Chapter 602 The Dead Child
The atmosphere that had felt so peaceful throughout the day had quietly changed.
The warm colors of sunset had long disappeared beyond the distant mountains, leaving behind an endless blanket of deep blue stretching across the sky. One after another, the four moons of this strange world slowly revealed themselves, each shining with a different intensity as they climbed higher into the heavens. Their pale light spread over the open plains, giving the empty road an almost dreamlike appearance. The gentle breeze that had accompanied them all day continued to move through the tall grass, causing waves to ripple across the fields on either side of the road.
Yet despite how beautiful the night looked, none of them were paying attention to it anymore.
Every pair of eyes remained fixed on the small body lying motionless in the middle of the road.
Tatiana’s expression had softened the moment she saw the child. Her instincts had taken over almost immediately, and Liam knew exactly what she was thinking before she even opened her mouth. To her, this wasn’t some mystery waiting to be solved. It was a child who deserved dignity, no matter how or why he had ended up here.
Liam looked around slowly before finally breaking the silence.
"Look around you, everybody."
His calm voice drew everyone’s attention away from the body.
"We’ve been traveling for more than nine hours."
He slowly swept his gaze across the endless plains surrounding them.
"We haven’t come across a single village."
"Not one house."
"Not one farm."
"Not even another traveler."
His eyes returned to the child lying on the dirt road.
"So tell me."
"Why would a child’s body be all the way out here in the middle of nowhere?"
Nobody answered.
The question lingered heavily between them.
While Tatiana had immediately approached the situation with her heart, Liam couldn’t stop looking at it through logic.
Nothing about this made sense.
Not even a little.
His eyes carefully studied the scene again.
The child looked no older than ten or eleven years old. Torn clothing clung to the small body, stained by patches of dried blood that had long since turned dark. Several wounds marked his arms and chest while scratches covered parts of his face as though he had crawled through rough terrain before collapsing.
Everything about him suggested he had been dead for days.
At least...
It should have.
Instead, Liam found himself asking question after question.
Where did he come from?
Who killed him?
Why here?
Why leave him in the center of the road instead of hiding the body somewhere?
Why had they found no signs of a struggle anywhere nearby?
And perhaps the strangest question of all...
Why hadn’t anything eaten him?
This road cut through open wilderness.
There were monsters in this world.
Wild animals.
Scavengers.
Even ordinary wolves should have found a body like this long ago.
Yet somehow...
The child remained untouched.
Almost...
Preserved.
Liam slowly folded his arms.
The more he looked...
The less he liked what he was seeing.
Beside him, Leonid quietly rubbed the back of his neck before rolling one shoulder as if trying to ease a stiffness that had built up from riding all day.
"Liam’s right, you know."
Everyone turned toward him.
"I think we should just leave the body."
His voice remained calm.
"It’s getting late."
He glanced toward the sky where the four moons continued rising.
"The sun’s already gone."
"If this is a trap..."
He didn’t finish the sentence.
He didn’t need to.
Everyone understood.
Traveling after dark was already dangerous enough without willingly walking into something that none of them understood.
For several seconds, nobody spoke.
The tension between emotion and reason became almost tangible.
Tatiana clearly wanted to object again, but before she could, Agatha calmly guided her horse forward until she positioned herself between Liam and Tatiana.
She looked at both of them before letting out a small sigh.
"I believe everyone is forgetting something."
Liam raised an eyebrow.
Agatha smiled.
"I’m in charge, remember?"
That immediately drew a few amused expressions from the group.
She wasn’t wrong.
Liam himself had agreed to let Agatha lead this expedition for exactly this reason. When opinions clashed, someone needed the final say.
Agatha looked around at everyone.
"How about we settle this properly?"
"A vote."
Silence followed.
Then, almost one after another, everyone gave small nods.
Nobody objected.
Honestly...
It was probably the fairest solution.
Liam quietly glanced around the group.
Then something occurred to him.
There were seven of them.
Four women.
Three men.
He almost laughed to himself.
