414: || Chapter 403 || A Spark

|| Chapter 403 || A Spark

Moulin ducked under the short doorway. The dust teased his nose and pricked his eyes. Everything about the house was small and poorly tended. However, it was cleaner for it to be abandoned. The floorboards were cracked, but a faint sheen could be visible. The filthy rags in the cupboard were moist as though it was just recently used.

It seems it wasn't as abandoned as they thought.

The man led Moulin and the others towards the kitchen, where a huge window faced the tiny pond in the backyard. On the floor, beside the east wall, the floorboards were removed to reveal a human-sized hole. A dark, sturdy staircase gaped at them from below.

Moulin frowned. What was this for?

Without waiting, the silver-eyed youth descended the stairs. The others hastily followed him and their cautious expressions filled the narrow passageway.

Wooden boards creaked under their weight. It was strong enough to support all the heaviness, but it sounded as though it would snap in the next second. Nevertheless, the group successfully descended the stairs and found themselves walking towards a wide tunnel. They conjured a light in the pitch-black passage to see where they were going.

Suddenly, faint sounds were echoing in the distance. Wary, Moulin narrowed his eyes and pushed forward. With every step he took, the voices continued to grow louder.

"L-Let g-"

"-et away!"

"D-Demons! Demons!"

Flickers of light and shadows danced in the rough walls. Finally, Moulin and the men reached the end of the tunnel and stopped before a spacious room.

The area was filthy. Red paint scrawled the dark walls, and an acrid decaying smell lingered strongly in the air. Several chests were stacked in the corner of the room, along with some large wooden rods. But the most gruesome thing they set their eyes on was the giant spell circle painted dark red on the ground. The runes were horribly scribbled as though the caster was desperate to finish it.

A few sentinels had already arrived in the room and in their grip was the source of the manic voice they heard in tunnels. A plump woman littered with red stains screamed endlessly as she struggled against her captors. Her hair is heavily matted, and grime soiled her skin. A crazed look filled her face. She couldn't even tell if they were real.

"AAAH! I will haunt you! Foul beasts! Heavens curse you! Unhand me!!"

She spat at them and cursed as loud as the heavens could hear. Moulin's gaze sharpened.

This woman was precisely the same person who wanted to take away the half-blind aphrodite child Moulin was taking care of.

Her wild voice filled the entire room, rakishly scraping a layer of flesh in their ears. Amidst her screaming, Moulin squeezed out, "Search the room."

Heavy footsteps sounded throughout the area. The chests were yanked open, and the contents were poured out. Stacks of parchment paper fluttered in the ground, collected by meticulous hands. One of the two seers found strange tools within hidden pockets on the floor. The more time passed, the louder the woman yelled. They had no choice but to gag her until they finished the inspection.

"Does she look familiar to you?" Ghana walked to Moulin's side while glancing at the struggling crazy woman.

"Yes," Moulin replied. 'I knew there was something off about her.'

With raised brows, Ghana thoughtfully added. "I see. We'll bring her in for questioning."

A few hours later, the men brought in their discoveries.

"She was trying to summon something."

Ghana raised a brow, "A human unpossessing an internal core? Attempting to do magic?"

Moulin gazed at the restrained woman who had finally gone silent. "Whatever she was doing, she wasn't in her right mind. Have her examined. She could be manipulated."

"She was also attempting to use demonic energy, my lord."

Ghana and Moulin exchanged looks. It seems they were in

"You think there's another person involved?" Ghana questioned as she walked with Moulin towards the men collecting the information from the chests. She plucked one sheet from the thick stack of paper a sentinel presented to her.

Her blue eyes quietly skimmed the information before she scoffed. "Well, she's definitely colluding with those cultists."

The woman recently joined those diabolic worshippers. Predicated on these papers' notes, she had just involved herself with human trafficking and selling illegal medications. Perhaps, the boy Moulin had rescued may be one of her victims. She had been collecting little orphaned children for unknown reasons. The transactions she had made were bright and clear, scrawled on two sheets of documents. This could be submitted as evidence. Fortunately, it was found early.

"Take everything with us and seal the house. She was the only person, but there must be other rooms hidden around this area. Be cautious." Moulin finished. He carefully looked over the documents, imprinting them in his mind.

