Chương 56: Haunted Halls

"—— Royal Voyage to Lengue Capital —— Report 0013""Doctor Anton Regalis disappeared two days ago."

"An investigation has been ongoing with no progress whatsoever."

"We suspect an IMP-class Nightmare has boarded our ship, which is an unprecedented event within the F. R. T. B."

"Sensors and snapshot devices within the entry lobby of the Harth subspace were triggered several times."

"The first response team was unharmed, but all were shaken enough to be sent to the ward for a psychological evaluation."

"We suspect the Nightmare is capable of psychic attacks."

"Unfortunately, we were unable to keep this event under wraps; the Chief of Security and some of our best men have been… reluctant to go on patrols."

"And some of the royal guards that were placed along key points within the R. T. B observed the creature."

"They also observed Doctor Anton Regalis being dragged by it."

"Some of the royal guards that tried to attack it were put out of commission."

"They only received superficial wounds."

"A few snapshot devices caught two floating orbs dragging Anton down the hallways. Unfortunately, any and all cameras that the Nightmare saw were damaged or ceased functioning when it looked at them."

"All damaged cameras that ceased had an image of the orbs burned into them."

"Audio was still captured despite damage."

"It sang…"

"It… we designated it a Cognito hazard and have restricted access."

"Captain of F. R. T. B signing off."

"—— Royal Voyage to Lengue Capital —— Report 0014""Doctor Anton Regalis is no longer considered a missing person."

"He's dead."

"A portion of Anton Regalis was found."

"His body was cut into three. We found his legs in deep storage, we found his torso in the vehicle bay with a gun and a switchblade."

"…. The torso was mutilated, words were carved into it."

"SINNER, ASSASSIN, and DEGENERATE""…"

"His head has not been found."

"We are raising its threat level to a Demon-class Nightmare."

"It has not killed or harmed anyone else yet, but the Chief of Security and I have authorized use of lethal force."

"I will submit my letter of resignation once this journey is over."

"Captain of F. R. T. B signing off."

"—— Royal Voyage to Lengue Capital —— Report 0016""The investigation of Doctor Anton Regalis has concluded."

"The words carved onto him were indeed true."

"Anton Regalis is suspected to be a false name; the man was indeed an assassin."

"The gun and switchblade were dusted for prints, and they were indeed his."

"The infirmary he had worked in to take care of one of the Harth princesses' suitors was a front to get access to the Harth subspace."

"His gun was discharged once in the room, presumably to kill Dreamer June, his patient." Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation.

"Fortunately, he had woken up from his coma and was wandering the halls of the Harth subspace."

"A bullet was found in the steel frame of the bed he slept on; it seemed he was one of Anton's targets."

"Boot prints were faint, but we found some leading into Princess Lilia's room."

"We suspect that his intentions were not good ones, assassination, kidnapping, worse."

"If either had died, most of our crew would have been on a chopping block instead."

"I don't know if I should be thanking the nightmare or not."

"On a more disturbing note, the head has not been found yet."

"The nightmare's existence isn't known by the royals yet, but it's only a matter of time."

"Every day at the dead of night it wanders the halls."

"And… it just sings… the same song every time."

"Captain of F. R. T. B signing off."

"—— Royal Voyage to Lengue Capital —— Report 0018""It's been two days since the investigation on Anton Regalis concluded."

"The Demon-class Nightmare has been given the appropriate nickname."

"The Conductor""Never in all my years have I heard of such a peculiar Nightmare."

"No Royals have died, no guards have died."

"One of the younger passengers snuck out after hearing rumors of the Conductor."

"The employees who the royal heard it from have been reprimanded and demoted."

"…"

"The young royal who snuck out saw the Conductor."

"He was not injured or harmed in any way."

"The Conductor just sang…"

"The trip ends in four days, and knowledge of the Conductor has been spread."

"We need to prepare for the worst."

"Captain of F. R. T. B signing off."

"—— Royal Voyage to Lengue Capital —— Report 0020""Two more mutilated bodies were found."

