A Dull Blade's Shine Pt. VIII

The homestead was dark as I approached stealthily from the wheatfield.

There were no lights on or anything, everything was as dark as it was outside- the only light being the green hue the moon gave over the fields.

Verdin wasn't where he was anymore, where he was standing when we had just seen him a while ago.

There's only one place where he could be now- and I was staring right at it.

...

I approached easily enough, sneaking up to and under the porch that led up into the front door of the home. Everything was silent, only the rustling of the wheatfields from the cool night breeze was present.

Waiting for the moon to hide behind a cloud, I took it as my chance to sneak up the porch- I was now hiding next to window that looked into the house, it didn't have a blinder.

I peered in, but there was nothing.

It was just a dark room; nobody was sitting inside or anything.

Breaking and entering in a new world? Meh, there's worse crimes.

I looked around me one last time, making sure I wasn't being watched, as I opened the window peering into the room- it let open easily enough.

I vaulted in successfully as I was now inside of the dark home- the air inside felt a lot colder than it was outside.

Yet there was still nobody around, not a soul- I activated absorption just in case to see if there was magic around that I couldn't visibly see.

But- nothing, there was no magic either.

I think I can afford to stand up now and get a better grasp of the room.

...

After a quick look, nothing came up from the room. As it was living room connected to a kitchen, all I found were portioned rations and other foodstuffs.

Having done that now, however, there was still one more place to see- upstairs.

It's where the bedrooms were, as I didn't find them here downstairs.

The probability that him and his family were asleep is believable, as farmers tend to sleep early, that being something I knew about from Earth, but I couldn't conclude to that with Solaster's logic. But going with my prediction of a siesta in Rezabel, I guess it'd be safe to assume the same could be applied to now.

So, I snuck upstairs, taking off my shoes to muffle my footsteps up the creaky woodwork.

As I got to the second floor, I finally saw something- it was faint candlelight at the end of the hallway, it came from under a door.

There was another room too, but it was open- I peered inside and found nothing of note about it, but that it looked like it hasn't been used in a good while; it was likely his son's, Corso.

I stopped myself just short of the door, I needed to straighten my thoughts out first before I do anything rash.

Could I kill him? I shouldn't if I didn't need to. He did try to kill me, but he seemed odd- and as Maev had said, he's never acted this strange before until now.

The likelihood that he's being controlled by someone is high- but who? The Royalists?

That- wouldn't make sense.

Why would the Royalists try and kill the courier for the report? Doing so would go against their whole suspected cooperative thing going on, wouldn't it?

Hmmm...

It's still too early on to make any drawable conclusions, so I'll keep it under my hat for now-

But if Verdin's in this room, I'll try and knock him out with my [Pressure Point] and see if I can absorb whatever magic is being used on him- IF there is any being used on him in the first place.

Otherwise, I don't know- it'll be up to what I do find behind this door...

Well, here goes nothing--

Red.

Red, red blood everywhere.

On the walls, on the ground, everywhere.

There were two people on a large bed, I say 'people' lightly- they were hardly people anymore, rather, they were really just heaping piles of meat and gore lying flat atop of the ruined bed covers.

"What the hell." I couldn't help but utter as I saw the gruesome scene before me.

Now being in the room proper, I could taste the metal in the air- but until now, I didn't imagine there was so much blood in the house; my lack of smell the culprit.

There was a lit candlestick sitting atop of a nightstand next to the bed, next to it was the parcel I had handed off to Verdin earlier- it was opened, from it sat a heap of bloody coins.

I walked through the room, putting back on my shoes before I'd stain my feet as I waded through the blood-drenched flooring towards the nightstand.

I grabbed a coin, and as I had predicted- it wasn't a Stolg.

With a simple hard rub of my finger, the false engraving over the coin revealed a Kluer underneath.

Miraculously, maybe due to the pile of coins taking the brunt of the blood, a surviving written note was underneath that was still more or less legible.

I grabbed it and read it- using the candlelight to make out what it said.

"Dear Pa,

I know you do not believe in using 'their' coin, but as I know how ma's condition is worsening, I need you to swallow your pride and use what I've sent you get her some help- Puell should know some merchants in Rezabel who accept it, you just have to use the code wo-"

A big splotch of blood stained a sizeable portion of the middle of the note, but there was still some of the letter readable at the bottom.

