Lord of Cinder in American Comics

Does it have a name?

Hearing the voice behind her, Ella didn't react excitedly. She simply stroked the horse calmly and watched it eat the carrot.

"No, none of the animals in this meadow have names..."

"We need to select one, otherwise how can we tell the difference..."

"It's enough that I know them, but they might not remember me in the future..."

Ella's pessimistic reaction left Geralt at a loss for words.

In Geralt's eyes, Ella's entire body was made of wood; she was a living doll.

However, there was no dark power in this doll; she was driven entirely by her own soul.

As Geralt pondered, Ella patted the black horse on the ground, rousing it to its feet. Once the horse stood up, Geralt realized that its shoulder height alone exceeded two meters.

"Sharma?"

Geralt was also seeing this kind of horse for the first time. It is the largest breed of horse in the world, with a shoulder height of over two meters and a weight of over one ton. Because it is too big, it is not flexible enough, which makes it unsuitable for the battlefield. Its back is too broad and thick, making it difficult for riders to control, so few people dare to ride it.

Shire horses eat a lot; one Shire horse can consume the equivalent of four ordinary horses' food intake. Their choice to stay away from the battlefield meant that they could only utilize their strength advantage as draft horses. In addition, their numbers are scarce; there are no more than three thousand purebred Shire horses in the world.

Upon hearing Geralt identify the horse breed, Ella immediately became interested in talking. She proceeded to describe everything about the black horse to Geralt in detail.

After talking with Geralt for a long time, Ella asked, "Geralt, if you were to name this horse, what would you name it?"

Upon hearing the question, Geralt replied without hesitation, "Carrot!"

Is it because it loves to eat carrots?

"No, it's just that I, Geralt, only know how to name horses Radish..."

Geralt mentioning the name "Radish" made Ella realize that the name held special significance for Geralt.

To Geralt's disbelief, Ella handed the reins of the black Shire horse to him.

"In that case, I'll leave Radish in your care from now on, Geralt..."

Before Geralt could reply, Ella left the area.

At that moment, Radish saw Ella leave and stomped his hooves in displeasure, snorting at Geralt.

Geralt had extensive experience taming this kind of animal. He unleashed his full power, threatening Radish, "If you misbehave again, I'll boil you!"

Instantly, the radish returned to its quiet state.

Geralt watched Ella's retreating figure and muttered to himself, "Once you've accepted something, it's not good to use your sword to kill someone... I need to think of a way to repay this favor..."

When Geralt looked back, he found that Robert was lying on the ground, just like before, refusing to get up.

"If you don't get up, I'll cook you..."

Faced with such a threat, Radish paused for a moment, then chose to be himself over threatening others.

Radish lay on the ground, mumbling as he responded to Geralt's threats.

"I won't get up without at least three, maybe five carrots."

Looking at the horse's shameless appearance, Geralt couldn't possibly kill it and eat it.

"Do you want to eat the moss ball? What about the moss ball fruit?"

Once everyone had reunited, they explained the results of their previous exploration to each other.

Clint: "The morgue is at the very bottom of this building, but the passageway is in a separate courtyard outside."

Hill: "Mary Shaw's story has been largely investigated. She was a former ventriloquist who was exposed by a child during a performance, and that child disappeared after watching the show."

The townspeople, believing Mary Shaw to be the kidnapper and murderer, captured her in a fit of rage, brutally cut out her tongue, and killed her.

Geralt: "I got a horse, I named it Carrot, and it really likes eating carrots and moss balls..."

Geralt's statement drew puzzled looks from everyone.

Unable to bear being stared at any longer, Geralt could only beg for mercy and explain his understanding of the situation.

"Who can guarantee Mary Shaw's innocence? The witch's sacrificial site is not far from here. Clint, do you remember the question I asked you?"

Clint was constantly being suppressed by Geralt, and Geralt's occasional lectures had taken up most of Clint's brain capacity.

Just as Clint was reminiscing, Hill provided the answer, saying, "Geralt asked, 'Where did the other branches of the tree that was born from the witch's sacrifice go?'"

Geralt, in his usual exasperated tone, lectured Clint: "Who is Mary Shaw? A ventriloquist? A puppeteer? Or... a witch's collaborator...?"

Geralt's words led everyone to conjure up a cooperative system.

The witch draws power from hell through sacrifices to nourish the tree she hangs herself from, while Mary Shaw captures children and hands them over to the witch, who in turn gives Mary Shaw trees that grow so she can make more puppets.

"It is said that Mary Shaw originally made 101 ventriloquist puppets for performance, and after that incident, everyone who participated in her trial died one after another, all for the same reason."

From then on, the nursery rhyme about Mary Shaw circulated in the town, and anyone who saw Mary Shaw and screamed would be mercilessly killed by her.

Recalling the punishment of having one's tongue pulled out, Geralt couldn't help but think of the silent goddess Rosalia, whose followers also offered their tongues to her.

Geralt mischievously imagined what an unfortunate scene would unfold when Mary Shaw's tongue met Rosalia's fingers.

This made Geralt chuckle as he thought about it.

Seeing this, Clint nudged Geralt to remind him, "Wake up, Geralt, you're laughing out loud. What's so funny?"

