MFM | Chapter 2.4

After peeling back the skin and examining the abdominal wall, Gabriel carefully cut the cartilage connecting the ribs while clearing away the dirt. The organs were almost liquefied due to severe decomposition. It was difficult to check for external injuries to the muscles or blood vessels.

Still, there were a few things he could confirm. Gabriel looked at Anna and spoke.

“It’s a Beta male child, around nine to ten years old.”

The corpse’s height was 120cm. The missing lower tooth was due to teething. Gabriel’s grip on the scalpel tightened.

“It appears to be a homicide, and he likely died from having his heart removed by someone. As for the time of death…”

Gabriel looked back at the corpse.

“It seems to have been about two years.”

“See, I told you not to call a coroner.”

Gabriel turned towards the voice. Eugene was frowning at him.

“The Dark Guard’s doctor determined it had been three months since death. But two years? Even if you’re off, there should be a limit.”

“Eugene.”

“Shut up, Anna. Do you think the Dark Guard has just any doctor on staff? The person who confirmed the time of death graduated second in their class from Misnik Medical University. They have deep experience and expertise.”

He sighed irritably and brushed his bangs back.

“From what I heard, your academic performance wasn’t that great during university. You often skipped classes and almost missed the graduation exam because you overslept. If you want to enjoy life, do it alone. Why join the Dark Guard if you’re going to inconvenience others like this?”

“Eugene, watch your words! Are you going to act like this even in front of the District Chief? Do you know how difficult it becomes to cooperate with other departments or districts because of you?”

“It’s hard to work with them because they’re not smart enough. Did I say anything wrong?”

He was wrong. Gabriel had never skipped classes, even if he had been late due to breaking out of the dissection room. But there seemed no need to explain such points to him.

Gabriel looked at Klaus. He was watching him with an intrigued expression. With his back to the arguing Eugene and Anna, Klaus pulled down the mask he was wearing with his fingers. The clear shape of his mouth slowly became readable.

“Are you going to run away?”

As he stared at him, Klaus laughed as if he found something amusing.

Gabriel felt something like a lump in his heart harden. Klaus seemed to have predicted that he would tuck his tail and retreat. Just like when they first met or when he refused the arcana. In his mind, Gabriel was already branded as a coward.

But how could his actions be called running away?

If you don’t have the power to change the situation, retreating is not avoidance but adaptation, and it’s not evasion but survival. Instead of smashing an egg against a rock, it’s much more beneficial to boil the egg and shove it into your mouth.

Since the age of nineteen, Gabriel had learned to endure by swallowing the things that surged within him. Sometimes disgust, sometimes doubt, sometimes impulse.

He didn’t want to live like that.

But he had to live.

‘What do you know about me?’

If he thought he could see through people as easily as cat hair on pants or a repaired bag handle, he was mistaken.

‘Let’s see you take responsibility as a superior.’

Since he instigated it, any dispute would be his responsibility. The coldly settled mind heated up warmly. Meanwhile, Eugene, who had finished arguing, turned his gaze to Gabriel.

“I shouldn’t have called you here. It was a pointless waste of time. Then…”

“It wasn’t a waste of time.”

“What did you say?”

Eugene, who was turning his head, frowned and asked again. Gabriel stood up and looked at him with a blank expression.

“He was wrong.”

Eugene stood still for a moment, as if doubting his ears. Eventually, a hollow laugh escaped from his mouth.

“Mr. Valentin, didn’t you hear what I said earlier?”

“Yes, I heard. Does that have any significance in this matter?”

Any authority figure can be wrong. Gabriel had experience and knowledge, even if he lacked authority.

Since entering university, Gabriel had faced challenges. It took a month to endure the nausea during human dissection and a year to stop recalling horrific scenes. To achieve that, Gabriel transported and cleaned corpses. He cleaned the dissection room and followed coroners around.

In the process, he didn’t just build tolerance. He meticulously noted down even the drunken ramblings of coroners and verified them by comparing them with university library materials. The notebook filled with those records was still in his bag.

Based on those, Gabriel was confident.

“The rate of decomposition of a body is twice as slow in water and eight times slower in soil compared to air. So multiplying three months by eight equals two years. It’s a principle published in a foreign paper twenty years ago.”

Gabriel looked Eugene straight in the eye.

“He made a mistake. Please convey that to him for confirmation.”

Eugene, who had been watching Gabriel with narrowed eyes, took out a whistle from inside his clothes and blew it hard. It looked similar to the whistle Gabriel had received from Klaus. Expecting a sharp sound, Gabriel heard nothing.

“Let’s see who’s right. I hope it wasn’t an unnecessary waste.”

