Ice Vapor Goddess

Chapter 96 Eyes
Tess exchanged a few words with Russell, still somewhat bewildered, and then watched him politely take his leave, carrying the kerosene lamp as he walked further and further away until he disappeared at the end of the corridor.

She walked slowly to her door, inserted the key into the lock, and the iron door opened with a scraping and sliding sound.

She pushed open the door and went in, then quickly closed it, lit a candle with a flint and steel, and sat in a daze, resting her hands on the desk.

Only then did she realize that her heart was beating extremely fast and her limbs were stiff.

This is completely abnormal; it's like my body is sending out a warning signal.

The candlelight illuminated the narrow room, but she felt no warmth or light at all. So she trembled as she held the candlestick, huddled in the corner of the bed against the wall, wrapped herself in a blanket, and curled up tightly.

Her mind was a complete blank, and it took a while for it to clear up a little.

Professor Russell is very mild-mannered, but would someone of his status really live on the third floor? Or is he visiting a friend?
and many more……

She suddenly remembered something.

She remembered that Professor Russell's kerosene lamp was very bright, enough to illuminate the entire corridor, making it impossible for him not to see the brass plaque that read "Sector Seven"!
Although the Kalenburg refugees were newcomers, they had been living there for a month and couldn't possibly be unaware that the zoning signs for the living quarters were on the walls.

The claim of a broken light bulb is just an excuse!

She even recalled that when the gospel church came to repair the lights a couple of days ago, they seemed to have complained that the light bulbs shouldn't have broken so quickly.

Perhaps the damage to the light bulb was also caused by human intervention?
The more she thought about it, the more frightened she became. Her fingers, which were gripping the blanket, turned pale and bluish-white, and her knuckles became distinct. She then burrowed completely into the blanket.

Oh right... she habitually walks with her head down, so she wasn't looking ahead, but Professor Russell seemed to have suddenly appeared in front of her.

Where did he come from? If he had been walking with a kerosene lamp, he would have seen the light getting closer and closer, rather than it appearing suddenly.

Memories surged unconsciously, things her brain had inexplicably forgotten, things that felt off, and illusions...

Yes, she saw it, she realized it, but her brain subconsciously filtered it out, just like she wouldn't remember how many windows were in the classroom when she had class at night.

The professor didn't come slowly from afar—he was in the room right next to mine!

When he heard footsteps in the corridor, he pretended to be lost and went out to light a kerosene lamp, which is why he suddenly appeared in front of her and almost bumped into her!
In other words, he didn't actually want to go to the third floor, eighth district; his target was the seventh district, which he had already found!
A chill ran from the top of Tess's head all the way to her feet, and she trembled all over.

What is he doing? What is he looking for? Whose room is that? What is he going to do?
A series of enormous, dark questions occupied Tess's mind, and countless terrifying thoughts surged within her.

She frantically grabbed her hair, then suddenly fell silent.

A pale little hand reached out from under the blanket and grasped the candlestick.

She quietly slipped out of the blanket, her bare feet touching the slightly warm floor, and carrying the candlestick, slowly approached the doorway.

She had to make sure that she was the only cleaner in District 7, and she needed to know everything about the district. In case of any accidents or disasters, she also had an obligation to warn everyone—or at least that's what she believed.

Then, those thin, pale feet quietly stepped onto the ground, as lightly as a cat's, the soles of the feet landing first, and then slowly lowering the entire soles.

She walked to the door. She bit her lip and hesitated for a long time, then pressed down on the cast iron door to prevent it from making a scraping sound, and slowly opened it a crack.

It was pitch black outside, with no light penetrating in.

She cautiously peeked out through the crack in the door.

Nothing at all.

Just as she quietly breathed a sigh of relief, she suddenly glanced up—there was an eye flickering in the crack of the door, diagonally above her!
The hairs on the back of her neck suddenly stood on end. She frantically tried to close the door, but a hand suddenly reached in and grabbed her tightly!
-
"This is the second case, isn't it?" Renn said, frowning.

“...Yes, Your Excellency the Governor,” said Sir Milton, the Minister of Home Affairs, wiping his sweat.

"Absolutely no clues?" he asked, sounding somewhat dissatisfied. "Even if someone ate something to death, shouldn't we at least know what it was?"

He slammed the report on the table, which read in bold, “A young man died in Zone 7 of the third floor. The cause of death is unknown.”

This is the second case this week. Similar to the previous one, both involved a person dying alone at home. It is suspected that the person ate a lot before death, possibly due to food poisoning.

Originally, the Ministry of Civil Affairs wasn't that concerned. After all, it was normal for poor people to die from eating strange things when they had nothing to eat, and all of these incidents happened on the third basement level—a place even referred to as a slum.

However, there were signs that many people had been there before, so the local officials in charge of the investigation felt something was wrong and reported it several times. They even went to Sir Milton's house and awkwardly bumped into a lump of white fat rolling around on a woman's body.

Then the lower-ranking official was dismissed, but the matter had already been publicized, so Sir Milton had no choice but to have someone write a report and give it to Wren.

"Uh... the body has been handed over to the hospital, but the deceased's family is reluctant and we are still seeking their consent for an autopsy." Sir Milton wiped his sweat. "We'll have the results soon."

Renn remained silent for a moment, seemingly acknowledging the explanation.

“Everything in the city is getting better recently, so you need to stay focused at work and not make any mistakes during this period!” he said.

“Yes, yes…” the jazz nodded repeatedly.

Seeing this stubborn and unyielding attitude, Renn lost interest and waved his hand: "You can go now. Let me know if you have any news... Never mind, this has nothing to do with you anymore. The Royal Guard will take over. Get lost."

Sir Milton's face fell. Most of the Royal Guard were soldiers that Renne had brought from other places, including many of the Royal Knights. If the military were to take control of the civilians and cause a disturbance, he would have no choice but to suffer in silence.

But now he was clearly in the wrong. Last month, he was scolded by Schneider and the governor. So he could only leave like a punching bag, swaying his increasingly plump waist.

Ryan glanced at the report and quickly turned his attention to the school's educational pilot program. He had argued with the church for two weeks over this before finally deciding on the teachers.

Meanwhile, on the other side, after seeing off the old farmer who had come to inquire, Xilun received a message.

On the other end of the intercom, the Gospel Church operator said something in a strange tone, and then Siron's expression also became strange.

"You mean, someone is spreading an unknown religion to members of the Evangelical Fellowship?"

(End of this chapter)