79 Tulip Street.
When Colin arrived, the entrance was already being guarded by guards in plate armor.
Passersby had pulled away, forming a vacuum zone in front of the mahogany gate.
Colin made his way through the crowd and into the gate. The guards at the entrance bent over to greet him respectfully.
The layout of this residence was similar to his own on Palm Street, except that it was a single-story house rather than a multi-story building, and it had an extra wing, forming an inverted U-shape, with the wing and main house connected by two sections of European white columns adorned with rose patterns.
He stepped into the main house.
In the center of the living room on the first floor, several guards stood in front of Regina, recounting something to her.
"Colin…" Regina looked puzzled to see Colin enter the house, "why have you come here?"
She looked at Colin, her expression somewhat complex.
The results of the duel from yesterday morning had been quickly spread by the three apprentices who stayed to record it.
Regina obviously knew about it too... She couldn't help but feel a bit surprised.
"Regina, Captain Flower sent me to assist you in investigating this homicide," Colin explained.
He slowly approached and handed over the paper commission that Flower had given him to Regina.
He could clearly sense a difference in Regina's attitude towards him from before.
'Indeed, constant low-key behavior... cannot bring real peace.
It is also important to show strength when appropriate,' he thought to himself, realizing the situation.
"...I understand," Regina nodded after reading the commission, her expression having returned to calm.
"I'll take you to see the crime scene first. The murder happened last Saturday night, at about three to four o'clock in the morning."
She led Colin towards the wing on the right.
"79 Tulip Street, the residence houses a total of 13 people, one mistress and twelve maids.
Ten maids live in six rooms in the wings on both sides, while only the mistress and two personal knight maids reside in the main house."
Walking through the corridor with beige floor tiles, they arrived at the servants' room on the far right.
The servants' room's brown-yellow wooden door was flung open, and a strong smell of blood emanated from inside.
"This room housed two maids, and the evidence suggests the killer began the slaughter here."
Colin edged closer and peered inside.
The bodies of the two maids were twisted and piled on top of each other, lying on the wooden floorboards, their faces contorted, eyeballs protruding. There was a large hole through the front and back of each one's left chest.
Dark brown, coagulated blood was visible everywhere—on the walls, the bedding, and even the ceiling.
It looked as though a monstrously strong demon had suddenly entered the room, piercing the maids' left chests with immense force, ripping out their hearts, and then discarding their bodies like straw on the floor.
"Pay attention to the room's floor," Regina suggested at that moment.
Colin glanced over.
Apart from the two maids' bodies, the brown wooden floor was smeared with a huge puddle of blood and radiating splatters of bloodstains.
It looked normal at first glance... but no!
Colin frowned slightly.
These bloodstains splattered in all directions, with evidence of splashes on every side. However... if the killer had pierced the maids from the front, obviously the front would not have much blood splattered due to blockages like arms.
Yet now, the splatter patterns on the front appeared as though they had faced no obstruction at all.
Upon closer inspection of the floor, besides the maids' dark red blood, a little brown dust, and a few strands of hair from the maids, this room showed no other sign of anyone else's presence.
There were no footprints, no smell… nothing at all.
Even the door was completely unharmed.
It was as if a ghost had done everything…
"It seems our killer is invisible," Colin said, stroking the smooth brown wooden door's surface before pausing.
"Yes." Regina nodded and led Colin to the next room.
"At first, I thought it was a ghost, but Detect Evil showed no trace of a ghost's presence… or rather, no trace of any evil presence at all.
No demons, no ghosts, no evil entities, no tainted auras, no signs of witchcraft, absolutely nothing—as if a normal person had done everything."
She quickly took Colin through the horrific scene in the maid's room.
Most were much the same as the first, with hearts gone and a hole piercing the chest.
"But from the traces at the scene, it looks more like Cultists did this," Regina said, stopping in the living room.
Colin nodded his agreement.
Such systematic heart extraction likely had another purpose.
The two headed for the master bedroom.
As soon as he entered the master bedroom, Colin furrowed his brow.
On the pink canopy bed, a naked female corpse was spread-eagled, with signs of violation. Leather shackles with moon patterns were fastened around her ankles and connected at the wrists on the side.
The chains were pulled so tight that her limbs were distorted.
Her left chest, like the other maids' bodies, bore a large hole, and the heart had flown away.
The blood had dyed the bedding beneath her into a stark dark red.
"There are signs of violation, but nothing was left behind," Regina said with a slight frown.
It was unclear whether the perpetrator had been driven by lust or some ritualistic necessity.
"Good morning, Esteemed Members of the Lap School," a hoarse voice suddenly came from the door.
A wizard with a goatee followed by a Guard entered; his skin was dark, mostly unwrinkled, but some white hair revealed his not insignificant age.
"Good morning," Regina replied tersely, turning her head and whispering to Colin, "Bigu is the owner of this residence, an Intermediate Wizard Apprentice. The woman Lisa, who died on the bed, was his mistress."
Colin nodded almost imperceptibly.
"Eminent Guests, may I ask what you need of me?" Bigu spoke, his brow slightly furrowed as he glanced at Lisa on the bed and sighed.
On the way here, he had heard about the incident from the Guards. Initially, he was angry, but after seeing the bizarre scene, his anger gradually subsided.
He was old now, only wishing to spend his last days in peace, not wanting to get involved in such affairs… even though Lisa was his favorite mistress.
"I need to understand a bit about her," Regina said, pointing to Lisa on the bed.
Bigu nodded and began to recount.
According to him, he had met Lisa two years ago and had been keeping her here ever since. Normally he lived in the residences outside the Lap School on the mountain and only occasionally came down to see her.
The last time he had visited Lisa was half a month ago.
After listening to his story, Regina pondered for a moment and then asked:
"Do you have any suspects in mind?"
"No, ever since I met Lisa, she's been living here with maids attending her daily. If she had made any enemies, the maids would have told me... At least up until half a month ago, Lisa had never made any enemies…"
Bigu shook his head decisively. Although Lisa was his favorite mistress, she was after all just a plaything kept captive, and he knew everything about her daily whereabouts like the back of his hand,
...in his eyes, it clearly wasn't a killing spurred by vengeance.
Lisa had most likely just been an unlucky soul.