In the pitch-black night, the massive steam behemoth roared forward, spewing thick smoke. Inside a private compartment of the first-class carriage, a long-planned ambush was about to unfold.
Inside the detective’s compartment, one of the conversation partners suddenly lunged, driving a small dagger into the detective’s chest. However, the detective did not fall. Instead, he firmly grasped the assassin’s outstretched hand, locking it in place. At the same time, from beneath the seemingly ordinary thin blanket, three strong men suddenly emerged in a manner that defied logic.
Sensing an attack from behind, the assassin—who had been operating under the alias "Jim"—instinctively attempted to sidestep and phase into the nearby wall. However, Dorothy, who had anticipated his movements, had already placed a Devouring Sigil on Edrick, allowing Edrick to grip the assassin’s hand with an inescapable strength.
Before the assassin entered the compartment, Dorothy had secretly applied a Devouring Sigil on Edrick, supplying it with Chalice spirituality through her Corpse Marionette Ring. This granted Edrick strength far beyond that of an ordinary person, making it impossible for the assassin to break free.
Neither the power of Shadow nor Stone could enhance physical strength—that was the domain of the Chalice. Though the assassin was stronger than an average person, his physical endurance was still limited, leaving him utterly unable to escape Edrick’s close-range restraint.
At that moment, three corpse marionettes—carefully selected by Dorothy—swarmed the assassin. They grabbed his waist, arms, and legs, sealed his movements, and covered his mouth, lifting him off the ground so he could not make contact with the floor or walls to phase away. Among them, the sturdiest corpse marionette had also been reinforced with the Devouring Sigil, further tightening its grip.
In the end, against the combined strength of four corpse marionettes, the assassin was completely restrained—unable to speak, unable to move, unable to step, and completely unable to escape using his sigils.
At this moment, he found himself in a state of "a strong man locked by stronger men", utterly immobilized.
The assassin’s eyes widened in shock. He had thoroughly checked the compartment before entering—there was nowhere for an ambush. That was why he had confidently sat down to talk with the detective. But where had these three strong men suddenly appeared from?
In truth, before leaving the compartment earlier, Dorothy had opened the Cursed Box and hid it beneath the blanket. From her own compartment, she had been remotely controlling the three corpse marionettes inside the box, keeping them ready. At the critical moment, they crawled out of the box, delivering a shocking surprise to their target.The restrained assassin struggled frantically, but against many opponents and even more Chalice strength, his struggles were utterly meaningless. Now that the enemy had been successfully subdued, it was time to eliminate him.
Edrick pulled the dagger from his own chest, then aimed to stab the helplessly struggling assassin in the throat. However, just as the blade touched the assassin’s skin, it was as if it had struck solid stone—with a sharp clang , the blade tip snapped off.
"Damn... it’s Stone hardening again. If his auxiliary spirituality is Stone, then of course he’d have some level of toughness. I remember Aldrich mentioning that hardening is a standard ability of Stone Beyonders..."
The assassin possessed the ability to harden his body, making him impervious to bladed weapons. Dorothy considered using a gun—after all, only a Black Earth rank Stone Beyonder could barely resist bullets, meaning this assassin wouldn’t be able to.
However, firing a gun now would alert the train attendants outside. If they entered, they would discover the room’s real situation—something Dorothy wasn’t ready for just yet.
After a brief moment of thought, Dorothy ordered the corpse marionette enhanced with the Devouring Sigil to smother the assassin’s nose and mouth with full force.
The assassin’s face turned red as he struggled violently, but he still couldn’t break free.
As time passed, his struggles gradually weakened until, eventually, they ceased entirely. His body went completely limp. Dorothy used her Corpse Marionette Ring to confirm his death.
And just like that, in a perfectly executed ambush, this Black Earth rank assassin was silently hunted down and eliminated by Dorothy. Another higher-rank target was now added to her list of kills.
First, Dorothy had posed as a detective investigating a jewelry theft, calling the passengers of Carriage No. 7 in for questioning one by one. After each interview, she let them spread the news to make the true target lower his guard. When it was finally his turn, he came in without suspicion.
Then, using the Cursed Box and corpse marionettes, she laid a trap—resulting in a Black Earth rank assassin being slaughtered without a fight.
This was Dorothy’s method of handling enemies.
"Phew... done."
Letting out a breath, Dorothy ordered her corpse marionettes to lower the assassin’s lifeless body, then proceeded to loot his belongings. After taking anything useful, she stuffed some money into his pockets, then commanded the extra corpse marionettes to crawl back into the Cursed Box. Finally, Edrick closed the lid.
After completing everything, Dorothy used her Corpse Marionette Ring to lift the assassin’s body once again.
"Target eliminated successfully. But... this detective game still needs a proper ending."
Back in her compartment, Dorothy murmured to herself.
...
The train conductor, accompanied by two attendants, walked over from the duty room. Upon reaching the compartment door, he turned to the two train staff guarding it and asked, "How is the detective’s investigation going?"
"The detective has been calling passengers from Carriage No. 7 for questioning. So far, twelve people have been questioned. He’s currently on the thirteenth one," one of the attendants replied.
The conductor frowned slightly and asked, "He’s questioned so many… Has he found anything yet?"
"We don’t know… The detective hasn’t revealed anything. But this current questioning is taking longer than usual—the others only took four to five minutes each, but this one has already been going on for ten minutes."
Just as the conductor was deep in thought, a loud commotion suddenly erupted from inside the compartment.
The conductor and attendants were stunned, and in the next instant, the compartment door was flung open.
A man dressed in black bolted out, his face filled with panic, as he sprinted down the corridor.
Hot on his heels, another figure chased after him.
"You’re not getting away!"
With a sharp shout, Edrick lunged forward, grabbing the fleeing man’s collar.
The man, realizing he couldn’t escape, swung a desperate punch at Edrick.
Edrick tilted his body, dodging the attack, then caught the man’s arm mid-swing. Using all his strength, he performed a shoulder throw, slamming the man hard onto the floor.
Then, Edrick drew a pistol from inside his coat, aimed it at the fallen fugitive, and declared loudly in front of the train staff and conductor.
"So my deduction was correct, Mr. Jim. You are the murderer of Mr. Sodod. Trying to escape justice? Not so easy. You won’t escape the kingdom’s law!"
Lying on the ground, Jim slowly lifted his head and glared at the detective, his eyes filled with hatred.
"Tch... If it weren’t for you, I would have gotten away… Damn detective..."
(T/N: I’m getting second-hand embarrassment ngl…)