Lord Mercsius, a First Class Judge of the Grand Tribunal, has gone missing.
To be precise, it wasn't exactly a disappearance; it was just that this Lord went out alone to investigate a case and hadn't returned all night.
The people from the Executive Law Bureau were more anxious because they not only received a report of five more residents dying in Eternal Bloom Town, but they also discovered that the prisoners in the jail had escaped!
Even the secret agent from the Grand Tribunal who visited the prison yesterday was never seen again.
The Executive Law Bureau members were like ants on a hot pan, constantly requesting to see the Judge who was with Mercsius, but the Judges were also helpless.
Because the last Order the Lord gave them was to wait for him at the Executive Law Bureau.
This timing was just too awkward.
If you say the person disappeared, he just hasn't shown up for one night.
Even ordinary people have times when they go out and high for a night, let alone a Judge investigating a case.
Of course, this isn't saying that Lord Moqiusi went out to high; it's just that investigating a case requires more Time.
But if you say the person didn't disappear, past cases never seemed to take this long to investigate.
Generally speaking, the moment a suspect is encountered, not to mention investigating the case, the judgment and execution might already be finished.
In short, Mercsius's disappearance and the decree he left behind plunged everyone into a quagmire, making them anxious and difficult to bear.
The Town was once again shrouded in the fear of the murderer escaping and retaliating with killings.
It wasn't until the middle of the fourth night, when five bodies that had been moved back to the archives inexplicably woke up from the archives, and the terrified Executive Law Bureau members interrogated them fiercely, that everyone realized the Deaths of the five people were a prank.
Good news: No murder occurred!
Bad news: Lord Moqiusi has indeed gone missing.
Since there was no case to investigate, where did this Lord go?
The Judges were, after all, from the Grand Tribunal; they were calm and firmly believed that Lord Moqiusi must have been held up by something, so waiting was the only option.
Besides, in a place like Eternal Bloom Town, there was no one who could threaten the Lord's safety.
But when the staff of the Executive Law Bureau discovered that When Fear Arrives had also disappeared, leaving only two unfamiliar bodies in the sealed room, the Judges could no longer sit still.
Eternal Bloom Town was in chaos again.
It was at this moment, on the morning of the fifth day, after all the officials had not slept all night, that the five drunks who had almost scared the Executive Law Bureau into paralysis were released from the bureau in the name of innocence.
They were covered in scars, clearly having suffered severe torture.
But on their faces, there was no sign of anger, but rather a sense of unrestrained satisfaction.
"Hahahaha, these fools, we fooled everyone!"
"No matter how heavy the whipping is, it can't hide the fear in their hearts. Didn't you see? Chief Wiki's face turned green. The most important thing is that we are innocent, and they can't do anything to us!"
"Awesome!"
"I didn't expect this medicine to be so powerful. What about that apothecary? Does anyone know where he is?"
"He seems to be staying at the inn?"
The five people stopped, exchanged meaningful glances, and then ran off towards the inn.
Clearly, there was no greater fun than getting five more pills.
As long as they had "Drunken Life, Dreamlike Death," the entire Eternal Bloom Town would be their playground.
However, when the five drunks inquired extensively and finally arrived outside the room where the apothecary was staying, a thin inn waiter pushed the door open and walked out from inside the room.
As soon as he came out and saw five large men surrounding the door, their eyes still shining with excitement, he was startled.
Instinctively, he hugged his limbs and leaned against the door frame, trembling.
"Hey, tell me, where is the person inside?"
"Is the apothecary inside? Where did he go?"
"Are you here to clean the room? Did you see anything? Is there a medicine called 'Drunken Life, Dreamlike Death' inside?"
"Forget it, move aside, we'll go in and look!"
Just as several people were about to step inside, the waiter suddenly cried out with a "wah."
"It wasn't me, I didn't do it, boo hoo hoo hoo, as soon as I went in, he was like that, I really didn't do it!"
The few big men were startled by the sudden crying, but in an instant, they bypassed the waiter, pushed open the door, and walked in.
When they entered the room, they discovered a charred body lying in front of the bed.
The pieces of unburnt clothing on the charred body indicated that he seemed to be the apothecary who sold them "Drunken Life, Dreamlike Death" the night before yesterday.
The drunks stood frozen on the spot, dumbfounded.
"What... What's going on?"
"Dead? Hey buddy, did you do it?"
"You killed the apothecary, how did you kill him, what did you use to kill him? Praise prosperity, hand over the method of killing, and I won't expose you."
"Don't just stand there, quickly see if there's any medicine left!"
"Boo hoo hoo, I didn't do it, I was originally going to come in to clean, and suddenly I found his body, I was scared to Death, I didn't dare to make a sound... Boo hoo hoo."
The big men rummaged around the room for a long time, but found no finished medicine. Instead, experimental bottles and materials were scattered all over the floor, and quite a few reacted under the charred bed wreckage, forming a pile of colorful things.
