Throne Of Steam

So they really moved in and acted as new tenants and neighbors to monitor me... Garett felt stifled as he didn"t do anything that warranted this kind of attention! Well, at least not that he remembered.

"What did I do to deserve this?" He lowly mumbled, feeling the weight of the situation and unsure of his fate. Because of things that he couldn"t even remember, he became entangled with two major organizations in the kingdom!

Even if the experienced hunter duo surely had heard his mumbling, they abstained from commenting. Sometimes it was better to leave one with their own thoughts, even more so if you were related to the situation in one way or another.

Talking would only aggravate the situation.

Dante stood silent for a second before turning, his objective clear to follow the shade and end this investigation as soon as possible.

Alice also wasn"t one to linger, even with her carefree att.i.tude, she was still experienced enough to understand this kind of things.

...

Climbing the set of stairs with Garett in tow, the duo understood that every floor had three apartments, and every single one of those apartments had the same old and dilapidated exterior.

Using the artifact, Dante was able to focus on that specific shade and followed her to the outermost residence. This apartment stood at the back, giving a clear view to the side alley and easy access to the emergency stairs that one could use as an escape route.

"The landlord has keys to every room, in case something happens to the tenant or someone stops paying rent. We could ask hi-" Garett"s monologue was interrupted by the noise when Dante unexpectedly extended his hand and turned the handle, the door emitted a deep squeal while opening, as it was characteristic from every old door.

"It was open." Dante spat while glancing at Garett, his eyes conveying a lot of information.

I can see that, Captain. Are you sure you can just enter people"s houses without any kind of permission? The churches really do whatever they want... Garett finally felt that being a hunter wasn"t so bad. During an investigation, Dante didn"t even bother to look for permission before barging into private propriety!

The place was simple. A single bed stood far from the main door, and one desk was placed not too far away, as one would notice, the place was simple and, other than the commodities that accompanied every single apartment in this complex; there wasn"t much extra furniture.

"It"s obvious the suspect was prepared to abandon this place at first notice, captain," Alice noted after entering, her face serious as she a.n.a.lyzed for any information that could have been left behind.

"Yes, but they left during the last few hours in a hurry, not having the time to erase every single clue. Even if it could erase all traces in Garett"s apartment, it"s unlikely that he was able to use an ability like that in quick succession." The captain concluded and, while still using the artifact, started to focus on the shades, looking at every single one of them to discover something that was left behind.

"Captain," Alice"s voice was heard just after she entered the crampy living room; a great amount of alarm was undoubtedly permeating her voice.

"Yes?" He answered as he made way to her, still a.n.a.lyzing every single shade revealed by the artifact. "Hoh."

Garett wasn"t too far behind Dante when he heard the surprised interjection, and he hastened his pace, not preparing himself for the scene he was about to see.

A bloaty corpse occupied the crampy living room floor, its bluish skin exposing the time of death. The surrounding was painted with dry blood, and the strong smell inundated Garett"s nostrils.

Even if he studied with bodies in the past, this was the first time Garett saw such a horrendous sight, the disgusting smell only accentuating the impact the scene left on him.

"B-blurgh" He felt his insides churning as the strong urge to vomit clouded his being.

"Are you okay, kid?" Dante worriedly questioned, his eyes never leaving the bloated corpse. "You can wait outside if you want."

"No... There"s no need. The state of the corpse tells it wasn"t killed too recently." He resisted the screaming desire to turn around and leave while starting to use his shallow knowledge to a.n.a.lyze the scene. "And the blood trail shows the body was dragged here after being killed at another place."

"Yes, at least a few days ago." Dante nodded, not much surprised by Garett"s capabilities in accessing the situation. Obviously, he had already studied Garett"s past quite extensively.

"There"s also something else, Captain." Alice piped after the duo was engrossed in studying the corpse. Her finger pointing at the wall to the left.

Repossession.

The b.l.o.o.d.y words were painted in blood, using the language of the Age of Carnage. And different from the blood littering the floor, the blood was relatively fresh and bright.

"Huh... As expected." Dante muttered as he a.n.a.lyzed the crime scene, crouching to inspect the body and not let any detail slip past. "What do you think, Garett?"

Dante showed his interest in training the recruit by asking the questions, even if he already had a clear image of the scene in his mind, the act of a teacher asking its student always forced the latter into reflection.

