Chapter 26: Ghoul

"Bro, you think they're finally going to fix the satellite near us soon? I heard Lin Feng and his guild would start exploring the Bubble Zone soon. I need to watch it."

"...Didn't he already die?"

"Bro, that was Chu Feng."

"...They're not the same person?"

The darkness that blanketed the streets of Concretespire Safe Zone was slowly being pulled away as the sky was once again being greeted by the sun. And for the guards that patrolled the city, it brought with it relief.

After all, with the coming of the light, there were fewer chances that people would cause real trouble. Sure, there were a lot more crimes, but they were petty at most. It was the darkness of the night that brought forth the monsters hiding within their city.

Luckily for Nick and Dave, no one caused trouble for the whole duration of the dead hours. And so, they started to rejoice; finally able to have a casual conversation near at the end of their shift.

"They're not the same person, bro. Like what the fuck?"

"...They all look the same to me."

"Bro, Dave. What the fuck. That's mighty racist."

"It's not my fault that– Keep your eyes peeled!"

And all of a sudden, the two suddenly stopped in their tracks as both of them unsheathed their weapons– one a sword, the other a rifle. After all, how could they not when a smear– No… when a trail of blood was littered on the floor in front of them.

"This is Nick patrolling in the Q4 area, we might have a possible 187, over."

And from the shape of the smear, the trail of blood seemed to have started from the direction… of the Red Light District.

"..." Nick and Dave looked at each other before Nick placed his hand on Dave's shoulders as the two swiftly but very carefully paced toward where the trail of blood was leading to. But as soon as they realized it was heading towards where the markets were, their steps became even faster.

Dawn just passed, which means that the people in the markets were now starting to prepare their shops and stalls– if whatever this trail of blood leads to reaches the market, then a bloodbath may ensue.

Fortunately, though, the blood went in a different direction… and as they continued to follow, the path of blood started to fade, and finally… they were able to see what the source was.

It was a cloaked man; with a large halberd tied on his back…

…dragging a headless body. Well, not necessarily headless, as the cloaked man was also holding a head in his other hand.

"F… Freeze!"

"Drop the head and slowly turn around!"

And of course, Zero didn't follow. He just took a small glance at the two guards, before continuing to casually walk away.

"I said freeze, motherfucker!"

"..." Zero's feet then stopped as the guard holding the sword, Nick, suddenly blocked his path.

"Drop the goddamn head and–"

"Ghoul."

And Zero, instead of dropping the head, even raised it towards Nick.

"The fuck?" Nick was about to swat the head away but then noticed something different about the head– its veins were protruding from its almost greying skin. And when he looked closer, some of the veins even looked like they were still moving.

"...Ghoul?" Nick then said as he leaned his head to the side to look at Zero.

"Yes," Zero immediately nodded as he lowered his hand, "Crying Eleanor wants to find ghoul. I find for her…

…I'm a slayer."

"..." Nick and Dave then looked at each other… before turning their heads towards the building a few meters away from their location– the Slayer Association Building. And right there and then, it finally clicked to them.

This man didn't commit murder, but rather was delivering a beast's corpse to the association.

"...So that's the ghoul Eleanor was talking about?" Dave then lowered his rifle as he carefully approached Zero; his eyes, however, were focused on the head he was holding,

"...That's one hell of an ugly motherfucker."

"Pft, looks like your wife," Nick then burst out in laughter as he returned his knife, "Looks more like a normal zombie though. But… why did you come from the Red Light District?"

"Found it there," Zero answered, "...Devoured lots of people."

"Fuck!"

And as soon as Nick heard Zero's words, he once again quickly radioed his comrades. However, as soon as they heard that it was in the Red Light District, the comms suddenly became silent.

"These fuckers…" Nick then let out a loud sigh, "Come on, Dave. Let's go check it out!"

"...But we're about to clock out."

"Fuck that! What if this fucker spawned minions!?"

"..." Dave squinted his eyes for a few seconds, before letting out a sigh of his own and nodding his head.

"You stay in the Slayer Association Building, we might have questions for you later!" Nick then said before he and Dave rushed to the Red Light District; finally leaving Zero in peace as he too, made his way to the Slayer Association Building.

As soon as he entered, however, a loud piercing scream welcomed him in. And with his Enhanced Hearing skill, it was a surprise he didn't lose balance there and then.

"Z… Zero!?" The receptionist shrieked. And it wasn't only her, since morning was coming, there were already people loitering around the lobby– and almost as if fate brought everything together, Eleanor was one of those people.

The receptionist's screams were followed by silence as the people's eyes were all on Zero– trailing as they watched him slowly make his way towards Eleanor.

"..." Although Eleanor seemed to just also be watching Zero; in truth, she already had several knives ready to turn Zero into a sea urchin. In fact, she almost did as Zero suddenly placed the head he was holding at her table.

"..." Eleanor then looked at the head for a few seconds, before once again looking at Zero.

"Ghoul," Zero muttered before also placing the headless body on the table, "Killed many hum– people inside the Safe Zone."

"What?" Eleanor once again looked at the head, "It… was inside the city?"

"Yes," Zero then stretched out his hand to Eleanor.

"...What?"

"Reward…

…now."

[The Readers of Fate are questioning why they didn't make an appearance until the last minute.]