The Handbook for Completing Demi-Human Girls

Chapter 390: The Death of Fisher

"Wake up! Wake up!"

"How did this guy manage it? Sleeping like this all night in the snows of the Northlands and he still hasn't frozen to death? He's almost a block of ice..."

The sky over the Northlands, still snowing, was remarkably bright.

At this moment, the Death Minister, his consciousness a complete muddle, hazily heard a female voice calling out to him. Just as he wanted to respond, he found his head aching splittingly—it felt as if a steel drill had been smashed into his skull and was churning inside. The pain forced him to pant heavily for several breaths. Afterward, he tried to clutch his head and curl his body up, only to suddenly discover that his entire body had frozen together. It took him a great deal of effort to pull his frozen rigid clothes apart.

Where am I?

He thought hazily, opening his eyes. Unbeknownst to him when they had arrived, three figures wearing Northland attire were standing in the boundless white snow before his eyes. Leading them was a rather mature lady. Frowning slightly, she crouched down and waved her hand at the Death Minister. It seemed she was the one who had just questioned him.

Seeing that the Death Minister before her was completely awake now, she continued to ask,

"Sir, have you seen a rather slender, black-haired Nali Person? One who came here from the Defiled Church in the south? If you inform us of his whereabouts, we will reward you handsomely..."

Nali person?

Clutching his head, the Death Minister recalled the description the person had just given, and then subconsciously blurted out a name,"Wait, are you talking about... Fisher?"

"Kexiening, he's seen Mr. Fisher!"

Hearing this, the two men behind the woman hurriedly spoke up. Even the woman they called "Kexiening" had a slight change in expression. She leaned in a bit closer and asked sternly,

"You know Fisher? Where is he right now? He was originally supposed to rendezvous with us in McDowell yesterday. Where did you see him?"

"I-I saw him at... hiss, my head hurts so much..."

The Death Minister's brain felt like mush, his consciousness still blurry. This wasn't merely due to drinking a substantial amount of alcohol yesterday. He seemed to recall acting on the orders of the Society's Lord of Fate to meet that Fisher person. Then, after leaving, he realized he'd forgotten to leave his contact information and prepared to go look for him... Wait, did he manage to give him the contact info or not? And then...

As the Death Minister's consciousness began to clear up bit by bit, he immediately stood up, Struck With Panic, and stared at the distant forest. He yelled anxiously,

"Ah, right! Holy crap, it's the Witch Research Society! Last night, it seemed Fisher clashed with the Witch Research Society over some woman! Oh my goodness, the damn guy is too weak, and the other side is full of fully-armed bastards! I was just about to help him when... Hurry! Come with me to find him! He is extremely important to me!"

The Death Minister's face turned pale. Recalling everything, he instantly disregarded his frozen stiff body. Hustling and shouting, he hurriedly set off toward the forest where the conflict had occurred last night. In contrast, the two Slimes disguised in fake skin standing behind Kexiening watched his departing back with half-belief and half-doubt. They glanced at Kexiening and asked,

"Do you think what he says is credible? Is it possible Fisher's disappearance involves this guy?"

Kexiening pondered for a second, then shook her head, deciding to follow the Death Minister before her. Along the way, she said,

"Taking risks for a woman has always been his style; otherwise, Miss Valentiina wouldn't have... Never mind, let's go. We'll follow him and take a look. We don't have any extra clues right now anyway. This morning, the entire Overseas Occult Bureau within McDowell's borders mobilized and rushed toward the Defiled Church. Empress Elizabeth values him highly; who knows how she would feel if she saw Fisher's currently frail state..."

The three Slimes had noticed the movements of Nari's Occult Bureau in McDowell this morning. Coupled with the fact that Fisher hadn't arrived to rendezvous with them yesterday as agreed, they had come to search for Fisher. Who could have expected that both sides would come up completely empty? The Slimes only found the nearly frozen—yet still living—Death Minister in the snow.

Inside the forest, the intense, swords-drawn atmosphere of yesterday only left behind two frozen corpses. Evidently, these were the precise two former Witch Research Society elders who had been relentlessly hunting Renee yesterday. Tied to a tree and unable to move, they had frozen alive in the frigid Northlands night.

"No, Fisher isn't here. He definitely couldn't have defeated so many people yesterday. He must have run away, but those people from the Witch Research Society probably didn't let them off..."

With a drastic change in expression, the Death Minister continued running in that direction. Looking at the two corpses that had frozen alive, Kexiening's expression also grew somewhat grim. From McDowell to Hearthome Castle, the surrounding cities and places where one could rest their feet consisted only of these nearby towns and the Defiled Church. Yet Fisher hadn't gone to any of them last night, and furthermore, he had clashed with the Witch Research Society people. Given his current physical condition...

