Witch, Fireball and the Evil God of Steam-Chapter 34: Luoxang’s Tragic Tale Unfolds

The bar was plunged into a long silence, and in the quiet, all of Luoxang's unexplained behavior was clarified.

The staff of Imperial Reserve mentioned that on the day of his death, Luoxang seemed completely out of it.

The performance he had practiced countless times went awry, with no humor at all, causing Marshall to lose face in front of guests from Gear City.

He was ushered out of the banquet hall, stumbling and knocking over a glass of red wine at the doorway as he left.

The boss's eyes widened; he tried several times to say something, but nothing came out. He could only take out three glasses, filled them with strong liquor for the three of them, not caring whether Ethan and Ave drank it or not, then raised a glass to an empty air, "To Luoxang, and his daughter."

Then he drank it all in one gulp.

But a single glass of strong liquor failed to soothe his emotions, so he picked up the bottle and poured the whole thing down his throat, unsurprisingly slipping and collapsing onto the bar counter asleep.

Ethan had no intention of touching his glass.

It was work time, and his supervisor was right next to him.

"Want to go for a walk? Or you can go back if you want."

Ave suddenly said.

Strictly speaking, the case wasn't particularly complex, as all the clues were pieced together, and they learned about Luoxang's last day's experiences.

Ethan also understood the reflection appearing in the apartment.

It wasn't a magic book, but a ledger, likely recording the high-interest loans he had taken from Imperial Reserve, explaining why Luoxang would have to open it each day after returning home from performing at the bar night shows to jot down his extra earnings.

"The cursed item must be the ledger Luoxang left behind, and Marshall took it away, so he's cursed."

Ethan shared his assessment, calming himself, "It should be an item of the 'CI' classification, causing people to suffer from laughter syndrome, which may be related to the identity of a clown. Currently, it doesn't show obvious fatality."

This marked the end of Luoxang's case, and the next step was straightforward.

Find out the whereabouts of the ledger from Marshall and hand it over to the Reception Bureau. In Firelight Bay, Old Mu's shop has a storage locker specifically used for storing cursed items below CI rating.

They took half a night to excellently fulfill the commission issued by Imperial Reserve, which should help establish a good reputation for the Ximu Town Intelligence Base Station.

Yet, Ethan felt something was missing, or more accurately, even with the truth uncovered, there was a sense of helplessness.

The journey was exceptionally quiet; the two walked side by side like a single entity along the town street, experiencing the darkness before dawn, the moment of absolute silence in the world, as Ave already planned ahead: Imperial Reserve's work time was 7 AM, they had to find a place to have breakfast after using up the remaining time and then settle the commission completely.

Ethan wasn't sure how long he had been walking on the pitch-dark street; he inherently disliked going out.

When he finally came to his senses, they had deviated from the main road, walking the path leading to Baron Gledin's estate, the manor covered in the shroud of night, all servants asleep.

Ave walked to the front of the mansion, turned around, gazed into the winding path up the hill.

"I saw him that day."

She finally spoke, when she was upstairs in the mansion, her view obscured by the pouring rain, receiving orders from Captain Hagrid who, with mansion guards, rushed into the heavy rain, hurriedly investigating issues with the town's water source, when a silhouette braving the rain blocked their path on the way downhill.

Ave couldn't discern the rain-drenched person's appearance at the time, but now, that person had a name.

Luoxang, the town's clown performer.

She retrieved an oil-sealed paper from the inner side pocket of her clothes and set the powder inside alight with a match.

It was the first time Ethan saw Ave use magic taught by Enlightenment Society, akin to elemental magic for elemental shapers, followers of the God of Truth would learn many extraordinary abilities upon advancing to the second stage.

The powder ignited in a ghostly green flame; as it completely burned, it transformed into a blue smoke that floated towards the winding path not far away.

Unbeknownst to them, the fog began to rise.

The white mist outlined several figures, indistinct in appearance, yet Ethan heard familiar voices.

