The Emperor's Lover Was Murdered

“Moeton! Welcome.”

“Sir”

“Now that we’ve finished pleasantries let’s get started. You know there’s only one answer I want.”

I nodded with a firm face and approached the coroner.

As Ferno moved out of the way, a hideous corpse appeared, and even though I’d heard the story before, I stopped walking.

Taking my eyes off the body and covering my mouth with a handkerchief, I took a deep breath.

Ferno wanted to know that the source of this incident, in which a poor man seems to have been devoured by something, was not masu.

There were also claims of masu’s destruction and manslaughter in the northern part of the Linton Empire. Now a rotting corpse emerged, and this is the year of the Great Turbulence, which returns every 13 years, but this is Kildea, the center of the Linton Empire, the Imperial Palace’s capital.

In a peaceful city where no masu has ever been seen in the last hundred years, — Kildare was going to panic at once, and the Ministry of Police was going to have a hard time taking responsibility.

The misfortune stuck when I finally succeed in getting my house and wanted to settle down in Kildea. I approached the body, knowing that it wasn’t the only matter, despite Director Ferno’s wishes.

As Ferno looked at me with a strained expression, I took a close look at the body’s torn neck.

The cross-section of the cervical vertebra (neckbone) was crushed entirely under some powerful force.

After wiping off the dried blood by spraying water, I saw that the skin was slashed by something sharp and torn apart.

The creature used its sharp tooth to leave such a scar and ate the head at once.

It must have ripped off the throat at the same time.

I reached out to the corpse’s neck and felt the cold, moist feel on my fingers, but even after four years, I hadn’t gotten used to it.

But for now, my only priority is doing the autopsy.

Swallowing my saliva and the discomfort together, I decided to focus on the corpse in front of me.

After meticulously touching the headless neck, I carefully looked at the cross-section of the cut carotid artery (major blood vessels in the neck).

Then I moved to the right side of the body.

Unlike the gruesome left side, I found a uniquely shaped scar on the tip of the body’s right hand while staring at the smooth right upper body with no wound.

I almost ignored the small wound.

The wound that had not healed and swelled appeared just before he died, and it was the first time I had seen it.

Was it set ablaze? No, it turned into vanity as if it was in high heat, but it wasn’t the same as burn.

The tip of the middle and index fingers was rather hollow, and the blood vessels were burnt from the inside blackened.

Could it be that dead man caught lightning with his hand?

It was a bizarre wound, but it did not seem to have much to do with the body’s death.

I stepped back.

The lower body was also clean.

When I moved my gaze around the body, I noticed a bit of flesh remained around the neck after the head was torn apart.

Only a portion of the collarbone remained beneath the neck, and the cuts around the neck filled the left torso, which had entirely gone missing.

When I squeezed my hand into the body and began to grope the sections of the cut bones, Brill, who had been holding it well, ran out of the examination room with a white face.

I’d been casually touching the body, but this time the body was in such a condition that I couldn’t take it anymore.

I concentrated on the sensation, ignoring the noisiness around me.

After removing the hands contaminated with rotting flesh, I washed my hand and used a cotton cloth to wipe. Gibril returned to the Examination room after emptying his stomach.

Ferno and Gibril’s eyes were fixed at me.

I looked at them and opened my mouth after meticulously wiping my hands.

“Victim was killed by a sword. It’s not masu.”

“Well, really, Moetton!”

“Yes, Sir. It’s a sword infused with black magic.”

While Perno, the chief of police, breathed out a sigh of relief, Gibril asked.

“No matter how much I look at it, senior, it seems like the body was ripped. Why did you think a sword caused it?”

“It’s a nicely ornamented specimen. And it was obviously a devious way to show that the victim had been struck by a masu, but there were traces of a sharp cuts that could only caused by a sword. do you want to see it?”

“No, I’ll just stand here and listen to the explanation.”

Gibril was enraged because I wanted to show him the body.

I smiled and demonstrated to Gibril, who was trying to retreat.

“First of all, the carotid artery (blood vessel) of the neck. The cross-section of the carotid artery is very clean compared to the other parts that seem torn. That neck was cut off first and then torn apart.”

“The cross section of a blood vessel?”

“And the clavicle bone. I spotted it when I was checking the corpse. The neck bone was shattered, but the clavicle bone was completely cut clean. The same goes for the wing bones (Scapula).”

Gibril nodded at my explanation.

It seemed that everyone couldn’t think of checking the bones inside because the torn flesh was decaying.

“It’s amazing when it comes to swords. It means that people were cut vertically in order to slash the bones, right?”

“Yes, the perpetrator is  very strong or his skills are very good. Maybe he’s a professional swordsman? This guy also seems to be a nobleman, and it’s not like he’s got a quarrel on the road.”

“Aristocrat?”

Ferno, who was listening to our conversation, interrupted.