"The official City Hall conclusion is 'accidental death.' They probably feel somewhat guilty themselves and are unwilling to investigate further. Or perhaps, this guy was a sacrificial pawn from the very beginning... Regardless, a pervert who likes little boys definitely deserves to die."
The newspaper's coverage of the case was sensationalized but contained little actual information about the circumstances.
Fran rested her chin on one hand and began reading other sections.
By now, Sigrid had finished tidying the entire kitchen and dining area. The marble countertop was so clean it could reflect a face.
She let out a satisfied sigh and entered the main hall, approaching the tall wooden bookshelf.
"Fifth row, thirteenth column..."
After some searching, Sigrid found the recipe book Fran used during her beginner days.
It had a dark brown leather cover, and the pages faintly exuded a complex aroma of various spices, likely absorbed from years in the kitchen.
Its title was Hannibal Lecter's Secret Kitchen.
---
North District 09, Moonbarton Street.
Moonbarton Street was an affordable residential area.
Although the streets and housing layout were somewhat crowded, the supporting facilities were relatively complete and reasonably clean. Therefore, many young entrepreneurs and salaried workers chose to live here.
Haida walked briskly down the street, with Vivian following closely behind, holding a somewhat crumpled flyer.
The flyer read:
"Professional Sewer Unclogging Service! One thing fixed, all things fixed, everything flows smoothly! For inquiries, please contact the most professional drainage system expert in all of Norlington, Mr. Moloch Darrow."
"Sister Haida, I heard from Grandpa Will these past few days that there have been some strange incidents in the South District, and the White Cup cult has dispatched Error-Purgers. It seems it's also related to the sewers..."
Vivian herself wasn't afraid. After all, Confidential Division agents often dealt with such things; she was used to it.
"Remember that Blood Kin from before? The General Affairs Division believes the recent series of anomalies is likely connected to him. This time, the person who reported the incident claims to have seen a monster in the sewers. There might be a lead on that guy."
Haida's gaze was cool, seemingly carrying a hint of regret over the prey's escape.
"The Burial Court originally planned to conduct a thorough cleansing of the entire city's drainage system after the 'Plum Moon ritual' incident. But it wasn't until recently that the General Affairs Division issued the reconnaissance mission, preparing for the purge order."
Vivian shrugged, letting out a somewhat helpless sigh and laugh.
"That matches my impression of the General Affairs Division's leisurely pace. But they acted quite quickly on the previous few decisions. Maybe there are other considerations this time?"
Walking through the streets of the Moonbarton residential area, the two chatted casually and soon arrived in front of House No. 23.
Knock, knock, knock.
Haida knocked lightly on the door with her knuckles.
"Who is it?"
A middle-aged man's voice, full of caution, came from inside.
"Excuse me, are you Mr. Moloch Darrow, the person who reported the incident? Pardon the intrusion, I am a Burial Attendant from the Secrets-Hunter Cult."
Haida could feel a gaze watching her through the peephole.
Therefore, she directly took out her Secrets-Hunter Cult identification, showing the brass-etched, horizontally placed prismatic holy symbol to the person behind the door.
"Secrets-Hunters! Good heavens, God-Hunting God be praised, you've finally come!"
A short, stocky old man with a graying beard quickly opened the door. He looked excited, as if seeing saviors.
"Please come in, both of you. Reverend Sister, what should I call you? Oh, and this young lady... If I'm not mistaken, you are an 'agent'?"
Moloch was quite short but sturdy, wearing a clean, laundered work uniform.
He trotted off to prepare tea, not at all like an ordinary sixty-year-old.
"Just Haida is fine. She is Agent Vivian. We currently both belong to the Burial Court."
Haida concisely explained their identities, then stepped from the entryway into the living room, briefly observing the interior.
The room was tidy, and among the decorative ornaments were many samples of modified metal pipes.
This matched the description in the General Affairs Division's task file. Besides occasionally taking on large unclogging jobs, Moloch was actually a pipeline engineer. He had even participated in Norlington's city planning.
"My apologies, ladies. But the North District has no shortage of salesmen and clueless preachers. These guys will try every trick to knock on your door and then start pestering you, wasting everyone's time..."
Moloch placed two cups of tea on the table and began chattering with a hint of apology.
Vivian nodded understandingly.
"True. I can never refuse those door-to-door salesmen peddling cheap books. I bought one called Confidential Division Covert Infiltration Investigator II, but I can't find the first or third volumes..."
