The party did not cause a commotion.
If the issue lay in the grain itself, and anyone who ate it would be infected, then dealing with the grain stored here was pointless—the hills and fields outside were still covered in the source of the plague. Besides, the grain was safe enough here for now; at least they didn't have to worry about someone chewing on unhusked wheat stalks raw.
Thus, at Lynch's insistence, they left without alerting anyone, leaving the plague-tainted food where it was and taking only a small bundle of wheat ears and stalks to bring back for Dr. Sven to inspect.
What they had expected to be a tedious inspection turned out to take Dr. Sven only a simple test before reaching her conclusion.
None of the four had mentioned Lynch's theory to Dr. Sven, yet her conclusion matched his guess completely.
The grain itself was indeed the problem, and it was a long-term issue—one that had likely been affected even before sowing.
Her reasoning was simple: the concentration of mystical properties.
If the grain had been tampered with after harvest while stored in the barn, the mystery would be concentrated on the surface and distributed unevenly from ear to ear.
If it had been done recently after the plants were fully grown, there would be a noticeable difference in concentration between the inner and outer, top and bottom parts of the plants.
However, the samples they brought back not only had similar concentrations among themselves, but were nearly uniform across every part of each plant. In Dr. Sven's assessment, this meant the wheat had been eroded by mystery starting from the seed, continuing uninterrupted until the crops bore fruit.
A double-blind analysis backed by sound reasoning gave her conclusion immense credibility. In other words, someone had tampered with the land. While it seemed to have no direct effect on the citizens, and even professionals would struggle to spot anything amiss, it caused the crops to carry a deadly plague effect.
Yet upon hearing Lynch's explanation, Dr. Sven's expression turned gravely dark, cold enough to freeze water.
Lynch frowned and asked, “What's wrong? Did you realize something?”
“There is a vicious method that was common during the Savage Age, but has rarely been heard of since it ended.” Dr. Sven took a deep breath, fighting to control her trembling fingers. “It is technically known as 'death transmission.' It uses a specific corpse as a vessel to propagate certain concepts through the soil. Regardless of the target, the principle is the same.”
“Specific?” Lynch pressed. “What are the requirements?”
“The corpse of a beloved one—and the ritual must be performed by one's own hands.”
As soon as she said this, even Judy's expression twitched beside them.
Such a ritual actually existed?
To the rest of them, this surpassed the boundaries of human nature. Short of a complete raving lunatic, surely no one could ever commit such a deed.
“It really does.”
Officer Natalie bit her lip and whispered into Lynch's ear, “Although I don't know the exact details, Watcher training mentioned the name 'death transmission.' Just as she said, it's black magic from the Second Age.”
“Yes, I've heard the name as well. Supposedly, the method for the ritual was lost by the end of the Second Age and is recorded only in extremely dangerous mystery documents.” Miss Diana added, “I don't understand, though. If the City Lord is indeed the mastermind, why would he do something so insane? That's his own son's corpse! This ritual doesn't even bring his son back to life—it just drags the entire city into the grave with him.”
Miss Diana cast a subtle glance at Terry. The armored knight currently wore a face fraught with anxiety, looking nothing like someone colluding with the mastermind.
Officer Natalie shook her head. “We can't rule out pure madness. My father encountered someone like that years ago—their mind was utterly twisted, believing that killing their own child was doing them a favor, helping them get closer to the gods.”
“I've heard of such cases too, but abnormal behavior like that leaves clues in daily life that can't be hidden from close acquaintances,” Miss Diana countered. “Yet whether it's Steward Locke, Knight Terry, or even Dr. Sven, none of them have mentioned the City Lord doing anything insane. He doesn't seem to fit the profile you described.”
“Hold on a moment before arguing,” Lynch interjected, inwardly relieved that there was no hostility between the two ladies and that they were focused purely on discussing the case. As he listened, a sudden realization struck him. “Is it possible that the City Lord himself didn't know what the ritual he performed was actually for?”
“Huh?” Neither of the ladies understood. “If he didn't know, why would he do it?”
“He's just an ordinary human with no arcana power, isn't he, Dr. Sven?” Seeing the gloomy, silent doctor nod in confirmation, Lynch continued, “Then how could he possibly master an ancient mystery ritual lost since time immemorial? That makes no sense. But if someone provided him with the method and he simply followed the instructions... wouldn't that make much more sense?”
“I understand now,” Miss Diana caught on instantly. “So whether the ritual aligned with his goal depended entirely on how the person who provided it explained its function. Perhaps they claimed it would yield a bountiful harvest? Or grant favorable weather? Or, of course... resurrect his son?”
“I think that's very likely,” Lynch smacked his fist into his palm. “Someone tricked him into believing the ritual would bring his son back to life, so he followed their instructions at all costs to perform it. Afterwards, he continued cooperating with their further experiments until everything succeeded, at which point that person dug the corpse back up.
“If our guess is correct, it means we've identified the second of the three elements of the plague—the transmission element, which is his son's corpse. Now we're only missing the method of replication. Though... that's probably still in the hands of whoever is pulling the strings behind the scenes. Just who is this guy?”
“It should be the ghoul Dr. Sven mentioned earlier—the one representing the disease element,” Natalie said. As she spoke, she glanced toward Dr. Sven, noticing that ever since the term 'death transmission' was mentioned, the doctor's expression had been eerie.
What was going on?
Lynch felt a bad premonition. Could she know something?
Someone tugged at his coat hem from behind. Without looking, he knew it was Judy. The cultist pulled him close to her mouth and whispered, “Miss Valente said just now that the ritual is recorded only in extremely dangerous mystery documents.”
“Yeah, so?”
“Do you think the 《Necronomicon》 counts?”
Hiss—
Lynch looked at Dr. Sven and drew a sharp breath.
A ghoul, someone who had read the 《Necronomicon》 and knew this ritual, close to the City Lord, trusted by him...
It couldn't be that she had been acting all along, could it?
But on second thought, Dr. Sven was the one who brought up 'death transmission' herself. If she were truly the culprit, she had no reason to expose it.
Her reaction was likely because she had realized a plausible suspect.
Meeting the inquiring eyes of Lynch and the others, Dr. Sven averted her gaze, her expression regaining its composure. “Actually, you've already found the method of replication—it's the crops you brought back. With that, all the necessary conditions for the plague are complete.
“Using the disease element, a cure can be concocted, which should be ready by tomorrow noon. Now, as long as we find that corpse and dispose of it, this man-made disaster will be successfully overcome.”
Their attention was drawn away by her words, temporarily setting aside the ghoul's identity.
Finally, they knew how to fulfill the requirements for the relic memory. The question was... where were they going to find that corpse?
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