As he entered the dining room, Raphael's eyes immediately fell on Elena.
After introducing himself, he stood by the window.
On one hand, he examined the structure of the manor; on the other, he quietly watched Elena.
Breakfast was very quiet. Elena had little appetite and ate only a small amount.
She barely communicated with her mother. At the table, her phone occasionally lit up, popping up a few messages.
Raphael watched silently, occasionally glancing outside, aware that Elena kept sneaking glances at him.
He moved around the dining room under the pretense of keeping watch, while subtly noting the messages on Elena's phone.
The messages had piled up to 99+, coming from contacts labeled friends, classmates, teachers, and others expressing concern and inquiries, along with more than thirty missed calls.
Elena ignored all of them.
At that moment, the butler brought freshly brewed black coffee and placed a cup in front of Maria and Elena respectively.
Just as he finished placing the sugar cubes and condensed milk, Elena had already picked up the cup.
"No need. I'll drink it like this."
The butler withdrew respectfully and stood aside.
"Elena, don't you dislike coffee without sugar?" Maria asked with concern.
The girl took a light sip.
"No, Mom. Even if it's very bitter, I'll learn to drink it."
Maria smiled with relief, as if seeing her daughter grow several years older at once.
"People always have to try new things. But you don't need to be too sad.
That wasn't your fault.
Come, try this. It's your favorite."
Maria handed her daughter a plate with a chocolate mille-feuille mousse.
Elena set the cup down, forked a small piece of mousse and put it into her mouth.
She frowned, then took another sip of coffee and swallowed it.
"What's wrong?" Maria asked, puzzled.
"Too sweet."
After saying that, Elena pushed the mousse aside.
Raphael's eyes flicked over every detail, committing them to memory.
Nothing would happen for the time being, so he excused himself under the pretext of investigating abnormal traces and planned to look around.
The manor was very large.
The main building connected to a large garden.
To the left were the stables, and to the right were the orchard and the wine cellar.
There were many servants here, and the manor, far from the big city, was filled with a pastoral atmosphere.
As soon as he arrived at the stables, an elderly horse keeper with rough skin approached him.
His dark circles were heavy, clearly showing he hadn't slept well for a long time.
"Mr. Alanster, please help us."
Raphael glanced around and saw that besides him, there were several young men.
They should have been in their prime, yet their faces showed only exhaustion and fatigue, their skin unnaturally slack.
"What happened?
Lady Maria asked me to investigate. You can speak freely."
Fear flashed in the horse keeper's eyes.
"Strange things have been happening in the stables.
Every night around midnight, the horses start neighing—heart‑rending neighs.
We have surveillance, but everything looks normal on the cameras."
"Every time the neighing occurs, within no more than two days, a horse dies.
The veterinarian's conclusion is internal bleeding, but the horse shows no external injuries.
We suspected poisoning, but even with the butler personally supervising, nothing changed.
God… these are all valuable horses, each worth a fortune.
Fortunately, Lady Maria is noble and didn't make us compensate."
The horse keeper glanced at the other apprentices.
"We didn't want to betray Lady Maria's trust, so we sent the bravest young men to keep watch.
For the first few nights, nothing happened, and the horses weren't startled.
But once the night guard fell asleep, he never woke up again.
The cause of death was also internal bleeding."
Raphael looked around and understood why all of them had dark circles.
"So you're all afraid to sleep now? Indeed, you all work in the stables regularly."
This was what he planned to do anyway. Raphael didn't refuse and entered the stables to inspect.
The interior was large, with nine sections, but only six horses remained.
Their coat colors were unusual, their muscles extremely developed, larger than ordinary horses.
However, their spirits were all very low. Clearly, three horses had already died.
"Heh, I recognize this one. A Prairie Crown Stallion from the 17th District, worth around 17,000 SA. The others should be similar…
I only get about 7,000 SA for eliminating a Level 2 Demon.
Damn Evil Spirit."
After confirming no one was nearby, Raphael looked at his shadow.
"Alp, help me locate David."
As he spoke, he opened a small pouch and tossed a strand of hair into the shadow.
This was David's hair, the medium used to activate this Level 2 Demon's ability.
In addition, there were three gold coins—3,000 SA—paid as the price to the Demon.
"I don't know how long I can keep contracting you. One more coin every month. Next month will be four coins.
Hopefully, Lady Maria is generous enough."
Raphael sighed.
This Demon called Alp had been contracted by him a few months ago.