"You heard him." Ghana whistled and gestured for the others to transfer and record the evidence into their recording relics. While they busied themselves, the woman watched with bloodshot eyes.

The glow from the relics slowly illuminated the dim room as each sentinel activated its devices. They were no longer afraid of using mana openly within Helios, for they were under the protection of the White Forest. The Forest masked the flow of mana within with its suffocating haze of pure energy, poisonous to creatures beyond the abyss.

While the sentinels were completing their tasks, the seers began to conjure a barrier around the room, allowing no creature but sentinels to enter the area.

Suddenly, a loud crash interrupted the severe atmosphere, startling everyone.

Moulin hastily turned around and stopped. The woman had somehow freed herself from the two sentinels restraining her. Her bloodied fingers curled around a crooked rusty dagger, clumsily pointing at Moulin and the sentinels around her. Her loud, erratic breathing filled the silently tense room. She was shaking. Wrath and fear filled her gaze.

A maeruthan sentinel cautiously stepped forward, which triggered a vicious scream from the woman's mouth. She slashed the dagger around while slowly walking backward, trying to create more distance between her and her enemies. She'd rather die than be taken away!

When she reached the wall, she started to mutter incoherently. Her words were fast and shaky. It was almost impossible to understand them.

" Honestly..." Ghana rolled her eyes as clear water materialized around her arms." She's lost her mind."

" If she can talk, then that's all we need." Moulin narrowed his eyes. A frosty mist fluttered around his feet. 

The woman snarled, trembling as she pointed the dagger at them." I am not wrong! Y-You'll see. It will open your eyes! This filthy, devilish world... should be cleansed! CLEANSED! It's not poison. N-No..."

She shook her head, grabbing her hair with her other hand." A sacrifice for all that is good... F-For the good. A-A sacrifice... I-My blood. It's w-worthy."

" Restrain her," Ghana ordered. A frown decorated her fearless face. 

Guarded sentinels closed in on the woman while she was disoriented. Her muttering slowly quieted as they stepped closed, as though she was losing her breath. Then she was whispering to herself. The wondrous fantasies the spirits could offer her, choking it down her throat until she was gagging. 

The air shifted. 

Alarmed, Moulin raised his gaze." Wait-"

"AAAAHHHH!!" 

A wet splutter of red splashed on them. The burning scent of iron grew more potent within the room. 

Blood bursts from the woman's mouth. Her eyes rolled under her lids as she collapsed on the ground. With a clang, the dagger fell from her hand, spinning slightly on the floor. 

Ghana's yell slammed against the startled people, yanking them out of shock. The seer quickly jumped forward to examine the woman. Her body was quivering endlessly, which made it difficult for the seer to hold her still. 

When another sentinel noticed the dagger on the floor, he moved to pick it up. However, Moulin stopped him with serious eyes. The man stilled, confused. 

Moulin noticed a vague malevolent energy wafting from the dagger's blade. It seeped out from the object, dissipating into thin air. He lowered himself unhurriedly and enveloped the dagger in a layer of glistening ice. Pure mana fought with the energy inside, but after a few seconds of struggling, it overpowered the devilish mana. 

Moulin swiftly picked up the ice-wrapped dagger and stood up." Has she been hiding this before we came?"

" It seems so." Ghana curiously assessed the ice.

Nodding, Moulin tossed the ice to her before approaching the seer, examining the woman who had turned still as stone. Ghana clumsily caught the dagger before grudgingly but carefully handing it to the man behind her. 

" How is she?" Moulin asked the seer.

The seer furrowed her brows and raised her gaze to the white-haired youth behind her. With a sigh, she shook her head." No pulse. The dagger was infused with dark energy and triggered the curse planted inside her. I recognized this curse. It was commonly used to silence people. It killed her before she could be taken for questioning."

Ghana gnashed her teeth." They are quite prepared. How frustrating."

It was a loss. However, they need to bring the corpse for further examination. There was a high chance that the woman may not be the only victim possessing the curse. A solution must be created to counter these situations. 

