A Slaughter in the Holy Ground

Han In Sik was feeling terribly awful. 

That was the unfortunate truth, despite how effectively he'd kept up appearances in front of his subordinates. 

He was finally facing the midlife crisis every elderly had been whining on about. Next year, he would be considered as the Quinquagenarian. How awful was that? 

His entire body ached with exhaustion. Just because of one fucking sleepless night. And why was he not sleeping? 

A murder just had to happen. Decided to mark its existence in the world, right at this moment. He was abruptly woken up in the middle of the night by Rei, receiving a letter from the well known Queen's Watchdog of Zariya Town, Derek Roderick. 

It was a drag to be pulled from his bed at two in the morning, but he supposed that that was an occupational hazard when you were friends with the Roderick. 

Besides, why would Derek need his help anyway? 

He wasn't named the Watchdog for no reason. Unlike Derek, Han In Sik was just a small private investigator, trying to make his living by looking for lost pets, well, most of his cases consisted of searching for lost animals. 

And this was just a murder. There was no need for his involvement in it. He had much more important tasks to do, like searching for that bar owner in the Zero's territory. 

That man had gone missing for more than 48 hours. Where in the hell was he--

Han let out a big yawn. Watching the road in a slow moving car made his eyes drop even more. 

"You are getting fat," Rei told him. "In your old age." 

The nerve this brat had. 

"Kid." Han said. "If there is anything that's aging me, it's you--" Another big yawn cut his speech off. "Waking me up this early when I can get as much rest as I can get, be damn with Roderick, he doesn't need my help for a mere murder. But do you let me have it? No, you decided to wake me up cause you are a curious little shi--" 

"Stop, driver, stop!" Rei stopped the cab. 

They were still a hundred yards or so from the crime scene but Rei insisted on dropping them off here and they finished their journey upon foot, telling Han that he needed to do more morning walk. 

"Why would you call for the cab then? And where the hell did you find a cab this early in the morning?" 

Han grumbled. It was a foggy, cloudy morning. The sun had yet to make its appearance. A dun-colored veil hung over the house tops. 

The normally warm vibe that the Cathedral gave off was missing, instead it wore an ill-omened look. The small garden beyond the Cathedral looked sickly in color despite their blooming state. 

The whole place was very sloppy. Marks of footsteps upon the clayey soil, since the police had been coming and going over it. 

At the entrance of the Cathedral, they were met by Derek and Lynn, who had a small notebook in his hand. They rushed up to Han and Derek exclaimed. "What took you so long?" 

"I left everything untouched," Lynn said. 

"Why do you guys…" Han sighed as he palmed his face. 

"Won't it be easier to solve if we had all our brain power combined?" 

"You are just trying to make me do all the work, again." 

"Much better than going around looking for missing pets, right?" Derek scoffed. "Come on, show us that infamous brain capability. It had been stored up inside that head of yours far too long, makes me wonder if there are spider webs in there." 

Beside Derek, Lynn just nodded along with every word Derek spouted out. 

"Fine, where was it?" 

They rounded the Cathedral. There, a motionless figure lay stretched upon the grassy path. There were blood stains on the brick walls which Han assumed that the dead body was once placed leaning against it before sliding down onto the ground. 

The eyes of the dead stared vacantly at them. It was that of a woman about thirty years of age, an Omega, petite body, with curly blonde hair. 

She was dressed like a common noble lady, not overly fancy but it represented the higher class based on the fabric she wore. One would have thought she was from a respectable family if not for Derek to immediately recognize her as one of the sisters in the Cathedral. 

Her face stood an expression of horror, like she had never expected it to happen. There was this terrible contortion on her face. Her hands were clenched and her arms were thrown abroad as though her death struggle had been a grievous one. 

Dried blood coated her entire body, her midsection was torn up badly, giving off such a negative image. It looked like someone had shove their hands inside her entrails and made a stir. 

There was also a long slit on the side of her neck. Either she died from the blood loss from her slit throat or the horror of her stomach, it had yet to be known. 

The action was brutal as if the murderer had some kind of bad blood with the victim. 

"Why one of the Sisters?" Han questioned. "I can already tell this case is going to be a problem." 

"There is no clue?" Rei asked. 

"None at all," Derek chimed in. 

Han approached the body and knelt down, examining it intently. "The murderer must be an expert, doesn't seem to be his first time." 

"I noticed," Lynn said. "The cut was too clean, well besides the spilt guts, of course." 

Han hummed, his fingers were flying here, and there, and everywhere. His eyes were focused as he examined the body. 

"I'm betting that the murderer is one on the medical field," Derek said. "Take your pick." 

"You kidding me right now?" Han rolled his eyes. "You even chose the one closest to the probability." He grumbled as he leaned over to sniff the dead Omega's lips. 

"Wait, has she been moved at all?" He asked. 

"Not at all." 

"You can take her to the mortuary now," Han said. "I'm sure you had police checking the perimeter, but I would like to see it myself. See if I can find something else." 

Lynn nodded and called upon four officers. They came with a stretcher at hand and the dead Omega was lifted and carried out. 

Han stood upright and glanced at Derek, making Derek raise an eyebrow at him. "Is the bet still on?" 

For some reason, that sentence seemed to set the alarm off in Derek's mind.