A Diary

Miss Red Hair put away the red crystal pendant, then took out the iron box and tossed another piece of candy into her mouth. She gently shook her head. "Captain, there's no danger."

Lewis adjusted his black-framed glasses with one hand and nodded. "All right, but we still need to be careful."

He walked toward the sinister farmhouse in the distance. Martha complained softly, "You don't believe my divination."

She really is a Seer, one who follows the same Pathway as that transmigrator fellow from my hometown. At that moment, Sifa's inspiration was stirred. He sensed a gentle, ripple-like fluctuation flowing through the surrounding space.

The two black dogs that had been barking so enthusiastically suddenly fell asleep at the same time.

Lewis had already reached the two black dogs. He turned back and gestured for everyone to come over.

Old Cook threw back his head and called, "Ain, are you there? Open the door. I have something to tell you."

He called three times in succession, but no one answered from inside the house. Suddenly, however, a horse neighed behind the farmhouse. Lewis's expression changed, and he charged out with Jeffrey. The two ran toward the back of the farmhouse, and a moment later, gunshots rang out.

Before long, they returned. Lewis frowned, making the lines on his forehead even more pronounced. "Someone rode away on horseback. Jeffrey, did you get a good look at him?"

Jeffrey, whose pale skin showed above his pocket, where half a store-discount flyer protruded, shook his head. "I didn't see him clearly."

Lewis looked toward the front door. "Jeffrey and I will go in first. Wait outside."

Worried that there might be danger, Sifa said quietly to Old Cook, "Go back to the carriage."

Even Martha drew a revolver. Of the other two inspectors, Lewis wielded a black revolver, while Jeffrey took out a short baton whose surface was covered in patterns and symbols.

The two men came to the door and exchanged a glance. Jeffrey raised his foot and kicked hard. Though he was slightly shorter than his colleague, his strength was astonishing. The wooden door tore completely free of its frame and crashed heavily onto the ground, sending up a cloud of dust.

Looking in through the doorway, Sifa saw that the interior was dim. Relying on the keen vision of a Hunter, he could still make out two dark, blurry shapes sitting on chairs.

At the same time, he smelled something like dead rats. The foul stench made Sifa frown, and he realized that the owner of the house was probably doomed.

A flapping sound suddenly came from inside the house. The two black human-shaped figures scattered, revealing themselves to be countless red-eyed, black-feathered crows!

He did not know how many crows were circling and shrieking inside the room before flying away through the doorway, windows, and every other opening leading outside.

"Goddess above, how can there be so many crows?" Martha's face went pale. She slapped at her shoulder, knocking away one or two black feathers that had landed there, afraid that they might bring her bad luck.

When Sifa looked back into the house, his stomach suddenly churned, and he nearly vomited his breakfast.

There were two corpses in the room, sitting in chairs with their heads hanging down. One was an elderly man, and the other was a young woman.

The two corpses wore plain clothes, which were now torn and ragged, exposing the bodies beneath.

Rotten flesh and decayed skin covered the corpses. Pieces of flesh of various sizes lay scattered across the floor, while maggots wriggled in and out of the pitted, damaged parts of their bodies.

Thinking of the large number of crows clinging to the corpses just moments ago, Sifa realized that the birds had been pecking at them. His expression grew even more grim.

Martha was already retching beside him, vomiting until her eyes grew wet. Sifa hurriedly took out a handkerchief and handed it to her, thinking that the work of official personnel was not easy either.

"They've been dead for more than forty-eight hours. We can't detect any lingering spirituality. It has probably already dissipated." Jeffrey seemed particularly skilled in matters concerning corpses and death. After quickly reaching his conclusion, he took out a small transparent glass bottle containing some emerald-green liquid.

He unscrewed the cap, rubbed the mouth of the bottle beneath his nose, and handed it to Lewis.

The inspector, who had originally been covering his nose with one hand, lowered it after smelling the liquid inside the bottle.

Jeffrey then took the small glass bottle to Sifa and Martha. When the bottle's mouth appeared before him, Sifa smelled a mixture of mint leaves and tobacco.

The odor made him cough several times, but it overpowered the intense stench of corpses filling the house. At least he no longer felt nauseated. Martha stopped vomiting as well.

Inside the house, Lewis found some curtains and draped them over the corpses before heading upstairs.

A moment later, the inspector's voice came from above. "Jeffrey, Martha, come up."

Sifa followed the two officers upstairs, but when Martha and Jeffrey entered a room, he was told to stop.

Standing in the hallway, Sifa heard a low exclamation from inside the room, followed by deliberately lowered voices. Then, somehow, the door was shut.

With a Hunter's keen hearing, Sifa heard the words "evil ritual," "Marionettist," and "secret organization."

At that moment, a half-open door farther ahead caught his attention.

Sifa drew the Serpent-Scale Revolver, moved forward without a sound, and cautiously pushed the door open.

It was a bedroom. A bed stood beside the window on the left, its covers in disarray. There was a desk by the windowsill with a fountain pen on its surface, while a notebook had fallen beneath it.

The narrow room was completely visible at a glance. After confirming that no suspicious person was hiding inside, Sifa put away the revolver, entered the bedroom, and picked up the notebook from the floor.

It was a diary.

He flipped to the first page, where the following words had been recorded in neat handwriting.

"March 18. I've finally made it ashore. Damn that voyage at sea. I'll never board a ship again for as long as I live. But I have to thank that journey. This is an entirely new beginning. I'll prove to Follett that I'm the one favored by God!"

"March 21. Thank you, little town. Thank you, all you ignorant farmers in town—especially that old fool Ain. He already believes what I told him, that I can let his intellectually deficient daughter live the life of a normal person. Hahaha, it's time to test the suggestions Mr. Haimok gave me."

"March 29. This is truly miraculous! Mr. Haimok's suggestions really worked. I modified the prayer incantation according to the information he provided and immediately received a response from God. Just you wait, Follett. When I return to Oravi Island, you can wait to kiss my shoes. Hahahaha."

"April 5. Through the breath bestowed by God, Saila has successfully become pregnant. She is carrying an important child. Old Ain is overjoyed, that fool..."

At this point, Sifa's heart sank. He knew that Saila was Old Ain's daughter, and judging from the diary, her pregnancy was related to the so-called breath bestowed by God, rather than natural conception.

Then, who exactly was the God worshiped by the diary's owner?