I had just arrived to Therese Village and went straight to local military police. I met with Sheriff Arby. He is an old veteran. Used to be a soldier for Salentia. A very grounded man.
He took me straight to the crime scene. The first thing I noticed were the two children laying on the ground. They were bled dry and there was no blood anywhere at the scene. They both had a broad cut on the front of their necks. My first thought was that they were killed elsewhere. I took a closer look at the two children. Both young boys, around 10 years. They were both laid down up-front. Their eyes were closed shut. Their arms and legs straightened out. They were intentionally positioned here. The soil was soft. The suspect may have been trying to dig up a grave, but there were no patches of dirt that seemed to have been recently dug or out of place.
I asked the sheriff about the suspect. The child who was found holding a knife at the crime scene.
Apparently, the child was also around 10 years and was imprisoned. I wanted to speak to the suspect, but I first questioned the sheriff about his findings.
The sheriff was called here by the Orphanage's headmaster. I wanted to speak to this headmaster, myself. I went inside the orphanage. It was empty. Apparently, there were only the three orphans. I spoke to Headmaster Lily Brokers. She explained how she found the bodies.
She heard some noises in the back of the orphanage late at night.
The headmaster came out of the orphanage to find the source of the noise. She instead found the three children. Two dead and the other with the knife. She then told me that she screamed and ran to the local sheriff's office. It must have taken time for the headmaster to run to the sheriff and bring the local police here.
When the sheriff arrived, they found the bodies and the so-called suspect. The child with the knife must have had some time to run away or escape, but they both said that he was just standing there overlooking the bodies. Not making any sound or slightest movement.
I asked Ms. Broker about her relationship with the three orphans. She said that they were just three boys that played around for most of the time. Nothing out of the ordinary.
The orphanage, itself, is a bit run-down, but has the space that could house around fifteen orphans. Surprisingly, the place only had three. I guess that would have been considered good news compared to other orphanages at the kingdom.
I asked the sheriff to take me to the suspect. The child with the knife.
I went back to the sheriff's office.
Before, I went down, I asked the sheriff whether he thought that the third child did it. He didn't think so. I then proceeded to ask him about anything that may have happened in the past that could be related to this.
He told me that this village doesn't have a lot of excitement. He did tell me that there was a suicide a month ago, and that that was the most excitement that the Therese village has seen for a long time.
Their holding cells were underground in the basement. All empty cells except for one. The one with a child. He was also around 10 years of age. He was just sitting there. Motionless. The sheriff did say that he was unable to get any information out of him, but I wanted to try myself. The sheriff went back upstairs to his office and left me with the third child.
I went into the cell and began questioning the child. First, I asked him simple questions such as "What is your name?" and "How old are you?", but the child didn't give any response. He looked traumatized. I don't think that he committed the crime. Then, I asked him about the other two children. He didn't make any slight movements. I saw why the local sheriff was unable to get any information out of him.
The inquisition employs some magic to help tracking down monsters and dark witches. They taught me basic spells that could help with my line of work. I used a spell that detects any magic, nearby (Detect Magic spell). There were slight traces of magical energy coming from the child. Not a lot, but more than any regular human would give off. I suspected that the child was under some hypnosis spell. I used a simple counter-magic spell to break the hold on the child.
It worked. The child looked around in confusion and fear. He looked at me scared and helpless. He wanted to know where he was. He started sniffling. I calmed him down and explained to him that he was safe. I told him that I was Investigator James Protea. I began to ask him simple questions.
His name was Alex. No last name. Seems the orphanage never bothered to give a last name to their own children. He was 11 years old.
I asked him about his friends.
Their names were Henry and Bill. That is when the child started crying. It seems he remembered what happened to them. I asked him about his relationship with the two children. The three were best friends. They like to play around like children usually do. He also said how the headmaster would usually not feed the three for weeks as punishment. Punishment for mundane things such as not getting back to the orphanage on time. They would have to scrounge for food during those times, but they would always go back there to sleep in the comfort of warm beds.
As I was hearing this, I asked if he remembers what happened to the other two. He started crying again. He said he remembered, but couldn't say what happened. I told him that he was safe with me, and I wouldn't let anything happen to him.
As I began calming him down, his tears soon stopped. He began to speak, but something very disturbing happened. As he began to speak, his eyes turned bloodshot red. Blood started dripping from his mouth. Some kind of wicked curse. I tried to repel it with counter-magic, but to no avail. The child tried to scream in agony. I can't imagine what kind of pain he went through. He started wriggling on the floor. I grabbed him trying to comfort him. Told him that it would be alright as I repeated using my counter-magic spell. I was able to only hear one word. Through the struggle of it, he was able to say "Port". He kept repeating that same word as blood started dripping out of his eyes. His veins started popping out and blood continued to rush out. The breathing eventually stopped. His suffering ended. His body was covered in blood. As I laid him down, I said a small prayer to Jezebiah*. As I laid him down, his chest suddenly jolted up. The sudden jolt surprised me and I took a step back. As I watched in surprise and disgust, his mouth started moving. I went to check if he was still alive. As I got close to his mouth, maggots started crawling out of it. I don't know what sick curse that this mage has used, but maggots the size of mice sprouted out of the child's mouth. The sheriff ran back down to see what happening and noticed the body. His face twisted in disgust at what he's just seen. He started to vomit. I was about to, as well, but I was more angry that somebody would do this to innocent children.
I have to find out who did this and stop it immediately.
My first clue is the port.
Afterwards, I wanted the sheriff to show me the knife that he was carrying. He took me to a small evidence room. However, the knife was missing.
I rented a room at a tavern. A cozy little place. Should work well for a place to sleep.
Update: I just found that the children were cremated by the headmaster without my prior knowledge or consent. I won't be able to investigate the bodies any further.