"Hiss-- It's over, the medicine is gone."
"Hey, someone really died, should we report it to the Executive Law Bureau?"
"Report it, why not? Since someone really died, it's better than us pretending to die, right? Isn't this the news, brothers!?"
"Report it, quickly report it, buddy, go call the Executive Law Bureau members, tell them that the escaped killer has struck again at the inn, and reborn from the ashes, he has begun his path of revenge!"
Hearing that this body was the result of the escaped true culprit's revenge, the waiter became even more terrified. His legs went weak, and he collapsed directly at the doorway.
"Boo hoo hoo, don't kill me, it's none of my business."
"So useless, I'll go myself!"
"..."
Don't tell me, when fun-loving people pursue fun, their execution is really high.
In a short while, the Executive Law Bureau members surrounded the inn again. This time, two Judges also came with them.
As soon as the two Judges entered the room, they smelled a strong medicinal odor. They wrinkled their noses and carefully searched the entire room.
Some fragmented alchemy notes were piled on the table, the writing on them was crooked and twisted, like crawling insects, indicating that the owner of the notes had clearly not received any formal education.
Torn pages of paper also had scribbled records like "Dream," "Death," and "Improvement," which all proved that the deceased had been improving the medicine before his Death.
The area in front of the bed was almost entirely filled with fragments of bottles and jars. Various common alchemy reactions seemed to be visible in the remnants of the bed, likely a chain reaction caused by an explosion shattering the materials.
The body was charred and unrecognizable. Not only that, but there was also an aura that was incompatible with Order surging from it.
It seemed he was an apothecary who believed in Evil Gods.
They pondered for a moment and reached the same conclusion as the Executive Law Bureau:
An apothecary who believed in Evil Gods and was obsessed with making medicine had an accident while concocting medicine containing the divinity of Death, sacrificing himself to Death.
It was not the escaped murderer who committed the crime, as there was almost no aura of corruption or any residual fear emotions here.
But this incident was still big news in Eternal Bloom Town, because people didn't often die here, especially accidental Deaths, which were a rare sight in a hundred years.
The Judges interrogated the reporters, visited the travelers staying nearby, and after careful and repeated inferences, finally finalized the report content:
"This person used an excessive amount of the divinity of Death from an unknown and uncontrollable source. Under the will of Death, he failed to receive the protection of prosperity and reaped what he sowed."
The case was quickly solved. Both the travelers at the inn and the Executive Law Bureau members breathed a sigh of relief.
As long as it wasn't the murderer striking again, as long as there was no panic in Eternal Bloom Town, the temporary disappearance of Lord Moqiusi was not unacceptable.
The Judges left with calm expressions, leaving the staff to do the cleanup work in the inn.
"You, yes, you, were you the one who discovered the scene? What's your name? You need to come back to the bureau with us to make a record."
"I... My name is Tarot, Lord, this has nothing to do with me, right?"
"Looking at how timid you are, if it had something to do with you, you would have probably run away long ago, hahahaha. Don't worry, it's just a simple record, the case is closed."
"Boo hoo hoo, that's good, I'll go with you."
"Hmm, come on. The Time of Death was probably last night. Did you hear any noise?"
"Hmm, I did hear a muffled sound during the patrol before dawn, but the sound wasn't loud, so I didn't pay attention... You know, guests' privacy is more important."
"You did the right thing. If you had gone to take a look, there might have been more than one body in the room. What a lunatic, daring to even drug divinity..."
Watching the waiter leave with the Executive Law Bureau members, the few drunks rubbed their heads, sighed, and were extremely disappointed.
"What a shame, such good medicine..."
The unexpected interlude was cut off just as it began. fear raised its head again but was quickly suppressed.
The chaotic Executive Law Bureau and Eternal Bloom Town, which had been glanced at by Death, were still busy searching for the escaped true culprit and the missing Lord Moqiusi.
But all of this had nothing to do with the waiter who found the body.
It was getting dark.
Tarot slowly walked out of the Executive Law Bureau, stood at the entrance, and looked back at the brightly lit, bustling tall building, a playful curve on his Mouth.
He waved to someone he didn't know and tilted his head in greeting.
"Goodbye, lovely people."
Then he pulled up his hood to cover his eyes, walked into the darkness, merged into the night, and disappeared.
[Special Trial (Which Path Leads to Death (Death)) Challenge Successful]
[Scoring and settling rewards...]
[Player: Cheng Shi, Performance Score: C]
[Obtained Item: Boring Mask (C) x1]
[Obtained Item: Teasing Mask (C) x1]
[Obtained Item: Indifferent Mask (C) x1]
[Obtained Item: Blurry Mask (C) x1]
[Obtained Item: Startled Mask (S) x1]
[path to godhood +0]
[Ladder to the Audience +3]
[Current path to godhood Score: 2125, Global Ranking: 458728]
[Current Ladder to the Audience Score: 164, Fate Ranking: 62]
[Trial cleared, exiting soon]
...