Page 1/5 September 1st While investigating the missing person cases that have been occurring recently, another case was reported at a nearby farm in Kastleton. The missing person is a man in his forties named Markel. He was a man that I shared a drink with at Kastleton just a year ago. According to the neighbors, he is the breadwinner of the family, and he and his wife are expecting a child. He is an ordinary farmer with no enemies. In other words, Markel is a man who does not have any reason to disappear and leave his family and friends behind. When the case was about to go cold, I uncovered a surprising fact. His wife, Emilin, said that Markel isn't from Kastleton, but originally from Goldpick Village. As soon as she revealed that fact, I felt a sense of déjà vu and went through all of the records in the missing persons case. All of the missing people are also from Goldpick Village, just like Markel. This might be an important key to cracking the case. People who suddenly disappeared and Goldpick Village... What's the connection? For now, the only thing I can do is going to Goldpick Village and try to find out. Page 2/5 October 13th I went to Goldpick Village to look for clues in the missing persons case. I followed the map and arrived at the village to find no one. Not a single soul was in the village. There were only creepy, empty houses. On my way back, disheartened by my failure, I met a wandering merchant in the nearby inn. He saw me asking the innkeeper about Goldpick Village and carefully approached me, introducing himself as Grudran. Then he started going on about some ridiculous tale, claiming everyone in Goldpick Village disappeared a few years ago because of a witch. According to him, it was a small, peaceful village. But for some reason, Guyon Grobin, a respected man in the community, accused his maid Circe of being a witch. The Grobin family had a sterling reputation going back generations, and so the villagers unanimously supported his claims. Soon after, a stake was put up in the village plaza to burn the witch. Circe was destined to burn at the stake and turn to ash, but she somehow escaped the execution. Shortly after, everyone in Goldpick Village disappeared overnight, and people speculated that it was Circe's doing. I tried to take my mind off his superstitious story, but Grudran seemed to genuinely believe what he'd said. He claimed that Dalia, who worked as the head maid in the Grobin household, would be able to give a more detailed account of what happened. I don't know if I believe any of this... but if Dalia is from Goldpick Village, she might be able to tell me more about the missing people. Page 3/5 October 15th The village Grudran directed me to was a remote place, just like Goldpick Village. I was lucky enough to meet a woman named Dalia there. She was old, but her eyes were as bright as a young woman's. As soon as I met her, I asked her about Markel and the other victims of the missing persons case. She frowned, as if reminded of something unpleasant, and raised her voice. "Those bastards. They tried to kill poor Circe!" What she told me then was beyond cruel. Dalia, who was the Grobin Family's head maid at the time, found a dead maid who had taken her own life by hanging. She was all out of sorts, but hurriedly hired a replacement, Circe. According to her, Circe was a quiet and a gentle girl. Dalia was always worried that Circe was too innocent and naive. Then came the unpleasant rumor about the Grobin family's second son, Eimon. Just as Dalia had feared, young Circe was coaxed into having Eimon's child. Circe truly loved Eimon, so she had the baby secretly, but her happiness didn't last long. Grobin didn't want any unpleasant rumors spreading in the village. He set out to destroy Circe's reputation, accusing her of being a witch to try and do away with her. The villagers who worked under him knew that Circe was innocent, but they supported his claims anyway, valuing their own livelihoods over an innocent woman's life. Dalia couldn't bear to see her die, so she secretly sent Circe and the baby away on a carriage just before the execution. However, the villagers chased after her and violently killed the horseman. Circe fled into the Carmine Forest and hid herself. When Dalia heard the news, she chased after Circe... But the only thing she found was the cold body of the baby. So where is Circe now? Page 4/5 November 1st After hearing Circe's story, I went to Carmine Forest, where she was last seen. I was worried that Circe was kidnapping the Goldpick villagers to take revenge. Of course, I can't be sure that Circe is directly related to the missing persons case... But as the victims all accused Circe of being a witch, I need to meet her and question her. The thick forest felt heavy, as if the air was filled with the breath of the dead. With permission from the Resistance soldier who was guarding the Carmine Forest, I started looking for evidence that Circe had been here. I doubt she's still in the forest, but I thought I would run into at least a small clue if I searched the last place she was seen. While wandering in the forest until dark, a sudden chill made me glance upward. There I witnessed such a horrific sight that I couldn't even scream. Markel, the missing man from the Golden Rye Farm, appeared in the Carmine Forest as though from thin air. No, to be more accurate, it wasn't Markel at all. It was a phantom that resembled him. My fear didn't last long, though. The phantom attacked me as soon as it saw me. I used my sword to defeat it, and the phantom became a blue spirit and drifted away again. The spirit was floating slowly in one direction, as if it had a destination. I deliberated for a moment and then decided to follow. I don't know where it meant to go, but it felt like it would lead me to what I was looking for. Page 5/5 November 2nd I followed the blue spirit into the deep forest. When I looked up again, I was right before Syleus's Abyss. What could await me inside? The runaway, Circe? Markel and the other missing people? But what I found there wasn't human. It was a phantom of a witch, brimming with rage and a lust for vengeance. When I first met the eyes of the bloodthirsty young phantom, I froze in fear. But then it lifted its skinny finger and pointed at me, and all manner of emotions coalesced in my mind. The misery of being betrayed by her beloved, the resentment of being falsely accused and then ostracized, and the despair of losing her precious baby. At last, I realized that this phantom was none other than Circe. "Are you responsible for all of the missing people?" I was the first one to speak, as I knew the tragedy she had faced. The illusion she showed me soon after portrayed the full, sad story. Circe, who had lost everything she treasured, went to Wizard Syleus to help her achieve revenge. In exchange for her eternal submission, she was given a forbidden book, which granted her the necromantic power to control all dead spirits. Now a vengeful phantom, she took the lives of those who had wronged her, siphoning away their souls to achieve everlasting revenge. When she arrived to enact her vengeance, Circe appeared as a witch in truth to those who had once falsely accused her of being just such a thing. After Circe's illusion faded, and she had shown me what she wanted me to see, she did not kill me. Instead, she sent me out of Carmine Forest. Why would she spare my life? Does she want the world to know her tale?