"-rden told me that they're coming to town within a week or two by the time this letter gets to you. So, I have to warn you and ma to not go around poking your noses where they shouldn't be. They're dangerous, especially that leader of theirs.

Whatever they do, let it happen, as long as it doesn't bother the farm.

Love, your son." The letter ends there.

"My my, what a loving, dutiful boy." I heard a woman's voice next to me.

I jumped back, the blood from the ground splashed as before me was a hooded figure- their robe the color of the scene.

"Sending some change for dear old Frila, hmm, it's a shame her disease was never curable to begin with." She said- I held my fists up, how do people keep sneaking up on me like this!?

"Ah, Ah, Ah- naughty~." She shifted through the room in a weird haze, as if she became intangible with every quickstep she took.

"Who the hell're you! Did you do this!?" I yelled at her.

"Me? Why, I think that information is quite a bit above you, little trespasser." She cackled.

She stopped her shifting as she stood atop of the bed, from what I could see she had no shoes on- her bare, pale feet sunk into the gory mush of the two corpses.

I didn't know whether or not to fight, so I kept my hands up in a guard- I didn't want to turn on [Moon God's Might] just yet.

"And for whether if I did this- perhaps, perhaps not~" She giggled as she revealed her face from under the robe.

// skill [Moon God's Grace] Activated. //

// skill [???] Negated. //

If I was weak-minded, I would've probably fell to the floor and worshipped her on the spot- her beauty made my eye ache.

No, literally- my eyes hurt as I looked at her, they felt like they were straining from some kind of weird pressure the longer I studied her gorgeous features.

She had a curly, dark-green bob with an assortment of golden jewelry hanging off of it. Her eyes were also golden, with sharp, snake-like irises. She had no horns, but around her cheeks, there were some strange, flaky like scales that matched her hair color.

"Ah, boo~ you didn't become mine- I suppose you simply aren't just a wandering oaf." She groaned.

"This'll complicate things..." Her eyes sharpened angrily at me; her beautiful, supple face wrathfully contorted as she looked like she was preparing herself for something.

From around her body, a dark-green miasma began to fluctuate- in and out from her body, it quickly encapsulated the room like a cloud.

// Recommended Route Override: Protocol Black. //

// Recommended Action: Escape. //

Huh!?

I've never seen this red prompt before!

// [Magic Immunity] Activated. //

// ... //

// skill [Magic Immunity] Error, No Magic Detected. //

Not magic!? Then what the heck is this!?!

Another prompt appeared; it was my physical resistance!

// skill [Physical Resistance lvl 9] Activated. //

// skill [Physical Resistance lvl 9] Semi-Successful. //

// skill [???] Affliction Semi-Negated, Instant Paralysis Nullified, Gradual Paralysis Now In Effect. //

Instant Paralysis!! It was negated thankfully, that would've been bad news.

But now my hands began to feel numb from the fingertips, it felt like it was creeping up from the ends of my limbs and up; this was the Gradual Paralysis in effect.

// Recommended Action: Escape. //

// Recommended Action: Escape. //

// Recommended Action: Escape. //

The prompt didn't go away, it kept asking me to escape from the room as it popped up directly in my line of sight over and over- but I needed answers, I couldn't just leave!

// Activate skill [Reflection]? [Yes] or [No]? //

// [Yes] //

// skill [Reflection] Successful. //

"!?" She jumped back as an invisible force shot out from me, clearing the miasma that was around me- the numbness that was up to my shoulders now felt like it stopped. But even as I did that, the cloud wasn't gone, it was just concentrated back to her portion of the room; it would likely return back to my side in no time.

"Fufu- I see what's going on now."

"You're one of 'those'." She pointed at me- but not at my forehead, rather oddly at my chest; was she pointing at my scar through my clothes?

"What a meddlesome brat."

"Who are you!!" I asked again, emboldened by the surprise that my reflection worked.

"Sigh, I already told you- this is beyond you."

"Let's call this a draw for tonight~" She looked out at the window behind the bed.

"Don't let this get to your head though, puppet, for I am simply needed somewhere else, fufu." She cackled as she jumped back into her weird hazy shift- reappearing outside hanging by the windowsill.

I ran up to the window, ready to smash it in- but as I got up there, she was already gone.

And with her, the pile of fake Stolgs too...

Damn it!

///