16. Setting Off and Hunting

"Mrs. Leicester, if it's convenient, I can do it for you." A familiar voice offers.

The demon hunter, now smoking a cigar and leaning against the wall, Hewitt had returned to the room unnoticed.

The wicked glow on the axe handle intensifies. Rebecca responds,

"I know, but if I can, I would like to do it myself."

Seeing that Rebecca had no intention of releasing the axe, Hewitt refrains from pursuing the matter.

Ogden looks into Rebecca's eyes:

"I've killed Peter. Let the demon hunter deal with the other one, and then you can leave here."

Rebecca's hand clutching the axe handle trembles slightly.

"Nellie's college tuition..." Ogden pauses and surprisingly smiles, "Never mind."

"Also, I'm sorry."

With an upward swing of the axe, Mrs. Leicester decapitates the Shape-shifter Beast. Its head, nothing but a mouth, falls to the ground, revealing a pale body with human and beast characteristics.

Mrs. Leicester remains surprisingly calm.

Hewitt looks at number 17's body and says,

"Most Shape-shifters don't need to harm others to change their form, they can directly access other people's memories. Those that need to consume human brains are rare. Of course, they can't empathize with their host's memories as much. Pity."

Rebecca Leicester turns to Hewitt and requests,

"Could you escort us? I want to take the children on the train to leave here."

The demon hunter asks,

"Where to?"

"Worton. Although this Ogden is a monster, the real Ogden would suggest the same. I want to leave this town, find a place where I won't be reminded of the past."

"Can you survive there?"

Rebecca looks defiant:

"No worries, I can contact my father. Although we are not on good terms, he wouldn't let me starve."

Hewitt agrees to her request:

"Of course, Nellie is my friend."

Hewitt looks at the axe in Rebecca's hand:

"It was the weapon of an old friend."

Old friend's weapon? Rebecca immediately understands, it's a relic, no wonder it was kept in a glass case,

She immediately apologizes:

"I'm sorry, I didn't know..."

"No, no need, it hasn't had an owner it liked in a long time. Take it, given the state of the world it may be useful. But remember, don't let it taste human blood, better not to kill anyone with it. After all, there are far simpler ways to kill."

"Really, it's okay?"

"It doesn't want to be kept in a cabinet. Just keep in mind, there's no need to let it taste human blood. Ideally, no one at all, there are plenty of simpler ways to kill."

"Understood, thank you, Mr. Hewitt." For some reason, Rebecca feels a sense of joy radiating from the axe.

Jimmy interjects:

"I'm not going."

"What did you say?" Rebecca looks angrily at her son.

Jimmy falls to his knees in front of Hewitt:

"Uncle Hewitt, I want to learn how to hunt monsters. I want to kill all these Shape-shifters."

The demon hunter looks at Jimmy, not surprised at all:

"My demon hunting techniques aren't suitable for ordinary humans. Besides, your mother has already taken her revenge. What do you want to do, massacre them? Should the Shape-shifters who don't harm humans also pay for your father's death?"

"Kid, this is not a war, and most non-human creatures aren't evil. What do you really want? To vent your own anger, or to conceal your own fear and powerlessness."

The boy looks up at Hewitt, finding himself struggling to meet the demon hunter's gaze:

"If you don't want to teach me, that's fine. I will find a way myself. Also, thank you for saving us."

Nellie, forgoing her usual caution and reserve, steps forward and hugs Hewitt:

"I'll miss you."

Holding Hela's hand, Hewitt retrieves his bracelet and leads them out of the room, looking into the distance.

At the train station.

Hela and Hewitt watch as the three board the carriage, watching them shrink with distance, until they finally disappear beyond the horizon with the roaring train.

The little girl grips Hewitt's hand tightly:

"Where are we going next?"

She hasn't forgotten that Hewitt had mentioned leaving before. In fact, she remembers every word Hewitt has said.

"I'm going to the White Lion Club headquarters, Furse City. There might be something that belongs to me there. Do you want to go with me?"

The girl doesn't hesitate:

"Uh-huh, wherever Hewitt goes, I go."

The sun rises again.

Field returns to the town, accompanied by a towering figure.

The tall man is wearing a hat made of animal hide, dressed in an overly warm white bear fur coat, and holding a silver flask from which he takes frequent sips.

"Little one, if you're lying to me, I'll rip your head off."

The town mayor, who appears in his forties, chuckles nervously:

"Master, I can only guarantee that everything I said is true. I'm not an expert like you and can't distinguish a real monster."

The two arrive at the corpse of the great bear.

The demon hunter stretches out his arm covered in white bear fur and spreads his brutal fingers:

"Covered in na tatu."

The demon hunter's eyes emit beams of blue light. With a wave of his hand, an invisible giant bear appears from the ground.

"Take us to him."

The mayor's eyes light up as he watches:

"Master, what's this magic? Is it the bear's soul? Does the underworld really exist for the soul after death?"

The demon hunter chuckles. In the past, everyone who witnessed these witchcraft considered it evil and avoided it extensively. The mayor's enthusiasm took him by surprise.

"It's nothing more than a manifestation of its anger before death, we generally call it the Beast Soul Essence. Of course, souls do exist. As for whether the underworld, which judges good and evil, exists, better do more good deeds."

The spirit of the colossal bear leads the pair through every place Ogden had been, finally arriving at a grove of white wax trees.

The demon hunter crouches down, sniffing at the ground before speaking:

"A Shape-shifter Beast, it killed people. And it was killed by a woman who has been with it for a long time."

The mayor is truly surprised:

"You can tell so much just by taking a sniff?"

Demon Hunter Master Mika turns to look at the mayor like he's an idiot:

"What sniff? I asked the life energy nearby."

"Eh..." The mayor gives an embarrassed chuckle.

Mayor Field asks,

"So, the town is safe now, right? I apologize for making you travel all this way, Master Demon Hunter."

Mika laughs,

"I've had plenty of assignments resolved before arriving at the destination, it was a joke about ripping your head off, hunting monsters is our duty."

Mika reveals a bloodthirsty smile,

"And besides, who said there was only one monster?"