The Death Minister trotted ahead, moving further into the mountains following the snowy ground here. The deeper into the forest they went, the sparser the signs of human activity became. It was only after roughly half an hour of searching that they finally spotted an incredibly dilapidated hunter's cabin halfway up the mountain. And the scene in front of that cabin caused the moods of the Slimes, like Kexiening, to plummet to their absolute lowest point.

Reflected in the Death Minister's astonished gaze, copious amounts of dried blood snaked in front of the cabin. Traces of medieval-style magic were everywhere. A few Witch Research Society robes lay discarded on the ground. However, the most critical detail of all lay right in the center of the cabin: Fisher's signature white dress shirt, marred by numerous tears and bloodstains. This undoubtedly indicated that the owner of this article of clothing had suffered severe gunshot and blade wounds last night...

And with Fisher's physical state, left outside in a Northlands night approaching negative forty degrees, his death was practically an absolute certainty.

As if experiencing a total breakdown, the Death Minister fell to his knees. Slapping his head, he wailed,

"Fisher! Fisher! How could you just leave like it's nothing? What am I supposed to do if you're gone?! Wuu-aaaahh! If you want to kill me, just kill me! Why do you have to treat me like this?!"

Kexiening sighed. A sudden headache prompted her to massage her temples. Currently, Valentiina was still lying inside the Wutong Tree, unsure of when she would wake up. When she fully awakened possessing her Phoenix body, and she found out her husband, with whom she had completed the Holy Matrimony, had already...

A sudden shudder of terror wracked her body, Shivering With Fear. Just as her mind was tangled like a pile of messy hemp in thought, she abruptly heard a flurry of hurried footsteps at the foot of the hill outside the wooden cabin. The two disguised Slimes behind her hastily turned to look, only to see many Nali Persons bearing magical tattoos down below.

"It's the people from Naris's Overseas Occult Bureau. They found this place too..."

"...Let's retreat for now. We will discuss what to do with Zu Zu when we return, especially regarding Miss Valentiina... Take this idiot with us too! Stop fucking crying, it's so incredibly annoying!"

Irritated, Kexiening walked up behind the Death Minister and delivered a swift kick. Subsequently, accompanied by a flash of golden light, the four figures within the wooden cabin all distorted and completely vanished amid the sound of a soaring song.

When the Nali Persons finally arrived to search for Fisher on the Empress's orders, all they saw was blood covering the ground, traces of a battle, and Fisher's bullet-ridden, blood-stained shirt...

Naris, within the Golden Palace.

Inside Elizabeth's warm office, dressed in a casual golden dress, she was currently reading a public document submitted by her ministers. Even though the document detailed a piece of good news, not a hint of joy could be seen on her face.

Perhaps it was the phone call Fisher had made yesterday. Perhaps it was the disgusting expression of her junior schoolmate that continually surfaced in her dreams last night. Or perhaps it was the faint, ominous palpitation she felt when she woke up this morning...

Elizabeth sighed, massaged her temples, and leaned back in her chair. Waving her hand, she instructed the maid standing by,

"Go, call the head of the Hidden Affairs Bureau to come see me."

The maid bowed her head, but did not leave the room. Hesitating To Speak for a moment, she finally said,

"Your Majesty, the head of the Hidden Affairs Bureau only just departed not long ago."

Elizabeth's movements paused slightly. She raised her eyes to glance at the maid before her, frightening the servant into immediately kneeling on the floor. Fearing her words had provoked Elizabeth's wrath, she hastily added,

"I will immediately call him back. I apologize, Your Majesty, I shouldn't have spoken out of turn."

Elizabeth remained silent for a while before shaking her head. In a uniquely gentle tone, she said,

"...There's no need. I know what you meant. You may leave. Just notify me if there's any news."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

Seeing this, the maid breathed a sigh of relief and quickly backed out carefully. However, Elizabeth didn't even cast her a glance, her gaze fixed entirely on the championship photograph of the Royal Academy's Griffin Race sitting atop her desk.

The photograph bore the emblem of the Royal Academy. Elizabeth, wearing a western dress, leaned with a blossoming smile upon Fisher, who was adorned with victory badges from the tournament. Young, handsome, and clad in a suit, he looked on helplessly under Elizabeth's coaxing as he raised the championship trophy in his hand, leaving this precious image alongside Elizabeth.

It turned out time passed so quickly; ten years of time and suffering felt like yesterday in the blink of an eye, yet she had waited for him for so, so long.

