a mole on the corner of his mouth, nodded in agreement with Thema's opinion.

Indeed, I shared the same thoughts with Thema and Doven's opinions.

"I sensed black magic... from the corpse. Someone intentionally used magic to preserve them this way."

This was not an incident caused by evil spirits.

I realized this as soon as I saw the corpse.

At first, it seemed like the work of evil spirits. However, in this case, it is more suitable to say that someone deliberately staged it to appear as if evil spirits were responsible for this.

The reason I came here in the first place was because of the concern that evil spirits might be affecting the entire kingdom.

However, this was not the case now that I had personally witnessed it.

Someone had orchestrated these odd phenomena, making it appear as if evil spirits were responsible for these events.

Why?

I was deep in thought, but I had to stop pondering further; the two Judges who came with me were cautiously observing my reaction due to my status as a dark mage.

I wasn't sure how to react since this type of incident would not benefit me.

In fact, the people's opinions against dark mages would undoubtedly deteriorate significantly if this incident became widely known.

Although I had instilled the perception that I was different from ordinary dark mages by being capable of using Holy Power, I wasn't entirely free from scrutiny.

"For now, it would be wise to investigate anything related to the victim, Volta, among Fernan's residents."

After suggesting to meet again in this location in an hour, the two Judges saluted and swiftly began moving.

Perhaps because I managed to defeat Mage Tribunal Judge Tyren in the past, these Judges seemed to harbor a strange fear towards me.

I entered the house again.

Without having a proper meal, Hernu, the mother, hastily shoved something resembling a hulled foxtail millet into her mouth.

Thinking that I should offer her something to eat later, I went to check Volta's corpse without her notice, which was lying in the garbage dump-like front yard.

The corpse's state of decomposition varied as the torso and limbs were preserved differently.

Despite the somewhat bizarre behavior, the most important thing was...

The head isn't here.

Where exactly did the head fall off from the torso?

Also, there was another thing.

There is no soul either.

Even with the use of Lemegeton, I still couldn't detect any sign of a resting soul inside the body.

If he were to become an evil spirit, his soul would have lingered near his body, as it had not been long since his death.

In this case, it was one of two things.

Either Volta's soul had undergone complete annihilation.

Or.

He's still alive.

This case had too many disturbing details.

Why did the culprit cast such a complex spell on the corpse?

Why did the culprit cut off Volta's body and place each part in four separate directions within Griffin Kingdom?

I came here thinking it was simply an evil spirit problem, but it turned out to be the work of a dark mage.

A feeling of unease settled in.

It felt as if I was standing in someone's shadow, sending a chill softly brushing against the nape of my neck.

"What are you doing?"

Just then, Volta's mother, Hernu, leaned her head out from my side.

She, who had just been chewing on hulled foxtail millet, now fixedly stared at me with something smeared around her mouth.

I didn't think much about the strangely different atmosphere just a moment ago and just decided to ask.

"What kind of person was Volta, your son?"

In response to my question, Hernu slightly lowered her head and replied.

"I can't lie and say he was a good boy. He hung out with the local ruffians, robbed and beat up people, stole ships, and did all kinds of misdeeds."

"...."

"That's why the people in this village didn't mourn Volta's death much. Rather, they were relieved that troublemakers like him had met a cruel demise; all his gang members had even fled."

Hernu grabbed my hand firmly, her eyes welled with tears.

"My son may have been a scoundrel, but he didn't do anything too evil to deserve to die like this! Even the Goddess is indifferent toward us!"

Her voice trembled and droplets of tears fell from her eyes. The old woman's hand seemed as though it could lose strength at any moment.

"Please make sure to catch the person who made my son like this."

"...Understood."

With those words, I completely walked out of the house and yard as there was no need for me to stay any longer.

I briefly checked the wandering souls around, but most were harmless to humans and would naturally find rest after some time.

An hour later.

Thema and Doven returned. They both had strange expressions, and the information they brought to me was similar.

It was nothing but criticisms about Volta.

"He had bad habits. It wasn't just stealing, but he had been caught doing robberies too."

"He was also always going around with the ruffians and beating people. They even say that you shouldn't come out to the village if you heard Volta's voice outside at night."

