115 – Chapter 37. Short and peaceful – 3
– 116 –
Three days have passed since Erif disappeared.
Aruma Nan, who once again lost her sister-in-law, has been sleeping through the night.
Eriff suddenly disappeared on the way to help Canael at his request, and Arumanan’s guilt was beyond words.
The Selmeier Kingdom secretly started a search for Erif.
Erif’s body was silver, unlike a normal helicopter, and had an unusual appearance resembling that of a dragon, so there were not many witnesses.
After tracing the trail, the agents of the intelligence department in charge of the investigation were finally able to find a gatekeeper who had witnessed Erif himself in a city at the foot of a mountain.
“Yes. I know. Was it in the evening a few days ago? He appeared alone outside the city, asked where the military quarters were, and left immediately. But right after that happened…….”
Agent was already aware of information that a large explosion had blown away the military quarters here a few days ago.
It was an incident that did not pay much attention because there were no bodies found there.
But what if Erif was there and got involved in some sort of incident?
The agent’s head began to spin.
When the agent arrived at the scene, he was skeptical as he saw the ruins of only one building collapsed.
Nearby buildings received no damage other than dust and noise.
“Yes. That evening there was a loud noise and the building next door collapsed. I was surprised, but I’m glad to hear that no one was hurt.”
An inquiry into people living in a nearby building has also been completed.
Usually, this was a place where soldiers who were dispatched or trained nearby came and went freely.
Reports of this incident went back several hours and said that no one was detected in the magic that traced the existence of life.
Eriff didn’t even appear.
There was some discrepancy with the testimony of the gatekeeper.
‘Erif Cruel didn’t come here right away.’
The agent shook his head.
My intuition as an intelligence agent accumulated over the years has informed me that this place is suspicious.
The agent scoured the dusty floor.
I looked closely at each of the pieces of broken walls that had been piled up nearby.
After researching for a long time, something caught my eye.
Slightly protruding bloodstains on the wall where only the root part remains.
The agent held the magic stone and performed detection magic.
‘The master of blood is…….’
Human, adult male.
It wasn’t the trace I was looking for.
However, it was strange that the bloodstains remained intact.
Even if no one is staying, cleaning will be done periodically.
It was more reasonable to think that it was created a while ago.
After taking a sample, I called in my colleagues who would be conducting an inquiry nearby.
“It’s most likely here.”
“Yes. Neither the gatekeeper’s testimony nor the sudden explosion is suspicious. And… ….”
The two agents turned their gazes to the girl with their eyes closed.
Ermera, a young intelligence agent who said he learned many things from Erif while attending the military academy.
As soon as she finished her exam, she could not rest and voluntarily followed the news of Erif’s disappearance.
I don’t usually bring in new recruits or interns for such important jobs, but she didn’t join the intelligence service at such a young age for nothing.
Hermera opened her eyes and then reached out and pointed her hand at her floor.
“Severe over there… It smells very bad. Aren’t the seniors coming?”
“Yeah, that’s why I brought you.”
One of her agents tapped her Hermera’s shoulder and then ran to where she was pointing.
The floor that looked fine turned out to be a floor on the second floor with the entire ceiling down.
The boundary was vague and there was no difference in height, so it was difficult to distinguish between them.
“You have to break the floor.”
“Rent a hammer nearby.”
When I broke the floor with a hammer borrowed from a nearby workshop, I saw a stairway that had melted badly in a large hole and was scorched.
I felt the heat from the beginning of the stairs in the basement, where black smoke slowly rose like the entrance to hell.
Hermera clasped her nose at her stench and stepped back behind her.
“L. You should go back to your home.”
“Oh, I see.”
She is so sensitive to her magic that if she went down to her basement, she could be suffocating or fainting.
After evacuating Hermera, the two intelligence agents searched the bag and took out a manastone containing the appropriate protection magic.
They slowly descended into the basement with their pistols and flashlights in their hands, swallowing the wind.
There were several charred corpses piled up.
The strange thing was that in this place, where everything was burned to ashes, the corpses were intact.
It was charred on the outside, but it didn’t burn to the point of being unrecognizable.
The agents wiped the soot off the corpse’s face and checked the identity.
Most of them were people who had recently been reported missing from nearby villages.
“This is… ….”
“It must be.”
They thought of one possibility at the same time.
Last year too, a large number of civilians went missing.
What appeared as a result was the demonic terrorist act.
If the demons had intervened in this case too, there was a high possibility that Erif was involved.
“I didn’t die of burning or suffocation. I have a cut in my neck. Seeing that there is soot on this side too, it looks like it had already been hit before the fire started.”
“I will. He must have died a few hours to a few days ago because he didn’t get the detection magic that was executed immediately after the incident.”
One of the agents investigating the surroundings narrowed his eyes and lifted a round metal plate.
Overall, it looked similar to the mark of a demon, but the size and shape of the magi were different.
I didn’t feel anything even after using the detection magic.
Agent pounded or swung the metal object for a while before shrugging his shoulders and placing it in the evidence bag.
“Come here for a second.”
Another agent found something among the corpses.
A silver-colored metal band held tightly by a corpse.
The agent cut off the stiffened finger with a dagger after death and held it up.
It was Erif Cruel’s pendant.
“Damn.”
I wanted to find traces of Erif, but I didn’t want this ending.
Erif Cruel was definitely here.
There was no possibility that she escaped from this place with those cuts.
The building exploded less than 30 minutes after she arrived here.
The dead are those who died hours to days ago.
Erif’s chances of surviving didn’t seem that great.
It was comforting that Erif’s body or body parts were not found.
The agents analyzed all the burnt bloodstains on the floor, but could not find any traces of Erif.