"Err... The usage of the ancient language proves our earlier speculations, as there are not many people nowadays who know the language of carnage, even if our language mostly evolved from it." Garett first looked at the wall, doing his utmost to ignore the corpse"s presence right at his feet. "The fresh blood also reveals that the killer knew that we would come to investigate after what happened yesterday, and so he used the opportunity to convey a message."

Dante nodded without saying anything as if waiting for the recruit to continue his a.n.a.lysis. His hands searched the body"s clothes, inspecting the pockets and searching for the cause of death or anything related to a killer modus operandi.

"Repossession... that means they believe I have something that should belong to them. Maybe they believe to have righteousness on their side, as it is a case of taking back what was theirs in the first place." Garett concluded, understanding completely what they wanted to repossess. " About the corpse... I believe it used to be this apartment"s tenant, as it"s easier to occupy the place after killing him."

Just because Garett lived at the building doesn"t mean he knew every other people living here. In fact, he barely ever met the landlord.

"You"ve never met him?" Dante nonetheless asked as he finished to rummage throughout the deceased"s pockets.

"No, sir. I Don"t know many people who live here."

"His name was Norton Spritow. A weird name, born at the Primos Republic, should have followed on the immigration trends arrived at Luxia a couple of decades ago." Dante presented the man"s papers, the doc.u.ments were stained with blood but, luckily, were legible. "We also can"t rule that he had some involvement in this. It could be as you said, and he was only an innocent pa.s.serby, but experience tells people are generally not killed without reason."

He stood up while shaking his hands, as to shake any dirtiness that could have been contracted.

"I"ll confirm this man"s ident.i.ty. Garett, you should return downstairs and look for anything at your place. And Alice, you should go to the cathedral and report the findings to Father Charles." Dante ordered the duo while keeping his composure, not a single second to be wasted. "He"ll notify the other teams and expand our search through the vicinity. I don"t think the culprits have gone far, as they still want to "repossess" something."

"Yes, sir!" Alice nodded and left in a hurry, never questioning the captain"s orders.

"Don"t worry, Garett. With me still in the building, no one will be daring enough to attack you." The captain comforted him. Throughout the investigation, the captain never asked what the scholars wanted to repossess.

Why? Does he believe I don"t have the thing they want? That"s very possible; after Father Charles used that chalice to inspect me - the hunters believe in that chalice blindly, huh... Garett arrived at a rudimentary conclusion after thinking for a bit, before nodding and reeding the captain"s orders.

After Garett left, the captain"s eyes sharpened considerably. Dante steadily walked around the apartment while closing every curtain that could be used to watch what was happening on the insides.

After ascertaining that there was no way to be observed from the outside, Dante slowly took off his gloves and left them over the room"s desk, his actions measured and trained.

He then closed the entrance door before slowly walking to the side of the corpse again.

"I hate my job." He muttered to himself while closing his eyes and somehow extended his consciousness to encompa.s.s the corpse.

"My lady, my eyes are your eyes. The mist is all-encompa.s.sing and always present; please allow your humble servant the usage of your domain, as it is his duty to maintain order among your believers."

The prayer echoed through the room, and a thin curtain of mist started to separate from the walls to concentrate on the spot right above the bloated corpse.

After concentrating in one spot, as if the mists decided on a suitable course of action, they slowly turned into strings that attached themselves to Dante"s limps, connecting him to the corpse on the ground.

"Here it comes..." He complained as a flood of sensations overcame him. The impression of being in a constant state of suffocation was ever-present, just as if he was the corpse itself!

The mists connected the past and the present, creating a special circ.u.mstance where the corpse as in a suspended state of life!

The corpse then rigidly and unnaturally climbed from its eternal slumber. What is dead should never rise again, but that was not the case among Marked!

Dante felt a strong connection to the undead; his lifeforce was sustaining the animated state of the corpse!

"Your name was Norton, right?" Dante started a conversation with the animated corpse, the misty strings that were attached to the unnatural monstrosity controlled every part of the thing"s body!

One strand of mist connected directly to the insides of the thing"s mouth, while another was attached to the lip"s exterior. And with great effort, Dante used the G.o.ddess"s domain to control the undead, finally eliciting response from it!

"Yes, Norton was how I used to be called."