Chapter 106: The Begining

[Unlock this one Chapter with free passes if you want to please. Because of my mistake I can’t take extra coins for that 400 words, forgive me for this I’ll won’t make this mistake again, Webnovel didn’t let me swipe Chapters and I had to do it]

Chapter 106: The Beginning

The sudden firearm shattered the silence of the plaza as the smoke curled up on the barrel. Both of the guards froze and stared at the small crater beneath them.

Gasps came from the crowd; the townspeople who had been standing in serenity looked at him while stepping back.

"Step away from that woman." Murphy’s cold command, devoid of any warmth, echoed through the guard.

The chief slowly closed his ledger, his expression shifting from pious solemnity to a subtle, sinister coldness. "Disturbing the sacred ceremony is a grave offense, stranger. The Divine does not look kindly upon bloodshed in Emerald Town."

Murphy simply glanced back and put the revolver back. "I didn’t shoot them; moreover, my hands might slip next time when I see people keep disappearing even when their names are not called out." He replied and stepped forward as the both guards reluctantly let go of the middle-aged woman.

He quietly walked and stood in front of her and turned toward the chief. "In the name of your selfishness you are making a fool of people here."

The chief looked at the woman and kept his usual tone. "Your second daughter made her choice, madam. She sought the paradise her sister reached. The Divine merely accommodated her devotion."

​"You’re a liar!" the woman sobbed, her hand tightening on the sleeve of Murphy’s coat. "Lira went near the base of the stairs last night because she heard Elena’s voice calling her from the mist! She didn’t walk up willingly!"

Murphy slowly retreated and muttered. "It is pointless to argue; for now, go back."

They quickly reached near her home, avoiding the gazes of the town. He turned back and spoke. "Go home, lock your doors, and do not go near the plaza after sunset. I will look into the stairs tonight."

​The woman looked up, hope flickering faintly in her tear-stained face. "Can you... bring them back?"

​"I can’t make vague promises. Most likely they aren’t alive anymore." Murphy said plainly, and her husband came out of the house, his eyes locking onto the man with her.

"Who is this man?"

Murphy gave him a nod. "My name is Murphy Law; I’m a Detective." He paused and then continued. "Sir, may I get the emerald token?"

The couple entered the house; a few moments later, the husband showed him the token as he took it in his hands. It was a green coin, but the craftsmanship was extraordinary; not a single flaw in the coin. It was a perfect circle with wings crafted inside.

"I appreciate it; you can have it again." With that, he turned toward the chief’s house.

He swiftly moved inside the house and walked through the corridor. Inside, a few people walked; his gaze lay on a basement above his head. With a push, he jumped and entered the basement, then closed the door.

Through the darkness, a green glow illuminated the place. As he moved forward and found the emerald coins, he paused.

’I was right... in return the chief gets these. For valuable items, he is giving up on others’ lives.’

His gaze lay on an iron tablet, and underneath were the signs of the chief, but except for his sign, nothing there was truly understandable. The words in the tablet were written in an unusual script... Murphy slowly stepped back and exited the corridor.

He landed on the floor, but the voice of the thud caught the attention of the men walking ahead. They quickly turned, but Murphy was already gone. Their gazes landed on the open basement, and they quickly rushed toward it.

Time slowly passed.

​As dusk fell over Emerald Town, the sun dipped beneath the horizon, and the town became eerily quiet. Unlike Ciradyl, where gas lamps flickered and steam pipes hissed throughout the night, that town fell into complete darkness, save for the sickly green glow emanating from the Endless Stairs.

Murphy was still in the chief’s house, trying to find anything suspicious.

He pressed his back against the stone wall of the chief’s private corridor. The house had gone quiet since the servants had retired and the chief himself had gone to his chamber. He had searched everything; the obsession for the answers was gnawing at him.

"Good night." Kiyori’s voice came.

"Yeah, go to sleep."

"I was planning to tell you this..." Her voice gradually lowered as she continued. "The shards are missing... I have been trying to find one, but I always find a demon already dead and getting burnt to ashes, almost as if someone is taking them away before I could have..."

Mo Fei paused for a moment after hearing her words. "What? Can’t you sense them?"

"Of course I can! But that’s not the issue; whoever is doing this is doing it faster than I could... almost as if there are many people working together."

"Did you ask Jim? Maybe he knows about it?"

"I can’t talk to him like I do to you. He is also gone for a long time."

Mo Fei heaved a long sigh, and soon his expression was getting serious. "Remember what the Tree of Ages said... Could it be that those rulers are behind it?"

Kiyori shook her head. "No, they are asleep and won’t awaken anytime soon. They are su-summon-someone else, maybe the demon who performed Kodoku is behind it because it’s happening after a few weeks later. Any demon would need recovery after performing that poisonous ritual."

Mo Fei walked quietly through the corridor while whispering under his breath. "That thing had multiple souls; don’t overdo anything; it is not safe to do currently. For now, ask the Serpent to try to find out about it."

Kiyori yawned and winced softly, then with a murmur, her voice lowered and vanished.

With that, Murphy opened the door of the bedroom and entered inside silently, fixing the half-loose tie on his chest.

As he entered inside, and swept his gaze over the room. It was dimly lit only by a single lantern. In the bed, the chief’s wife lay sleeping, facing toward the opposite side. But Murphy’s gaze didn’t lay on her; he found something worse that he had never anticipated.

His gaze fell upon the pillow beside her.

Resting there, like a man... was a mask. The same mask he had seen in the underground church of Clockwork City. The same mask worn by the cult he had destroyed.

Murphy’s hand slowed down, freezing on his tie. He had burned the cult. He had executed the leaders. He had killed all the royals; then how was the mask here?

The case he had thought was solved was not solved at all...

He quickly pulled his collar and clenched it tightly. There it was... the same half-orb wound that had disappeared.

[please ignore these 451 [I] because I have to fix my mistake I know it was very silly mistake to publish the 98th Chapter which brought up to this chaos. It looks so fraud type... I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I]