"Ahem."
Haida glanced at Vivian beside her and couldn't help but cover her mouth with a light cough, signaling her to be serious.
But in a way, this was also a common Confidential Division technique...
Sometimes seemingly casual small talk could lower a target's guard and help them relax... People are more likely to divulge valuable information when their defenses are down.
"Hahaha, Miss Vivian, you're quite an interesting girl."
Moloch laughed heartily, then took a sip from his cup. Although he didn't know what book Vivian was referring to, judging by the title, it should be detective fiction.
Haida noticed that Moloch had served them hot tea, while he himself was drinking beer... That wasn't particularly strange; this old man was indeed known for his love of drink.
She focused slightly and steered the conversation to the main topic.
"Well then, Mr. Moloch, please tell us about what you witnessed during your last pipe maintenance. In your report, you said you saw a 'monster.' So, we'd like you to describe it in detail..."
---
"Oh... That's not a pleasant memory, Sister Haida."
Recalling what he saw during a certain pipe inspection, Moloch took a swig of beer to suppress the rising fear. His movements were a bit rushed, causing foam to cling to his beard.
As an experienced pipeline engineer, he had personally experienced and witnessed many strange things...
As a survivor of the great Norlington plague many years ago, he had seen the horrific scene of the rampant disease. Even carrion crows and vultures were infected and corrupted, dying en masse beside unclaimed corpses, rotting into mud.
Therefore, ordinary circumstances were unlikely to make this old man show such an expression.
"I was in the sewers under Sandrunk Street. There was a severely clogged, semi-abandoned passageway. When I went in, I found dozens of headless bodies stacked together like firewood..."
A dark, cramped environment, a sticky, putrid smell, rats and cockroach-like insects crawling all around you, combined with a pile of corpses with strange, twisted postures in the shadows...
Imagining the situation Moloch had faced, Vivian couldn't help but narrow her eyes.
"What happened after that?" Haida gave Moloch some time to compose himself, then pressed for details.
She understood clearly that the old man before her was no stranger to seeing dead bodies; merely seeing a corpse pile probably wouldn't have caused such a reaction.
At the same time, Haida was somewhat concerned about the detail of headless bodies. Could it be the work of the Decapitation Throne...
"When I walked closer with my lamp, I saw that these bodies all had bite marks. And their skin was withered beyond description, hard to put into words, like they'd been dried out and then smoked over a fire."
Old man, instead of running away from the corpses, you actually went for a closer look... Vivian felt a certain admiration for Moloch's courage.
Noticing the agent's somewhat complicated gaze, Moloch chuckled with a hint of pride.
"Though I'm old now, when I was young, I shoveled mud and mixed mortar in frontline trenches! That place was never short of all kinds of strangely shaped dead people..."
"Mr. Moloch, please continue describing what you saw in the sewers at that time."
Haida keenly sensed the old man's tendency to digress into past anecdotes, so she curtly and efficiently cut him off and steered the topic back on track.
"Ahem, sorry."
Moloch realized he had slipped into his old habit again and continued talking about the situation in the sewers.
"At first, I didn't find it strange that there were bite marks on the bodies. After all, the sewers are full of little critters that'll eat anything: maggots, flies, cockroaches. Rat packs..."
"But when I got closer, I saw those bite marks were huge and savage, almost tearing the entire body apart... as if they'd encountered a large predator."
Moloch pursed his lips, his expression complex. A bit fearful, but also a bit excited.
Haida placed her hands together slightly, carefully observing the changes in the old man's expression. She knew... what he was about to say next was likely the main event.
"Just as I was about to leave, I noticed a few figures among the bodies staggering to their feet."
"They were covered in semi-congealed, sticky blood. Their skin and clothes were covered with rotting mold, making their features indistinguishable..."
After saying this, Moloch let out a sigh of relief as if a burden had been lifted, and took another big gulp from his beer mug.
"What happened after that?" Seeing the old man fall silent, Vivian prompted.
"After that?" Moloch scratched his graying beard.
"Who wouldn't run from a sight like that? A few young, strong lads from the engineering team hoisted me up and ran out of the sewers without looking back."
Hearing this, Vivian nodded with considerable approval.
As long as they knew to run, that was good. She had seen people before who were so scared by a monster they couldn't move. Not only that, but they kept sitting on the ground screaming, as if afraid the monster wouldn't notice them...
