Arrangements

Matthew heard the sound of hooves and wheels. Looking up, he saw a simply decorated, very inconspicuous carriage approaching from afar along the sloping path.

Not long after, the carriage stopped near Matthew and the others.

Stepping down from the carriage were Lady Alsha and her two staff assistants.

Lady Alsha had also come. After Link found the body, he had notified her using the Court Wizard badge.

The several people got out of the carriage and walked directly toward Matthew and his group.

Today, Lady Alsha wore a plain white long dress, covered by a thick gray-white hooded cloak. On her hands were white gloves that extended to her arms.

Matthew noticed that Lady Alsha was extremely particular. He had seen her many times over the past few days, yet he rarely saw her wearing the same outfit twice.

After Lady Alsha arrived, Link pointed at the corpse tied to the tree root and said, "My Lady, this is the body we found. So far, it looks similar to the previous cases."

Anna added from the side, "We noticed that the items on these strangely posed bodies are different. This girl is wearing antlers on her head. Previously, we found one draped in wolf skin, one wearing a flower crown, and one with horns."

Lady Alsha nodded and signaled her assistant to go up and examine the body.

Matthew caught a trace of weariness on Lady Alsha's face. Deep within her eyes, there seemed to be a suppressed anger. It was clear that the bodies discovered over the past few days had caused her considerable trouble.

The assistant changed into lizard skin gloves to examine the body. He first checked the skin. "Based on the livor mortis and bruising, the victim died last night."

Another assistant with twin tails took out a feather pen and notebook and began writing records on the side.

Link rubbed his chin. "The bodies found before today were all inside Whitestone Town. Today's bodies are all on the outskirts. Could the killer be hiding in the outskirts to avoid our pursuit?"

The assistant continued checking the ligature marks on the wrists, ankles, and knees. "The marks are shallow. The victim didn't struggle much before death. Based on the marks on the knees and soles of the feet, the victim was most likely placed in this kneeling posture while unconscious."

After finishing the examination, the assistant summarized, "Same as the bodies found before. No obvious external injuries. The cause of death should still be cardiac arrest."

The bodies found in previous days had already been autopsied, and the cause of death was always cardiac arrest.

Lady Alsha rubbed her slightly swollen temples. She was a bit irritated. These incidents occurring within her jurisdiction would affect her political achievements.

If everything had gone smoothly, she would have been transferred back to the Royal Capital soon. Now, to smooth over these effects, she would have to spend quite a bit of goodwill.

Lady Alsha looked at Link and the others. "What do you think?"

Matthew voiced the speculation in his mind. "All these bodies are placed in a kneeling posture. I think this is some kind of evil ritual, and these people are the sacrifices of that ritual."

The several people present nodded. They held similar views.

Matthew continued, "The items on the victims were clearly placed there by the killer. This might also be a requirement of the ritual.

So far, we've found animal fur, a grass and wood wreath, animal horns, and a necklace made of animal teeth. These are all items that are easy to obtain.

Do you know what kind of ritual would need these things?

Also, I think the positions of the bodies are a clue. By analyzing the distribution of the locations, we might be able to narrow down the killer's range of activity."

Lady Alsha showed an appreciative expression and said with a smile, "That makes a lot of sense. Let's proceed with Mr. Matthew's suggestion. I'll go check the Court Wizard internal data to see if there's any record of this kind of ritual. The records of the bodies are stored at the Security Station. The locations where the bodies were found should all be recorded. You can go to the Security Station to review the records."

After assigning the tasks, Lady Alsha left.

Not long after, a guard drove a cargo carriage to the scene.

After the guard loaded the body onto the carriage, Matthew and the others continued searching other areas.

Inside a residence in Whitestone Town.

From the dusty floor of the residence, it was clear that this was a house usually uninhabited.

At this moment, two figures in hooded robes stood inside the residence.

The wizard in the gray-white cloak let out a cold snort full of anger and said irritably, "What exactly does he think he's doing? Over twenty deaths in just a few days! And in such an attention-grabbing way!"

The Black Robe Wizard said, "He said he's testing a summoning ritual he recently obtained."

The chest of the Gray Cloak Wizard heaved violently, as if flames of rage were about to burst forth from within. "Testing a summoning ritual? The headquarters sent him here to help us continue developing the experimental subjects, not to test some summoning ritual!"

The Gray Cloak Wizard extended both hands from under the cloak and pressed them onto the table in front of him, but immediately realized there was dust on the table. Disgusted, he brushed the dust off his white gloves. Even covered by the long gloves, one could tell they were slender and delicate hands.

After brushing off the dust, the Gray Cloak Wizard said coldly, "He can stir up trouble in Whitestone Town and leave whenever he wants to plague the next place. We can't easily abandon our identities. When it's all said and done, we're the ones who have to clean up this mess!

And besides, we can only withstand the 'Divine Brew' extracted from the experimental subjects. We have to use the 'Divine Brew' diluted through the flesh and blood of the experimental subjects to avoid the risk of losing our sanity.

If we leave Whitestone Town, finding another place to cultivate experimental subjects won't be easy!"

The Black Robe Wizard also felt a headache coming on and said helplessly, "In The Society, he's at the same level as us. If we want to stop him, we can only act through our public identities."

The Gray Cloak Wizard's voice grew colder and colder. "Perfect timing. Isn't Link trying to explore the Winter Forest? I'll help Link apply for reinforcements from the Royal Capital. Then I'll form a Winter Forest exploration team and let them go fight it out in the Winter Forest like dogs!"

The Black Robe Wizard thought this was a good idea—giving them something to do would keep both troublesome parties busy.

"Let's do that. I'll also plant some people in the exploration team to stir things up.

Besides, The Society's laboratory in the Winter Forest was already cleaned up. Even if they go to the Winter Forest, they won't find anything."

The Gray Cloak Wizard nodded. "I'll arrange it."

After finishing their discussion, the Gray Cloak Wizard left through the backyard. A simply decorated, very inconspicuous carriage was parked there.

After the Gray Cloak Wizard boarded the carriage, he lowered his hood, revealing an extremely beautiful face.