"I got a Shire horse, a thoroughbred, shouldn't I be secretly happy?"

After regaining his composure, Geralt had Clint bring Jamie—the man who had narrowly escaped with his life from Mary Shaw.

Amid Jamina's sorrow, Geralt stated his request.

"Jamie, I want to burn your father's remains immediately."

Jamie, who left home young, saw his father again the day after his father died, and now someone is telling him to burn his father's body immediately.

But Jamie isn't stupid; someone who refuses professional advice wouldn't last ten minutes in a horror movie.

Even though he was reluctant and suppressed his grief, Jamie agreed to Geralt's request.

Soon, a log was placed on the open ground outside, and Jamie's father's coffin was placed on it.

Despite his grief, Jamie lit the fire, and his father's entire body was engulfed in flames.

"Geralt, something's not right! How could a corpse burn so quickly?"

Clint compared the coffin, which was only slightly ablaze, to the corpse inside, which was completely engulfed in flames, with the raging fire inside the coffin even eclipsing the flames outside.

"Of course not. Only the outer skin is left; the inside is all filled with wood. It will burn much faster than treated hardwood like a coffin..."

Faced with Geralt's explanation, Clint recalled his examination; the feel and the firmness under the skin were indeed exactly the same as those of a normal corpse.

Just as Geralt was about to speak, Clint interrupted, "I remember! I remember! Don't blindly trust your feelings; feelings are the most reliable, and also the most unreliable!"

"Since you know, then take your sword and go cut that thing down..."

Geralt pointed to a figure partially visible in the shadows of a distant building.

Upon seeing the figure, Jamie was initially excited, then filled with fear. It was clearly his deceased wife.

The detective launched the first attack; ever since he learned of the strange creature's appearance, he had kept his shotgun close at hand.

Two shotgun shells hit Jamie's wife before Clint could reach her, one of them striking her head squarely, causing a large cloud of blood to erupt from the back of her head and blowing her skull off.

However, Jamie's wife simply leaned back and fell, but then stood up abruptly halfway down.

From the wound, you can see that her skull is filled with all sorts of writhing flesh and blood. She even opened her mouth and stuck out her long tongue to pick up the blown-off skull and put it back in place.

Jamie hid behind the detective, watching everything unfold in horror.

Clint was already beside the strange man when he placed the skull in his hands.

The fire-enchanted longsword has a unique advantage against the monster's long tongue; the combination of fire and a sharp weapon renders Jamie's wife's tongue completely ineffective.

Furthermore, Clint gradually learned some unique techniques. He concealed a firebomb in his left hand and, when he approached the firebomb's maximum blast radius, he slammed it down at the enemy's feet.

The flames and their impact caused Jamie's wife to let out a wild howl, while Clint, using the flames as cover, quickly reached the enemy.

He pierced through, flicked upwards to shred the corpse, then swung back to sever the enemy's head. Clint used the fastest method possible to burn the body before him to ashes.

After accomplishing all this, the tireless Clint tried to find any signs of resurrection in the pile of ashes.

After confirming several times, Clint finally finished dealing with a monster, following Geralt's instructions.

Just as he turned around smugly, ready to take credit from Geralt...

"Geralt! Watch out behind you!"

Chapter 222: The Doll

In Clint's eyes, Jamie, who had moved behind the detective, had somehow moved behind Geralt again, sticking out his long tongue just like his wife who had just been killed.

However, Geralt didn't even turn his head. He grabbed the tongue with his other hand and pulled it forward sharply.

Jamie was pulled into the air by Geralt and landed on the sandy ground where a campfire had been lit.

Shaking his head at Jamie, Geralt wiped his hand, which had just been grabbing the tongue, on the detective's gaping mouth with some disgust.

"I thought you could hide it longer, why can't you keep up the act now?"

The tongue, several meters long, slowly retracted into Jamie's mouth. Once the tongue was completely withdrawn, Jamie's expression changed.

If Jamie was a vengeful demon who ambushed people just now, he has now reverted to the reckless young man he once was.

Clint rushed over and placed his longsword on Jamie's shoulder, ready to kill him at any moment.

"What's going on? Wasn't the enemy Mary Shaw? How come he's become a monster too?"

Only then did the detective belatedly realize what was happening, gripping his shotgun and unsure of who to aim at.

“Detective! Do you really think a young child can escape Mary Shaw’s search by simply covering his mouth and avoiding death?”

"Isn't that right? That's what the nursery rhyme says. And... could you please stop rubbing your hands on me!"

Geralt had wiped the detective's black clothes until they were all wrinkled and crumpled.

Geralt, having finally finished wiping, slowly explained, "Believe a nursery rhyme released by Mary Shaw? That's as naive as believing a picture on an instant noodle package! Besides, who released this nursery rhyme?"

A strange nursery rhyme suddenly begins to circulate in the town, which happens to describe a way to survive under Mary Shaw's watchful eye.

The final interpretation of the nursery rhyme rests with Mary Shaw. Whether one escapes Mary Shaw's clutches depends entirely on her mood. Have you checked the records? Has anyone actually escaped from Mary Shaw's clutches?