Struggle in the Steam Age

Hundreds of years ago, after the fall of the Holy City, the easternmost fortress for humans in the Western Continent and even the entire civilized world. Nations that had been guarded for centuries by that great city and its valiant people were overwhelmed by the terrible tide of allied forces of wild and dark creatures that broke through their defenses.

And Vendobona, which was only a trade center and transportation hub before, has become the front line. Numerous civilizational expeditionary forces have clashed with the invading savage forces one after another with steel, blood and flames.

Fortunately, although the city was besieged many times, it was not broken with the support of the entire Western civilization of the Old Continent. However, those wars left a lot of traces for the city in the end.

For example, due to defensive considerations, this city does not have a large number of industries like other cities, so when you approach the city by train, you will find that there is no billowing black smoke from factories floating in the sky like other cities. cigarette. In addition, because of the long war before, a large number of traces left after the war can be seen outside this city.

Another example is that on a train driving on the outskirts of the city, Lawrence, who was sitting on the train by the window, saw some military-related fortifications outside the city of Vendobona that he had never seen in the New World, such as the one surrounding the city. A circle of thick and tall city walls. And obviously denser fortresses than those built near the cities of the New World.

"This is the price we paid for our disunity back then." The older judge who came back with Lawrence sighed looking at the traces of war outside the window. "The blood flowing here and the lives lost tell us what we should do when we encounter such things in the future, and the power of civilization that has learned to unite has slowly led us out of that dark age."

"Yes, the civilized world should indeed learn to unite." After reading the books on the history of Vendobona on the train, Lawrence felt that he understood why the human beings in this world were much more united than the human society in the previous life. It was obvious. , This is a lesson in exchange for a lot of blood and lives.

"You are right. Civilized races should learn to unite. Because there are too many crises we have to face in this world, and unity is the greatest advantage of civilized races." Lawrence nodded in agreement with the judge. View, then packed up the luggage. After all, after seeing the city wall of Wendobona, it means that the station is coming soon.

After arriving at the station, Lawrence and the others took a carriage to the headquarters of the referee in the capital. After some confirmation of Lawrence's identity and registration, he put on a formal attire as required, and then put on his Federal Science Association member badge and gold White Eagle Medal before a judge led to the royal cemetery.

The royal cemetery is located in a small fortress outside the city wall. Obviously, in order to protect the cemetery, the Holy Visby Empire simply built this royal cemetery on the hillside into a place outside the city wall. A mighty fortress that echoes a fortress.

But in this way, it can be regarded as a wrong attack. After all, many ancestors of the royal family in the royal cemetery successfully transformed into heroic spirits after death. With the assistance of the heroic spirits, this fortress has also become an important defensive point on the defense line outside the city.

After seeing the carriage of the referee, the royal guards guarding outside the fort opened the heavy steel gate on the fort wall for them, and then signaled the people on the carriage stopped on the small playground inside the gate to get off and register. Fortunately, the referee had already notified Lawrence of the list of people they were traveling this time, so they just showed the documents and signed them, and they went to the temporary morgue in the basement of the fortress.

After entering the mortuary illuminated by magic lamps, Lawrence immediately opened the medicine box he carried with him and entered the working state. Unfortunately, he only obtained permission for the autopsy on his two cousins ​​before. . And these permissions are based on the premise that the remains must not be destroyed.

But this doesn't have a big impact on Lawrence. After all, among the four people involved this time, the cause of death and the trajectory of activities before the death of Lawrence's uncle and the baron are relatively clear, and there is not much for him to find the problem. . If he can't make further breakthroughs in the extraordinary, the investigative methods he has mastered will not be of much use in this regard.

Many occupations in this era are not divided in detail, for example, there is no professional coroner. Therefore, coroners in various places are often served by policemen, detectives or professors of anatomy and medicine in schools. The young coroner who is accompanying Lawrence now is because he is a doctor who just graduated from school. He is responsible for helping Lawrence complete the examination, and also has a certain supervisory role.

Lawrence could feel that the coroner who accompanied him respected him, and he felt that this was probably because he knew the reason for his previous achievements in medicine. Naturally, such respect is good, and they can better cooperate with Lawrence in the next inspection.

Both the examination room and the morgue are protected by powerful magic, but considering the cost, the larger morgue still chooses to use a magic circle to keep the temperature in the room at -8°C all year round to prevent corpses decay, instead of building a large-scale anti-corrosion barrier like the inspection room.

Therefore, Lawrence decided to check the relics of his two cousins ​​in the examination room first, and wait for the temperature of the body to rise before going to the autopsy. After putting on a simple white coat, Lawrence took out his microscope and began to take samples from the relics for observation, while asking the coroner some questions.

According to the coroner's answer, Lawrence learned that according to the results of the on-site inspection, there was almost no conflict between Lawrence's two cousins ​​and the kidnapper when they were taken away. However, considering that the two victims were just ordinary people, and that only the footprints of the kidnappers were found after surveying the ground, it can be inferred that the two victims were taken away after being controlled for a moment.

In addition, according to the evidence found at the dumping point. After a series of search operations, the Court, the Church of God of War and the Royal Internal Affairs Police found the stronghold of the cult in a small village on the outskirts of the capital and successfully eliminated the cult.

At the same time, according to the victim's blood and some belongings found in and around the cult altar and stronghold, it was confirmed that it was the place where the two victims died.

However, Lawrence felt that there should be many things hidden in this information. For example, Lawrence felt that it was very suspicious that such a cult that had been active around the capital for decades could accidentally discover the location of the corpse dump by the rangers. Because there is a truth in this world that many accidents that seem too coincidental are often not accidents.

"What's the road condition in that village?" Lawrence used alcohol to wash some things from the soles of his shoes and then asked the coroner next to him, "Or how is the overall construction level of that village?"

"It should be said that it is a village that is not much different from two hundred years ago." The coroner thought for a while and said. "The whole village is located in a relatively remote valley, and there is only a dirt road that seems to be stepped on by people to get there. The houses in the village are also built with mud and wood, and the interior space is small and dark. Except for a few We found no trace of modernity at all in that place, except for a kerosene lamp."

"However, it may also be because this distribution is too remote. The only connection the empire had with this village before was to collect taxes every six months. That's why the cult could hide in that village for decades. No cause was found."