After pushing hard all the way, Itefeil and her group finally reached the scene. Just as expected, all that remained was a scorched patch by the roadside and bloodstains on the road.

“Dismount and search the area. Check for any other survivors. Recon team, look for signs of the bandits’ escape route.”

Itefeil swung down from her mount and headed toward the burned area with two members of the forensic team.

“Captain, the bodies have been almost completely burned. It’s nearly impossible to make out any distinguishing features, but one thing’s certain: these bandits are probably the same group that’s been appearing all over the country. They all kill in exactly the same way—they cut off their victims’ heads.”

Itefeil looked at the bodies, burned beyond recognition, and felt a faint trace of contempt for the two forensic officers.

Damn it, even I can see that. That’s all you have to tell me? Then what did I bring you two here for?

“But it seems the bodies weren’t the only things left untouched. The cargo doesn’t show any signs of being disturbed, either. The only thing missing is the food that was traveling with the caravan.”

???

Itefeil stared in shock as the two forensic officers sifted through the pile of charred remains, burned down to little more than black lumps.

How the hell could they tell?

“There are signs of a fight on the carriage, though they seem to be limited to one door. Look—the crack in this door is very clean. It looks like it was sliced by a sharp weapon, then broken off with brute force. That must’ve been the young lady who was the only one to make it back alive. According to the report, the carriage had ten guards, each around the level of an Earth Warrior. There are twelve bodies here, and two of them were far stronger than Earth Warriors—even stronger than Forest Warriors. I’d guess they were at the level of Sky Warriors. They were probably bandits. The young lady must’ve killed two Sky Warriors after the attack, then stolen a horse and escaped.”

The other forensic officer picked up a larger piece of charred remains and pointed to a hollow in it.

“Look here. This is probably the fatal wound. But what’s puzzling is that their heads were cut off too. Our initial guess is that their own companions turned on them? No, that doesn’t seem right… Maybe the young lady’s attack didn’t quite finish them off, and one of their companions couldn’t bear to see them suffer, so they put them out of their misery?”

The two of them crouched off to one side and began comparing notes. Itefeil listened, completely dumbfounded. She could only make out a few heads in that pile of blackened remains, but the forensic officers had taken one look and nearly reconstructed the entire scene.

“Ahem, ahem…”

Itefeil cleared her throat, about to say something.

But the two forensic officers instantly turned around and put a mask on her.

“Sir, although the bodies have been burned, which should have thoroughly sterilized them, please visit the respiratory department at Sville Central Hospital promptly if you feel unwell, just to be safe.”

The other forensic officer nodded.

“Right. If you really are feeling unwell, we recommend staying home for now instead of going out on duty, to avoid spreading anything further.”

???

Itefeil’s little head was now filled with big questions.

“All right, quit messing around. Keep investigating here, then bring the final report on the scene to my office. I’m going to check the other locations.”

“Yes, sir!”

The two forensic officers watched Itefeil leave with her mask on, then went back to sifting through the charred remains and discussing what clues they could use to reconstruct the scene.

Once Itefeil reached the Divine Road, she saw her subordinates busily recording the bloodstains onto crystals with magic. The bandits didn’t seem to have bothered cleaning up after the attack, and that would prove to be a crucial source of information about them.

Before long, one of her subordinates came to report that they’d searched the area and found a jumble of hoofprints and footprints in the woods not far from the burned site. The bandits had probably ridden into the woods and lain in wait, then set up an obstacle on the Divine Road to stop passing carriages. Most importantly, they hadn’t erased the direction of the hoofprints as they fled. Amid the confusion, it was just possible to make out that they’d all ridden off in the same direction.

Speaking of horses, Itefeil suddenly remembered a crucial detail: the white-haired girl had escaped on one of the carriage horses. A carriage needed at least three horses to travel along the road. Thinking of that, she couldn’t help connecting it to the two severed heads. Everything that followed seemed to fall neatly into place in her mind.

After seeing the girl escape, the bandits must’ve immediately sent someone to take the carriage’s two remaining horses and chase her. But the two bandits failed—and the girl killed them instead, cutting off their heads in revenge.

Itefeil’s eyes lit up at the thought.

“So that means there should be two nearly intact bandit corpses beside the Divine Road??”

She immediately gave the order, called over two team members with strong tracking skills, and slowly began searching back along the route with them.