CHAPTER 154: CHAPTER 146: HYMN_2

Ethan returned to the apartment, washed up and lay down on the bed, barely warming up the blanket, when urgent knocking woke him up, much to the cat’s displeasure, who bunched the blanket into a ball.

Ave stood at the door, sneakily peeking inside, and was rewarded with an angry glare from the cat.

"Baron Gledin wants us to go to his estate as soon as possible; the maid sounds really anxious, seems like something happened."

Ethan immediately put on his suit and followed behind Ave.

The good news was, Baron Gledin was still alive. When entering, he was sitting upright at the table, opposite him was a petite gold-haired girl, just around thirteen or fourteen, sitting like a porcelain doll, with a metal dog lying by her legs. This metal dog was covered in blood, with bits of meat stuck in its teeth, no wonder Baron Gledin was so anxious.

Ethan had already roughly guessed the girl’s identity.

"This is the Judge of the Choir. She’s here this time to investigate a case and hopes to get your cooperation."

Baron Gledin hurriedly said.

Upon hearing the word "Choir," the color of Ave’s face changed slightly, and the golden hair atop her head nervously shrank into her hair. She clenched her fists, her breath becoming somewhat hurried.

The porcelain girl remained expressionless as she looked at Ethan, "The Gravedigger from the Reception Bureau mentioned you, praising your capabilities and saying you helped him quite a bit."

"Is it about Aisoke’s case?"

Ethan asked, feeling the combination seemed a bit strange. According to factions, Aisoke was the future heir of the Empire’s military industry. The Empire’s military industry and the Lofic Consortium were in the same faction, and the two factions had a longstanding grudge. Aisoke’s death would only make the church happy, so why help investigate?

"One could say it’s related to him."

The porcelain girl calmly took out a picture. It showed a woman in a black Magic Master uniform, alluring, "She’s a fourth-tier Magic Master certified by the Astrology Guild. You should have seen her."

Ethan didn’t comment.

"On the day Master Aisoke tragically contracted Red Death, that Magic Master visited the branch office on behalf of the Empire’s military industry for some simple formalities."

"Hmm, this matches up then."

The porcelain girl thought for a moment before asking, "Did she display any abnormalities?"

"What do you mean by abnormalities?"

"For instance, pale skin, skin with corpse spots."

Ethan felt as if this Choir envoy were telling ghost stories, chilling to the bone.

At this point, Baron Gledin voluntarily made space for the three, allowing Ethan and Ave to sit at the same table as the porcelain girl. Ethan recalled for a moment, saying, "No, she looked quite normal that day."

"Then it’s a transformation Magic Potion."

Upon hearing this, Ethan felt slightly alarmed. Thankfully, when he went to the pharmacy to buy invisibility Magic Potion materials, he disguised himself; otherwise, this Choir envoy might have immediately traced it back to him.

"Your heart rate has increased; why are you nervous?"

The porcelain girl scrutinized Ethan with emotionless eyes.

Ethan responded fluidly, "Perhaps you’re suggesting that what I saw wasn’t truly her."

"Her name is Amy. Based on the timeline, when you saw her, she had been dead for two days. We found her buried corpse in the wilderness of Gear City, the face destroyed; her identity had to be deduced from personal belongings. A servant at Aisoke Mansion witnessed her in Talon on the night of departure, the same night she was killed. Shortly after leaving the mansion, someone murdered her, discarded her body in the wilderness, and disguised themselves as her using transformation Magic Potion."

The porcelain girl seemed to organize her thoughts while speaking, "The murderer purchased materials for invisibility Magic Potion under Amy’s identity, indicating expertise in alchemy."

Then she produced a second picture.

The man wearing a priest’s robe in the picture looked very familiar; he was the one Ethan had seen with Lindong while infiltrating Saint Hilman Library.

This time, Ethan expertly concealed his emotions.

"This is the second victim, one of the librarians of Saint Hilman Church. The priests found his body in his bedroom; he died from poisoning."

Next came a third picture featuring a gray-haired male Magic Master.

"This is another Great Mage from the Astrology Guild, killed while investigating Amy’s murder. I found his decayed corpse in Wolf Head Castle’s dungeon. He was Amy’s mentor and tracked the killer’s movements through some kind of magic. In his final letter, he mentioned Ximu Town and Wolf Head Castle."

The trail ended here, "The bandits of Wolf Head Castle claimed their commander had dealings with a Witch, who instructed them to launch an attack on Ximu Town, saying a plague had erupted there."

"That was a day ago, for some inexplicable reason, the patients recovered."

Ethan’s voice was full of doubt, "The hospital in Ximu Town couldn’t offer an explanation; people only saw golden beetles burrowing into the bodies of the sick, after which they recovered. We conducted a corresponding investigation but found nothing."

The porcelain girl stated, "That’s unrelated to me. I only need clues related to the Witch."

"What crime did she commit?"

Ave asked quietly.

This Choir envoy mentioned many crimes earlier, but none seemed serious enough to justify deploying the Choir. She realized there must be deeper reasons.

"She stole a book."