After a long, heavy silence, Inspector Nana finally approached them. Even the deaf girl had begun to regain her composure. She sat quietly on a bench outside, still pale and shaken. The horror she'd witnessed would have broken most grown men—but she had handled it far better than anyone expected.
"It looks like we're done here. The rest will be handled by others," Nana said as he reached them.
Jin glanced up. "Who's taking over the case?"
"The Holy Knights. You're lucky. If not for them, we'd be stuck here all night, watching to see if the corpse awakens."
Jin stood without another word. "Then let's move."
Without waiting for further explanation, he turned and walked away, the weight of the scene still lingering in the air behind him.
***
They rode the public carriage in silence once more, bound for the Military Police base. No one uttered a word—least of all the girl who couldn't speak. But this time, even her silence felt heavier, unnatural, as if something unseen had stolen her voice entirely.
By the time they arrived, it was already lunchtime. The station cafeteria served free meals to all officers—and, of course, to applicants. Inspector Nana had even remarked that the food was surprisingly decent for a government facility. There was no need to waste money eating elsewhere.
Not that Jin cared.
He had seen how rare food was in the Forbidden Lands. Back then, his body hadn't needed sustenance. But now, in his current feeble state—barely stronger than an average human—he had to eat, sleep, and, regretfully, defecate.
He usually skipped the group dinners in the Nameless Domain, choosing instead to bring his food back to his room. But ever since he'd become like this, he often forgot to eat—only reminded when his stomach growled in protest. Fortunately, Luke often brought him something when he remembered.
Jin stepped into the cafeteria. Jay and the mute girl—whose name he had already forgotten—followed him, though he would have preferred to dine alone.
To his dismay, the trio from the other group were already seated at a table for six. Worse, they were waving them over.
'What a pain.'
Jin instinctively donned a mask—one worn only by protagonists in well-crafted novels. The silver-tongued charmer. The affable stranger. The social butterfly.
He had no genuine interest in such idiocy. But without his powers, he'd come to understand the value of allies. Pawns, really. Useful pawns that could protect him—or die if the situation demand.
A wide, artificial smile spread across his usually blank face. Luke noticed immediately. He had heard this performance before—Jin slipping into character, mimicking personalities like a marionette dancing on strings. Albedo had warned them of his fractured condition, but seeing it in action was something else entirely.
Jin pulled out an empty chair, adjusted his coat with a gentleman's poise, and sat down.
"Well now," he said, tone theatrically warm, "how's your day been, gentlemen?"
"It... was alright," Luke replied with a hesitant smile. "Yours?"
Jin paused, as though the question had struck something deep. The fake smile faltered, darkening into a haunted grimace. His voice lowered, trembling with feigned—or perhaps not so feigned—terror.
"It was awful. A nightmare. A truly terrible one. I don't think I'll ever forget it, no matter how much I try."
"Why? What happened?" asked the boy with the ponytail. Even the green-haired kid leaned in, curiosity breaking through his caution.
Jin gave them a moment to wait, a pause to let dread settle into their bones. Jay and the mute girl sat down beside him as he drained a full glass of water in a single gulp.
"It was a murder scene," he finally said, his voice soft, yet heavy. "Straight out of hell. Grotesque. Tragic."
He leaned in, his voice dropping to a whisper that made the others draw closer.
"It happened in the Church of the Merciful Mother. Two pregnant women—murdered in the most depraved way imaginable. Their corpses were skinned. Arranged in a mockery of intercourse. Their eyeballs stolen. Their bare breasts left exposed to the stained-glass saints above."
A chilling silence settled over the table. No one breathed. Jin let the pause stretch like a blade being drawn.
"And the most horrific thing?" he said finally, his voice barely audible.
"There were no shadows beneath the corpses."
************************
Everyone's reaction changed to horror, even the deft girl. Although she couldn't heard she did felt the sudden shift of emotions in air.
"Shadowless corpses?! What do you mean?" This time the green hair boy said, which name Jin had ofcourse forgot.
Jin's mask of mimicry almost fall as he questioned who is deft between the girl and this fool. But he couldn't help but play his role.
"Yes, that is exactly what I saw." He finally said.
Luke's eyes turned to Jay for confirmation, and he needed.
"How strange. Courps without shadow. Do..do you think so creature from shadow realm is involved." The ponytail boy said.
Hearing those words Jay frozed. 'Creature from the shadow realm. That creature that killed Mr. Hank was a shadow creature to.'
Luke immediately understood Jay's condition. He was afraid of the shadow creature mentioned. So he ruched in.
"I dout that. They are not much of a common monster. And beside it happened inside a church which have powerful corruption detection formation. Beside symbol of Moon also have some shadow stealing aspect."