Steampunk: Sixth Era Epic-Chapter 628 - Castle Secret Chamber

Chapter 628: Chapter 628: Castle Secret Chamber

Chapter 628: Chapter 628: Castle Secret Chamber

Shard left the large library in the basement and returned to the third floor to see Professor Dunn again:

“Professor! Has there been a murder case in the Academy recently?”

“Does this have something to do with the missing antique?”

The professor, somewhat surprised, put down his fountain pen:

“If you want to know, it’s not impossible, but for the sake of Midshire Fort Mechanical Academy’s reputation, please don’t talk about it outside. Yes, there was a student who was recently killed, right here in this castle.”

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“Female?”

“How did you know?”

Because the clothes on the Evil Spirit female lying on Mr. Val’s back were very similar to the students’ uniform here.

“I have my own sources of information. So, does the unfortunate deceased have any connection with Henry Val?”

The professor became even more puzzled by this question, but still thought for a moment:

“At least, I haven’t heard of any connections. The homicide happened last Monday, and it has not been solved yet. The school has prohibited students from gossiping about it, and the newspapers, due to the Academy’s influence, haven’t reported the news yet, intending to wait until the police have solved the case before reporting.”

“Do you know the details of the case? Like the location of the body, the appearance of the corpse, or where the fatal wound is?”

The professor shook his head:

“I only heard about it while having lunch with colleagues. If you want to research this case, I suggest you ask the police. There are very few eyewitnesses, and the students have been strictly forbidden to discuss the matter with anyone, so you won’t find out any information here… of course, the police of Midshire Fort are quite rude, so you might not get the information you’re looking for.”

It seemed that Professor Dunn had a deep prejudice against the local police.

It was not going to be easy to find out the details of an undisclosed murder case from the police, but thankfully, Shard had the pendant given to him by Lecia.

Therefore, Shard went to find Captain Lades, who was monitoring Henry Val in the library, and informed him that he was temporarily leaving the Academy, to allow the captain to investigate freely within the school:

“I will be back in about one or two hours, during which your investigation target should be to ascertain the details of the murder case here.”

The captain readily agreed.

Afterwards, Shard took a carriage to the police station of Midshire Fort City, taking some effort to finally see Deputy Chief Gurus. Once he showed the pendant bearing the Royal Crest, the Deputy Chief immediately indicated that he could help out.

It took some time to look through the case files, but Shard eventually saw all the details of the case.

The deceased young female student was discovered last Monday morning. The cause of death was asphyxiation due to being strangled with a rope. The body was severely mutilated, and after examination by the local coroner, it was found that her abdomen had been cut open by the assassin and the liver was missing.

“Actually, the reason this case hasn’t been publicized is that we believe it to be part of a series of serial killings.”

The middle-aged Deputy Chief said anxiously, holding his hat.

“Serial killings? Yes, I’ve heard about that. So, with the other cases, were the internal organs also removed from the bodies?”

Shard asked curiously as Deputy Chief Gurus nodded:

“Yes, including the body accidentally discovered by Hunters on Sicarl Mountain, so far, we have found five bodies missing hearts, livers, lungs, colons, and kidneys. All the victims were females, between the ages of nineteen and twenty-seven. The wounds suggest the same knife was used by the assassin, but there’s no obvious connection between them. Such heinous cases are really headache-inducing.”

“I see…”

Shard nodded and closed the case file:

“Is there a reward for the case?”

“Of course, there is. The City Hall and the police department have jointly offered a reward: up to 20 Gold Pounds for providing clues, and 100 Gold Pounds for finding the assassin.”

“That much?”

“A serial killer is worth the price.”

Shard thought for a moment, feeling that he couldn’t miss out on this windfall:

“It’s half-past three now. In about an hour and a half, please send someone to Midshire Fort Mechanical Academy to look for Captain Lades, yes, the captain from the Royal Army on the Rising Wind Trail; he will find the real culprit.”

Shard returned the case files to Deputy Chief Gurus, planning to head straight back to Midshire Fort Mechanical Academy, but hesitated for a moment before asking:

“A vicious gun murder occurred yesterday near the Milestone Train Station at the Sicarl Inn, are you aware of it?”

He still hadn’t forgotten that the deceased was a handler of the grey gloves; the merchant who was taken away with two guns, most likely a handler as well.