Not long after, the group finally left the house. They sealed the entire lot and installed monitoring devices around the area. Small round orbs with a clay-like softness are embedded inside any structure or object within the vicinity. The gems inside them could alert the sentinels about anything unusual. 

Moulin glanced at the house one last time before he left with the others. This was just the beginning of their search. 2

The evening brought total darkness and freezing nightly winds. On his way to his master's abode, Erik wrapped himself tighter with his thin coat. He shivered, internally regretting his choices. He forgot how devastatingly colder it was in Helios than in Grekellia. 

His men hurriedly let him inside the building and led him to Hyantor's leisure rooms. Despondent and exhausted, Erik sighed wearily as he witnessed his master's utterly disheveled appearance. The Lord laughed as he carelessly sat on the couch, pouring himself some wine. His loose black robe did nothing to hide his shameless parts. Erik could only report the details of his findings in a slow dejected voice. 

" Interesting..." Fridal Hyantor hummed after swallowing the taste of good wine. The news only made him laxer. 

" My Lord, why do we involve ourselves in this matter?" Erik gave a beseeching look. 

" Why?" The older man cocked an eyebrow. He scoffed." Helios was such a boring and strict city. They have strong people and many weaker ones. Hadrian would have them kneeling on thorns if they were to disobey. What is more to look at?"

" I think it's wonderful..." Erik secretly refuted. 

" However... ever since we've arrived. Everything just seemed... how do you call it?" Hyantor tilted his head thoughtfully." Ah! Amusing."

" I see..." Erik frowned. He only wished to be done with everything they were here for so he could spend time with his dear tigress, Dira.

" Cultists in Helios?" Hyantor swirled the dark red liquid in his wine glass. A dark smile formed on his lips. 

" How interesting. Indeed."

...

Moulin could hear the pleasant chirps from his window. He had just finished writing his report about the investigation yesterday. Right now, he was now standing on the peacefulness of the balcony. Below, there was a wide garden facing a magnificent view of Helios's districts. On the grass, a particular snow-white furball was running around in circles.

Moulin:...

A wonderful scenery and the peaceful atmosphere were a place to clear one's mind. 

His eyes softened. Moulin hoped to bring him here when the boy was well enough to walk. He recalled his previous visit to him just earlier this morning. 

The boy almost jumped at the sight of Moulin entering the room then his eyes sparkled like fine gems under the sun. Jagra finally got close to the child after hours of grueling silence. When Moulin arrived, Jagra had just finished feeding the boy. 

" He wrote something today," Jagra said with a soft smile. 

Surprise filled the youth's silver eyes." Did he? His strength returned already?"

" He's still a bit weak, but he can hold a pencil for a short while. It seems to be the only word he learned." Jagra took a sketchbook from the bedside and gave it to the little boy, who nervously took it. 

" He wanted you to be the first person to see it." Jagra leaned against his chair with an amused expression. 

" Really?" Moulin gently gazed at the child and shifted closer. 

The boy nodded shyly and unhurriedly opened the book with shaky hands. On the clean white page of the book was a single poorly written Auronian word. The strokes were shaky, small, and unlevel. However, it was readable. 

"Erthyl." Moulin read. 

He slowly met the boy's expectant gaze. "Your name?"

The child quickly nodded, tightly hugging the book. He lowered his head ne occasionally sneaked a peek at Moulin's reaction.

'It was the only word he knew how to write.' Moulin thought. 

Moulin closed his eyes, recalling the adorable look on the child's face as a sigh escaped him. Not long after, he stood for two minutes, trying to clear his mind and relax his muscles. He and the sentinels practically scoured almost half of the district in Helios. It was unbearable and exhausting. Moulin frowned. That's right. Today, they would be rejoining the other investigation team in a few hours. 

A crease appeared on Moulin's forehead as h opened his eyes. "It's already been an hour."

He was supposed to be meeting Hadrian at this time. The morning assembly should have ended long ago. Hadrian wasn't usually this late whenever they planned to meet up. 

After waiting for a few more minutes, Moulin decided to visit Hadrian. He whistled to let Snow know he was going to step out. In an instant, the little fox halted and hurried back inside to catch up to his master. 

The two traveled towards the High Lord's office, oblivious of the tension accumulating within their destination. 

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