"There were many incidents regarding him, and, in fact, he had been taken to the guards many times. However, every time, Volta's elderly mother would come and kneel down, apologizing."

"Volta's father had a similar personality; he was an alcoholic. One late night, he fell and hit his head on a stone and died."

"There are no other traces of black magic found within the village. It seems like it will be a more challenging case than we thought."

As experts in handling dark mages, the two quickly explained the current situation cool-headedly.

I subtly looked up at the sky after commending the two in gathering this neat and extensive information.

The day had somehow darkened with the clouds covering the sky, suggesting an impending rain.

The fishermen's fishing boats were already docked and their nets were collected. They had left early, and now they were gathered in the village tavern, making a lively commotion.

"What do you two think is the most important aspect of this case?"

In response to my question, Thema, with a rather longish chin, promptly replied as if he had been waiting.

"I think the focus should be the preservation of the corpse. It's not just a simple murder, but they also set up a unique measure."

Although he answered that, it seemed like he couldn't understand the reasoning behind it.

This time, Doven, who had a mole on the corner of his mouth and was standing beside Thema, offered a different opinion.

"The corpse was spread in all directions—north, south, east, and west. So, personally, I speculate that it might be some kind of magic circle spreading across the entire kingdom."

If we took Doven's opinion into account, the scale of this case seemed to be larger than we initially anticipated. Magic circles that used corpses were usually related to summoning magic.

The one summoned by it might not just be someone who was trying to turn into a demon like the Evil Ghost Griffin, but rather a real demon.

Both opinions were reasonable in their own ways. However, if we wanted to nitpick, there were some parts where their opinions were not convincing enough.

I discreetly glanced at the Dark Spiritualist. She had been scanning around without even saying a word, and when our eyes met, she let out a faint sigh.

[Hmm, in my opinion, the problem seems to lie in this excessively unique situation in and of itself.]

I nodded in agreement with her words.

"It's overly violent and flashy. However, there is no substance."

Different times of death for each part of the corpse?

It might appear impressive, but it didn't seem too challenging if it wasn't caused by an evil spirit but rather by a dark mage.

The corpse's body parts scattered in all directions?

If it was a person doing it, moving those wouldn't be difficult at all.

Just as Doven had said before, it could be for a magic circle to summon a demon.

But when we looked at it from another perspective, if the culprit really wanted to create a magic circle encompassing the entire Griffin Kingdom, would it be activated with just a single corpse?

Frankly speaking, it seemed like the materials needed for it were greatly insufficient.

So, in my opinion, the culprit of this case only wanted one thing.

"They deliberately made the incident flashy, probably to call someone out."

A dark mage.

My guess was that the so-called Cadavermancer was calling for me.

Considering the timing of the incident, it happened right after I was appointed as a Soul Whisperer, which made even more sense.

"Are you referring to yourself, Soul Whisperer?"

"Hmm."

Both of them wore skeptical expressions, but I was almost sure of it.

I had information from the game that they didn't know about.

The content became increasingly hard to understand as the game progressed into the later stages.

In fact, the setting of the dead souls accumulating on the continent wasn't something I discovered as a Necromancer.

It was because the game had an episode based on this related information.

Griffin Kingdom had been fiercely hostile to dark mages.

However, upon looking at it another way, it had become an excellent hiding place for skilled dark mages because the citizens of Griffin were ill-informed of everything about black magic; the Evil Ghost Griffin had blocked everything about this branch of magic from its source.

I glanced at the Dark Spiritualist.

There was her, for instance—she was a Necromancer who had been secretly conducting her research in the Griffin Kingdom.

Anyway, in the game, there was a dark mage organization, Dante, living in the sewers beneath the Griffin Kingdom.

Dante is involved here.

They considered themselves to be reasonable dark mages, according to their own words. And as a result, they never drew the attention of the Mage Tribunal Judges, nor did they cause significant harm to people.

Unlike selfish dark mages, they believed that to attain all knowledge and learning, one had to pay a price.

Therefore, they didn't casually kill people. Even if they did, they would pay the price for that value.

But if that was really the case...

I slightly turned my head and looked at Hernu's house.

I had an idea of who might have received payment for Volta's life.