Inquiry

Chapter 16: Inquiry

The next morning, at dawn.

"Hello! May I ask if you are Mr. Sulu Portley?"

As he pulled the door open, two figures dressed as police officers appeared, their chests adorned with badges featuring a sword of sovereignty wreathed in thorns.

"Yes, that is me!"

It's finally here, Sulu thought to himself. After confirming his identity, he invited the two officers inside: "May I ask what this is about?"

"Yes, we have a few questions and need to conduct a routine inquiry with you!"

The two officers were a man and a woman. The woman pulled out a file and extracted a photograph: "Do you recognize this lady?"

The photo was in black and white and slightly blurry; it seemed the photographer's angle hadn't been ideal, but Beatrice's features were still barely recognizable.

In the photo, her temperament had turned even colder, appearing less than human and giving Sulu a sense of dread.

Those icy eyes seemed to pierce through the photograph, staring directly at him!

Eerie! Terrifying!

What... exactly did I unleash?

Sulu muttered to himself.

"Mr. Portley? Mr. Portley?"

Seeing his dazed expression, the two officers called out immediately: "Is something wrong?"

"Nothing at all. I was just lost in thought!"

Sulu invited them to sit on the sofa and poured two glasses of plain water: "My apologies... this is the only beverage I have!"

"That's quite alright!"

The female officer closed the file, crossed her legs, and took out a notebook: "Now, can you tell us what your relationship was with the lady in the photo?"

"Her name is Beatrice, she was my classmate... well, I once pursued her!"

Sulu smiled, feeling no embarrassment at all.

"She was indeed a beauty..." the female officer smiled: "For a young man, that is quite normal..."

"I'm sorry... I heard she went missing, is that true?" Sulu asked.

"No! Not missing!"

The male officer spoke up from the side: "She is currently accused of three counts of murder and nine counts of assault. We are actively hunting her!"

What?

Sulu felt a jolt of shock. He hadn't expected that after this Corpse Maiden escaped, she would cause such a massive stir.

A standard Corpse Maiden Creation was merely a simple manipulation of a corpse. Once it was too far from the caster or lost its energy source, it should have lost all ability to act and even begun to rot.

"Beatrice... no! She isn't that kind of person!"

On the surface, Sulu still put on an expression of utter disbelief.

"Then... Mr. Portley, can you tell us where you were and what you were doing on the evening of July 3rd at seven o'clock?"

The female officer tapped her notebook with her pen cap, asking with clear articulation.

"I... I was at the White Tower Cafe, on a date with Beatrice!"

Sulu ran a hand through his hair: "She invited me, though she claimed I was the one who invited her... even if the start wasn't perfect, the process went well enough!"

This point of suspicion had likely already been mentioned by Molly, so Sulu didn't hide it.

"Both sides thought the other issued the invitation? What exactly did you talk about? Don't lie to me, we know exactly what you did that night!"

The male officer spoke suddenly, his tone harsh and severe.

Heh, trying to scare me?

One playing the good cop, the other the bad cop—this routine is already played out, isn't it?

"I am not lying..." Sulu chuckled inwardly, though he appeared nervous on the surface, encouraged by the female officer's gaze: "I was just bragging to her that I had received an invitation to the Green Tree Castle laboratory, and she sincerely wished me well... then we parted ways at the entrance of the cafe. I stopped by the library, read books there until ten, and then came back to sleep... By the way, many people at the library can testify for me!"

"Is that all?"

The male and female officers exchanged a glance: "That night, did you feel that Beatrice was... unusual?"

Sulu pretended to recall for a moment: "No!"

"Very well then!"

The female officer asked a few more questions, put away her notebook, and stood up: "If you remember anything else, you can contact me using the information on this card!"

She handed over a business card and walked out of the dormitory with the male officer.

"Wait a moment!"

Sulu saw them to the door and asked suddenly: "May I ask, where was Beatrice before this?"

The two officers looked at each other, and the female officer replied in a heavy voice: "She appeared in Boy City! And then, she vanished completely..."

Boy City!

It was a city located to the west of Nia City, where St. George University was situated, requiring several hours of travel by steam train to reach.

That really is quite far!

Sulu sent them off, closed the door behind him, and looked at the business card in his hand: "Marilyn Luna! Interesting!"

His own preparations were perhaps not entirely perfect.

If Beatrice truly lost control and died, and her corpse were discovered, he would still be a major suspect.

Yet, at this moment, she had become a wanted criminal?

Sulu truly felt that the ways of the world were unpredictable.

But there is an upside to this... at least, what does Beatrice killing people have to do with me? There is no evidence that can link these two things together... therefore, my suspicion is minimal; otherwise, they would have already invited me to the police station for questioning...

Even so, some covert investigations and surveillance are likely unavoidable.

Sulu was not at all afraid of being investigated because most of what he had said was true; he was clean and had no fear of revealing any flaws.

As for being followed or investigated? He actually welcomed it!

It would be best if that mastermind behind the scenes saw he was under police protection and voluntarily gave up on attacking him; that would be a happy ending for everyone.

However, the situation with Beatrice made him increasingly uneasy.

In the photograph, her cold and glamorous face kept lingering in his mind.

A Corpse Princess could never be this autonomous... My ritual was clearly influenced by the 'Moon'... And in many religious texts, the moon is closely related to the domain of darkness, representing 'death,' and is a target coveted by many evil gods and false gods...

Perhaps... some existence interfered with my ritual, causing Beatrice to become a brand-new undead lifeform?

A guess suddenly occurred to him.

Of course, the growth of any undead lifeform was not something that happened overnight.

The chaotic ritual had merely planted a seed, which was why he could initially control the Corpse Princess and perform simple, semi-intelligent operations.

But as time passed, she would inevitably grow rapidly; a flower watered with flesh and blood would become incomparably beautiful, moving, and deadly!

In the long run, her threat is even more terrifying than the mastermind behind the scenes!

Sulu rubbed his head in pain: "Perhaps... I should write a letter and ask Rhode to come as soon as possible!"

There were truly many things he wanted to consult this older brother about.

Whether it concerned the Dawn of Gods, the Supernatural Awakening, the advancement of a Witch Hunter, how to become a true transcendent, or even the final issue of dealing with this brand-new problem that was Beatrice.

Compared to these, his mere awkwardness and discomfort could be set aside for now.

After all, having not seen each other for four years, a person is bound to change, isn't that right?