"Hurry up, gather all water sources in the town!"

Captain Hagrid shouted, his distinct booming voice pierced through the air, audible even from afar, so naturally, Luoxang heard it too.

Luoxang was frozen in place.

As Captain Hagrid was about to brush past him, he hurriedly stopped Hagrid, his voice trembling, "...Are the rumors true?"

Hagrid was noncommittal, "A witch attacked Riverside Town, you better hurry home. It's unsafe to stay out now. By the way, don't drink any water before we finish investigating."

Luoxang was still relentless, asking, "I mean, did everyone in Riverside Town die? Has the news been confirmed?"

"Confirmed."

"Then..."

Luoxang stood there, clutching Hagrid's arms, racking his brains, finally clinging to some hope, asking desperately, "Is there a chance that someone somehow survived, hiding and escaping the attack?"

"How would I know?"

Hagrid was starting to get impatient.

They were also racing against time; if they didn't quickly resolve the town's water source issues, Ximu Town would meet the same fate as Riverside Town. "I'm in a hurry, let's talk later!"

Ethan watched as Luoxang despondently walked down the path, soaking in the rain, sitting at the side of the road, when soon a figure riding swiftly by on horseback passed him.

It was only then he faintly recalled leaving Baron Gledin's house that day, catching a glimpse of someone sitting by the road from the corner of his eye, but the heavy rain and his rush to return to the forest cabin distracted him from taking a closer look.

"Let's go."

Ave calmly extended an invitation to Ethan; seeking truth was the mission of a follower of the God of Truth, bestowed upon them the ability to see past.

The two walked through the mist, witnessing fragments theoretically impossible for them to see.

Luoxang returned to his apartment, changed into his clown costume for performance, and went to the Imperial Reserve's party hall, prepared for a certain guest from Gear City, where the live lively atmosphere drowned Luoxang.

They watched a clumsy performance, definitely not Luoxang's usual standard.

The awkward lines resulted in several pauses in the party; finally, a fed-up Marshall kicked him out of the banquet hall.

Ethan also discovered some things he hadn't known.

For instance, Baron Gledin soon regained composure after Ethan left, riding with Ave, Hagrid, leading a united force formed by Guard Corps and Guild Hunters to Riverside Town. They didn't encounter the witch or her minions there, instructed everyone to gather the corpses.

They did their utmost to gather names of every deceased into a list.

Upon returning, Baron Gledin gave a speech in the town square, asserting that their bravery and unity had deterred the witch from Ximu Town; however, vigilance was still needed, as the malignant witch might come back anytime.

Luoxang was within the crowd.

After the speech ended, he forced his way to the front, demanding the death list from Captain Hagrid, flipping through each name until he reached the third page, where he came to a halt. Time seemingly stopped at that moment for him, frozen in the same posture, until Hagrid placated him with a pat on the shoulder.

This became the last straw.

Back at the apartment, Luoxang examined the ledger one last time, dressed in a neat outfit.

He found a thick rope, paused under the beam for a long time, then retrieved a carving knife, etched a crooked line of words on the beam.

"Luoxang was here."

The mist gradually dissipated; the white human-like shapes before Ethan's eyes dissolved into nothing, leaving Luoxang's apartment in silence once more.

They stood beneath the beam, witnessing all mist gather into a diamond-shaped crystal, drifting towards Ave's head.

Ethan had some understanding of how followers of the God of Truth ascended; they were tasked with unveiling enough truths, bringing themselves closer to the real world, sharing more of its power.

This might be the way truth-seekers harvest truth.

Ave's face still lacked any expression, unobscured by hints of sorrow, and Ethan speculated that she had seen too much of life and death during her pursuit of truth.

But maybe not entirely.

He watched as the diamond-shaped crystal was absorbed into Ave's golden hair.

Then, that tuft of hair drooped sadly, descending into her sea of golden locks, vanishing without a trace.