Eugene said irritably, adjusting his glasses. Soon, a crow flew in through the open door, perched on Eugene’s arm, listened to a few whispered words, and flew away again. Gabriel followed the pitch-black flapping with his eyes.

‘Does my whistle also call crows?’

It was uncertain how many such crows were scattered across Arkham. Watching the empty doorway for a moment, Gabriel adjusted his mask. As he knelt beside the corpse, Eugene turned his head.

“What are you doing? If you’re just messing around…”

“We need to sew the body back up.”

When Gabriel spoke curtly, Eugene closed his mouth. Ann jabbed him sharply in the side. Why, Eugene snapped irritably.

Klaus handed over a needle and thread. As Gabriel stitched up the body’s exterior, Klaus spoke.

“Who lived in this house two years ago?”

“District Chief, we haven’t finished checking yet.”

At Eugene’s firm words, Klaus shrugged. A leisurely smile played on his lips.

“Looks like it’s already done to me.”

Gabriel focused on the stitching without interrupting. Ann opened the file she was holding.

“Albert Krem. He was a businessman and a famous philanthropist…”

Ann paused as she read the file. When she spoke again, her voice was lower than before.

“He died two years ago at the age of 38. It was a heart attack.”

“What about his family?”

“He had a wife, and a child… He had a nine-year-old son. The son died three months before Krem.”

Ann explained in a somber tone. Gabriel looked at the face of the body. Could this child be that child? It was too early to tell.

“After that, the wife sold the house and moved. She didn’t remarry.”

“Where is she now?”

“Pimble Street No. 49.”

Klaus took out his pocket watch to check the time.

“Now’s a good time to go.”

Just as Eugene was about to say something, a crow flew into the basement.

The crow whispered in Eugene’s ear and then flew away. Eugene sighed and glared at Gabriel.

“They say it’s been two years.”

There wasn’t much to say in response. As Gabriel remained silent, Eugene turned to Klaus.

“Ann and I will go.”

“No, the explanation should be done by an expert. We’ll go.”

Klaus pointed alternately between himself and Gabriel with his finger. Gabriel, suddenly grouped with Klaus as “we,” looked up at him in surprise.

“We can’t go right now. There’ll be a smell…”

“It adds a sense of reality, doesn’t it?”

Klaus shrugged as if it was no big deal. Maybe it was because he was a former soldier, but he didn’t seem to mind the stench. No matter what was said, his attitude didn’t seem likely to change. Gabriel took off his gloves and mask and asked Klaus.

“Then please give me some disinfectant.”

He planned to scrub his hands thoroughly.

Once the decision was made, things moved quickly. Klaus received the file from Ann, and Eugene and Ann transferred the body into a white bag. Gabriel saw Eugene, with his back turned, make a small sign of the cross over the bag.

Eugene and Ann, carrying the bag from both sides, left the basement first. Klaus and Gabriel followed them from a distance. Klaus leaned toward Gabriel.

“How did you know the age? Height?”

“Height, but I estimated from the teeth. Kids’ teething stages are similar by age. After this stage, the upper front teeth will fall out.”

It wasn’t something Klaus would be particularly interested in. However, Klaus asked with curiosity.

“Really? Do they teach that in medical school?”

Gabriel hesitated for a moment.

“It’s not part of the lectures… I looked it up myself.”

“Why?”

Klaus looked genuinely curious. Gabriel gripped his bag tightly.

“Kids don’t have IDs, and parents often can’t recognize their kids’ faces.”

If the damage is severe, even family can’t recognize the face. Above all, many people start by denying it.

That can’t be my child. That’s not my child.

Gabriel didn’t have much to say in front of them. He couldn’t urge them to check for a birthmark on the ankle or a scar on the hand, so he just waited for them to calm down.

Gabriel wanted to shorten that long waiting time. He wanted to find any information in advance to add.

“So to confirm identity, you need to at least estimate the age. From around that age, individual differences in height become significant due to nutritional status or traits, so you need to know other distinguishing methods.”

“Really?”

Klaus tilted his head.

“You’re more diligent than I thought. I didn’t expect that at all.”

“I’m just doing the work I’m paid for.”

“Responsible and not running away.”

His tone was like he was observing a creature with horns on its head with interest. Gabriel found his tone annoying.

“What if I had run away?”

“I’d be disappointed. I thought you’d react if poked.”

“…Are you saying you provoked me on purpose?”

“Yeah.”

Klaus’s eyes curved. Gabriel glared at him.

“I could be wrong.”

“No way. My eyes are very accurate.”

Klaus pointed to his eyes with his index and middle fingers, then playfully bent and straightened his fingers like a child’s hand game.

“These aren’t just good-looking.”

“…”

“So feel free to say what you want. Make faces like you are now.”

“What kind of face?”

“A scrunched-up face. It looks really good.”