“Of course I know, it’s quite a vicious case indeed.”

“Is there a follow-up?”

“Yes, indeed.”

Deputy Chief Gurus held his head, indicating a headache, as he sat next to his desk piled with files and complained to Shard:

“The murderer, that is, the Carsonrickian merchant Ben Bennett, committed suicide this morning.”

“Suicide, huh?”

Shard felt like he wasn’t as surprised as he should be, and so he asked:

“Did he commit suicide in the police station? Are you sure it was suicide?”

“Yes, he directly ran into a wall in the interrogation room and died. It’s an enormous scandal but fortunately, it hasn’t leaked yet. Also, the body of the gunshot case has been tampered with, and the evidence for this case has gone missing.”

“What’s gone missing?”

“The murderer’s fountain pen.”

Shard nodded, choosing not to ask further.

The fountain pen no longer contained any intelligence; this he had verified. This meant that the incident at the Sicarl Inn, suspected to be a gray gloves internal strife, had already resulted in two handlers dead. Now, with the fountain pen stolen, it suggested that besides the two deceased individuals, there was likely a third partner.

And that partner, probably, didn’t know details such as the time and place for the pickup.

That last partner, Shard was almost certain, was Professor Higgins, the language scholar from Carsonrick who lived across from the two “merchants”.

“But everyone who knew the pickup location is dead, and there’s no intelligence in the fountain pen. If everything is normal, then the Carsonrickians, they shouldn’t be able to receive those goods.”

Shard mused to himself, then pushed the matter to the back of his mind once again.

(Mia running…)

Different people’s internal organs have been removed; this fits the characteristics of some illegal rituals. And the soul of the deceased female student lingering around Henry Val, who is suspected of stealing the antique bronze jar, is actually pointing out who the real perpetrator is.

Back at the castle which housed the Academy, Shard had originally intended to find Henry Val immediately. He didn’t care about evidence, pressing the man would be no ethical pressure for Shard at all.

But Henry Val had disappeared, and even Captain Lades, who was supposed to be investigating within the castle, was nowhere to be seen.

“I was gone for just an hour and ten minutes…”

Fortunately, Professor Dunn, the folklorist, was still in his office. When Shard knocked and entered, Professor Dunn thought that Shard had already found the bronze jar.

“No, no, no, I just want to ask, does this castle have any secret passageways or hidden rooms? That jar must be hidden in a place people can’t see.”

Shard inquired, and the professor immediately nodded:

“Certainly, there are secret passageways and hidden rooms in this castle. This castle was originally a defensive fort on the frontier of the Draleon Kingdom. Only the Draleon military might know the exact number of such places. But one thing is for sure, what you’re looking for definitely exists.”

Hiding that huge bronze jar would require space, and if Shard’s reasoning was correct and the serial killer was indeed Henry Val, then he must have a large enough secret space within the castle.

Professor Dunn didn’t have any more clues, but when Shard flipped through the case files at the Midshire Fort Police Station, he had already seen the specific death scene. Although the victims were strangled with ropes, leaving no obvious bloodstains, the subsequent gruesome disemboweling must have left very noticeable traces of blood.

Without knowing the specific death location, Shard wouldn’t have been able to determine which bloodstains were the ones he was looking for in such a large castle. But since he now knew the specific location, and had even seen several gruesome black and white photos in the files, the rest should be no problem.

After all, prior to the upgrade of his sorcery, Shard was able to distinguish century-old bloodstains in his own basement, thereby locating a concealed wall.

After leaving the professor, Shard went to the southeast corner on the fourth floor of the castle and quite easily spotted large patches of bloodstains on the wall and floor outside the ladies’ restroom.

Shard was relieved that the blood led towards the stairwell, not into the restroom itself, or else he really would have faced a massive problem.

That distinct red halo led Shard from the southeast corner of the square-shaped castle through the east side corridor to the teaching area on the west side. Then, taking the stairs to the fifth floor, he passed the noisy offices of the mathematics professors—inside voices were discussing the different remainder term expressions for the Mos Expansion, the silent Roder Card Club—its door was firmly closed and a notice that read “Closed for three months due to suspected illegal gambling” was pasted on it, and the busy Academy’s Daily office—this was the non-profit newspaper published by the Midshire Fort Mechanical Academy. Surprisingly, the red halo entered the broom closet.