Murder Investigation!

Immediately, a foul stench invaded their noses. Just inches from the door was the first body, a guard with his stomach sliced open, flies swarming around it.

"Poor guy." Lanius grimaced.

They were currently in the foyer, the sides leading to other rooms while in front of them was a staircase leading to the upper floors, the banister having another body slumped over it. 

"We'll follow the bodies and find Smart Nash's body before searching the rest of the house." Vincent informed them as he strode past the bodies and up the stairs, his students following. 

As they explored the upper floor, there was the occasional dead guard or two, and the dried bloodstains on the walls and floors. Lisa was uncomfortable, Lanius was wincing at every body he came across, and Zane was acting as scared as possible.

"This should be his office." Vincent pushed open a door that had a body leaning against it, and the stench grew stronger threefold.

Entering a wide office, all that Mage Squad 6 saw was death, death all over the room. Dismembered bodies were piled and strewn all over the room, there were barely any spots not covered in blood, and at the end of the room, behind a large desk, sat a headless body in a once white suit, now brown.

Zane immediately turned around and vomited, with Lanius grabbing Lisa and stepping aside.

"I warned you guys." Vincent said as Zane kept retching.

"...I thought I could handle it." Wiping his mouth, Zane hid an eye roll. This level of death was nothing to him. Looking to his squadmates, he saw Lanius trying not to gag while Lisa gulped.

"Well, we found him." Vincent sighed as he looked at the headless corpse behind the desk. "Search the room for clues, then we'll move on to the rest of the house."

Vincent bent down and looked around the desk, collecting some papers off the floor. The trio went to investigate the desk as well, doing their best to not step on a body. Zane investigated the top, Lanius investigated the drawers, and Lisa looked underneath as Vincent went through some papers. Zane was trying to peel a folder that was covered with a layer of dried blood off the table when Lisa called out to them.

"I found a switch down here with a skull etched into the wood." She said. "Gonna flip it."

"Hold on-" Vincent turned and tried to stop her but was interrupted by a clicking sound, Lisa emerging from beneath the desk.

The room was silent for a moment before Lisa shrugged. "Guess there's nothing-" 

BOOM!

She was interrupted by the walls by the door opening, a tile moving to the side revealing a tube that quickly blasted the entrance with mana, making them take cover by the desk as debris flew towards them, dust filling the room. 

After the threat was gone, they stood up again, Zane and Lanius coughing. 

"Let this be a lesson," Vincent said. "If a skull, danger symbol, or even remotely anything ominous is next to something, that most likely means it's dangerous." 

Lisa looked down at her feet and nodded. "I understand, master." 

"Good. Now let's get back to work." 

They continued searching the room, the only difference being the massive hole in the entrance replacing the doors. Vincent placed the stack of papers down on the desk, since they were only requests from the townspeople. Lisa kept her arms crossed to not touch anything, Lanius was trying to force open a locked drawer, and Zane finally freed the folder from the desk.

Zane checked the contents of the folder while Vincent began searching Smart Nash's corpse. He found two remote control switches along with a keyring holding multiple keys, while Zane found a bunch of papers detailing transactions with various groups.

'The Royal Army, the Headmaster, the Dragon's Breath, the Crow's Eye, the Platinum Empire? This guy was dealing outside of the kingdom, too? What else… woah, now this is interesting.' Zane thought as he read the names on the papers. 'CoN, I wonder who that could be…'

"Master…" Zane tried to call Vincent's attention, only for a woman's scream to be heard downstairs.

"Hold that thought." Vincent said as quickly dashed out the room and down the staircase, Lanius and Lisa in tow. Zane was left there perplexed, holding out a paper.

Zane sighed, putting the paper back in the folder and placing it on the table. "At least I can check out this hidden room, now." 

He turned around, walking towards the wall behind the desk. He had been sensing a strange but powerful energy from behind the wall since they entered the mansion, and had been waiting for an opportunity to check it out alone.

"No clue how my team can't sense it." Zane said as he began tracing his finger over the wall, the mana on the tip of it cutting into it. "But I won't question it."

After drawing the shape of a door with his finger, Zane pushed it, the part of the wall he drew on falling into the hidden room with a light thud. Walking through the perfectly clean-cut doorway, Zane found himself in a small, brightly lit room with nothing but a pedestal in the middle, upon which lay the item emitting the energy.

"Well, now this is strange." Zane struck a thinking pose, hand under his chin. "At least I can now verify what Benjamin said."

Laying on the pedestal was a pitch black book with symbols etched into the cover. A grimoire, looking identical to the one that Zane's own cultists had shown him. Zane walked over and picked up the grimoire, opening it to check the title.

"Well, what do you know?" Zane pursed his lips. "The first book of flesh and monsters, by Hattrick Reddington."

<^Who**?($)^@k? > 

Cthulhu chimed in.

"Yeah, even I'm a little curious who this guy is at this point." Zane closed the grimoire. "Storage." 

As the grimoire disappeared, Zane walked outside of the hidden room.

[I do not recall there being a 'Hattrick Reddington' in the folder.] Gunther shared his thoughts.

"Yeah, it's like - huh?" Zane looked at the desk, only to see the folder gone. "What the…" He looked to the side, to see an open window that was previously closed. 

"Shit!" He ran over to the window, looking out of it to try and spot whoever could have taken it. His squad was still downstairs.

"Who the hell - Gah!" 

Zane let out a scream as he was suddenly tackled from behind, him and his assailant flying out the window.