Who Said A Necromancer Can't Be A Priest?-Chapter 54: Murder Mystery (2)

It had to be Florida.

Or Nessid, as it was called in Elysium.

Worlds may change, names may change, but Florida would always remain Florida. Apart from that strange thought, Aaran had his eyes fixed on the strange capital.

From the bustling crowd, no one would think their king had been murdered.

It's not like they could mourn the king's death.

So far, Emperor Trantua was the prime suspect behind the assassination. The people were afraid of what might happen to them if they mourned King Nessid's death.

But Aaran knew that if it was Trantua's doing, they'd be mourning themselves—as spirits, of course.

"Where's the corpse?" Aaran asked.

"Right this way, Your Highness," a knight replied, guiding him into the castle.

Two knights followed them, leaving Valgo and one other behind.

"I can't believe this," Rial, the other knight, spat. "This is a serious crime, and the Emperor is making us babysit?"

"Control your tongue, Rial. He's a prince and the Emperor's son-in-law," Valgo warned. "Besides, you'll be surprised by the kid."

"What do you mean?"

Valgo didn't elaborate and moved on, his mind returning to the conversation he had with Aaran after teleporting.

Instead of being disgusted, Aaran was fascinated by King Nessid's corpse—especially with its strange time-frozen state.

It was all mentioned in the report file, but it was the first time someone had talked about it to Valgo. Still, he didn't want to get his hopes up. The kid might be strange, but in the end, he was just that—a kid.

The Emperor trusted him to solve the case.

Valgo wanted to be there when it happened.

***

Brineport, or Nessid's capital, was rather small for a kingdom's capital. But it wasn't strange for a place where fishery was the primary industry. The fishy smell had become one with the air. So much so that even the perfumes smelled of fish.

The only place that didn't smell of fish was the morgue, where Aaran stood with the knights. But even it was a strange place.

"A morgue inside the castle?" Aaran mumbled.

The healer there was quick to respond.

"His Highness, King Nessid, loved his people," he said. "So much so that the children could use the royal gardens as they pleased—!"

"I'm sure he was a great ruler," Aaran said, cutting him off. "Would you mind showing me the corpse now?"

The healer shot a disgusted look at Aaran, but changed his expression when Valgo cleared his throat.

Aaran expected the man to pull a drawer. Instead, he pulled the covers off a headless corpse. Not only was he headless, but the rest of his corpse was also cleanly chopped into five pieces.

Nessid's limbs were severed from the torso, and his… family jewels were missing. But that wasn't the strange part. It was the decomposition rate.

Each severed part showed a different stage of decomposition. The torso looked fresh as if Nessid had just died a few minutes ago, not months.

But the limbs told a different story.

His right hand had completely decayed, leaving only bones. His left was swollen as if the body had been left underwater. As for his legs, live maggots and other insects fed on them.

It was a disgusting sight.

As disgusting as it was, it made one thing clear. It wasn't the doing of a human. Not an ordinary human, at least.

A cultist was involved in this mess.

How did Aaran know that? It was simple. Despite showing decay, there was no odor that should come with decomposition. It was as if the corpse wasn't even a corpse.

No wonder the Emperor sent me here.

Aaran gestured for the healer to cover the corpse before turning to Valgo.

"You people found the dismembered corpse, right?"

"We each found a piece the same day," Valgo replied. "They'd been put into boxes and placed outside our homes."

Aaran nodded.

He was wondering why these five knights were so desperate to solve the case. Now, he had the answer.

"Please leave the room for a minute," Aaran asked the knights.

The healer was hesitant to leave, but Valgo was very persuasive.

As the door closed, Aaran yanked off the sheet covering Nessid. He wanted to confirm something.

[Boy, you can't use your darkness here.]

I know, Dread. I'm not a fool.

[You got me fooled there.]

"…"

A healer was right outside the room. If Aaran used his core to draw in Nessid's spirit, the healer would surely notice the darkness. Besides, the trial wasn't going to be so easy.

The Emperor wouldn't have sent Aaran here if all he had to do was summon Nessid's spirit and ask what happened. Still, Aaran had other ways to interact with one's spirit.

He closed his eyes and prayed for the departed.

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But it didn't work.

"Like I thought."

Aaran covered the corpse and turned to leave.

To tame a spirit, it had to be nearby to enter the core. But it was different in the case of prayers.

It wasn't limited by distance. As long as a prayer was offered to a corpse, the spirit would be guided to the goddess, no matter how far away it was.

There was only one reason a prayer could fail.

If the soul no longer existed.

That led to two scenarios. First, where the cultist was strong enough to erase a soul entirely, and second, where King Nessid was still alive.

It was a weird situation. Perfect for a test, which meant it was a headache for Aaran.

Dread… any ideas?

[You're not a fool. Figure it out yourself.]

"Right."

Aaran stepped out of the morgue, turning to Valgo again.

"I assume you have already interviewed the servants?"

"King Nessid had no servants," Valgo replied.

"What?"

"I told you, His Highness, King Nessid, wasn't like other nobles," the healer scoffed.

Valgo stepped up to fix the healer's attitude, but Aaran stopped him.

"What do you mean?" he asked the healer.

"As I said, the castle was open to everyone. Our king was kind to us, and we served him in return. The women cooked his meals in the kitchen, the children helped clean the palace, and the men stood guard. We all took turns, of course."

Aaran couldn't help but roll his eyes at the healer's words.

"You people loved the king so much that you didn't even notice when he went missing?"

"I—That's not fair—"

"Does it look like I care? Make yourself useful and get everyone who frequented the castle."