Tragedy

A loving husband and wife, as well as a little daughter, make up this warm family. The wife is a devout believer in God, but the father is not. The daughter has a strong interest in the paranormal and mystical. It's common for individuals to enjoy watching cartomancy and tea leaf divination. She also liked stargazing and collecting different kinds of stones. It was also the beginning of misfortune.

It was the darkest night, the man remembered. Strange noises began to emanate from his little daughter's room, so strange that the couple had to get out of bed to investigate. When they opened the door to the room, they saw a terrible sight. As if gravity had made an exception for her, she was no longer their daughter but a spider monster crawling on all fours on the ceiling.

"Then everything was bloody. James showed up because he was chasing a cursed artifact and knocked on our door."

"I wish, I wish then..." The man choked.

"I'm sorry."

"Don't do that. It's my request."

"After I left the police station, I asked James about all these terrible things. And why, why did the gods let those bad things happen?" He sighed, as if all the past events were just an old story.

"It's boring to talk about old times. He allowed me to accompany him by chance after I met him, and he helped me."

"And you decided to follow James when you heard the supernatural things he told you, didn't you, Mr. Winston?"

"Yes. I'm quite old and weak. But I don't want others to suffer the same way."

"Your personality is really admirable."

He told the story of Althur James, saying that James had worked for several years in the disputed territory with the Ayaleos on the Penitas Plateau, where he was responsible for treating and dealing with ghosts and evil spirits, along with some possessions.

"I vaguely noticed that he was alluding to a lot of things, but I didn't really understand them because of the lack of context. This seems to be the thorn in his heart."

The story continued when Winston mentioned James' discharge from the army. After a few years of witnessing many waves of conflict, he changed his mind. He decided to come back and join O.S.P.I.S.

"There seemed to be something terrible about the Full Moon Battle. To this day, he hates full-moon days. He frequents the Burning and Soot Pub. But he doesn't even leave the house on those days."

"The Full Moon Battle was a great battle. People still talk about it today." Althur commented.

Brahms mumbled silently, "Moon Battle". He didn't have much knowledge of history. He wondered if he should ask Althur about these books.

Althur paid close attention to what he had heard and speculated, as Brahms had predicted. It said that the Full Moon Battle was having issues. The matter was a known issue, as if the two countries were prepared for a major fight at any time. That is doubtful, though, given the current state of affairs, because every nation faces unique issues. But he was not sure how terrible it would be for someone who had the blessing of the Land of War to have severe psychological pain.

Althur asked silently. "Perhaps the power of the attacker," he guessed. It made Althur remember the stories of how much the followers of the Moon Goddess loved their pets. He looked back at the boy next to him, who seemed to be preoccupied with something deeply personal. He regained his focus.

"Yes, I agree. Anyway, James wasn't in the best of moods when the time came. A few days before the full moon, we received the exorcism. James' spirit was a little cranky at the time. But I swear we always follow the correct procedure."

"Holy water, altars, and prayers. We've done it and practiced it countless times."

"The woman at that time was quite gloomy and showed little on the outside. However, she seemed to have lost her mind and was poisoned. Her aura was dark and eroded. That's what James said."

"Using his powers, he sensed the conflict between the forces of life and death within her. Seemingly possessed by angry spirits outside the graveyard."

"We noticed that the holy water was contaminated by the aura, but it was only a slight contamination. Really..." The man spoke slowly, as if recounting a crime: "Treatment or not, this woman could not recover because the husband is an abuser.

Brahms shuddered at the sound of the word "abuser. He knew what the word meant from the dictionaries he had read, but why did it make him like this? As far as he remembered, Althur had always been kind to him.

Noticing the slight trembling from the side and sensing a little negativity from the boy, Althur silently touched the boy's back and quietly comforted him. As the emotional fluctuations subsided, the two focused on the story.

"We build the altar and do everything according to a strict procedure. Dangerous or not, we dare not let it go." The man repeated.

"Nothing out of the ordinary back then, right?"

"The ritual was short-lived as the holy water began to dry and James cut off the angry spirit. The woman fainted. When the man confirmed that all was well, we left quickly as well."

"And you don't check anymore?" Althur asked, but he didn't make up many clues. The thing that could make a breakthrough could be this woman and James' bodies. Which is currently being kept in the basement of the police station.

"Yes. Because the full moon was coming, James started to limit his outings. I also closed the office and often found another place to stay."

"After a few days, I went to check on him and found him dead."

"I can't really find any clues to his death. Even though he's an alcoholic, I think his internal organs will be fine for the rest of his life. But I don't think it's the wife either. That poor woman is just being haunted by a hateful spirit. The man sniffed.

"I told the bishop the same thing. I drove by the house a few times, but I couldn't find the problem. The man is a hot-tempered and angry man."

"I wish I could find out more about what happened to him. I've had a long and difficult life, and yet nothing could prepare me for this loss. It haunts me every day." The man looked at Althur with quiet expectation.

When Althur listened to Winston's account, nothing changed. It remained the same as Bishop Colby's version. An alcoholic, an exorcism, and an ordinary death are the contents. From this story, it is difficult to confirm that the cause of James' death was the woman. The bishop also confirmed this. "Cemetery," Althur muttered. He had planned to go to the graveyard to find some new friends. These guys are invisible, but they are visible to so many.

"I'll try my best," Althur replied.

"Can I see James' room, where you found him dead?"

The man hesitated for a few seconds. "Yes. Um, I haven't dared go in there since the Bishop took James' body. As you know, if James really died from evil spirits, there would be haunted objects there."

After they both agreed. Winston then led the boy and the adult to the second floor. With a gesture to his left, he motioned for them to go up. The corridor was similar to a grimy artifact display.

But when the two of them went to the door, Althur's expression became strange, while Brahms backed away and crouched behind him. He looked as if he had had a bad nightmare. Both looked back at Winston and noticed that the man's expression was unchanged.

"This thing is..." Althur asked, as his expression seemed serious.