Chapter 81: Autopsy Report

In the corner of the room, there knelt a young man whose face was unnaturally pale and haggard, though he wore the full white armor of a Holy Knight. His black hair framed a slender figure that struggled to mask itself beneath the shining plate.

He held neither sword nor shield, and his helmet lay beside him as he faced the small statue of the Light Goddess on the altar, a common sight in the Holy Empire, eyes closed, murmuring some prayers.

By the way, compared to the statue of the God of Sky from the Kingdom of Azure, the Light Goddess’s image was somewhat ambiguous. Rarely did she manifest in front of mortals, so her idol had primarily a vague appearance, with only her sacred, elegant gown and golden hair being recognizable.

In other words, no one knew what the true form of the Light Goddess looked like.

This was true even for the statue in the Temple Bishop’s hall in the City of Angels, which countless worshippers visited day and night and which was said to contain miraculous powers.

Of course, there exists a theory that the goddess had descended before, but each time, she would be obscured by a blinding radiance, rendering it impossible for mortals to witness her true form. Gradually, this ambiguous image was passed down.

However… no matter the truth, that was not the main issue at hand.

“Jeremy Murray, the Saintess has arrived personally. If you have anything to say, now is your chance.”

“You are the embodiment of dawn and hope; you… ah, Saintess…?”

Seemingly in a daze, the young Holy Knight, who had been mumbling the prayers of the Light Goddess, finally turned around after Pedrick coldly announced Yuna’s arrival, as though everyone had owed him thousands of gold coins.

“Third Squad, Seventeenth Unit, Mingguang Knights… Pious Knight Jeremy Murray reports… ah…”

He wobbled to his feet as if in a trance, intended to kneel but, having not moved for so long, his muscles stiffened and his blurred mind and fading strength caused him to stumble and fall heavily onto the ground, his armor clanging against the floor with a loud thud!

“…?”

“Sigh…”

A certain Miss White Fox and the Saintess exchanged glances, the latter simply sighing softly in silence, while nearby…

“What an embarrassment! Jeremy Murray, is this how you treat the Saintess? What happened to your knightly dignity?!”

It appeared Pedrick was infuriated by the sight of the man’s disgrace. He stepped forward, effortlessly lifting the still squirming Jeremy by the chest plate gap with one hand, his other hand clenched into a fist, and suddenly, he struck the forlorn face with a harsh blow!

“Bam!!!”

The rather slender figure spun violently in the air several times before crashing back to the ground, leaving a trail of blood and broken teeth. Naturally, such loud commotion irked the Holy Warriors stationed outside.

Yet, they only cautiously opened the door, saw the Arbiter with dual swords raised, furious, and hurriedly shut the door again as if nothing had happened, seemingly fearful of stirring up someone’s ire.

Yuna frowned slightly.

“Pedrick, what in the world are you doing? Everyone faces moments of misfortune; even if you want to correct him, your approach is too violent.”

Despite immediately reprimanding her subordinate, faced with Pedrick, who would soon lower his head and mutter, “Sorry, my Lady, I’ll be careful next time,” it was evident he would dare again. This hard-headed individual was dealing with a resignation that Yuna had little power over.

In the end, she could only swiftly move to Jeremy’s side, who was still trying to rise from the floor, her fingers delicate and luminous, shimmering with a soft gold as they fell upon him, reaching out to assist him up.

“Feeling better, Pedrick… overly impulsive again; I apologize on his behalf. If you need any compensation…”

“No, cough cough… it’s fine…”

Struggling to turn his head, he spat out a few bloodstained fragments of teeth. The Holy Knight named Jeremy seemed reluctant to touch the noble wrist of the Saintess extended towards him, instead scrambling to stand under the golden light.

Although his face had gone even paler, his eyes appeared clearer than before, evidently the result of some “physical therapy” courtesy of an Arbiter.

“Captain Pedrick is right. As a Holy Knight, my earlier actions were indeed too disrespectful. I deserved that punch; the Saintess need not concern herself…”

After saying this, he shakily but resolutely sank to one knee once more to introduce himself.

“Mingguang Temple Knights, Third Squad, Seventeenth Unit, Sixth Team, Pious Knight Jeremy Murray, at your service, Light Saintess.”

“Sigh…”

Both of them were so obstinate, ultimately Yuna could only sigh again in resignation and nodded slowly.

“Rise, Holy Knight Jeremy. Now that you are back on your feet, time is precious, so let us immediately begin the verification process, shall we?”

“Yes, as you wish.”

Seeing Jeremy stand and cease further talk, Yuna glanced toward Pedrick, who was now pulling out some items from a storage tool. The latter silently nodded and stepped to the leftmost stretcher in the quiet room, lifting the white cloth covering it.

Inside lay the remains of a once blood-drenched Holy Knight, now wiped down somewhat, who showed clear signs of having been executed, with stitch marks around the neck, indicating a beheading and later resewn for preservation.

A stronger scent of blood wafted as the covering was removed, and eager to spare a certain Miss White Fox from distress, Yuna glanced at Vilyric with a questioning look, but seeing her merely shake her head silently, she opted to say nothing more.

Then, Pedrick’s characteristic icy voice echoed through the quiet room.

“Jorse, male, human, 36 years old, formerly served in the Mingguang City Mingguang Temple Knights, third squad, seventeenth unit, sixth team, as deputy captain, ranked as a Stalwart Knight, this identity has been formally confirmed.”

“Cause of death—fatal blade beheading, died instantly. Based on the wound marks, the weapon can be deduced to be a sword or a thin-bladed weapon. The neck area has notable signs of light-elemental burning, allowing us to conclude that it must have been a blessed weapon from the Temple.”

Pedrick opened the dead knight’s armor collar, allowing Vilyric and Yuna to clearly see a faint charred circle around the stitched gap, precisely the light element’s burn marks described in the report.

After the simple autopsy report was completed, the golden-haired Arbiter quickly moved to the second stretcher, repeating the process and unveiling it. Inside lay another Holy Knight, but his condition was much worse than Jorse’s.

His white armor was dirty and torn from battle, his body riddled with at least a dozen gaping sword wounds.

Most of his blood had drained, his face visibly sunken, and the forearm of his sword-wielding hand had been severed. It appeared the recovery team had even failed to locate that part of the arm; the exposed cross-section lay bare before the others.

This was no longer categorized as mere defeat in battle but clearly indicated intentional torture.

   

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