Chapter 152 - 151: You Are a Good Person

Chapter 152: Chapter 151: You Are a Good Person

"She said Jasmine was exceptionally good to her. She’d secretly save snacks for her, teach her to draw, and praise her talent." Buton’s reply came with almost no hesitation. "But she also said that Jasmine smiled less and less, that sometimes she’d just stare at herself in the mirror for a long time. She also said... that the Baron would often stare at Jasmine in secret."

Buton’s words once again confirmed the contents of the diary.

From Jasmine’s kindness toward Tammy to the changes Tammy observed in her and her fear of the Baron, everything perfectly aligned with the diary’s contents.

Everything seemed to once again point clearly to Baron Godric.

But the sense of wrongness in Hesia’s heart grew even stronger.

He felt that things were definitely not that simple.

At the very least, the appearance of the Blood Axe Gang that night could not have been a coincidence.

’Did Jasmine call the Blood Axe Gang to get revenge on the Baron?’

The thought flashed through Hesia’s mind before he immediately dismissed it.

’How could a victim under surveillance contact a notorious gang of bandits?’

’And even if she did have some secret way to contact them, how were the manor’s defenses dismantled on the night of the massacre?’

Based on his initial exploration, although Shadow Split Manor had fallen into decay, its defensive structures were still fundamentally sound.

Moreover, even if Jasmine could have immediately controlled or killed the Baron, the Guards themselves would have patrolled their set routes. The moment they discovered invading bandits, they would have sounded the alarm and organized a resistance.

Unless... someone had given them other orders beforehand, or diverted them in some way.

And the Baron would certainly never have given Jasmine the authority to command the Guards.

Just as Hesia was lost in thought, Buton, standing before him, seemed to make up his mind. With a THUD, he fell to his knees.

"Sir Adventurer, I don’t know who to believe anymore! I just know my Tammy is dead, and it was no accident! I’m begging you, please, you have to help me!"

Hesia quickly helped him up.

"Buton, I understand your confusion. And it’s precisely these contradictions that prove the tragedy of Shadow Split Manor is far more complex than it appears."

"I can help you investigate," Hesia’s voice was clear and calm, carrying a reassuring quality. "But you must tell me everything you know, without hiding anything. Tell me... have you seen any skeletons?"

Buton’s lips quivered, and he finally nodded in defeat.

"I... I have."

"It was the second winter after the incident at the manor. It was deathly cold, I was flat broke, and so hungry my vision was blurring."

"So I decided to go back to that godforsaken place, to see if I could scrounge up something to eat, or... or some valuable that some poor soul might have dropped..."

"But the manor had long since been picked clean. I didn’t find anything. Just as I was about to leave, something suddenly... something peeked through the doorway... a skeleton!"

"It... it didn’t look at me. It just put something on the ground and left. I was scared out of my wits! I thought some Evil Spirit was coming for me, and I scrambled away as fast as I could! It wasn’t until I got back here that I remembered... I think it was a loaf of bread."

"Later, when I was on the verge of starvation, I worked up the courage to go back. The skeleton was gone, but the bread was still there."

"I... I took the bread. From that day on, every few days, whenever I was about to collapse from hunger, food would appear in that spot... Sometimes bread, sometimes meat... always passed from behind a door, by one... or several bony hands."

At this, tears streamed down Buton’s face, and he wiped them away haphazardly with his dark, coarse sleeve.

"I... At first I thought I was going crazy, that I was hallucinating. But the bread, the meat... it was real. It’s what has kept this useless old man alive to this day! So I thought... it must be my Tammy... It must be her! Her soul is still there. She can’t bear to watch her old father starve to death, so she... she’s making those skeletons help me!"

"This is also why I believe there’s something more to this! If she had simply drowned by accident, why would her soul linger in the manor, refusing to leave?"

"But I’m afraid that if I tell the church or other Adventurers, they’ll think it’s an unholy spirit and go to ’purify’ her!"

"I’ve shouted her name at those bones, but they... they don’t react."

"I don’t know if I should let someone else investigate this, I don’t know what to do..."

"But I... I’m afraid her soul will be stuck in that godforsaken place forever."

Buton’s voice gradually faded as he looked down at his calloused hands.

"What can a useless old man like me find out?"

A few seconds later, he raised his head again, looking at Hesia with a pleading gaze.

"I’ve seen other guys wandering around here. They just want to see if there’s anything valuable left in the manor."

"But you... you’re different."

"You gave me food, so I was thinking... maybe... maybe you’re a good person. Someone who can really help my daughter."

...

After leaving Buton’s home, Hesia headed straight for Shadow Split Manor.

Buton’s description confirmed his earlier suspicion—there was indeed a special entity within the manor that possessed self-awareness and could control other Undead.

Combined with the contents of the diary, the core of this Undead presence was most likely either Jasmine, who died unjustly, or Tammy, whom Buton firmly believed had not found peace.

Finding her was the key to unlocking all the mysteries.

But now, time was running out.

He had to get there before Loris, the Holy Professional from the Church of the Saint Sun.

Back in Rose Town, Loris had likely already realized that the skeleton Hesia created was being controlled by a more powerful Undead Creature.

His coming alone to this remote and abandoned place couldn’t possibly be for the 20 Silver Scale bounty.

Most likely, he was here searching for Undead Creatures.

Hesia had heard Captain Hulk mention that the path of advancement for certain Holy Knights was closely tied to eradicating powerful Undead Creatures.

...

The entrance to Shadow Split Manor.

The gateway, which had been completely blocked by rubble and debris, now had a huge breach.

Shattered stones and broken wooden beams were scattered everywhere, clearly having been forced open by brute strength.

Hesia stared at the wreckage. ’Couldn’t find another entrance, so he just smashed his way in? This Loris’s Power is truly something else.’

However, just as this thought formed in his mind—

BOOM—!!

A deafening roar erupted from within the gateway!

Immediately after, a silver-white figure, like a tin can struck head-on by a battering ram, smashed heavily into a pile of rubble several meters away, kicking up a cloud of dust.

Before Hesia could react.

Accompanied by the CLATTERING of countless grinding bones, a tide of bone-white figures surged out from the breach!

Leading the charge was a giant skeleton, nearly twice the height of a normal one. An eerie blue Soul Fire burned within its empty eye sockets, and it gripped a heavily notched Giant Axe in its hands.

Behind it followed dozens of skeletons of all shapes and sizes—skeleton soldiers with rusted swords, skeletal hounds crawling on all fours, and even a few skeleton guards clad in tattered Chain Armor.

"Cough... cough!"

From within the rubble, Loris struggled to prop himself up.

His lustrous Bright Silver Armor was now covered in noticeable dents and scratches. His helmet was knocked askew, revealing a pale face and ragged breathing. He had clearly expended a great deal of energy in the recent clash and gotten the worst of it.