Ch. 16: Charlotte

Huh?!

I froze in my tracks. Was William really the shadow I saw on the roof?

Why did he kill innocent citizens? What was his motive?

From any perspective, William was an amiable person. He also hesitated in committing heinous acts. That girl is proof of that. Then, why?

It can't be, right? He's not that kind of person.

My eyes narrowed. Holding my chin with both fingers. Possibilities popped into my mind, making me mumble.

William isn't that kind of person... or, I'm the one who is pretentious about him. We weren't very close after all.

At this moment, a notification suddenly popped up making me jump in surprise.

CONGRATULATIONS YOU HAVE REACHED LEVEL 2

"I'm now level 2..."

Come to think of it, I had completed the quest twice. In other words, I had received 50 exp twice. No wonder I levelled up.

Glancing at Katheryne, I felt Katheryne also looking at me. Not only that, Charlotte who saw Katheryne avert her eyes, also glanced at me.

Charlotte squinted her eyes instantly. Looking at me curiously. Then, she approached me.

At this moment, every gust of the night breeze felt like the entanglement of an army of darkness embracing me tightly, immersing me into an endless sea of nothingness.

I was drowning in an endless sea of darkness, crushed by silence.

What I saw with my eyes in these final moments was Charlotte's blurry face.

***

"Shit!" My eyes opened. Breathing irregularly.

My eyes darted left and right in a hurry. A familiar place. I woke up on the bed of the inn.

What the hell? I'm here all of a sudden?! Looking around, I tilted my head.

How could I be here when I was out last night... Charlotte approached me at that moment. However, my vision darkened instantly... Then, I suddenly woke up here!

Isn't that strange?!

No matter how I look at it, it's very strange!

I sat glued to the bed. Not moving away.

I held my head in my hands. My head was hurting. Even thinking was difficult. Everything seemed to be going round in circles.

Then, I shook my head. With the intention of getting rid of the headache. However, it didn't go away either.

"What should I do next... should I report that William is the murderer to Katheryne?" I muttered.

Then I'll get a reward... However, I'm quite close to him, he's my friend in this world.

Is it worth sacrificing my friend for a reward? If he was a stranger, I would have done it a long time ago... I'll ask William, maybe he has a reason for killing Fontaine's people.

The thought of this made me want to run away. Bringing up the system, I opened the stats menu. There I saw that my SP had increased by +1... Yooo? What a miserly developer.

Just giving me +1 SP as soon as I level up... I exhaled. Then, I raised my Agility stats to 2.

The reason I raised Agility was to make my avoidance reflexes faster... I learnt this from a previous mistake, where I almost died because my avoidance reflexes were quite slow.

Then, I went straight into body training, just like I did the morning before. The thing that was different from yesterday was that I could do sit-ups faster. Maybe the speed increased by 2x.

I couldn't determine it properly. However, I believe that it increased drastically even though my Agility stats only increased by 1 point.

If 2 points of Agility is equivalent to increasing my agility in the real world by around 2x, how about 5 points of agility? Then my Agility is already like superhuman... Thinking about this makes me cringe.

After that, I left the inn and went jogging. The morning breeze caressed my face, sweeping my fluttering hair in the rhythmic strains of the universe struggling with Its creation.

My steps glided over the ground, each breath of mine lifting the morning dew that danced in the air.

The speed of my flight was like a flash of light piercing through the clouds, like a bird flying freely above the infinite horizon. I felt my speed increase significantly.

After finishing my jog, I went to Katheryne's place. There I saw Charlotte talking to Katheryne while holding a camera.

I wiped the sweat from my forehead as I approached the two of them.

Glancing at me, Charlotte put on a smile. She waved her hand.

Since when did she get along with me, it's not like we were strangers yesterday... I tilted my head.

"Hi Charles." Charlotte looked me up and down. Then, she nodded. "You just finished jogging, yes. So diligent."

I nodded back. "I've been jogging a lot lately."

"Why?" asked Charlotte curiously.

Why was she so curious? Is it because she's a journalist, that's why she cares so much about my reasons... wait. Since when did I introduce myself. How did she know my name?

The corner of my lips twitched. "Stamina... I want to increase my stamina."

"Is that so?" she asked, pressing her chin with the back of the pen.

Since when did she hold a pen?! Where was the camera held before?

Then, Charlotte wrote a note. Her hand movements were nimble and agile. I caught a glimpse of her but immediately averted my eyes due to dizziness.

How mad, who would want to watch a professional write?!

Smiling at me, Katheryne blinked her eyes. "What brings you here, Mr. Charles?"

"Any other requests?" I asked.

Katheryne shook her head. Her eyes showed how disappointed she was that she couldn't help me.

Sighing, it turned out that there was nothing but requests for detective games and cat-catching.

I didn't expect the Adventurer's Guild to be so low on requests these days... it's in the middle of the no-drama season huh?

I turned my gaze to Charlotte. If Charlotte had opened up to me then I probably knew her name last night too, right?

Just in case, I'll just call her by name. After all, even if I made a mistake, there are many reasons I can think of.

"What are you doing here, Miss Charlotte. Interrogating Katheryne?" I joked, giggling.

It's true! Her reaction was normal! This intrigued me... my joke was probably right.

I mean, I know this Charlotte is curious about the murder case, after all: William hasn't been caught yet. Journalism must be interested in this kind of case. It will be investigated to its roots for sure.

Suddenly, Charlotte stopped her pen. She narrowed her eyes at me. "Didn't you promise to accompany me today? That's why I'm here." Charlotte squinted.

Hey?! Since when did I make such a promise? Besides, isn't it strange... last night I suddenly fainted, then woke up at the inn. Now I'm being bombarded with ridiculous questions and statements, all of which make me shake my head.

"You don't remember? Drunk all night, huh?" asked Charlotte, frowning.

A few seconds later, however, her spirits returned. What a quick turnaround in her mood. "Anyway, accompany me to interrogate the husband of the murder victim. There must be a connection!"

It turned out that the victim had a husband. Still, I didn't think her husband had anything to do ... after all, it was William.

Suspecting her husband is not the right thing to do. However, alright... I'll accompany you.

I'm tired of coming to that smelly Treasure Hoarders headquarters again and again anyway. A date with Charlotte wasn't so bad either. My smile lingered.

"Sure!"

***

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