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Chapter 439

"He\'s the one who possesses the most knowledge about your culprit," Perserque advised while Davey silently and diligently investigated the horribly mutilated corpse.

"He?" Davey inquired.

"The Pallan Empire\'s Crown Prince, Sullivan," Perserque replied.

‘Prince Sullivan knew about the culprit?’?Davey couldn\'t help but wonder what connection the man had to this situation.

"Perserque, our task is straightforward. Before that fiend can make his next escape, we must locate him and demonstrate the true artistry of justice, and I intend to do it with my own hands," Davey declared.

That was his plan, nothing more and nothing less.

"He\'s been involved in numerous heinous acts even before earning the title of the Murderer [Grim]. Remember, he first committed such atrocities in a small kingdom in the west," Perserque said softly as she toyed with Davey\'s ears, a mischievous glint in her eyes. "Why don\'t you enlighten the young one with the details?"

"Who?" Davey asked.

"You, Davey. Do you know why the pursuit of the Serial Murderer [Grim] was abandoned?" Perserque inquired.

Davey shook his head in response. "I don\'t know."

"It\'s because they believed he was dead. That\'s why the entire continent ceased hunting him. Who would have imagined he was still alive and would resurface like this?"

Listening to her explanation, Davey carefully infused a thread of dark mana into the corpse.

"Did you uncover anything with your Abyss\' Authority?" Perserque asked.

"Regrettably, there are numerous conditions I must fulfill to access memories. My body currently can\'t handle that much power, and it\'s all thanks to someone," Davey replied, setting aside his idea of using the Abyss\' Authority for further investigation.

"I don\'t have the luxury of time to extract information from anyone or anything. Even as we speak, that scoundrel is roaming freely in this territory. I can\'t allow that," Davey declared.

"What\'s your plan?" Perserque inquired.

"I will uncover the truth myself," Davey said, leaving the corpse behind as he made his way toward the scene of the incident.

***

Indeed, in locations where such gruesome events occurred, there was almost always a clue that would linger at the crime scene.

“Ta-dah, there’s absolutely nothing here.”

Davey, guided by Rinne and Milpieu, arrived at the scene and was left speechless upon seeing it completely devoid of any evidence.

"I can\'t detect the scent of blood. It\'s as if someone had been masking the odor for a long time before allowing it to burst forth."

"So, you\'re saying that you couldn\'t smell any blood scent before, and it suddenly appeared?"

"That\'s correct."

Rinne, noticing Milpieu following Davey silently, approached him and whispered, "Davey, Rinne has observed that you\'ve become stronger."

Although Davey hadn\'t used any of the metamorphosis stacks, his body and soul had remained in a synchronized state for quite some time, so it was only natural that he had grown stronger. However, it wouldn\'t be accurate to say that he had grown stronger. What Davey had experienced wasn\'t growth but rather recovery.

Rinne closed her eyes silently and enjoyed the moment as Davey patted her head.

"All I could glean from the blood\'s memories was the image of a mysterious man wearing a white mask, dismembering victims while they were still alive. As for the memories leading up to that moment, they appeared twisted, as if they were manipulated."

These words prompted Davey to contemplate. Their culprit seemed capable of manipulating others\' memories and executing their deeds without leaving any traces. Given their audacity in committing such crimes without fear of being caught, Davey found it hard to view the culprit as a mere human being.

Did this imply that it was the work of a mage or a dark mage? Not likely. There was no sign of mana anywhere near the crime scene, let alone around the corpse. So, how did they achieve this?

Davey decided to summon several earth spirit Gnoums to access the memories of the earth. He extended his palm to the ground and created a brown magic circle.

[What can I do for you?]

Davey silently revealed his purpose to the child-like figure that appeared in front of him.

‘Show us the memories of this place.’

