Whispering Poems

Chapter 3895 The Collapsed Tower

"Thorn Bay" is located southwest of the Karas Mountains, about 300 miles away. All the dead here were hired workers from different villages near the bay, who traveled by train to work and then died mysteriously here.

The most useful information the dead could provide was the number of people and the time. There were a total of 23 workers working there, but Shaddanest found only 12 dead in the cave.

23人在1853年风起之月的3日到5日陆续抵达，而这12人的死亡时间则是16日的夜晚。

"Isn't today the 16th of the month when the wind rises?"

Shad asked Danister, and the sorceress nodded, offering no comment on the coincidence:

"This style of operation is very similar to the Truth Society, which hires ordinary people from afar, either to do hard labor for them or to lure them into becoming experimental subjects."

"Were these people killed by the Truth Society?"

"No, the Truth Society wouldn't be so sloppy. Besides, it's obvious that the work on these dead people isn't finished. The Truth Society wouldn't waste human resources like that."

Although both were curious about what they had originally been digging here, since the ring sorcerers of the [Truth Society] had not chosen to cast spells to dig, or even to continue digging after the passage collapsed, Shad and Danist did not continue to extend the passage for the time being.

However, since 12 of the 23 people died here, the bodies of the remaining 11 might also be nearby, and perhaps some of them know more.

The search for the bodies was conducted by Daniste. Centering on the base of the tower on the highest cliff, they discovered a new body at two o'clock in the morning. The body was not in the tower ruins, but in the soil deeper inside the ruins.

While trying not to touch the tower ruins, Shad searched through the corpses one by one. A total of 7 corpses were severely damaged, and many of the skeletons even had traces of wild animals gnawing on them.

Although the subsequent psychic summoning successfully elicited souls, these souls were quite ignorant, providing fragmented information. Shad concluded:
"The seven people died between the 23rd and 30th of the month of the wind in 1853. After the first 12 people were buried due to a work safety accident, the remaining people were unable to rescue them and were unwilling to continue digging the dangerous cave."

So they were assigned other tasks, namely attempting to dig new caves in different locations. During this time, all seven men contracted an unknown disease and died. To prevent the spread of the plague, the foreman decided to bury them in the forest below the cliff.

Shad dispelled the last soul:
"It looks like the bodies were later dug up by wild animals and then smashed back into the mud when the tower collapsed, which is why they look so mutilated."

"Four people are still missing. What do you think they'll do?"

Daniste asked Shad, who replied with certainty:
"If it were me, I would definitely choose to give up this job. Of the 23 people who died, only 4 are left. That's terrifying. And although this place is remote, it's not hard to find the way down the mountain. Once you get down the mountain, there's a train home in the town. If you really have to leave, you can always find a way."

"Let's continue the search assuming no one intercepts it."

The discovery of the 19 bodies initially led Shad and Denise to believe they would soon be getting closer to deeper secrets, but by Tuesday morning, they had not found any other meaningful clues.

Daniste was not discouraged:

“Last night was just the first, most rudimentary search. Starting tonight, I will combine astrological signs and lunar phases to try and decipher the peculiarity of this place. Didn’t you suspect that behind the normal tower, there is a hidden Moon Tower where only one moon can be seen? I will find it.”

The two ate breakfast while talking, and then crawled into their tent to sleep. Shad was a light sleeper, and woke up after three hours. Daniste was also awake, and she was clearly not as carefree as she had appeared.

Shad comforted Mia, and seeing that no one wanted to rest, he took Danist to the town at the foot of the mountain for lunch. The townspeople had heard some rumors about the tower collapsing on the mountain two years ago, but their investigation that afternoon yielded no real results.

Dinner was also eaten in town. Seeing that Denise was in a bad mood, Shad did not rush to return to the mountain with her. Instead, he took her to the "date spot" recommended by the enthusiastic restaurant owner, which was the town's clock tower.

The scenery here wasn't great, but Shad's concern really cheered Daniste up a lot.

So the investigation continued Tuesday night. The investigation into the 23 people recruited by the Truth Society could not proceed for the time being. Daniste planned to return and then arrange for correspondence students near Stranglethorn Bay to investigate whether any of those who had gone out and never returned two years ago had managed to return.
"Or perhaps, after the first group of people died, the truth found a second group of people who came here. Although this clue is not easy to find, I believe there will be results."

