Because Miss Gaode's hometown was a coastal town in the eastern Old Continent, it was too far from Tobesk City. To ensure the client received the letter as soon as possible, Xia De finished writing it and immediately took Mia to the Tobesk Post Office.
The reason he didn't drop it into the mailbox at the Saint Delan Square intersection was that he wanted to order some magazines from the post office. Having escaped the financial difficulties he faced when he first arrived in this world, Xia De also wanted to improve his quality of life.
Since there was nothing else to do that day, after mailing the letter, Xia De took Mia to the Dawn Church again and listened to Bishop Owen's sermon with Priest Augustus.
He returned home after having lunch at the church. He had originally planned to borrow Priest Augustus's potion workshop in the afternoon to concoct a potion that could change hair color, as described in the second-year curriculum. However, as soon as he walked to Saint Delan Square, he saw Iluna standing in front of the door.
She wore a brown coat over a white ladies' blouse with ruffled cuffs, a simple black skirt, and her usual black leather shoes.
"Is something wrong?"
Xia De hurried over. Iluna shook her head and waved the kraft paper document bag in her hand at Xia De:
"Detective, would you mind if I took up your afternoon to complete a commission together?" the seventeen-year-old girl asked.
"What commission?" Xia De asked while pulling out his keys to open the door. They both walked inside, and Mia joyfully leaped from Xia De's shoulder, jumping onto the stairs.
"To find a missing corpse."
Black Stone Security Company always received strange tasks from the Church, and besides the Church's tasks, commissions from ordinary citizens were also full of various peculiar contents.
On this Tuesday after Darkness's death, Iluna, temporarily free from the subsequent events, finally submitted all her reports regarding the "Summoner and Felianna" and completed the search mission for the areas where the Darkness Domain had descended.
On her first day back at her workplace, the Black Stone Security Company, her captain handed her a case.
"I see you've been quite busy lately. Since you've just returned, you can handle this matter yourself first. You have two days to complete it, and after that, you can use the remaining time as you wish."
This meant it was essentially a holiday for Iluna. This commission had already been proven to be unrelated to the mysterious, and Iluna could wrap it up after a brief investigation.
"Find a corpse?" Xia De nodded in surprise:
"Of course, I can help, but are you sure this matter is truly unrelated to the mysterious?"
"Our team investigated it; it's absolutely unrelated."
"Alright, but I need to see the information first. Speaking of which, why don't the police from Leedweich Field handle this kind of thing? In Delarion, stealing a corpse is a serious crime."
"It's precisely because the police can't find it that it's entrusted to private security companies like ours."
In this era, it wasn't just Ring術士 who stole corpses. Mad scientists, doctors who needed experimental materials, eccentrics with unusual fetishes, or ordinary people exploring mysticism would all commission grave robbers or commit such crimes themselves.
This kind of thing could even be said to be quite common, which is why the practice of cremation before burial, which was originally not very popular, has become widespread in recent decades. For example, Sparrow Hamilton's body was cremated, so there's no need to worry about anyone opening his coffin for an inspection.
The client looking for the corpse was Mr. Hank Fennel, who lived in the west of the city, and the corpse he was looking for was his wife, Peggy Fennel. Mr. Fennel worked at the Golden Gear Steam Engine Manufacturing Factory and was a famous mechanical engineer in the west of the city.
Half a month ago, his wife passed away from illness and was buried in Section 3 of the Tobesk Public Cemetery. A week ago, on the ninth day after the poor woman was buried, Section 3 was targeted by grave robbers, and three bodies were dug up and stolen from their graves.
The police from Leedweich Field immediately launched an investigation but had no news for a long time. Mr. Fennel then, through a friend's introduction, came to Black Stone Security Company to commission them, hoping to find traces of his wife's body.
Black Stone Security Company confirmed that this matter was unrelated to Ring術士 because local Ring術士 would never use locally exhumed corpses as materials. As for foreign Ring術士, due to the Darkness incident, they were being closely monitored and investigated by the Orthodox Church. Currently, no one has been found to have bought those three corpses from local grave robbers, which is why it was determined to be a grave robbery committed by ordinary people.
"It looks fine. But I want to confirm, are you sure this isn't a case committed by Mr. Fennel himself?" Xia De asked, sitting on the sofa and flipping through the documents. In his hand were the files Iluna had directly obtained from Leedweich Field.
Perhaps this thought was a bit dark, but Xia De still wanted to rule out one possibility first.