At Davey\'s request, the Gnoums dispersed across the ground and vanished as an illusion materialized in his mind. He witnessed a man wearing a white mask, carrying a large bag with the aid of a tool, entering the dimly lit warehouse. Though the man\'s physical stature was smaller than average, the way he deftly handled the items in his grasp revealed considerable strength.

The man emanated a terrifying aura of malevolence, to the extent that even the earth spirits quivered. Before long, he commenced a thorough renovation of the entire warehouse. After inspecting the corpse, he proceeded to inscribe words onto the lower part of the body, nodding in satisfaction.

The First Movement: Delight.

“The word First being engraved there means there will be a Second.”

However, all Davey witnessed were the unsettling manifestations of the man\'s twisted sexual preferences, with no discernible clues. Then, the man, as if orchestrating a peculiar symphony, positioned himself in front of the corpse and produced a small baton, waving it about while his head bobbed and swayed. His actions resembled that of someone possessed, and he continued this eerie performance in the silent warehouse.

After this bizarre and unsettling display, the man extended a finger into the empty space before him and promptly vanished.

Davey was left dumbfounded. Space Transfer? Position Displacement? There was no sign of either occurring. Filled with questions and confusion, Davey rose from the ground and scanned the warehouse. Finding a person who had vanished so quickly and completely was no simple task, and gathering all the residents for a search and investigation would be counterproductive. However, leaving the people of his territory in such a perilous state was not an option.

"I have to set up a trap," Davey resolved.

Based on the memories he gleaned from the Gnoums, it seemed that the perpetrator was more of a trait ability user than a mage.

Trait ability users were individuals born with supernatural powers. The principles behind their abilities were often mysterious, and some of them appeared without any known parents. They belonged to this world but were still considered outsiders. Although their numbers were not substantial, they possessed a wide range of abilities.

In the end, Davey concluded that there was only one way for him to solve this problem.

***

The residents of the territory celebrated Davey\'s return at the break of dawn. Although the presence of a serial killer in the territory could instill fear and terror, Davey chose not to disclose this information. Unnecessary fear would only lead to chaos and confusion.

Davey quietly summoned individuals to gather information from the victims and those who had experienced the terror. Surprisingly, he didn\'t obtain any useful information from them.

Despite setting a trap for the murderer, days passed with no sign of the culprit, who managed to evade all the traps. Davey believed the murderer was still within his territory, judging by the estimated time of death of the corpse.

"If you give me the order, I will investigate all the outsiders," Monmider offered.

"If we include all the outsiders, their numbers easily exceed 10,000. Monmider, attempting to investigate them all would be foolish," Davey, concealing his identity with illusion magic, replied as he sat on a bench in the plaza.

He turned to Monmider, who wore casual attire and appeared disheartened.

"If you ask me to slay a god..." Monmider began.

"Didn\'t they say this murderer eluded capture even by people from other nations? Tell me, how do you intend to catch such a fugitive?"

"Uh..."

"Don\'t overestimate yourself," Davey admonished.

A dissatisfied expression crossed Monmider\'s face. "I wish you\'d at least pretend to have faith in me."

"Creating distrust is not the solution."

Monmider chuckled before expressing his frustration. "You\'re truly something else."

"I\'m telling you, there\'s no need to push too hard for no reason. Right now, we lack any information. We don\'t even know the unique traits and abilities of our trait ability user. We\'re in the dark about his intentions," Davey advised.

Monmider sighed in response. All they needed was a single clue, but the man managed to elude their traps effortlessly. They didn\'t know how the killer did it, but he seemed capable of detecting danger and was highly cautious.

"Brother." A cute brown-haired girl, approximately seven years old, approached Davey while carrying a basket of flowers. "D-Do you want to buy flowers?"

Davey smiled and took a silver coin from his pocket, handing it to the girl. "Yes, please. Two, please."

The girl jumped with joy, selecting two flowers from her basket and placing them neatly in Davey\'s hands. "Thank you, brother!"

"You\'re welcome. But I haven\'t seen you around here before," Davey remarked.