Tatiana was obvious.
Irina had always possessed a soft spot beneath her serious exterior, especially where innocent people were concerned.
Agatha valued knowledge but also believed every life deserved respect.
The only uncertain vote was Mary.
Liam looked toward her.
Unlike the others, she wasn’t staring at the child with pity.
She was studying the surroundings.
Her eyes occasionally drifted toward the nearby tree line before returning to the body.
She was weighing the risks.
Calculating.
Thinking.
Maybe...
Just maybe...
She would make the logical decision.
Agatha raised one hand.
"Alright."
"Those in favor of checking the body and giving the child a proper burial..."
She looked around the group.
"...raise your hand."
Tatiana’s hand shot into the air immediately.
Irina followed a heartbeat later.
Agatha naturally raised her own.
Mary remained still.
For a brief second Liam actually thought she might vote with him.
Then...
She quietly lifted her hand.
Liam sighed inwardly.
Four.
Before he could even fully accept the outcome...
Another hand rose.
Gregor.
Liam slowly turned toward him.
Gregor noticed the look and awkwardly scratched the back of his head.
"What?"
He shrugged.
"It’s a kid."
"I can’t just leave him here."
Liam stared at him for another second before letting out a defeated breath.
"So much for having backup."
Gregor smiled sheepishly.
"Sorry."
Leonid glanced sideways at Liam.
Neither of them needed words.
The vote was over.
Five against two.
Agatha clapped her hands together softly.
"That’s settled."
Without another word, everyone guided their horses toward the side of the road.
The animals were tied securely to nearby trees while blankets and supplies remained untouched on the saddles.
Liam and Leonid exchanged another glance before silently remaining where they were.
Neither man looked particularly eager to approach the body.
Instead, they stayed a short distance behind the others, watching carefully.
Tatiana noticed.
As she walked toward the child, she turned her head slightly and flashed Liam a playful wink.
A silent victory.
Normally...
Liam would have smiled.
Or sighed dramatically.
Or rolled his eyes.
This time...
Nothing.
His expression never changed.
His eyes remained fixed on the child.
Tatiana’s smile immediately froze.
She slowed for half a step.
Had he not seen it?
No.
He definitely had.
He was simply ignoring it.
Her playful expression slowly faded.
For the briefest moment she almost turned around.
She wanted to walk back to him.
Ask what was wrong.
Tease him until he smiled again.
But the others had already reached the body.
With a reluctant glance back at Liam, she forced herself to continue.
The five of them soon stood only a few feet away from the child.
From this distance...
Everything became even stranger.
The wounds looked disturbingly real.
Cuts crossed both arms.
Bruises covered the neck.
Dried blood stained the torn clothes.
The skin had the pale color of someone long dead.
Nothing about the appearance looked fake.
And yet...
Nobody said anything.
Not because they were shocked.
Because they were confused.
Tatiana slowly frowned.
Irina’s sharp eyes narrowed.
Mary quietly tilted her head.
Agatha took another cautious step closer.
Finally...
Gregor spoke.
"...Do any of you notice it?"
Tatiana blinked.
"What?"
Gregor looked around slowly.
"There isn’t any smell."
Silence.
Only then did everyone realize it.
A body that had supposedly been lying outside for days should have produced the unmistakable odor of decay.
Instead...
There was nothing.
Not even the faintest trace.
The evening breeze carried only the scent of grass and earth.
Gregor slowly crouched beside the child.
His movements remained careful.
Measured.
He reached out before gently lifting one of the boy’s arms.
The moment it left the ground...
His expression changed.
His brow furrowed deeply.
"...That’s impossible."
The others immediately looked at him.
Gregor slowly turned toward the group, still holding the child’s arm in his hand.
His voice came out lower than before.
"...He’s too light."
His eyes remained fixed on the body.
"Way too light."
He carefully shifted the arm again, almost as though trying to confirm what he had just felt.
"This body shouldn’t weigh this little."
The silence that followed was far heavier than anything they had experienced since stopping on the road.