Death Ascension - Chapter 107

Baroness Brooks personally led Deon and Nora to her children’s bedrooms located on the third floor of the mansion.

“This is my son’s room.” The baroness motioned to a large room painted in blue. It looked like a typical boy’s room with numerous toys displayed on the far wall. To the west was a heavy set of curtains pinned to the side, revealing a glass door leading to the balcony.

Mikael went out of the Medium and swooped toward the glass door,

“Hmm..” the ghost scratched his chin as he stared at the balcony. ‘It’s too high to be climbed unless the criminal is a ninja.’

Seemingly aligned with his thoughts, Deon asked the baroness, “Madam. Would it be possible for the kidnapper to enter from the balcony?”

“No, Your Highness.” Madam Brooks readily replied, “My son is scared of the howling winter wind that rattles that glass door. That’s why he always locked the doors to the balcony. If the perpetrator entered from there, he has to break the glass door first and that would have waked my son or any worker in this estate….” She explained before tears welled up the corners of her eyes, “Then my poor son could’ve asked for help.”

“I see…” Deon bit his lip and scrunched his brows, “How about your daughter’s room?”

Madam Brooks walked out of her son’s room and opened the door on the opposite side as she explained, “Because my Julius gets easily scared, he usually sleeps with his elder sister, Julia, so the door to her balcony is also locked.”

‘So, with no way to enter from outside, the investigators assumed this was an inside job.’ Deon nodded his head as he walked into the girl’s room.

Lining an ornately designed cabinet were porcelain dolls that painfully reminded Deon of Mikael’s test of courage. The experience had been so traumatic that he couldn’t even look at the beautiful dolls without getting goosebumps all over his body. So, the young prince focused his attention elsewhere. Unaware that he just let slip one important clue.

Meanwhile, Mikael peeled his eyes off the rattling balcony door and drifted to the girl’s room.

As soon as he entered, a translucent panel appeared in his view.

Ping!

<System Notification: The Apostle of Justice, Mikael Lee, has received a request.>

Ping!

< Request Title: Please save my brother!

Request Type: Single request.

Request Details:

The Asphodel-grade spirit, Julia Brooks, asks for the Apostle of Justice’s help to save her younger brother, Julius Brooks, from scary monsters!

Julia says that she and her brother were eaten by big and scary monsters in their sleep. She recalls that two monsters suddenly appeared in her bedroom and ate them whole! After which, they were transported to an unfamiliar place where a big spider and a giant resides.

The last thing she remembered was being separated from her brother and feeling a searing pain that burned her alive.

Request reward: +3 Karma Points.>

Mikael overcame his shock at the request that suddenly came out of nowhere and shared the panel with Deon.

“Kid, we were too late…” Mikael regretfully told the prince who clenched his fists to stop them from trembling.

Julia Brooks was dead.

Just the fact that she could ask Mikael from the request board was enough to tell the duo that there’s a high chance that other children also met the same fate– Kidnapped and burned alive.

But for what?

Why were the children abducted only to be burned alive?

And how was the criminal able to control monsters and sneak them into the young girl’s bedroom undetected?

Julia’s request only added to the mystery.

“My liege, are you alright? You look pale…” Dame Nora’s worried mien popped into Deon’s view.

This jolted the young prince out of his daze, “I-I’m fine, Dame. It’s nothing.” But Deon failed to mask his dark expression.

After all, how could he tell the baroness that her daughter had already passed? And she wasn’t even in Elysium to boot.

Soon, Julia Brooks would forget her life as she drifts aimlessly in the Fields of Asphodel. For eternity.

“Her request reward sucks. But that’s understandable since she’s just a common Asphodel-grade spirit.” Mikael scratched his head as he accepted the dead girl’s request, “At least she gave us information. Albeit totally ambiguous.”

Deon sighed.

He agreed with his ghost partner’s assessment. There were no substantial clues in the girl’s request. She didn’t even specify what type of monster ate them nor what the unfamiliar place looked like.

“It seems we have to visit more of the victims’ houses to gather requests,” he murmured.

“Your Highness?” the baroness asked, “As expected, there was nothing to see here, right? The investigators from the bureau also said they couldn’t find anything helpful.”

The madam wept into the handkerchief offered by her maid, “Oh, my poor children! Where art thou!”

Seeing her pitiful cry hurt the soft-hearted prince.

“Madam, I promise to return your son—I mean, your children. Please trust me!” Deon tried to reassure the lady, clutching his chest with a determined expression.

In his heart, a small flame of justice has been lit.

More than his desire to complete the mission for the bet’s sake, the young prince thought that he would definitely. DEFINITELY. Save the baroness’ son and all the other children. Before it’s too late.

However, the heavens did not see fit to aid him in his endeavor.

They spent three days visiting a few more houses in the vicinity of the capital, but Mikael did not receive any additional requests from the dead.

The partners could only hope that this meant the children from those homes were still alive somewhere.

In the meantime, news of the third prince’s visits found its way to the tabloids. The journalists wrote stories about the youngest prince’s metamorphosis—from a cowardly Caterpillar to a majestic Monarch Butterfly.

His changing reputation spread like wildfire. The victim’s families sang praises for Deon’s efforts while some of the most desperate ones even sent him gifts in hopes of Deon prioritizing their children over others.

Soon, his office was filled with gifts– or ‘bribes’ as Mikael liked to call them—and he was left with no choice but to transfer into a bigger room in the Bureau.

However, not everyone was happy with the young prince’s growing reputation.

For one, the Investigators felt annoyed that Deon received much praise when he hasn’t done anything notable while they were forced to accept criticisms from the masses for their ineptitude.

The second was the noble factions backing the two other princes. They feared that Deon Hensworth, the boy they considered as a pebble in their path, would soon become a threat.

But Mikael and Deon were unaware of these as they despaired the lack of additional evidence even after a week of investigation.

With only three more weeks left of the King’s bet, how will they trace the elusive ‘Monsters’?

–Chapter end–