Chương 85: Chapter XXII Verse III — Autopsy of the Departed & the Case's Summary

Galan's words snapped Umiginu out of her trance. The crowd tensed as he became more demanding, but knowing it was necessary, Umiginu slowly nodded.

"Do what you must," she whispered.

"Just… be gentle."

"I will," Galan promised. He turned back and gently pressed Asaka's chin. The skin was firm and unyielding, like cold soap. A faint, waxy odor cut through the scent of herbs. Grave wax. Her restorative power stalled at the moment of death. The humidity and lack of air turned her body fat into soap. He carefully parted her lips, his lightcast illuminating her mouth. Dark, gritty sediment packed the recesses of her throat. Soil inhalation. He lifted her eyelids, revealing a web of red veins. Burst blood vessels.

Asphyxiation. The pressure on her chest must've been immense. He closed her eyes and mouth, then placed a finger on the center of her chest. He sent his earthcast through her skin, mapping the bone structure underneath. Where her sternum should have been, there was only a void, a gritty paste of bone fragments. Her ribcage had collapsed inwards. He felt for her left arm. The upper arm bone was snapped in two, the forearm a uniform, gritty paste of wax-turned tissue, blood, and powdered bone. A shearing tear.

Another mass of rock must have ground past this arm, ripping the flesh clean. His mindcast brushed Umiginu's memories, and he saw her trembling hands winding silk bandages around the mangled limb, her face a mask of stoic focus. Whoa, she's as devoted as I was. Safe to assume that she took care of Asaka from arrival to now, then. His earthcast traced the rest of her shattered form: the compressed right arm, the liquefied organs, the fractured spine, the pulverized pelvis, and the explosive fracture of her left leg.

A particularly large boulder must have impacted this leg directly. Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author. Her toes were curled tight, a final, desperate clawing motion. So, she heard the landslide, tried to run, but was a split second too slow. A boulder shattered her leg before she even hit the ground. She curled into a ball, but the full weight of the landslide settled onto her back, collapsing her ribcage.

She was trapped, pinned, and slowly suffocated in the dark. He took a deep breath.

"Umi, why did she leave the village that night?" Umiginu's voice was a dry, painful heave.

"She… she told me she was searching for people trespassing on yookai grounds. She wished to confront them, to make them understand the harm they caused."

"She didn't have a bodyguard?" Galan grimaced.

"I begged her to take someone," Umiginu whispered, tears welling.

"But she refused. She said, 'If I go with someone else, it might scare them away.' She also said…

'If I go alone as a woman, they will have to listen to my words. It's the only way to break the cycle.'" If she were as powerful as I am, that might have worked, Galan thought. As it was, her decision was akin to suicide.

"Thank you. Now that I have the full timeline, do you want to hear it?" Umiginu nodded.

"Yes. Tell me." Galan stood and addressed the crowd.

"Everyone. I have compiled the full story of Asaka's death. I will tell it now, but rest assured, I will skip the bloody details for the coroners and Lord Zensuke." A wave of relief passed through them.

"It all started when two charcoal burners, Kenji and Taro, took a massive order for the port's summer festival. It was enough money to save Taro's sick wife, enough to drive them to ignore the laws. They climbed the sacred slopes, working too fast in the dark. The slope became unstable. Asaka must have heard the chopping and went to them, not to fight, but to plead for the mountain. She arrived just as the disaster struck. A log slipped, and a landslide crashed down. She tried to run, but the mountain was faster.

The charcoal burners ran, their fear outweighing their honor. She was buried, and she passed away from the lack of air." A low, guttural murmur of grief turned into a seething growl.

"They just left her there?!" an onmyooji shouted.

"Cowards! Filthy human cowards!" an oni roared. Galan raised a hand.

"Everyone, calm down! I know you're angry, and you have every right to be. But if it helps, know that Taro has been avenged by the ghosts, crushed and suffocated just as she was. Kenji, the other one, has locked himself in a cell to atone, and I have made sure he will work to support her memory for a long time before he returns to society." He let the crowd's anger cool down before he spoke again.

"And now, I think it's time to summon Asaka's soul back." He turned to Umiginu.

"You ready?" She gave him a silent, exhausted nod.

"Understood," Galan acknowledged. He approached the coffin, his eyes sweeping over the massive piles of offerings. He knelt, his middle finger reaching for her forehead to start the next phase of his plan.