Bed of the Evil God

Thank you, sister.

Luther used his "Listening" ability for the first time and heard the voice of the dead through the corpse's chest.

Elder sister?

Was it his sister, or a woman he had recently met?

Luther thought to himself, then tilted his ear to try and hear more clearly. He heard the childish voice suddenly turn terrified, "What is this, sister!" Immediately following was a long, painful wail, the sound of bones breaking, and the popping of blood being squeezed out of the lungs.

Before long, the childish voice turned cold and venomous, "Sister, why did you hurt me... It's so dark and cold here..."

The voice was cold and Distortion, Luther felt a sudden dizziness and sharp pain in his head. He quickly turned off "Listening" and stood up. He felt dizzy as he stood up and almost fell because he couldn't stand steadily.

"So, did you find anything?"

Leonard noticed his pale face, helped him up, and asked.

"Hmm... I can vaguely see a woman's face."

Luther lied, saying he hadn't told Leonard that he'd overheard it, "I'm trying the Ritual to see if I can draw her accurately."

So Luther arranged candles on the ground, used Ritual Magic to pray for power from the Goddess, and drew a portrait of the woman who had been in contact with the child before her death. After casually glancing at the portrait, he suddenly froze.

He had seen the woman in the painting before.

With her signature round face and beautiful appearance, she was the woman who once appeared in Viscount Dorset's bedroom!

"I've seen this woman; she was at the scene of the viscount's death. The captain later assigned police to investigate, but they couldn't find any leads on her."

Luther showed the portrait on the paper to Leonard and Frye, and couldn't help but sigh inwardly. When he was investigating that case, his family didn't yet have that crazy woman, Ms. M.

Leonard stared intently at the painting.

Suddenly, Luther noticed that Leonard tilted his head, as if listening to something. Then, a strange look appeared in his eyes. Leonard's tilting head to Listening was very subtle; if Luther hadn't become sensitive to similar movements because of his use of "Listening," he probably wouldn't have noticed it.

Really? He's a "Listener" too?

Isn't he the "Midnight Poet"?

Leonard noticed Luther looking at him, quickly regained his composure, and smiled, saying, "My neck hurts a bit; I think I twisted it in the car."

What's going on? I thought you were with the Aurora Order too.

Luther chuckled, "Who told you to sit with your legs crossed even in the car? That lazy posture isn't good for your health."

Thank you for reminding me.

Leonard said nonchalantly, opening the door to call in the sheriff and foreman, showing the paper to the foreman, "Have you seen this woman?"

"What a beautiful woman, I really want to sleep with her... um, I've never seen her before."

The foreman stared at the portrait with fascination, only answering honestly after being nudged by the sheriff.

Leonard frowned, thought for a moment, then pointed to the corpse and asked, "Did they have time to rest?"

"Yes, if they work two shifts a week, they get a day off and are paid."

"Bring me the people in his shift."

"It will interfere with our work..."

The foreman reluctantly explained that he only went outside and called in three or five children after being threatened by the sheriff. These ragged children stood timidly and anxiously, their eyes filled with fear as they looked at Luther group. To them, these people in their smart police uniforms were terrifying.

Have any of you seen this person?

Leonard half-squatted down, showed them the painting, and asked in a gentle tone.

His handsome face and friendly attitude put the children at ease, and many of them nodded after seeing the painting.

As Leonard continued his questioning, he learned more. The deceased child was named Oliver, and he was very young. He couldn't adapt to the factory environment after arriving and often fell asleep. He had almost gotten into trouble several times before. As for the woman in the painting, she appeared inexplicably in the factory one night. Because she was beautiful, the children liked her very much. She played with the children for a while and seemed to particularly like Oliver, giving him a piece of candy.

"Candy? Do you still have the wrapper for that candy?"

Leonard discovered a clue and asked with a surprised tone,

So the children led him to Oliver's bed—which was actually a dirty blanket under the loom. Inside, there was a brightly colored candy wrapper, which he had carefully hidden under the bed.

"There are signs of Curse."

Luther glanced at her and immediately concluded that the woman was the culprit behind this series of deaths!

"These kids work so hard, a week on, only one day off, and their pay is only half or a third of what adults get."

After leaving the cotton mill, Leonard remarked that the earlier events had clearly left a deep impression on him.

"This place is already considered to offer pretty good treatment," Frye coldly, shaking his head. "In some coal mines in Southville County, because the mine shafts are too low for adults to enter, children have to pull carts and crawl in and out to transport coal."

Luther also shook his head:

"After the repeal of the Grain Act, many farmers went bankrupt and migrated to the cities. Factories took advantage of the Harvest, offering increasingly lower wages. They worked their hardest, but the money they earned was barely enough to survive, and they slowly weakened as they struggled to stay afloat."

He had traveled extensively through the slums of Tingen City and Enmat Harbor, witnessing firsthand the widespread extremism there. From his perspective as Secrets Suppliant, this was perfect material for evil Ritual. One could say that the slums and industrial buildings were ideal breeding grounds for evil spirits.

How ironic! The factory owners exploit their bodies, while the evil god devours their souls. Both sides are satiated, while they themselves vanish without a trace.

"By the way, you mentioned before that you had an idea, what exactly did you mean?"

Luther suddenly remembered what Leonard had said in the car.

Leonard organized his thoughts and asked:

"Even without that woman's Curse, how long do you think this child, or that viscount, would live?"

Luther thought for a moment.

The child's body couldn't withstand the intensity of the work, and he kept dozing off. Meanwhile, Viscount Dorset, seeking thrills, enjoyed all sorts of extreme games, and he kept pushing the boundaries, which would eventually kill him.

"He probably won't live much longer."

"But that woman's appearance hastened their deaths."

"... You mean, she took a part of their lives?"

Luther knew many evil Ritual and immediately understood Leonard's meaning.

But what is she going to do with all that life force?