Although old man Moloch also showed signs of being frightened, his current mental state was evidently still quite good. He could communicate normally and didn't require emotional soothing.
"After coming out of the sewers, I didn't even dare go home and went straight to the Secrets-Hunter Cult to contact you."
As he spoke, Moloch rubbed a somewhat faded holy symbol. Cast from brass, shaped like a horizontal prism, resembling an eye or a mouth... it was the emblem of the Secrets-Hunters.
This old man was a believer in the God-Hunting God, and a very devoted one at that.
"Thank you for your trust." Haida placed a hand over her chest and bowed slightly to Moloch.
Her black nun's habit swayed slightly, the firearms and folding knives concealed within making a few barely audible metallic clicks.
Moloch listened carefully, his expression nostalgic and somewhat admiring.
When facing inexplicable supernatural events, having a fully armed, well-trained Secrets-Hunter by your side... could indeed bring a strong sense of security. That was precisely why he had chosen to believe in the God-Hunting God.
Moloch then waved a hand. "It's I who should be troubling you."
"If not for the treatment from your Medicae Primus over twenty years ago... I probably would have died in that plague."
Vivian's eyebrows rose slightly, a flicker of surprise crossing her face before quickly vanishing.
Mr. Moloch had actually met the previous Medicae Primus? The task dossier from the General Affairs Division didn't mention this...
Among the Four Primuses, compared to the notorious "Chief Hunter" Ahern, the previous Medicae Primus was arguably the most mysterious figure in the entire Secrets-Hunter Cult, aside from the General Affairs Primus. Even as a Confidential Division agent, Vivian knew very little about them.
The only confirmed information was that the previous Medicae Primus died from illness during the great plague.
"But it was too long ago. I can't remember her face now... I only remember she was a gentle and elegant lady."
Moloch sighed with emotion, drained the last of his drink, and fell silent.
Soon, the steady breathing of deep sleep could be heard.
Judging by the scattered empty beer bottles nearby, it seemed he had been drinking alone quite a bit before Haida and Vivian arrived.
...
Visiting Mr. Moloch was the preliminary step of this reconnaissance mission, aimed solely at gathering information.
Since this old man was a devout believer in the God-Hunting God and a staunch supporter of the Secrets-Hunter Cult... the inquiry concluded in a very amicable atmosphere.
After leaving Moloch's house, Haida glanced discreetly at Vivian.
From the moment Moloch began formally discussing the sewer situation, Vivian had taken out a pen and notebook and started taking shorthand notes. She was still writing fluently and rapidly even now.
She had actually finished transcribing the conversation content long ago. What she was recording now were some miscellaneous details: the old man's demeanor, tone of voice, or the room's decor.
Soon, Vivian had preserved all the valuable details from her memory in written form.
"What a pity. If only this Mr. Moloch's memory could be clearer..."
She stopped writing, put the capped pen and notebook into her pocket, and sighed regretfully.
Such secrets within the Secrets-Hunter Cult generally required clearance at the director level to access. But if one accidentally learned some during a mission... the Cult wouldn't pursue it. However, a non-disclosure agreement had to be signed afterward.
The two quickly headed to Sandrunk Street where the incident occurred. It was in the southern district and required a ride.
Passing through the security perimeter and the operational team of hunters on duty, Haida and Vivian arrived before a manhole cover.
Fortunately, Norlington's was a large-scale drainage system. Although it didn't smell great, in terms of spaciousness alone... it was close to an underground palace.
"The mission file said the White Cup cult dispatched an assistant, but it's unclear who specifically..."
"Good evening! Sister Haida, ah, Agent Vivian, you're here too."
Just as Vivian was pondering, Child greeted them as he approached. He maintained his sunny, enthusiastic smile. The large sniper rifle on his back was tightly wrapped in waterproof leather.
+++
(T/N: Happy New Year to everyone, and to make it a happier year, I'll be uploading bonus chapters!)
T/N: Hey readers~! New Translator here! Before I say anything, I'd first like to thank the original author for creating this wonderful story. Without them, I wouldn't have the chance to share this adventure with you. I hope my translation does justice to their work, and that together, we can enjoy this story.
With that said, I'm happy to let you know I'll be uploading daily chapters. And for those who wish to support my work and gain early access, I've set up a Patreon where advanced chapters will be available.
[email protected]/PeakTL