Unfortunately, another murder occurred.

  This time, the Unseen Dreadbeast of Lethe had not appeared in time to save the new victim.

  During their outing, the gang was quickly called away to meet Arman in what looked like a typical general ward in a hospital.

  “Kaelara?! Are you okay?”

  On one of the beds, the female leopard person had been lying down, half-asleep.

  “Don’t tell me-”

  “Keep it down, Lena dear.” Kaelara flinched at the sudden sound, rubbing her forehead. She rose up slightly in her bed. “I’m fine…”

  “Thank goodness… What happened?”

  “She was attacked.”

  “!”

  Arman suddenly stepped in, taking off some reddened rubber gloves. The blood stains on his white coat stole the attention from his skin which had gotten a few shades paler.

  “I just treated the one that brought her in, but she rushed out of the fort in shock.”

  “Was that wise…?” Aurora asked, wincing slightly.

  “We can’t keep anyone in the fort against their will. Many have already left due to the new rule, I’m sure she’ll join up with some of them.” Arman got closer to Kaelara and summoned his holographic tablet to scan her body.

  “What do you think you’re doing?” The leopard lady flared her nostrils and scowled. “Get that thing away from me!”

  “... I had a little sister once.” Arman spoke, keeping his eyes on the tablet.

  “Huh?”

  “She was always sick, refusing to take medicine or go to the hospital. She would cry and scream every time she was forced to. I couldn’t blame her. At night, in her sleep, she would see doctors chasing after her with long, pointy needles, and even bigger smiles. It terrified her.” The head doctor paused, then took a gentle step closer to Kaelara, making her flinch slightly. “In the end, she died. She had prefered it that way. Anything to stop those nightmares. I swore to myself back then, to never let fear stand in the way of health again.”

  “...”

  As he spoke, Kaelara seemed to relax, albeit reluctantly, allowing him to scan her body for internal injuries.

  “May I?” He asked, holding out his hand after finishing.

  Everyone watched as Kaelara hesitated for a moment, then nodded slightly. The doctor reached out, a pink glow enveloping his hand before touching her forehead.

  A few moments later, he stepped away like nothing had happened.

  Without saying anything, Kaelara reached for her own head, this time, not feeling the need to flinch or close her eyes.

  “The new victim?” Somnu asked, having remained silent thus far. A clone of Naga had made it in time to join Carmella, so the scarecrow had already calmed his nerves about her wellbeing..

  “Yes, one of the blacksmiths.”

  “!”

  As Arman revealed, Kaelara and the others gasped. Somnu had briefly glimpsed their work the previous day in the trading market, but he hadn’t known them personally.

  “By tomorrow, all those who still have active fears would have left the fort.” Arman walked to the nearby bed and took off his bloodied lab coat. He sat down, letting out a long sigh. “With fewer Sleepers in the fort, reaching 236 Sleepers and 300 Luscairna, we will be taking more active measures to find the murderer, even if we have to lock every remaining Sleeper up and examine them one by one.”

  “That’s… horrible.” Leyna muttered beneath her breath.

  “If it gets rid of the problem, most Sleepers would accept to do this, unless they are working with the enemy, no?” Mo crossed his big arms, narrowing his eyes slightly.

  “Yes, but the only reason we haven’t done this so far is because it has no guarantees of working at all.” Aurora explained, holding her chin. “We have no means to find the Sleeper responsible for everything, as they have never taken action directly themselves.”

  “As Aurora says, we likely don’t even know what he looks like.” Arman said, then gave Somnu a sidelong glance. “One thing is clear, the Blood Fiend we know, the grinning skull murderer from earth, no one with that appearance is here. It’s just the symbol and the method of killing that connects them.”

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  “...” Somnu stayed silent, sinking into his thoughts, but still keeping an ear on the conversation.

  I was afraid of this… Mr. Emberlyn had also mentioned the grinning skull murderer was responsible for what had happened in the Nirvia castle…

  It should be clear now. John Doe isn’t human. He’s another being that came to earth just as Mr. Emberlyn had.

  How many races are there? From what I’ve seen, they range from animal-like, to things I couldn’t even begin to imagine. There is no way to hone down on his race and find out how he’s hiding, I have to change my strategy a bit...

  “I support the idea.”

  “!”

  Somnu suddenly spoke, returning Arman’s gaze. While everyone turned to him, he outlined his reasoning.

