Chapter 51- Clue

Later in the morning, the two riders continued their advance through the forest after their short night. Suddenly, the young women came across an unexpected scene.

_ Ay: “ Gwen, look over there! “ she said, pointing.

The horse stopped, they dismount and approach. The inanimate bodies appear.

_ Ay: " What happened here?? "

In the wake of this, a haste is coming.

_ Ay: " What is it, Gwen? Did you find a clue? "

_ Gwen: " Besides being lifeless, the bodies are burned. "

Watching the body in question scrupulously, an anomaly is revealed.

_ Gwen: " White powder? " she thinks, touching the corpse's cheek with her fingers.

Then he stands up, his back turned to his partner.

_ Gwen: “ Moana is responsible. “

The doctor, taking a hesitant step forward, widens her pupils.

_ Ay: " Are you sure about that?? "

_ Gwen: " Certain. I know its Source because she disclosed it to me back at the village. She gave me a small demonstration, and these particles on my fingers are identical. "

_ Ay: " Given the bladed weapons near them, she was probably attacked by Recluses. "

_ Gwen: " Yes. So she's not far. Let's hurry. "

Hasting towards the horse, ready to bolt, the doctor remains stoic.

_ Gwen: " What are you doing? We don't have time to waste. "

_ Ay: " That's odd. The bodies are burned, but based on their state, I'm pretty sure the incident occurred several days ago. "

She straightens up in one leap, mounts her horse in return, and gallops through the woods. The words, pouring from her mouth to the rhythm of the hooves, pound the earth.

_ Ay: " Their skin is completely dried out. Moreover, with the cessation of the cells in their muscles, their bodies stiffen approximately three hours after death. Consequently, a peak in whole-body rigidity is observed 9 to 12 hours following the demise. They exhibit these same symptoms. “

_Gwen: " You managed to diagnose all of that just by touching the body? "

_Ay: " It might be surprising, but my first medical exercises were on cadavers. When I was younger, I wanted to be able to figure out the cause of death and the resulting symptoms. "

_ Gwen: " A strange start for a practice. And your parents were okay with it? "

_ Ay: " Certainly not. Since I couldn't start on a human body, I began on small animals, and I always excused myself by finding an excuse to begin my practice. "

_ Gwen: " So you... "

_ Ay: " Killed them? No, I was patiently waiting in a bush for several animals to take the bait. Once they arrived, they fought over the deposited food, and I retrieved the carcass before any vultures could show up. "

_ Gwen: “ It amounts to the same thing. "

_ Ay: “ It's all relative. “

The tutor slightly turns her head, still holding the reins, her face impassive despite these words.

_ Gwen: " That's not very ethical coming from a future doctor. "

_ Ay: " Who said I was ethical? Anyway, we can't bring the dead back to life. Might as well profit from it for science. " she said, with a world-weary cynicism.

Unable to grasp her partner's point of view, the rider straightened her head, abandoning the matter.

_ Gwen : " As long as you don't poison me one day for your practices, I don't care. "

_ Ay : " Why would I do that haha? You… "

The sentence, suspended in the air, is abruptly interrupted by the crash of a giant tree heavily collapsing towards them.

_ Ay: " What the… "

_ Recluse 1: " Shhh, missed it. "

_ Recluse 2: " Your timing is truly crap. "

_ Recluse 1: " Shut up, before I slice you up. "

The dust slowly clearing away revealed several figures standing before them: a group of Recluses, every one of them armed to the teeth.

_ Ay : “ Fuck, this is definitely not the time... “

_ Recluse 3 : “ You ladies are really cute, would you like to play a little game with us? “