Chapter 8: Unnatural Death

"Come now, explain to me what you define as a natural death."

Ivy felt a dull ache in her skull as she crouched beside the dead man to examine him. There were abrasions on his arms—according to Ethan’s explanation, these were caused by Chloe the chicken-wolf when she dragged the corpse back to the cabin—but that did not explain the man's massive hemorrhaging.

Ethan, the prime suspect, had pulled a small chair to the side. He was eating the milk and bread Ivy had brought, sharing half with the eager Miss Chloe.

"It’s just like this," Ethan explained. "The man was walking down the road when he suddenly vomited blood and collapsed. It was a very natural death."

That was what Miss Chloe had said; the man was already dead before she arrived to help.

Ethan admitted that he had mocked the believers of the Enlightenment Society in his heart yesterday, thinking of them as cold-blooded, heartless perverts. But everything has two sides; as long as your conscience is clear, they will do everything in their power to prove your innocence, no matter how clumsy your testimony might be.

Truth is above all else—this was the creed of every follower of truth.

Ivy seemed to have thought of something. She flipped the man’s body over, laid him flat on the ground, and pulled a dagger from an inner pocket of her trench coat. "Help me," she ordered.

Ethan immediately had a bad premonition. "Help with what?"

"Help me cut open his stomach."

"This... is that really a good idea?"

"He is already dead. Finding the truth is the least we can do to let him die for a reason."

"I mean, I’m having breakfast."

Ethan shook the bread in his hand, but in Ivy’s eyes, this excuse was utterly bizarre. She cast a look of suspicion, as if she could not comprehend what conflict there could be between the two.

He had no choice but to add, "The blood will splash onto the bread."

"Just treat it like cherry jam."

With her earnest gaze and matter-of-fact tone, Ethan was about to scold Ivy when he suddenly realized something and felt a chill run down his spine. "You... have tasted it?"

"It’s quite normal. Back when I was studying at the Society, we often spent entire days with corpses. Blood tastes a lot like cherry jam. As for brain tissue, you can treat it as—"

"Stop! Enough!"

This girl was absolutely abnormal; Ethan was serious. He felt as though his bread was now tainted with the smell of blood.

Ivy noticed Ethan moving his stool back a meter and gave him a look of disdain. "Useless," she said coldly. She then aimed her dagger at the man’s distended belly, pierced it straight through, and sliced it open with a clean, fluid motion.

A massive amount of blood sprayed out, staining her entire face red.

"See, I warned you."

Seeing this, Ethan moved his stool back another three meters, thinking silently that this man was also abnormal—normally, a belly cut open by a knife shouldn't bleed like a fountain.

He had expected Ivy to scream or curse, but she simply wiped the blood obscuring her eyes with her sleeve. She calmly used both hands to pull open the incision, observed it for a moment, and then reached inside to stir. The sight made Ethan lose his appetite entirely; his features twisted as he handed the bread he had only taken a few bites of to Miss Chloe.

Miss Chloe, however, was not one to refuse. Judging by the way she swallowed the bread in one gulp, she even found the scene quite appetizing.

"His internal organs have melted. It was most likely caused by witchcraft. There, you didn't kill him."

Ivy turned her blood-stained face toward him, looking like a genuine serial killer. She didn't forget to correct Ethan, "But your defense of yourself just now was highly problematic. If you meet someone who doesn't like to get to the bottom of things, you’ll end up in prison. Don't say that next time."

"You are wise, My Lady!"

The tuft of golden hair on top of Ivy’s head stood up, moving as nimbly as a human finger, pointing at Ethan with great intensity. "Don't flatter me. Finish your milk."

"I finished it."

"Then come over and help me move him to a flat spot in the cabin."

Ethan glanced at the corpse from afar. The man had died with his eyes wide open, a testament to the immense pain he had suffered before death. His bulging eyes were staring right at him, and combined with the bloody mess of his stomach...

"Miss Chloe, come give me a hand."

He immediately called for external assistance. Ivy gave him a look that said, "You're beyond help."

Miss Chloe’s movements were as efficient as ever, and she was quite strong. Within a minute, she had dragged the corpse into the cabin. The only problem was her lack of precision, which left blood everywhere, making his new home look even more like a crime scene. Ivy had already begun her next task: she drew a circle with the man's body as the center and began meticulously filling it with runes he couldn't understand.

The bystander, Ethan, felt deep concern.

At first, the crime scene looked like he and Miss Chloe had killed someone to rob them, but Ivy’s arrival had successfully transformed the place into a sacrificial site for cultists of an evil god.

"Lady Ivy, I have something I don't know if I should say."

Ivy was crouching before the body, not looking back. "Then don't say it."

"I think I’d better say it. I just want to confirm one thing: we aren't cultists of an evil god, are we?"

"Rituals for evil gods aren't drawn like this. This is to make him speak."

"Make the dead speak?"

Ivy couldn't be bothered to explain further. She quickly finished the final runes and pulled a palm-sized parchment scroll from her inner pocket. She muttered something, then narrowed her eyes and slapped the scroll onto the man’s forehead. A ghostly green halo emanated from the entire corpse, and an invisible force lifted it into the air. The low, echoing sound made the whole house feel like a haunted mansion.

She asked the man, "Who killed you?"

"The water... something is wrong... be careful... everyone is dead... must warn... Riverwood..."

"Thump."

The force holding the body vanished, and the corpse slumped back to the ground. Ivy’s brows were furrowed in deep thought. After a long silence, she muttered, "Someone cast a curse on him through the water supply. Where did you find him?"

"On the main road."

"That means he came from Riverwood."

Ethan could see Ivy was deep in thought because he noticed steam rising from the top of her head, as if she were dissipating heat. Suddenly, Miss Chloe became restless; she flapped her wings and issued a warning to the two of them. "Coo, coo-coo!"

Footsteps outside grew closer, but Ivy heard nothing.

"You, hide!"

Upon receiving the order, Miss Chloe immediately hid behind the cabinet, striking a pose like a seasoned executioner.

Ethan’s heart rose to his throat. He stood behind the door, waiting for the chaotic footsteps to approach. There was more than one person; through the door, he heard the sound of swords being drawn.

A familiar voice struck the room like a thunderbolt, "Don't make any sudden moves! We are the Riverwood town guard! You... Magistrate? Why is it you?"

The shouting stopped abruptly. The brawny man who had burst through the door stood frozen in place upon seeing Ivy.

Ivy, whose train of thought had been interrupted, finally snapped back to reality. She looked up and stared at the guard captain. She stood up, seemingly having forgotten that she was covered in blood, and walked toward the captain like a demon from hell. The hulking man was actually startled enough to take a few steps back.

"You've come at just the right time."

Ivy asked, "Did you see any suspicious individuals on your way here?"

The town guards looked as if they had been struck by lightning. They exchanged glances, confirming the thoughts in each other’s minds.

The next moment, over a dozen fingers pointed in unison at Ivy.

Including the tuft of golden hair on her own head.

"Mr. Ethan."

Ivy felt like she was going to suffer from high blood pressure at her young age. In this state of being accused by all, she keenly identified the primary target for retaliation and threatened viciously, "If you point at me again, I'll hit you!"