When the ferry docked, a row of fenders was squeezed between the hull and the pier. More than a dozen Auror agents jumped down from the bow deck one after another, swiftly spreading out to take positions on both sides of the dock, their wands pointed outward on guard.
Then a different set of footsteps came down the gangway, alternating between heavy and light. One footstep was solid and steady, while the other came with the clack of wood striking the metal steps.
"What a damned place. That disgusting smell—ugh!"
The speaker wore a heavy dark trench coat. Unlike the ordinary Auror agents, he had two heavily enchanted kukri knives tucked inside it.
His burnt-yellow hair clung to his scalp like seaweed, and a vicious scar ran from beside his nose to his chin. He pulled a flat metal flask from his pocket and took a large swig.
"Cough, cough... Ah, that's more like it! Don't stare at me. Find something to do instead of standing around like a bunch of pigs!"
The man who spoke so bluntly was the overall commander of this investigation force, the legendary Auror—Mad-Eye Moody.
Standing on the stone dock, he swept his gaze over the surroundings. The blue magical eye in his left socket rolled wildly from side to side, scanning from the ruins of the main building at the edge of the reef area to the corpse-stacking area on the slope, before finally settling on the figure sitting propped against a stone pillar.
"Interesting... He didn't die even like this..."
Perhaps because there were no other living people left on the island, or because no intact buildings remained, the investigation and relief work quickly entered its final stages.
A six-man team was responsible for making preliminary identification records in the corpse-stacking area. Some