That night, Shad personally touched the remaining parts of the ruins brick by brick, hoping to find something unusual.

Daniste observed the stars and the phases of the moon; she even took out a small, folding planetarium from her briefcase. Shad remembered Luvia saying that such a thing was very expensive.

The second night's exploration yielded nothing. Shad even pressed the remaining bricks of the tower onto the "Manual of Fate," but the divine magic had no effect.

Shad remained relatively calm, as he had other ideas in mind. However, Daniste, who had been working for Ms. Carter for over a decade, became noticeably unsettled as Wednesday midnight approached.

She knew she shouldn't be like this, and although she tried hard to hide it, Shad still noticed her worry:
"It looks like we won't get any results today, so let's rest first. You can't sleep at all during the day."

He then suggested it, but the sorceress shook her head:

"No, we can't waste time. I'll go and verify the correlation between the changes in the lunar phases and the fluctuations in local factors. You go and rest."

Shad kissed her, and Daniste seemed a little angry:
"Shad, what do you mean by this? Do you think I'd stop working because of this?"

But when the cat, who had been sleeping inside the tent, was awakened soon afterward, it could give an affirmative answer to the question above. A blanket was spread on the ground beside the campfire, and the moon under the starry sky merged with the moon, yet also seemed to collide with it.

Although this method was somewhat "despicable," at least Daniste managed to be lulled to sleep by Shad by dawn. The price was that when the two woke up on Wednesday morning, the shy librarian complained about Shad's behavior, but when she slapped Shad, it wasn't even as forceful as Mia's scream.

"Since conventional methods are ineffective, we will have to resort to unconventional methods."

As Daniste, wearing her newly changed dress and Shad's coat, ate with Shad by the campfire, Shad said this.

The goat milk, which had been sealed in the card, had been heated and placed in front of the cat. Shad showed the cat what he had in his hand:
"look."

Daniste saw the vial of red, blood-like liquid alchemical material:
"The Philosopher's Stone? Is this the reward you and Luvia received for helping the Church turn destiny into ink? What do you intend to do with it?"

"Powerful spell - Breath of Time. My magic can now reverse the time of an object by three years. Fortunately, this tower has only been collapsed for two years. Since there are no clues about its collapsed state, I will restore it to its original state."

Fortunately, although the tower is large, inspection revealed that it was built with only ordinary materials. Therefore, only a small amount of Philosopher's Stone is needed to support my spellcasting.

However, it's important to note that once I successfully cast the spell, I won't be able to restore the tower to its current state. Even if I accelerate the tower's timeline afterward, I can only accelerate time while it's still standing; I can't make it crumble as it is now.

Shade was implying that perhaps the collapsed tower contained clues to the missing, complete tower. Although the probability was low, after consideration, Danist still planned to investigate for another night on Wednesday night, focusing on the current form.
"If no new clues are found by tonight, come and cast a spell to restore the tower on Thursday evening."

Of course, they also considered the possibility that the clues only existed during the day, so they did not go to the town again on Wednesday, but continued their search, and as expected, they found nothing.

However, at least Daniste's mood had improved considerably. After dinner on Wednesday, she and Shad took a walk in the nearby forest for a while.

But back at the camp, as she bent down by the fire with her back to Shad, picking up the notebook she had been looking at while eating, Shad suddenly had "malicious thoughts" about her on this lonely night.

This meant they weren't able to conduct their investigation before midnight. However, Denise didn't blame Shad. Instead, she leaned against him afterward, looked at the stars together, and talked about her past with her teacher.

"Meow~"

Undisturbed by them, Mia slept soundly on her pillow in the tent.

At 1 a.m. on Thursday, the two began their work for the night. Daniste asked Shad to go to the ruins of Targary to pray and see if it would have any effect. After confirming that the relics she had brought still had no effect, she took out a series of special items related to the "moon" and looked around to see if they could cause any special reaction.

But the result of Shad's all-night prayers was that he found himself exceptionally energetic and spiritually abundant at dawn. The effect of his devout prayers to the moon was even comparable to using the magical technique "Moon Dream" to induce hibernation.

(End of this chapter)