A little bit away, a lump of scrap metal was found that had almost completely melted and stuck to the floor.
“Is it a knife handle?”
Another agent nodded at the words of the good-looking agent.
The knife with only the tip of the handle left was made of an unknown metal.
After searching the basement for a long time and unable to find any more information, the intelligence service agents gathered the evidence they found and returned to their dorms to write a report.
The destination is the Central Intelligence Agency in the capital.
The Central Intelligence Agency, which received information through communication magic, decided to dispatch an additional Erif search team.
It was an unprecedented problem that the humanoid spirits disappeared because of the incident, so they had no time to rest.
They scoured the city and surrounding areas in search of Erif, which they did not know where they were.
Without knowing what the situation is.
“Ah… ….”
Fir, an assassin of the Demon King’s army and a necromancer, trembled with a spoon and spilled food.
Astatt, who was eating next to her, removed the fallen food with a familiar gesture, and with a blunt expression scooped out a spoonful of salad and brought it to Fir’s lips.
Fir bit his teeth and slammed his teeth.
But Astat forced her mouth open and mercilessly shoved the salad in.
As long as the food got into your mouth, you couldn’t spit it out.
The assassin may starve for several days on a mission, so he doesn’t spit out any food he puts in his mouth.
Fir couldn’t just ignore the salad that Astaat insisted on.
She was in a situation where she couldn’t even use a spoon properly.
“… ….”
Fir looked down at her right arm, which had disappeared above her elbow.
She felt her phantom limb pain in her missing arm.
One of her two weapons, which she put forward, disappeared too futilely.
The day that she had to cut off her arm, which had been completely burned by black flames, was blinded by her greed and had not stabbed her Miss Fire.
If only she had taken the time to attack through the corpse doll.
It was no use to regret.
Thanks to her defeating Miss Fire instead, her reputation within her demons has risen significantly.
It was painful for her to dedicate her mostly used arm in return, but it was better than dying or losing her limb for nothing.
With that in mind, Fir chewed and swallowed her salad, which Astat had forcibly fed her.
Without knowing the circumstances of her humanoid spirit that she thought she had killed.
Her body was heavy.
No, is it light?
The limbs did not move freely, but the body was light.
She felt like she was floating in the water.
“Ummm… ….”
Slightly twisted and stretched the body.
Her hand couldn’t go up, so she stretched out her body, and when she opened her eyes, she saw an unexpected place.
“Huh?”
Slightly distracting green sky and pink clouds.
Sky blue land and silver buildings.
A place that is a little unfamiliar but familiar.
It’s been more than 200 years since I’ve been here, and it must have been about a decade or so.
The spirits who looked down at me with worried expressions let out a sigh.
“You are awake, Misfire.”
The higher spirits of the earth, a female warrior in armor, expressed their displeasure and grabbed my waist.
“It may hurt a little.”
When the earth spirit, who gave strength to his grasp, raised his arm, he felt like he was falling out of nowhere and his body floated.
“Healing is complete, Misfire-sama.”
“Oh, thank you.”
“A few words. The wind is looking for you. Go towards the wind.”
“Yes. Thank you.”
My memory until I fell asleep was vague.
I’ll start by finding out how I came to this place, Elemenes, the city of spirits.
When I turned around, I saw the purple jelly I had just contained.
It was a treatment facility made by mixing manastone and elemental condensate and then melting it to a semi-solid state, but it was the first time I tried it myself.
I was told that I was seriously injured enough to go in there, but I can’t remember what happened before I opened my eyes.
Did you say that the wind is looking for you?
Someone among the wind spirits seemed to be able to explain the situation to me.
Wait. If it’s Elemenes, then Sila is in charge.
Besides, he’s a higher wind spirit.
“Silla?”
I shouted into the air, but nothing happened.
It’s not from the material realm, but from the same spirit realm, so I can’t summon it.
Let’s go to the realm of the wind first.
I slowly remembered the location and geography of this place.
I went out to the big street through the narrow alley.
Like a big city, various spirits were walking through the streets.
They recognized me and were happy to see me.
I also felt at ease as if I had come home, waved my hand and went to the realm of the wind.
A large tower is always surrounded by a whirlwind.
The smooth, light green pagoda also serves as a passageway to the Valley of the Winds, where the winds of the world pass through once.
It was a special place for me, having the properties of fire and wind at the same time.
The gods studied the teachings here, so it was like the school of my spirit days.
Memories of the past came to mind, and the footsteps spontaneously headed towards the entrance of the tower.
“Miffy!”
Silla was flying from afar.
I haven’t seen in a long time, a girl with her light pink hair with wings on her head stretched out her arms and hugged me.
“How worried! You are very hurt…….”
I grabbed Sila’s arms, which were wiping the corners of her eyes with tears in their eyes.
“Do you know why I am here?”
“Huh? Then. That i moved How serious was that?”
“How was it specifically?”
“Well, that’s it.”
Silah looked hesitant.
I’m afraid I’ll be shocked.
“Okay. Tell me.”
Silah sighed and pointed to the center of my chest.
“He died because his chest was pierced.”
“What?”
Sheila pressed her fingers close to my heart.
“The human Erif Cruel is dead. My heart was pierced by a sharp thing.”
Dead?
Erif Cruel is dead?
Silla’s shrill voice reverberated in her ears.
Die? I?
I am alive and well here.
Suddenly, vertigo came and she almost fell behind her back.
Thanks to Sila’s quick support, she barely escaped the ugliness.
“Let’s go ahead and talk about the details.”
“…… Yes.”
She entered the tower of wind, supported by the spirits of the wind, who suddenly jumped out of the tower.