"At least from the case files obtained from Leedweich Field, there's no mention of any abnormality with the client. Besides, if it really was him, wouldn't he be happier if the police couldn't find any clues? Why would he commission us?" Iluna said, then, holding an unwilling Mia, she asked curiously:
"When you receive a commission, do you always suspect your client first? I thought Detectives always investigated cases without any subjective opinions."
"Where did you hear that?"
"The hamilton detective story collection serialized in the Steam Bird Daily." Iluna said with a smile, then teased Xia De again:
"Luvia told me the author is your friend? Oh, Detective, you'll have to show off your Detective skills this time."
After Xia De sorted out the materials, he set off with Iluna, first heading to the public cemetery in the east of the city for on-site investigation and inquiry.
Xia De had visited Section 3, the scene of the crime, two months ago and witnessed the resolution of a family feud that spanned half a century, even playing rhode cards with a ghost. Returning to this place two months later, he didn't expect it to still be related to a commission.
The arrival of autumn brought temperatures low enough to require extra clothing when going out. The city was still foggy today, and even the cemetery in the eastern suburbs was like this.
After getting off the carriage, they walked along the gravel path towards the iron gate at the cemetery entrance. Xia De was holding a bouquet of flowers; he planned to visit Sparrow Detective, who rested there, and inform him that the fifth day of the harvest month was approaching, which could also be considered an explanation to Sparrow Hamilton.
The seventeen-year-old girl looked at the approaching cemetery, subtly moved closer to Xia De, and whispered:
"I'm not a timid person, but I always dislike coming to the cemetery."
"Why?" Xia De was curious about this. Iluna had only been assigned to this parish after finishing her studies at the Holy See earlier this year, so she shouldn't have any deceased friends in the Tobesk Public Cemetery.
"I hate death. No, it's not fear of death, but rather I hate the sadness that death brings."
She whispered to Xia De. They both passed through the cemetery entrance, the iron gate with iron thorn decorations on both sides, entering the cemetery. Whether it was an illusion or not, the temperature inside the cemetery was slightly lower than outside.
"That's normal. Being affected by the sorrow of strangers means you are a very empathetic person."
Xia De commented.
Hearing that Xia De wanted to visit Sparrow Hamilton, Iluna was also happy to go with him. So, they chatted as they entered Section 2. After placing the bouquet of white daisies in front of the tombstone embedded in the ground, Xia De sighed, thinking again of when he first arrived in this world.
Passing through the fence gate between the two cemetery sections, looking up at the swirling mist, one could easily see the white chapel standing in the center of the cemetery:
"Iluna, next to the chapel is the gravedigger's hut. If we're lucky, we might find the gravedigger chatting with the priest. But, what identity should we use to inquire about the situation?"
"Don't forget, I'm Iluna Bayas, the nominal female police officer from Leedweich Field."
Iluna reminded him, rummaging through her handbag for her identification:
"See, wasn't this the identity I used when I first visited Saint Delan Square?"
On Tuesday afternoon, the priest was taking a nap in the chapel, but at the chapel entrance, they encountered the old gravedigger, carrying a toolbox and humming a tune, preparing to prune the cemetery trees with his apprentice.
The old gravedigger, wearing a one-piece work suit, paused hesitantly when he saw the two people approaching through the fog. After Iluna presented her identification and explained their purpose, the old gravedigger looked at Iluna's overly young face with suspicion, but still slowly offered his help:
"We don't have any clues here. I was the one who discovered the bodies were stolen. Because I've encountered similar things before, I immediately found someone to notify the police. No one heard any unusual sounds the night before, and we didn't find any wheel tracks from a vehicle transporting the bodies, but there were indeed unusual footprints, though they couldn't be tracked. If you want to find clues, you can go and look at the dug-up graves."
"It's been a week, haven't the graves been refilled?" Xia De asked. The old gravedigger nodded, glanced at Xia De, seemingly recognizing the Detective who had visited in the summer:
"After finding the bodies, they still need to be reburied, so they haven't been refilled yet. Those are newly opened graves, and there are no other buried people nearby, so there's no need to worry about others protesting."
"Alright."
Iluna wrote these things down in a small notebook, then asked again:
"Is the frequency of grave robberies high in this area?"
"Of course not; this is the third one since the beginning of the year. Do you think I'm just sitting around doing nothing?" The old gravedigger said rather displeased, and Iluna, realizing she had said the wrong thing, smiled apologetically.
