Chapter 850: Talking To A Dead Girl
"I need to speak with her." Daniel said quietly.
"With who?" Serys didn’t understand at first.
"Aurelia."
A few seconds of silence passed.
Then Serys’s face suddenly went pale.
"...Wait."
"What do you mean?"
Daniel, without taking his gaze off the file, answered with his usual calmness.
"I’m going to bring her spirit back."
Serys’s chair scraped loudly against the floor.
She almost jumped up.
"Have you lost your mind?! How is that even possible? How are you going to bring a dead person’s spirit back?!"
"Besides, if the Supreme Council finds out, it won’t just be you and me in trouble."
"The entire tower will be thrown into chaos. Even if your intentions are good, this is completely illegal. You can’t dig up the tower leader’s daughter’s grave and pull out her body!"
"Then they’d better not find out." Daniel finally raised his head. His face hadn’t changed in the slightest.
He needed to speak with that girl. Her death had changed the tower’s future path and was the biggest reason with which Lioran could be brought down.
With the skill of Forgotten Eyes, he could bring the spirit of any dead being back to life for a short time.
Serys just looked at him for a few moments. She truly didn’t know if this man was fearless or simply didn’t understand the concept of fear.
Doing such a thing would surely anger the tower’s leader, and if he found out, no one could save the two of them.
Besides, how could such a skill even exist that could bring the dead back to life?
"I’ll take you to her." Serys finally sighed, and the two then left the tower.
Outside the tower, she took him to a very magnificent underground tomb. Entry to this tomb was completely forbidden for ordinary people, and the guards there would surely stop anyone.
But Serys visited this place often, so it wasn’t that strange to the guards.
When they entered the tomb, Daniel was somewhat surprised by its grandeur. It looked more like a shrine than a tomb.
"This is where the tower leader’s daughter is buried."
Daniel nodded and then signaled for her to step back.
[Forgotten Eyes]
He just closed his eyes.
At that moment... the shadows of the tomb began to move. The light of the magical lamps slowly dimmed. The temperature dropped rapidly.
Breathing became harder. Time seemed to stop for a few seconds.
The shadows on the floor crawled toward the center of the room like living creatures. In the midst of that darkness, small particles of light appeared one after another.
Golden particles, calm, silent. They spun around each other, then gradually took human form.
First the feet, then the body, then long golden hair reaching to her waist, and finally... calm eyes that slowly opened.
A young girl in a white robe stood in silence in the middle of the room. Not like a ghostly monster, not a terrifying specter, but exactly as she had lived before her death.
A calm face, a gentle smile, as if she had only woken from a long sleep.
Serys froze. Her entire body began to tremble. Her lips moved several times.
But no sound came from her throat.
"...Aurelia?" Finally, she whispered with a trembling voice.
The girl slowly turned her head.
Her gaze fixed on Serys. A few seconds later, a very warm smile settled on her face.
"Serys..."
That one word was enough. Tears involuntarily streamed from Serys’s eyes. She quickly stepped forward, reaching her hand out to her old friend.
But just before she could touch her... her hand passed through Aurelia’s body.
Nothing was there. Only particles of light. Serys knelt there, her tears dripping onto the ground.
"It’s really... you..."
"I’m sorry... I really wanted to see you again." Aurelia also lowered her gaze, sadness rippling in her eyes as well.
For a few minutes, no one said anything. Daniel allowed them both to calm down a little.
"Aurelia." Then he broke the silence with a quiet voice.
The girl turned her gaze back to him.
"I have a question."
"You’re the one who brought my spirit back?"
"Yes. I have questions about how you died and about Lioran."
"Lioran?" Aurelia’s eyes suddenly turned red, and killing intent emanated from her. As if even hearing that name disgusted her.
"Don’t worry. We are also enemies of that man, and we want to avenge you and the others who died unjustly."
"You can trust him." Serys quietly rose and said.
"You can ask anything you want." Aurelia calmed herself and said.
"Why did Lioran decide to kill you?" Daniel asked curiously.
Aurelia was silent for a few moments.
