The red light absorbed by the crystal was not ordinary magic. The two Dark Wizards who had ambushed Damian on the night of Madam Alsha's banquet did not possess this strange energy in their bodies.
"Damian?" Link noticed the young contractor had been crouched over the corpse for a while, staring blankly. He assumed Damian had realized something crucial.
Damian snapped back to reality. The sudden influx of energy reminded him of the diary he had just found in the White Ancestral Home.
Old White had recorded something peculiar a month before his supposed death. He noted that his body had become increasingly swollen and covered in strange sores. The Healers they had consulted at the time had tried everything to no avail, ultimately concluding he had contracted some unknown magical disease.
Damian now suspected that Old White hadn't died of a disease at all; he had started mutating into this abomination long before his funeral.
"We need to search the White family's ancestral home," Damian said, trusting his sharp intuition. "I have a strong feeling we'll find the answers to why Old White became... this."
Link stroked his chin, nodding slowly. "Agreed. But I need to go to Madam Alsha to request an official warrant. Raiding a prominent noble wizard's estate without one is a bureaucratic nightmare."
Just then, a squad of Syndicate Watchmen rounded the distant street corner.
As the Watchmen dispersed to secure the perimeter, Madam Alsha and several Court Wizard clerks emerged from behind them. These clerks were permanently stationed in White Stone Town as Alsha's direct administrative subordinates.
The commotion from the fight with the mutated Old White had been impossible to ignore. Spellfire in the dead of night carried exceptionally far, and nearly the entire town had heard the battle.
Madam Alsha had clearly left in a tremendous hurry. Her attire was uncharacteristically casual; she had simply thrown a dark, heavy traveling cloak over a black silk nightgown before rushing out.
The several clerks trailing behind her were low-ranking Court Wizard personnel with minimal combat training. Damian knew from Link's earlier briefings that they were mostly responsible for handling local magical bureaucracy.
Alsha quickly surveyed the ruined street, her eyes narrowing. "Mr. Link, what happened here?"
"We were ambushed on Riverside Street, Madam," Link replied, pointing to the massive, rotting corpse on the ground. "The attacker was Old White... who was supposed to have died several months ago."
Alsha stepped forward to examine the corpse. As she took in the horrifying sight of the writhing, grafted human faces covering Old White's flesh, a rare look of profound shock crossed her elegant features.
"Ah—!" one of the clerks behind Alsha shrieked. It was a short witch with her hair tied in pigtails. She stumbled back, horrified; it was her first time seeing such a gruesome dark creature.
Alsha shot her a withering glare. The witch instantly clamped a hand over her mouth, muffling any further sound.
Without looking back, Alsha held out a hand. Another assistant quickly placed a pair of thick Giant Forest Lizard Skin Gloves into her palm. These gloves were standard issue for handling dangerous magical creatures, offering immense protection against dark magic infections and corrosive acids.
After pulling on the Giant Forest Lizard Skin Gloves, Alsha crouched down to perform a preliminary examination.
"Cross-reference these grafted faces with the missing persons files for White Stone Town," Alsha ordered, her voice cold and professional.
The pigtailed witch, having recovered her composure, hurried forward. She pulled a thick ledger from her robes and began meticulously comparing the sketched portraits to the agonizing faces fused to Old White's body.
A few tense minutes later, Alsha peeled off the Giant Forest Lizard Skin Gloves. "Well? Do we have positive identifications?"
The assistant nodded shakily. "Madam, these faces all belong to individuals who went missing in White Stone Town over the last three months. However... not all the missing persons are accounted for here."
Alsha nodded grimly. She stood up and signaled to a Watchman. "Transport this carcass back for an immediate, full-scale magical autopsy. I want to know exactly what caused this mutation."
As the Watchmen levitated the corpse away, Link approached the administrator. "Madam, we request an immediate search warrant for the White Ancestral Home. We have reason to believe the catalyst for Old White's mutation originated there."
Alsha thought for a moment. "Granted. However, I left in too much of a hurry to bring my official seal. You will have to accompany me back to White Stone Manor to draft it, saving us from making two trips."
Damian subtly noted the edge of her silk nightgown peeking out from beneath the cloak. Considering she lived all the way up at White Stone Manor, it was indeed impressive that she had managed to gather her staff and rush to the scene so quickly.
After a brief detour to White Stone Manor, Damian and the others successfully secured the official search warrant. Madam Alsha also provided them with a squad of six Syndicate Watchmen for heavy support.
The heavily armed group hurried directly to Municipal Plaza, stopping outside the grand doors of the White Ancestral Home.
Link marched up to the heavy oak doors and pounded the brass knocker.
After a long moment, the door creaked open, revealing a tired-looking, middle-aged man. It was the White family's butler.
Link held up the freshly stamped parchment. "We are Court Wizard Investigators investigating the White Stone Town missing persons case. This is an official search warrant."
The butler's face drained of color. He quickly motioned for a young attendant standing in the shadows behind him to go inform his master. "O-Investigators, please... come in."
The butler stepped aside, then slowly began to lead the heavily armed group toward the second-floor reception room.
Damian's eyes narrowed. Having already mapped the house's layout during his earlier infiltration, he immediately realized the butler was taking them on a deliberately convoluted, extended route.
It was an obvious stalling tactic. While Damian understood the instinct of a loyal servant trying to buy his master time during a midnight raid, it made him highly suspicious.
Keeping his hand concealed beneath his robes, Damian silently cast a localized detection magic layered with his unique sensory magic.
An invisible wave rippled outward, sweeping through the entire manor.
Link's expression shifted slightly. As a highly trained Investigator, he sensed the subtle fluctuation of Damian's magic at such close range, but he chose to say nothing.
Through the detection spell, Damian confirmed his suspicions. Jack White was no longer hiding in the cramped basement; he was waiting for them in the reception room.
More alarmingly, the magical creatures Damian had sensed in the basement earlier were completely gone!
Jack White is definitely guilty, Damian thought grimly. Why else would a 'noble' secretly evacuate magical creatures from his basement in the middle of the night?
When the group finally reached the lavish reception room, they found Jack White waiting for them. He was impeccably dressed in a sharp purple tailcoat.
Seeing the lead Investigator, Jack smiled warmly. "Mr. Link! Investigators. Please, have a seat."
Link didn't return the smile. He ignored the offered chairs, stepping forward and unrolling the parchment. "We aren't here as guests, Jack. We are here to search the premises. This is the warrant."
Jack politely took the parchment, his eyes scanning the seal. "Well, since you have a warrant, you are certainly free to search. However, I assure you, the White family has not violated any Wizard Regulations."
Jack sighed, adopting a look of mild concern. "What exactly happened tonight? I heard explosions and the Watchmen's alarm horns. Does this late-night intrusion mean the disturbance is somehow related to my family?"
Link's voice was like ice. "Your father, Old White, turned into a monster. We have reason to believe his mutation is directly tied to the recent string of missing persons in White Stone Town."
Jack's face morphed into a mask of absolute, horrified shock. "How is that possible?! My father passed away months ago; I personally handled the funeral! Are you suggesting a Necomancer Wizard... desecrated his corpse?"
"His remains are currently at the Syndicate Outpost. You will be required to formally identify the body later, and we will be checking your father's grave," Link stated flatly. "But for now, we are searching this house."
Jack's expression darkened, taking on a look of profound, grieving anger. "I will go to the Outpost to confirm his identity immediately."
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