Death Spirit Sight

Who knew how much Psychic Energy the Eerie that killed Baron Lonanks held? Half a broken Bone Whistle had contained enough to activate the Graveyard. If I could get that Eerie's Psychic Energy, I could surely open the Graveyard completely, Green thought.

But Green crushed the idea as soon as it arose. That Eerie had defeated an adventuring party of more than ten, killed an Advanced Apprentice Knight, and brutally tortured a noble Baron to death. It was not something he could afford to provoke. Charging in would be suicide.

People began filing out of the study. Apart from the three forensic examiners, they were all nobles or high officials, people accustomed to comfort. Someone had just died inside, and none wanted to linger. The elderly examiner, however, was interested in the Baron's corpse and wanted to take it away for a thorough autopsy. The Baroness refused, declaring that she would never allow her husband's body to be treated in a way that affronted noble dignity.

After offering the Baroness their condolences, the mayor, the Council Chairman, and Viscount Paul each departed.

Green stayed behind. He had noticed some kind of trace by the study door. He could sense it but could not see it with his naked eyes. The feeling made him strain instinctively to look harder. A sharp pain suddenly stabbed through his eyes, and for about a second, all color vanished from his surroundings. The world had turned black and white!

It was a first-circle Necromancy spell—Death Spirit Sight.

Green Wilson had studied this spell for a long time without making any progress, yet Green had unexpectedly cast it. Perhaps he could use it because the Graveyard recognized him as a Novice Necromancer Apprentice. Unfortunately, it had lasted only a second. His eyes throbbed unbearably and were already bloodshot. If his body had not begun Lichification, the backlash of Magic Power would have burst his eyeballs.

Green endured it. He gritted his teeth without betraying a thing, rubbed his eyes, and slowly recovered after a moment.

Though Death Spirit Sight had lasted only a second, it had been enough. Green had spotted traces invisible to the naked eye: a few drops of blood hidden from sight.

Bloodstains that can't be seen! Does the Eerie that killed the Baron have the power to turn invisible, or a special spell that blocks sight? Green followed the direction of the drops with his gaze. They led toward an inconspicuous storage room. He guessed that the Baron had carried some kind of Magic Artifact, or possessed an ability of his own, and had wounded the Eerie while it tortured him. Supernatural abilities were no secret among nobles. A noble who controlled enormous wealth could hardly have been defenseless against Eerie creatures; owning a Magic Artifact or two would have been perfectly normal.

The discovery stirred Green's interest. The examiner had found no Magic Artifact while inspecting the Baron's corpse and, under so many watchful eyes, could not have pocketed one. The Eerie had most likely taken the Baron's Magic Artifact or hidden it somewhere.

Green thought the latter more likely, and not just because the Eerie had been wounded. Powers that blocked sight were wondrous, but they also had severe limitations. From what Green knew of supernatural powers, such an ability could affect only the user; extending it to other objects was difficult. If the Eerie had fled with a Magic Artifact after the murder, anyone who saw it would have seen an object floating through the air. Security at Baron Lonanks's mansion was tight. Someone would surely have noticed.

Just then, the Council Chairman proposed leaving a few people behind. Ostensibly, they would help handle Baron Lonanks's funeral arrangements. Everyone knew they were really there to keep watch.

The shrewd Baroness understood his purpose, of course, but she could not refuse.

Baron Lonanks had died too suddenly. His brothers and relatives would not stand by while a vast inheritance fell into the hands of a young widow born a commoner. A battle over the estate was about to begin. The Baroness had the first claim to inherit, but she had little support and needed allies. Everyone who had come to the Baron's mansion was someone she hoped to win over. Even if they would not help her, she at least needed to keep them from becoming enemies. For that, she was willing to pay a price.

The powerful figures of Landon City had no intention of missing this opportunity. Even though the danger from the Eerie had not passed, their hunger for wealth could not be checked. They were ready to tear several hefty chunks from the Baron's estate.

There were four in Green's party. Viscount Paul and Vincent certainly would not stay, while Lawrence, the chief steward of Wilson Castle, had too many duties to be spared. The task naturally fell to Green.

Once Viscount Paul and the others had left, Green was secretly delighted. He immediately set to work, following the bloodstains he had seen with Death Spirit Sight.

Night had fallen, and the gas lamps in the Baron's mansion were lit. Their dim yellow glow made the house, where someone had just died, seem all the more sinister.

In that one second earlier, Green had seen only the general direction of the blood drops. He slipped into the storage room while no one was watching and searched it, but found nothing. He would have to cast Death Spirit Sight again to find the invisible trail. With his earlier experience to guide him, Green clearly felt a faint energy within him gathering at his eyes in response to his will. It was his first conscious attempt to cast a spell. Unfortunately, he failed. Perhaps because he was nervous, the Magic Power that reached his eyes failed to form a Spell Circle and promptly dispersed.

Green did not lose heart. He gently rubbed his eyes, took several deep breaths, and recalled the structure of the Death Spirit Sight Spell Circle before trying again.

On his second attempt, keeping the Spell Circle's structure firmly in mind allowed the Magic Power to form it, but he pushed too hard and was struck by a wave of dizziness.

On his third attempt, Green learned from his mistakes and finally cast the beginner-level, first-circle Necromancy spell: Death Spirit Sight.

In an instant, everything in Green's field of vision turned black and white. Only a few drops of blood on the floor showed a piercing red.

Green endured the stabbing pain in his eyes and hurried along the blood trail. He soon saw that the drops led toward the stairs. From their pattern, he judged that the Eerie had been badly hurt. After leaving Baron Lonanks's study, it had leaned against the storage-room doorframe to rest for a moment, then headed for the second floor.

Green strode over, fighting the aching sting in his eyes. He took the stairs two at a time and finally saw the blood trail end before the door to a guest room.

At that point, Green could bear no more. He dismissed Death Spirit Sight and rubbed his eyes hard. Sustaining the spell still placed too much strain on his body.

Green glanced left and right, then cautiously pushed at the door.

Rooms kept for guests were usually left unlocked. Sure enough, the door was not locked. A gentle turn of the handle opened it.

Creak...

As the door opened with a faint scrape of its hinges, a room of a little over ten square meters came into view.