Caught in the resentment and indignation of being abandoned by her family and Fisher back then, she counted her grievances day and night, marshaling all of her strength with the singular desire to force him back. But it was only yesterday, when she heard he was nearly dying, when she heard his final word of apology, that she abruptly realized none of these things actually mattered that much.

From the beginning to the end, all she wanted was to return to the past, return to those Carefree and Without Worries days she spent with him every day. But hindered by themselves and their destinies, they consistently grew further and further apart. Her indignation and reluctance all paled in significance precisely at this moment, becoming entirely Insignificant when weighed against Fisher's impending demise...

Elizabeth loved Fisher from start to finish—this was the true source of so much fortune and misfortune.

Only this time, if this was the final chance, she was willing to reconcile with herself and let go right then and there. Even if she just watched over him like this, even if, after she used all her strength to save him, he still chose other women—it wouldn't matter. She just wanted to see him again. She just wanted him to stay healthy and alive...

Fueled by these thoughts, her eye suddenly began to ache, as if voicing its dissatisfaction, causing Elizabeth to abruptly squeeze her eye shut.

"Your Majesty! The people from the Hidden Affairs Bureau are here!"

"Enter! Is there news of Fisher in the Northlands?"

"There is, Your Majesty..."

Hearing the voices of the maids outside the door, the quiet Elizabeth immediately stood up. Beneath the gaze of her continuously trembling and ostensibly furious Prosthetic Eye, the pale-faced member of the Hidden Affairs Bureau entered and immediately threw himself onto the ground in a kneel without another word. This action instantly placed a deeply ominous premonition in Elizabeth's heart.

"Your Majesty! This morning, following your orders, the members of the Overseas Occult Bureau departed from McDowell and moved all the way toward Hearthome Castle and the nearby Defiled Church to intercept and receive the returning Mr. Fisher. However..."

Elizabeth's ice-cold fingers commenced trembling. Gently bracing against the desk behind her, she hastily and loudly demanded,

"However what?!"

"However, last night, roughly one kilometer north of the Defiled Church, we discovered traces of activity from both the Witch Research Society and Mr. Fisher. A ferocious battle occurred there last night. The Witch Research Society members pursued Mr. Fisher all the way to a wooden cabin halfway up the mountain, and it was there they made their final stand... As a result, we found Mr. Fisher's white dress shirt, covered in bloodstains and lacerations, at that location. The scene possessed evidence of both firearms and magic."

The Occult Bureau member kneeling on the ground didn't dare look at Elizabeth's expression; he simply lowered his head and continued,

"We did not find Mr. Fisher himself. However, according to our sweeps, he didn't visit any nearby populated areas throughout the entire night. Judging by the volume of blood on the clothing, he suffered incredibly severe injuries, and further endured an entire night outside where temperatures dropped to negative forty degrees. The overwhelming probability is that he has already..."

The Witch Research Society?

Elizabeth's mind went completely blank. She suddenly recalled the Carduan cult organization that she had utilized as a mere pawn in her schemes half a year ago. What she never could have anticipated was that half a year later, this disposable pawn would Totally Unexpectedly take the life of the person she loved most...

"N-no... impossible... Go... keep searching... you must definitely find... my Fisher..."

Dumbfounded, Elizabeth tried to voice the order for the Occult Bureau to resume the search for Fisher. Only to find that both her throat and her body seemed entirely unresponsive to her control. Her face ashen white, she could no longer stand; she leaned against the desk beside her. Panting for a moment as if finding it difficult to breathe, she still desperately wanted to force the command out.

"Your Majesty!"

The expression of the maid standing beside her underwent a massive change as she helplessly watched the pale Elizabeth. The usually Swift And Decisive Empress had actually been frightened by a single sentence from the Occult Bureau member to the point where she couldn't even stand.

The very next second, beneath the shocked gazes of everyone present, the vision of the Empress, whose heart felt like it was about to stop beating, instantly plunged into pitch-black darkness. She uttered a low, unintelligible murmur—"Fisher"—before her body could withstand the blow no longer. She collapsed to the floor, having completely lost consciousness.

"Your Majesty!"

"A doctor! Go find a doctor!"

"All unrelated personnel are to fall back immediately! No one is to take a single step out of the Golden Palace for the time being!"

Struck With Panic, the maids crowded around Elizabeth, protecting the most esteemed person in Nari and professionally restricting the spread of the news from the very first moment.

Consequently, the disturbance within the Golden Palace was kept exceedingly well-hidden. After all, the affairs of the Empress were not something the average Nali Person could ever come into contact with.

All they knew was that the snow falling on Nari today was especially heavy.