The girl tilted her head in response. "Hehehehe. But it\'s my first time seeing you too."

"Is that so?"

"Actually, Mom and I moved to this territory a few days ago. We heard that the lord of this territory cares for his people like they were his family. They said that he gives plenty of blessings to his people so they can live comfortably!"

The girl\'s face beamed with happiness as she continued, "Did you know? Thanks to the lord of this territory, my mom and I can eat delicious food and stay warm inside a house of our own. I used to starve every day, but it\'s different here!"

The girl giggled, displaying a pure and innocent smile as if she had discovered something that brought her immense joy. "I!!! I will marry Heins Territory\'s mister prince once I grow up!"

While others might have been taken aback by the girl\'s words, Davey simply patted her head in silence. These pure and innocent children were the future of the territory. If a child began to worry about the group\'s future, it indicated that the group had no future.

"That\'s right. You\'re very pretty, so you\'ll be able to marry the lord when you grow up," Davey playfully remarked, eliciting an innocent smile from the girl\'s face.

"Really?" the girl exclaimed.

"Of course! I\'m telling you this because this brother is very close to the lord," Davey replied.

"Eyyy, stop lying. How can you know someone so high up, brother?" the girl questioned.

"Why can\'t I know someone like that?" Davey countered.

The girl\'s eyes widened at Davey\'s response. "Your... Your clothes look sloppy... A, a loafer! Yes, you\'re like a loafer!"

Davey looked at the girl in disbelief upon hearing her sharp remarks. Meanwhile, Perserque, who sat next to him while remaining invisible, couldn\'t contain her laughter and stifled her sobs.

"This brother looks like a loafer?" Davey asked incredulously.

"Yes! Mom told me so! She said loafers are people who play around and don\'t work during the day!" the girl explained.

Davey stood up from his seat and patted the girl on the head. "Is that so? Then, this brother should go to work now so I won\'t be called a loafer."

"Work?" the girl inquired.

Davey nodded and quietly retrieved something from his Pocket Plane.

"Here, this is a gift from this brother to the cute young lady."

"Wow! It\'s so pretty!" The girl\'s eyes widened as she held the necklace adorned with several wooden ornaments.

However, Davey didn\'t stop there. He also cast some magic on the girl\'s necklace. It was a piece he had made long ago during his carving practice and had a deep bond with him, allowing him to imbue it with magic.

Vwoooong...

After blessing and enchanting the necklace, he handed it to the girl and then turned away. His expression grew solemn as he walked off. As the lord, he had a duty to perform so that he could protect the smiles on the faces of young children like her.

***

Or, at least, that\'s how it should have been.

Under the shroud of the night\'s dark skies, Davey listened to Rinne and Milpieu\'s report. They had discovered the second group of victims. Body parts from as many as ten victims had been sewn and stitched together, forming a gruesome and horrifying amalgamation. These victims were individuals who had previously been reported as missing.

The Second Movement: Sadness.

Davey disregarded the provocative words and remained astounded by the actions of the elusive murderer who had managed to elude all the traps he had set. However, something peculiar caught his eye.

"This..."

In his hand, he held a broken piece of wood, a fragment of the necklace he had given to the young girl who sold him flowers. It was evident that it had been struck by something.

‘Why is the necklace here?’

The wooden sculpture had been crafted to withstand even a sword\'s blow, yet here it was, shattered into fragments.

Davey had resolved to protect the smile of that little girl and all the other children in his territory. Yet, within a single day, the despicable murderer had the audacity to kidnap the young girl. It felt as if the killer was taunting him.

"Davey! Davey!" Rinne, who had been searching the warehouse, rushed to Davey and presented something. This something turned out to be a part of the body that had been used to create the tragedy before them.

"It appears similar to the one in Davey\'s memories. Rinne identifies this as a gunshot wound."

Davey\'s eyes chilled at those words.

‘Found you, you f*cking bastard.’