Then she said quietly:
"I discovered the secret behind his power. And when he found out... he decided to kill me."
"What was that secret?"
Aurelia closed her eyes, placed her hand on her head. Her face contorted in pain. She tried several times to remember something.
But each time, she failed.
"...I don’t remember." She finally whispered.
Daniel showed no sign of disappointment, just nodded.
"That’s natural."
Both looked at him.
"The more time passes since death, the more the spirit’s memories fade, especially memories related to the final moments of life. If you don’t remember anything, it’s considered natural."
"I’m sorry..." Aurelia nodded with a bitter smile.
"Do you remember how you were killed?" Daniel asked again.
This was his biggest question right now. He needed to find out how this girl had been killed to find evidence against Lioran.
Aurelia thought for a long time.
"...I’m not sure." She finally answered.
"You don’t remember anything? How were you killed in a way that everyone thought it was suicide?" This time, Daniel looked directly into her eyes.
Aurelia suddenly frowned.
"Suicide?" She whispered in disbelief, as if she couldn’t believe her death had been declared a suicide.
She was silent for a few moments.
"My death... was declared a suicide?" She then said in surprise.
Daniel nodded.
"But I didn’t commit suicide... that’s not possible." Aurelia took a quiet deep breath.
"How do mages commit suicide? Like ordinary people, or...?" Daniel asked.
"For a mage... suicide has only one meaning: destroying their own mana rings. When the mana rings explode from within, all the mana in the body is released in an instant." Serys answered.
"That power... destroys your body before you even have a chance to feel pain."
"Death is almost instantaneous and usually... painless." She then completed her explanation.
"The official report said the same thing?" Daniel turned his gaze back to Serys. He also noticed that the suicide process for mages seemed more complicated than he had thought.
He had thought suicide for them was like everyone else, but apparently not. And now that he thought about it, this way, many shortcuts could be found, and nothing was certain anymore.
Serys nodded sadly.
"Yes. The tower’s experts confirmed that her mana rings were destroyed by her own energy."
Daniel was silent for a few moments.
"Could someone else destroy the mana rings and still have it count as suicide?" He then asked.
This time, Serys didn’t even think.
"No. Impossible. If someone from outside destroyed the rings, the attacker’s mana trace would remain. The experts would immediately notice external interference."
"There’s no way it could be mistaken for suicide."
"Did you consume anything before your death? Poison? A special drug? Or did someone cast magic on your mind?" Daniel again turned to Aurelia.
Aurelia closed her eyes, thought for a long time. Finally, she slowly shook her head.
"...No. At least... I don’t remember anything."
Serys sighed.
"Her death file was one of the tower’s most complete files. Everyone was sure she had destroyed her own mana rings."
Daniel fell silent. He didn’t speak, didn’t move. So long that even Serys thought he had reached a dead end.
But that wasn’t the case. A possibility had occurred to him, and he was just unsure if it was correct.
This was not natural, and it wasn’t a suicide either.
If there was no trace of external interference... if the mana rings were truly destroyed by her own energy... then only one possibility remained.
Someone had made Aurelia... without realizing it... destroy her own mana rings. More precisely, forced her to do so when she wasn’t conscious.
Something like hypnosis.
The question was, was such a thing possible? And that was a very good question, but Daniel had no definite answer for it.
But in this vast world, one couldn’t really say anything was impossible.
But the mystery was still unsolved. He needed to understand how such a thing could have been possible.
"I’ve learned enough. Thank you for your help." Then he turned to the tower leader’s daughter and thanked her.
Aurelia gave a quiet smile. Her gaze went to Serys, and tears again gathered in both their eyes.
"I’m sorry... for leaving you alone..."
"No... you weren’t at fault..." Serys shook her head, crying.
Aurelia looked at them both one last time. Her body slowly turned into thousands of particles of light. Just before she completely faded, her voice echoed in the room one last time.
"Find... the truth..."
The particles of light scattered quietly in the air, and the room fell into silence again.
"Now I’m sure. This wasn’t a suicide. This was... a perfect murder." Daniel whispered quietly.
