Racing at full speed, the dragon carriage finally returned to the Mathers domain.
As they entered the territory, Adam sensed something was wrong. His expression turned grave.
The shortest route to the earl's mansion passed through a nearby village. Though the dragon carriage frequently traveled this road, the usually ordinary path now felt eerily different.
At the village entrance, he signaled Ram to stop.
Emilia and Subaru poked their heads out of the carriage to ask.
Ram spoke in a low voice, "There's no sound from the village. It's too quiet."
"Isn't that normal?" Subaru pointed at the still-dark sky, "It's not even dawn yet — the villagers must still be sleeping. Besides us, who else would be up so early?"
"No, that's not what I mean." Ram explained, "Even during rest, there should be livestock making noise, and children crying. It's unnaturally quiet."
"Ah, you're right! If Ram hadn't pointed it out, I wouldn't have noticed!" Subaru finally understood.
Despite all his hardships, he still lacked vigilance. Too optimistic, kid!
"Adam, what should we do now?" Ram asked.
"We can't act rashly. Let me see what's hidden in the village."
He used his skill to investigate.
Closing his eyes, he expanded his senses to encompass the entire village, but found not a single presence.
Not just people and livestock — there wasn't even a single insect!
"There's no one in the village, not even livestock. It's as if this place has been abandoned, like no one lives here anymore."
"That's impossible! Half a month ago, we said goodbye to them when we left, didn't we?" Subaru immediately protested.
No one argued with him now — they faced a far more dire situation.
"As I suspected, the village was attacked." Adam concluded.
It made sense. The presence of Emilia, 『 Silver-haired Half-elf 』, would naturally draw the Witch Cult fanatics.
Yet something wasn't right. The village wasn't just empty of people and livestock — there were no corpses, no blood, nothing. Despite Adam's keen nose that could detect scents from three days prior, he found no traces.
The Witch Cult, unstable as they were, never cleaned up after their attacks. Very suspicious.
And where was Roswaal? Had that clown fled?
"This is bad! Rem!" Ram's thoughts immediately turned to her sister.
Without a word, she spun around and bolted toward the margrave's mansion.
Her speed was incredible!
Though her horn was broken, she remained a powerful〘Wind Magic〙user. In her panic, she channeled all her mana, vanishing from sight in an instant.
"Hey, don't be rash!"
The three couldn't stop her in time and had to give chase.
Since Subaru couldn't keep up, Adam swiftly carried him and Emilia into the air. He spotted the pink-haired maid below, descended, and cut off her path.
"Get out of the way, Adam! Don't interfere with Ram!" Her usually cold expression had turned fierce with worry.
"Wait, Ram! We don't know what awaits us at the mansion. Rushing in recklessly will only lead you into a trap!"
"But Ram can't connect with Rem anymore!" She cried out, "Always, always we could connect! Why, why is there no response this time!"
Adam knew they were oni twins, born with an innate telepathic bond. Rem and Ram were so close that one would always respond to the other.
Which meant that Rem was...
"Get out of the way!"
Taking advantage of his hesitation, Ram suddenly pushed past the three blocking her path and sprinted toward the mansion without looking back.
"Ram?! Tch, Adam, let's chase after her!"
Seeing Subaru's urgency and Emilia's worry, he had no choice but to follow.
There was another possibility for Rem's silence — perhaps they were simply too far apart for their telepathic connection to work. If so, it could mean Roswaal had taken her to the Sanctuary.
But... was that really possible?
He couldn't shake last night's foreboding feeling, that inexplicable premonition of impending danger.
This is... the smell of blood?!
While still some distance from the mansion, Adam suddenly grabbed Emilia and Subaru, halting their advance.
"What's wrong, Adam? Why are you stopping us?"
The two stared at him, bewildered.
Instead of answering, he addressed the crystal on Emilia's chest, "Puck, are you there?"
"I am!" With a flash of light, Puck materialized before them, asking curiously, "What is it, young man?"
"Protect Emilia and Subaru-kun."
With that command, Adam drew his knight's sword and took point.
The wind carried the unmistakable scent of blood from the mansion. Blood meant combat, and combat meant casualties!
His gut told him yes.
Minutes later, the three people and one great spirit entered the mansion.
What they saw stopped them cold!
The contrast was stark — outside lay peaceful and serene, but inside was a nightmare of scattered corpses and blood-splattered walls!
"Th-this... what's going on?! Wh-why are there so many corpses?!" Subaru's face contorted with horror.
Cold sweat beaded on his forehead as his legs trembled beneath him. If not for Emilia's steadying presence, he would have collapsed to the floor.
The bodies strewn across the ground wore identical black robes and hoods, their faces and forms obscured beneath the dark fabric.
—The Witch Cult. These were Witch Cult members!
They had to be followers of Petelgeuse Romanée-Conti, the Sin Archbishop of Sloth!
Before they could process the scene, a heart-rending cry echoed from deeper within the mansion.
The three exchanged alarmed glances, then rushed toward the sound.
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