  “Lock everyone up in their rooms. It would buy us some more time without risking any more lives. Arman and the Luscairna would try their best to get answers, while the Unseen Dreadbeast of the Fortmaster takes care of any Sleepers who become violent.”

  “That’s the plan, but it could take days.” Arman stood up slowly.

  “Days that would finally break the Blood fiend’s killing streak.” Aurora straightened her back and made way.

  “I’ll discuss things with the Fortmaster. Bro’Ski, would you guide me?”

  “Of course, lord Arman! You can call me the guide king!”

  “Would the guide king be so kind as to choose the fastest route?”

  “But of course!”

  The head doctor followed the jumping Luscairna, both walking out of the room.

  “Somnu, you better move in with me in this case.” Mo patted his brother’s shoulder.

  “No, thanks.”

  “What? Why not?”

  “You stink.”

  “Huh?!” Mo blurted out, taking a few steps back and sniffing himself. Then, he looked up again, glancing at the three remaining girls around. “That’s a lie!”

  Sorry, Mo… You’re going to have to take that one for the team…

  It had been decided, soon enough, everyone would be locked up for the next few days.

  And the scarecrow needed every single second of that time.

  ***

  A few days later, and the Blood Fiend had still not been found. However, no more murders had occurred, at least not by John Doe.

  With everyone locked up as if a horrible pandemic had taken place, most Sleepers grew quickly impatient, revealing their true faces.

  As they argued and fought with their roommates, the serpents had been able to find more pawns. By first spying on them, it became abundantly clear none of them knew where John Doe was, cursing him for not stepping in to help them while they were getting picked off one by one.

  To reduce the Blood Fiend’s overall power and body possession choices, the Unseen Dreadbeast of Lethe had disposed of any pawns that proved beyond help, and likely unwilling to help.

  Not to mention those few that tried to forcibly escape the lockdown. It was against the rules, after all.

  At the same time, Somnu was able to keep an eye on his siblings, making sure to resonate and have Naga communicate on his behalf. Aurora and Leyna grew to like the serpent after learning it could communicate, while Mo kept his distance. Being alone in his room like Somnu, Mo took to the habit of showering multiple times a day, always checking to see if he was smelling bad again.

  At night, or during the rest time in the fort, Somnu had kept training himself to withstand the pains of Veilbinder’s Diadem. Thankfully, it became slightly easier each time, especially with the level ups.

  Although he couldn’t understand it, Fala had somehow remained summoned even after he had exhausted his skills. Perhaps she had been too far enough that she was no longer using her master’s energy to stay in this realm. Unlike Naga, the crow bird had been with the scarecrow since the beginning. If the two had stats, Fala would surely be at a higher level. Which meant Fala was likely evolving ever so slightly.

  The possibility of his familiars growing independent from him one day filled Somnu with both joy and grief. At the time, he had questioned if that’s how a parent would feel when their kids suddenly grow up and leave the nest.

  Nevertheless, there had remained one last piece of the puzzle to complete Somnu’s ultimate plan. He had worked hard to push everything in this direction, even if he mostly stumbled upon his current situation. Part of being cunning was to use both the expected and unexpected circumstances to one’s advantage.

  The last question on his mind had remained, the last missing piece… – “Where is the exit to this Layer?”

  After racking his brain for hours, he finally came to a conclusion, perhaps the only one.

  It’s already established that the exit is not one specific place which needs to be found. Sleepers disappear all over the First Layer, leaving no body, blood or any trace behind.

  It needs to be a place that, if someone else sees the disappearing Sleeper enter, they either magically forget the place, or they instead presume that Sleeper is dead.

  That means, the few Sleepers that had returned after presumably losing someone in their party because they moved on to the Second Layer, were either lying or as Mo said, the person simply vanished after the party split up to gather supplies.

  Other than that, the other ones who were believed to have moved on, had always disappeared as a party or during a solo expedition.

  After considering all the possible options, only one more question remained.

  What is the one thing that remained constant throughout the entire Abyss of Lethe?

  The answer had easily come to him. He remembered the cliche saying from all detective stories.

  “Once you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth.”

  He had felt quite dumb as he finally figured it out.

  Why did I not think of this earlier…?

  After all, the answer had been in front of him from the very beginning.

  Now that his last missing piece had been put in place, it was time to connect the entire puzzle.