The Secret Cult Chronicles of the Decaying Lake Manor

A lunch unlike any other was laid out in the mansion’s dining room.

Silver cutlery is available, but only knives and forks; the dishes are not presented in an elegant manner, and there are no waiters to be found.

Only a few surviving servants helped deliver the ingredients, leaving everyone to assemble the 'hamburger' that Master Arthur had mentioned according to their own preferences.

This kind of food has never been heard of in the Kingdom of Britta.

Lady Violet was initially not very enthusiastic about this novel way of eating, but after taking a bite with a knife and fork, she politely remarked that it was indeed quite unique.

Miss Kelly Moore seemed quite comfortable with this way of eating directly with her hands, and the lawyer was even more direct in using his hands.

George chewed slowly and deliberately, but his mind was not on the food at all.

His gaze kept drifting towards the restaurant entrance, and his ears were always on the lookout for any unusual sounds.

Halfway through his hamburger, he suddenly heard footsteps approaching from afar, and then Inspector Douglas and Lieutenant Bates appeared at the restaurant entrance.

The entire restaurant fell silent.

The old lady put down her hamburger: "Mr. Douglas, any progress?"

Inspector Douglas glanced at the crowd, his gaze meeting George's.

"We've made some discoveries, but further verification is needed." His voice was a little hoarse. "Excuse me, everyone, we'd like to speak with George first."

Lieutenant Bates walked to the table, placed the plate on the empty seat closest to George, grabbed a few hamburgers from the pile of ready-made hamburgers made by the servants, and gave George a "come with us" look.

George immediately understood and nodded to everyone present: "Excuse me."

He left the restaurant with the inspector and Bates, and the three of them turned onto the stairs and quickly went up to the temporary alchemy room on the third floor.

Even without direct sunlight, the strong afternoon sun illuminated the alchemy room, making it bright and spacious.

Inspector Douglas walked into the alchemy room, plopped down in a chair, and let out a long sigh.

He took off his hat and haphazardly rubbed his sweat-soaked hair.

"Damn it," he muttered under his breath, "I never imagined my vacation would turn out like this..."

Lieutenant Bates placed the plate on the table and picked up a piece to eat.

The inspector saw it, took one, and took a bite, his eyebrows rising in surprise.

"It looks strange, but it actually tastes pretty good..."

"Uncle will be very proud to hear this—but let's talk about your discovery first?" George walked to the side and poured himself a glass of cold tea.

Inspector Douglas swallowed the food in his mouth, seemingly trying to organize his thoughts.

"We left the mansion and walked along the road to the east towards the docks," he began. "At first everything was normal, but after a few minutes we noticed something was wrong."

"Flies, a huge swarm of flies."

"Flies...the kind with supernatural elements?" George frowned.

The inspector took the tea he was offered and said, "They don't possess any supernatural powers themselves, but they have certainly been affected by what happened on the island."

"They congregate in certain areas as if there were some corrupt things there for them to feast on, and they don't shy away from our approach."

Bates swallowed the last bite of his burger and added, "Waving them with a cane is not very effective; they just scatter slightly and then immediately come together again."

"I offered up the cross, and the light of divine protection works on these flies." Douglas raised his hand and grabbed another hamburger.

"They recoil and buzz loudly when they come into contact with the edge of the light—proving that they are indeed affected by the power of the 'Lord of the Flies'."

While the inspector was eating, Bates picked up the conversation.

"We followed the direction of the dense flies and walked all the way to the vicinity of the dock. The swarm of flies became even denser, almost like the black clouds of insects that appear in a primeval jungle at dusk."

He paused, seemingly recalling the scene.

"Then we saw old Hanmo."

"Is the Night's Watchman there? How is he?" George asked.

"Yes. He was riding a horse, galloping towards us from the direction of the dock." The inspector gestured.

"The horse was staggering, and the rider looked even more terrified. He was deathly pale, and his eyes... well, how should I put it, he looked like he'd seen a ghost."

"After we stopped him, we asked him what had happened," Bates continued. "It took him a while to calm down and tell us what he had seen."

The inspector waved his hand forcefully: "A humanoid monster—and he even shot the monster."

"Could that be Fred?" George pressed.

"It's hard to say," Bates shook his head. "According to old Hanmo, the thing was about the height of a person and was wearing clothes."

The lieutenant paused for a moment: "But the monster had a pair of translucent insect wings, and its head... he said it looked like a mosquito."

George squinted.

The mosquito-headed monster... This doesn't quite match the description of the "Lord of the Flies" retinue in "Where Do We Belong," but the "transformation into some kind of insect" is similar.

"The night watchman said the monster attacked the horses—he witnessed it lunge at a packhorse," Inspector Douglas continued, "and then he tried to shoot the monster with his revolver and hit it, but it didn't seem to cause any obvious damage."

The inspector closed his eyes briefly: "According to the old man, the monster only swayed for a moment before lunging at the horse. And the horse was drained of its life force."

"How...how did he manage to suck it dry?" George felt his breathing become a little unsteady.

“We examined the horse,” Bates said. “It was lying on the side of the road leading from the dock to the mansion, its whole body shriveled up, looking like a dried-up corpse that had died in the wilderness.”

He gestured with his hand: "There was a round hole in the horse's neck, not big but very deep. Old man Mo said that after the monster flew onto the horse's back, it used a thin, long thing that looked like a mouth to stab into the horse's neck, and then within seconds the horse was paralyzed and its blood was sucked dry."

George was silent for a moment, his mind quickly flashing back to the strange visions in Frederick's room, and the "Lord of the Flies" wielding "Corruption," "Sprouting," and "Plague"...

That monster was most likely a product of Frederick's "transformation," or at least a product directly influenced by the power of the "Lord of the Flies."

"And then?" George asked. "Where did the monster go?"

"According to Old Man Mo, it flew towards the island after draining the horse dry, and the revolver bullets didn't seem to have any effect on it." Inspector Douglas's face grew increasingly grim.

"Upon hearing this, we immediately worried it would return to the manor, and given the Night's Watch's poor mental state, we needed to escort him back, so..."

"So you came back first." George nodded, understanding their choice.

"We didn't see any signs of the Night Watchman being infected, so we left him in the servants' quarters," Bates added.

"He was very frightened and needs rest, but he also needs someone to watch over him."

The inspector sighed, leaned against the alchemy table, and braced his hands on the edge.

"George, the situation is worse than we thought." He looked directly at George. "If that monster is really roaming the island, and it can fly... it's far more dangerous than the previous swarms."

"We need to find it as soon as possible, and more importantly—find a way to get rid of this 'infection'."

He paused, his gaze falling on George: "Any progress on your end?"