The layout of this house was almost identical to Vanessa's, but the furnishings were shabbier. Clearly, the family had struggled to make ends meet. The incident seemed to have happened at night; there was still unfinished stew in the kitchen pot, and no sign of anything unusual anywhere in the house. Vanessa looked around, then activated [Spirit Vision].
Dorothea also entered her [Rationality] state. The Monocle appeared over her right eye, and she bent down to examine the details. Elsa glanced around and cautiously approached the dining table.
An elderly couple sat at the table, both with their throats slit.
There was no terror on their faces, only a trace of bewilderment in their clouded eyes.
Elsa wanted to lean in for a closer look, but a young man in a Factory Guard uniform stepped in her way. "Little girl, don't get too close. A priest from the Reforging Flame will be here soon. We can't let people touch the bodies as they please."
Elsa did not argue. She nodded, turned, and left.
Her fingers brushed unobtrusively across the tabletop, where a few drops of blood had splashed.
After splitting up and making a few rounds, the four gathered again.
"Anything wrong?" Allen asked in a low voice.
"Everything is wrong." Dorothea had already left her Rationality state, and she was frowning.
"All the doors and windows were properly closed, with no signs of damage. All the details throughout the house check out, too. Put simply, aside from the dead family, there's nothing wrong at all. Everything is normal."
"And their deaths are strange, too."
"I reconstructed what happened from the bloodstains and other traces. The results were very eerie." She pointed at the dining table.
"Look over there. Those two elderly people were eating at the table before they