Mystery: Death Singer

Alger, the "Hanged Man," suddenly paused, then quickly offered an explanation:

"No one who makes a living on the sea can ignore the 'Four Kings and Seven Generals.' I just investigated a little bit more because I was curious about why Qilingus infiltrated Backlund."

This explanation is extremely weak and cannot fool any member who has joined the Tarot Club except for "The Sun" Derrick.

"I see." Edric nodded slightly and responded with a smile.

But Klein, "Justice" Audrey, and even Alger himself knew that this was just an explanation made up on the spot.

To change the subject, Alger took the initiative to share the characteristics of a monster that is common on the sea. However, it was precisely because of his unusual behavior that Audrey, the "Justice," became more and more convinced that her companion and Zilingus had a secret and taboo past.

They continued their conversation in perfect harmony until Klein's spiritual energy began to wane, at which point he gently tapped the bronze table with his index finger and said:

That's all for today.

"As you wish," Edric said, rising simultaneously along with "Justice," "The Hanged Man," and "The Sun."

The connection was silently severed, and Edric's consciousness, enveloped in a deep red light, rapidly sank, leaving that mysterious space and returning to the real world.

…………

At midnight, Edric woke up precisely before the clock struck midnight, preparing to carry out his daily routine under the cover of darkness and digest the last trace of the "Gravedigger" potion.

This is one of the two remaining hurdles for Edric to advance to Sequence Seven, "The Spirit Medium." The other hurdle is the "Ghost Cat," an extraordinary creature whose whereabouts are still unknown.

Walking quickly along the deserted, quiet streets, Edric covered the grounds quickly and reached the outskirts from the East End in no time.

As a large city with at least five million permanent residents, Backlund has a large number of cemeteries on its outskirts, including private cemeteries belonging to wealthy merchants and nobles as well as public cemeteries managed by the government.

Edric's target tonight was one of them: a small, out-of-the-way public cemetery that was so old and dilapidated that hardly anyone cared about it, and didn't even have a caretaker.

Due to years of neglect, Edric found no information about the cemetery. If it weren't for the few tombstones showing signs of being cleaned, he probably could have dug up the entire cemetery and moved it without anyone noticing.

Although it was late at night, with the help of his spiritual vision, Edric quickly confirmed that there were no living creatures in the cemetery. He immediately went to a grave where even the tombstone was nowhere to be found, and in no time at all, he dug out the already damaged coffin inside.

Pushing open the coffin lid, Edric looked at the skeleton wrapped in clothing inside. He took out a bone pendant from his pocket, infused it with spirituality, and tried to make the skeleton in front of him "stand up".

But unsurprisingly, he failed. Even though a terrifying thumping sound came from a nearby grave, the skeleton in front of him remained perfectly still, completely unaffected by the pendant's magical properties.

"If it's supposed to be about making zombies, then it really can only make zombies." Edric shook his head, downplaying the importance of the bone pendant once again.

Once Mr. Azik has examined the pendant and determined that it is nothing special, Edric will put it on the shelf and sell it at the appropriate time for gold pounds.

With the help of two tireless undead men, Edric quickly dug up the entire small cemetery, successfully giving the gentlemen and ladies some fresh air and making it less lifeless.

After sprinkling herbal powder to ensure that the corpses wouldn't prematurely turn to skeletal form because of him, Edric buried the coffins back one by one, restoring them to their original state.

During this process, Edric unexpectedly discovered a cenotaph. The tombstone, which had stood for hundreds of years, had done its job well despite the ravages of time. It told later generations that the tomb's owner was named Ronzel Edward, a Rune soldier who had unfortunately disappeared hundreds of years ago.

Continuing along the path from the tomb, Edric unsurprisingly discovered nearly ten more "Edwards," the oldest being from the same period as the cenotaph, and the youngest dating back four years. There were still traces of cleaning visible near the tombstone.

Edric walked silently back to Ronzel's grave. He gazed at the relatively intact tombstone for a few seconds, his eyes finally settling on a line of epitaphs: "We really miss you."

In the silence, he rose and looked at other graves that had lost their tombstones or whose tombstones were visibly damaged, and suddenly a realization dawned on him:

"Burial is farewell, a tombstone is remembrance, and the grave is the final anchor point between the living and the dead."

Just then, Edric heard a faint yet crystal-clear "crack" sound in his ear, as if something inside him was dissolving and merging with his spirit.

Feeling the spirituality gradually becoming active within him, an indescribable hunger and longing arose in his heart, and Edric immediately closed his eyes and entered a meditative state.

A few minutes later, Edric opened his eyes and felt incredibly relaxed, as if he were flying freely in the sky and soaring freely among the clouds.

Having already experienced it once, Edric was quite certain that he had completely digested the "Gravedigger" potion in his body, had recovered his condition, and was ready to advance again.

After restoring everything to its original state, Edric slowly walked out of the cemetery and embarked on his journey home, accompanied by the cool evening breeze and the crimson moonlight.

Back home, Edric quickly tossed in some pennies to light the gas lamp, and after a quick wash, eagerly began writing a letter to Boss Azik:

"Mr. Azik, I've been quite lucky. I've already digested the rest of the 'Gravedigger' potion in just one week since I arrived in Backlund. As long as everything goes smoothly from now on, I'll be promoted soon."

"In addition, I also seized a bone pendant from several gang members, which is said to be related to the descendants of the Grim Reaper."

"It's worth mentioning that I also got some startling information from those gang members: the Grim Reaper's descendant shares the same surname as you, 'Aigus.' Does this information help you recall more of your past?"

"I will include that bone pendant in the letter, hoping it really is related to the descendants of death and can help you."

"—Your friend, Edric"