System of the Beast Slayer [litrpg Adventure]
Copyright© 1999 by CaffeinatedTales
Chapter 323: Secrets Beneath the Skin
Morgue.
Under the dim yellow light.
A man as strong as a bear lay weeping before a cold wooden bed.
“Aisha, open your eyes and look at me...” Todd lay beside the girl, cradling her face, pressing his forehead to hers.
At first glance, he had confirmed her identity. Her face, so like her mother Corin’s, was the clearest proof.
“I’m a coward, a sinner, an irresponsible man. I didn’t come to see you for more than ten years. I don’t deserve to be your father.”
“But give me a chance to atone.” Todd spoke by the cold girl’s ear, his voice shifting from gentle to firm. “Let me avenge you.”
“But I’m sorry ... to catch the killer ... I’ll need your help soon.”
...
“What exactly is Aisha’s current state? Dead or alive?”
Beside Letho, Roy’s brows were twisted tight. After a rough examination, he found she had no breath and no heartbeat. Her pupils were fully dilated, and her body temperature was frighteningly low. Judging by those signs, the girl was undoubtedly dead.
Yet certain traits differed entirely from a corpse.
Her blond hair still had a sheen, unlike the dry withering of the dead. Her skin was smooth and fine, with no swelling, so there should be no internal bleeding.
There were no obvious scars anywhere on her, much less a wound capable of killing her. Aside from the calluses on her hands and feet from overwork, fitting her poor birth, nothing stood out.
A bell was fastened around her ankle. At the foot of wooden bed number thirteen, the cause of death column was still blank.
The coroner had not found her cause of death. Or perhaps he had not had time to examine her?
“Wrapped in Chaotic Energy...”
Perhaps it was that Chaotic Energy keeping her flesh from rotting with time, preserving her freshness and the beauty she had possessed in life.
And now she lay there quiet as a sleeping beauty, unable and unwilling to resist anything from the outside.
Then the question was, who had brought Aisha’s body to the morgue, when, and from where?
If they found the answer, perhaps they could follow the trail and uncover clues about the killer in the dream.
In addition, were the gruesome deaths of the coroner and his assistant connected to Aisha, or merely coincidence?
“You saw her?”
The hunchback quietly came up behind Roy. Looking at the dead girl beneath the white cloth, he sighed. “A pity, isn’t it? Such a pretty, well-behaved girl. She hadn’t even had time to enjoy the world’s goodness, and she died so young.”
Quasimodo made no attempt to hide the regret on his face.
“She never should have belonged in such a dark, bloody place. I don’t know what sort of bastard had the heart.”
The Witcher abruptly turned. His sharp gaze fixed on Quasimodo’s eyes. “I nearly forgot your actual work. You’ve been responsible for corpse collecting, haven’t you?”
“That’s right. I collect corpses from all across Novigrad and bring them to this mortuary. I brought this girl back as well.”
“When and where did you find her?”
“Uh...” The hunchback paused, clear hesitation on his face. He felt the young security man before him was far too curious. “Does your question have anything to do with the coroner’s case?”
The Witcher stared at him. When the hunchback’s eyes flickered, one hand swept quickly before his face. His five fingers fluttered like butterflies through flowers, outlining Axii in an instant.
“Are the deaths of the coroner, the assistant, and Aisha connected to you?”
“No.”
Roy could not help feeling somewhat disappointed. “Tell me everything about her, immediately.”
...
Quasimodo lowered his head. His deformed body swayed, and he answered in a daze.
“Three evenings ago, I received word that a merchant in the northern district had been robbed and murdered, so I went to collect his body. While transporting the corpse, I found her.”
The hunchback pointed at Aisha. “She was lying in the greenery beside the road. At first, I thought the young lady was drunk, or had been knocked unconscious ... I called out several times, but she didn’t respond. When I went closer to check, I realized she had no breath, no heartbeat. She was dead.”
“After the bailiff arrived and made an initial examination of the scene, I brought her back to the morgue and handed her to the coroner so he could determine the specific cause of death. Then I left.”
...
Roy’s eyes suddenly widened.
Three evenings ago. That timing. Wasn’t that exactly the day before the coroner and assistant were found dead?
Aisha was brought back to the morgue, and then the coroner and assistant were both found dead at dawn. The two events nearly touched each other.
“When you found the dead girl, was she in this same state? Was anything different?”
Quasimodo shook his head.
The Witcher pressed, “When the coroner received the body, did he behave strangely, or do anything that seemed odd to you?”
The hunchback frowned and thought for a while. “The coroner was as cold as ever. Didn’t say a word to me.”
“Then do you think...” Roy turned Aisha’s body over once, confirming there were no wounds on her back. “Would the coroner and his assistant have dissected the bodies you brought here that night?”
“There were only two corpses that day, the murdered merchant and this young lady. Based on what I know of the coroner, he would certainly have finished the autopsies before resting near midnight.”
“Where is the merchant’s body?”
Following Quasimodo’s guidance, the Witcher flipped through the register in a drawer near the room’s entrance.
“Bed twelve, timber merchant Aino...” Right above Aisha’s bed, to the left.