The price of the contract was feeding his own shadow to it.
It was a Level 2 Demon with ordinary abilities, but the cost of use was low.
Each summoning required only one coin, but there was a monthly 'rent,' increasing by one coin every month.
The shadow spread onto the wall, stretching itself.
Alp resembled Raphael overall, but had small horns on its head, long thin limbs, and distorted proportions.
It looked around, pressing its elongated hands against its eye sockets, once on each side.
Then it returned beneath Raphael's feet, becoming indistinguishable from a normal shadow.
"Oh? So many traces."
Through Alp's shared vision, Raphael perceived details invisible to ordinary eyes.
Residual magical energy in the air, faint footprints.
Most belonged to the horse keepers, but a few were very distinctive.
"Shoe size around 37… This is the breeding area.
None of the horse keepers doing heavy labor would leave such small prints. Must be a woman."
Following the traces, Raphael observed several details.
Horses in areas 1, 3, 5, 7, and 9 were safe, though mentally lethargic.
Areas 4 and 6 were already empty. The horse in area 8 was in very poor condition, with magical residue on the ground.
"Looks like it's tonight's prey. I'll come back at night.
Let Alp conceal my presence, then ask the horse keeper again. He may know some details."
As Raphael stepped out of the stables, sunlight flashed into his eyes.
Before he could even take a breath of fresh air, a sudden tearing sound of wind erupted.
He instinctively reached for his gun, but it was already too late.
Bang!
A surge of pain exploded as a hay fork pierced his abdomen and slammed him hard against the wall.
"Ugh! Damn it!"
Raphael's pistol fell to the ground. The person before him was unmistakably the same elderly horse keeper from earlier.
He was nearly sixty, yet the force of that strike far exceeded that of an ordinary adult man.
In his hollow eyes was reflected Raphael's figure. His mouth drooped unnaturally, saliva dripping.
Raphael pressed one hand against the hay fork, gritting his teeth through the pain, and forcibly pulled it out of his mangled abdomen.
Then he shifted his center of gravity, twisting his body so the hay fork plunged into the grass on the other side.
The moment his foot landed, Raphael drove power from his waist and threw a punch with a tearing sound of air, striking the horse keeper's left shoulder.
Crack.
A crisp sound of dislocation rang out.
The left arm, which should have lost all function, gripped the weapon again as if nothing had happened.
Whoosh!
The horse keeper twisted his wrist. The hay fork plowed through the grass, throwing up dirt in a sweeping horizontal strike.
"!"
Raphael had no choice but to sidestep.
"Demon possession…"
This strength was absolutely impossible for a man of that age.
Raphael hardened his resolve, bent low, and rushed forward, driving a punch into the horse keeper's abdomen.
Pfft!
The horse keeper's mouth gaped blankly, yet not a single cry of pain escaped.
Taking advantage of his unstable balance, Raphael twisted and grabbed the handle of the hay fork, trying to forcibly disarm him.
At that moment, the horse keeper emitted a shrill scream that was not human.
"Ahhhhhh!!!"
The piercing sound was deafening. Raphael's ears rang violently, and he hurriedly covered them.
Veins bulged on his forehead. Pain shot through his head like knives, and blood ran from his nose.
There was no time to think. Seeing the hay fork thrust straight at his face, Raphael extended his left hand and blocked the strike head-on.
The hay fork pierced through his palm, yet there was no blood—
only the sizzling sound of damaged machinery, accompanied by faint escaping electricity.
It was a mechanical hand.
Seeing that restraint was no longer possible, Raphael seized the moment, picked up his gun, and aimed.
The demon-hunting bullets in the silver revolver could severely damage the possessing Demon, but the possessed person would not survive.
At that instant, shock and fear surfaced in the horse keeper's eyes.
"No! Please listen to me! I was controlled by something just now!
I didn't mean to attack you!
Please don't shoot!
I beg you!"
Drip.
Blood fell from Raphael's abdomen. The flesh wriggled unnaturally, the wound slowly regenerating.
Facing the gun barrel, time felt unbearably long to the elderly horse keeper.
"…Indeed, that soul scream just now wasn't something a human could produce.
However, you'll need to be locked up for a while—until I eliminate that damn thing."
Raphael did not pull the trigger. He cautiously checked his surroundings.
Footsteps sounded behind him as an armed security guard rushed over.
"Sir! What happened? I heard—"
Before he could finish speaking, his eyes suddenly turned hollow.
Then, he abruptly raised his gun and aimed.