"There's no need to worry about the evil spirits in the manor. I come here to 'clean up' every so often. The last time was half a month ago. In such a short time, there shouldn't be too many new evil spirits."
Miss Grande's brown lady's boots stepped across the snow-covered ground. As she explained the situation to Shade, she used a key to unlock the padlock fastened to the hinges. After pushing open the iron gate, she entered first, with Shade following close behind. But the moment he stepped through the gate, he frowned slightly.
He sensed a familiar chill and malice. The feeling came from the land beneath his feet, and it was extremely faint. Even he could only detect it because he already knew something was wrong here.
The familiar chill was very similar to the strange evil spirit Miss Norma had turned into during the "Miss Norma's Burial Alive Case" he had handled last week. And that malice was undoubtedly the disgusting black mud he had encountered in last night's dream.
Of course, the problem with this manor seemed far more serious than Tobesk's "Burial Alive Case," but the malice was nowhere near as terrifying as the black mud from the dream.
At that moment, Shade was almost certain that the "Mad Earth" mentioned by the robed man in last night's dream referred to the situation here.
"What is it?"
Seeing Shade stop, Miss Grande, who had been walking ahead, also stopped and looked towards him.
"I think I know what's going on."
As he spoke, he retreated outside the manor, bent down to brush aside the snow beside the iron gate, and used the sharp silver gleam at his fingertip to pry out a chunk of frozen, hardened soil.
"Miss Grande, I can solve the