"Same places""Both bodies were mutilated just like Anton's, split into three."

"Except one was missing its torso and arms, and the other was missing its legs."

"The Chief of Security jokingly proposed the idea that the Conductor is building a body."

"Hopefully not.'

"There were carvings on the body parts this time, too."

"Both had the words ASSASSIN carved onto it."

"Both had room numbers carved into them, and one said VOYEUR and the other said INFANTICIDE."

"Both bodies had weapons found along with them."

"I don't know whether I should thank the Conductor, or fear it."

"Each assassin had the room they intruded on carved onto them, so it made investigation easier."

"Luckily, no children were killed by the second killer, but a hand-knit doll of a horse was found in the child's crib."

"It was quite difficult to retrieve since the infant seemed fond of it, but we eventually did."

"It was made of a soft crystalline string; it was clear enough to look into, but when you did."

"Nothing, nothing was inside, nothing shone through it. It was like a nebulous void inside.'

"It was soft despite its strength."

"We suspect the Conductor created it, as crazy as it may be."

"The royals have started to come out of their rooms at night to witness it sing… some of the servants especially seemed to be interested, not that I would know, of course."

"We arrive on schedule in two days."

"We will try to approach or study it in the meantime."

"A friendly nightmare, not to mention a demon class one could be classified as a figment."

"But for now, we have it what we know of it written down under the name of."

"The Conductor — F. C092""The toy it made for the child will be labelled under F. C092. B."

"That is all for this report, Captain of F. R. T. B signing off."

"—— Royal Voyage to Lengue Capital —— Report 0021""We arrive at Lengue tomorrow morning."

"No new casualties or victims have been found."

"All inspections on the Conductor's victims have concluded."

"They were all indeed assassins who were under an alias."

"When we arrive on site, I would like to request a thorough inspection of all of our employees."

"This report will be my final; I will not be resigning, but I will take an extended leave for some time after this voyage."

"Most of the royal families have left their rooms at night to crowd the hallways."

"They and even some of our employees, myself included, have been listening to the conductor's song."

"There have been slight differences in the song over the past several days."

"At first, it sounded like several instruments were spawned to sing in a discordant harmony."

"However, it has begun to sound more and more harmonic each day; the discordance is disappearing from its voice."

"Approaching the Conductor while it performs will make it disappear; turning the lights on also makes it disappear. The only indications of its presence are its song and glowing gold eyes."

"Cameras seem to cease functioning while the conductor observes them."

"Some of our more sensitive employees and some royals have had a common realization that the gold glow that emanates from its eyes comes from a solid stream of will."

"We suspect it is some sort of pixie or fairy, or a duo of them singing together side by side in a way that it looks like eyes."

"An elder from the Verident Royal Family recognized the song as an altered figment song that first appeared several decades ago."

"After further questioning, we have learned that the song is called Carmen de Crescita et Renascentia."

"It was a song that appeared as most figments do, suddenly and randomly. While the song was played through a device, plants would grow ever so slightly healthier."

"We had someone translate it; this version of the song sang about flesh and bone, which may have something to do with the bodies missing."

"Further investigation is suggested."

"Captain of F. R. T. B signing off."

"—— Royal Voyage to Lengue Capital —— Report 0022""We arrive at Lengue tomorrow at dawn."

"It did not sing tonight, so many of its fans had called it an early night."

"The conductor appeared in my quarters tonight, at the foot of my bed."

"When I stood up to grab my gun, it disappeared, and dropped something."

"It was a broken, old, ornate recording device that I used as a paperweight.

""On it was the Conductor's song in its entirety."

"The device was working again."

"The song on it was brilliant, and now I have my own copy."

"Of course, I will send a duplicate over to the company."

"… for studying purposes, of course."

"On a different note, a pair of old sunglasses I had on my table was gone."

"… I am going to share this song with the crew, maybe they could decipher the meaning."

"Captain of F. R. T. B signing off."