4. Corpse

The next morning.

Hewitt added some firewood to the fireplace to keep the whole room warm.

Pat, pat.

The little girl sleepily descended the stairs.

After Hewitt had brought the girl home yesterday, she had fallen deeply asleep in just a few minutes.

The instant she saw Hewitt downstairs, the little girl looked around in surprise. Only after confirming that she was indeed free did she laugh naively.

Hewitt turned and went into the kitchen. He took out two plates. His plate had four sausages and two fried eggs, whereas the girl's plate, in addition to having half the quantity, was garnished with a bit of broccoli.

The girl sniffed, her eyes suddenly illuminated and she asked timidly:

"What's this?"

Hewitt placed the plates on the table, while setting the fork and knife:

"Breakfast. Two sausages and a fried egg. Of course, even for breakfast, you need to eat some broccoli. Not eating vegetables isn't good for the digestive system."

Hewitt didn't ask about what she had eaten before.

The girl climbed on the chair like a baby kangaroo, sitting down with a thud, her little white feet swinging continuously in the air.

Hewitt also sat opposite her, picked up his knife and fork, and cut a small piece of sausage to put in his mouth. Seemingly carelessly, he asked:

"By the way, can you use a fork and knife?"

The girl didn't answer right away, instead she observed Hewitt's hands, then, with a somewhat unskilled pose, she cut the sausage.

Hewitt laughed lightly:

"It seems I worried too much."

The girl continued to stuff an egg into her mouth.

Hewitt introduced himself:

"You can call me Hewitt. By the way, speaking of which, I don't know your name yet."

The girl suddenly stopped her hands holding the fork and knife and didn't utter a word.

Hewitt shifted the topic:

"Wait, I'll get you slippers from the shoe cabinet. Although they're a little big, they'll do for now. Also, I need to go to the town to buy a few things for you, do you want to wait for me here or should I take you with me?"

"I won't go." The girl shook her head, "The bad people will see me."

Hewitt nodded his head.

"Hewitt."

The girl called out to the demon hunter:

"I'm called Number 8."

"That's not a name." Hewitt answered while cutting an egg, "Do you have any other name, before they called you Number 8?"

"I don't..." The girl showed a painful expression, "I don't know, I can't remember."

Hewitt spoke:

"Don't worry, I'll help you find your name."

The girl was silent for a while:

"I don't have a name."

Hewitt stroked his chin and skipped over this subject, saying:

"Then how about I call you Hela for the time being? It comes from Hladgunnr, which means as pure as a swan."

Hela nodded.

Hewitt spoke:

"You stay with me for the time being. If you want to go somewhere, or contact someone you know, you can tell me."

Hela looked a little uneasy:

"If I am here, the bad people will also come."

Hewitt squatted in front of her. Worry and fear could be seen in the girl's blue eyes.

Hewitt spoke softly:

"I'm not scared of the bad people."

Hewitt stood up:

"I'm going to buy some things first, you stay here."

Just as he was about to open the door, Hela suddenly held the corner of his clothing firmly.

Hewitt squatted down, patted Hela on her head and said:

"Are you scared? If you're scared, I can leave later..."

Hela shook her head and interrupted Hewitt:

"Hewitt, be careful of the bad people, they're really bad."

Hewitt nodded, smiling:

"Don't worry Hela, and remember what I said, you must not leave this room until I return, understand?"

The girl obediently nodded:

"Mm! I'll remember what Hewitt said."

Hewitt continued to remind Hela a few more times before leaving the house.

As soon as he stepped out of the house, Hewitt looked back at the house and said:

"Keep an eye on her."

The wax tree closest to the house shook as though it had been hit by something, even though there was no wind.

Before Hewitt reached the shop, he saw Jimmy coming towards him.

The boy had two large eye bags and looked very tired, with bloodshot eyes.

Seeing Hewitt, Jimmy's face lit up with happiness and he quickly walked in front of him:

"Uncle Hewitt! I've been looking for you for ages."

"What's wrong, Jimmy? You're not the type to stay up late."

Jimmy replied with a bitter smile:

"I didn't sleep all of last night, Uncle Hewitt. Do you think people can have hallucinations without any reasons?"

Hewitt answered seriously:

"If there's no family history, it's generally unlikely. What happened?"

Jimmy described with both his hands and feet about the creature he had seen yesterday:

"I saw a monster yesterday. It was a tall and thin man, but his skin was a strange white color. He had sharp claws and no eyes, nose or ears on his face, just a big open mouth."

"After seeing the monster, I turned around and ran home. I could feel that it was following me but I don't know why it didn't catch me. And when I got home, it completely disappeared."

Hewitt thought carefully, at least in his memory there wasn't such a creature, much less a monster that enjoyed playing with its prey. And he didn't know many species of monsters.

Was it a monster that creates illusions? An ancient race from the Old Era? Or a newly born monster?

Hewitt was stunned, he suddenly remembered, almost all the monsters should've been extinct, just like the demon hunters.

This was not an era where there were monsters everywhere to be killed.

Hewitt said to Jimmy:

"Don't leave the town during these few days. In a few days, I'll accompany you to the place where you encountered the monster to see if we can find anything."

"Hewitt!" A rough voice came from the distance.

The mayor walked over with a constable of the town.

Hewitt apologized to the mayor:

"I'm sorry, Mr. Mayor, for refusing you earlier. My niece travelled from afar to meet me two weeks ago. I really couldn't get out."

"You have a niece? No, I didn't come to talk about that. We found something in the Blackeye Forest. Something really bad."

"Is it on the southern edge?" Jimmy asked with a pale face.

"No, no, it's on the north." The mayor glanced at Jimmy, "Kid, you should go home. This isn't a place for you to be."

Hewitt nodded at Jimmy:

"You come find me in a few days."

Jimmy answered:

"Alright. And also, where I mentioned earlier, I saw it on the edge of the southern part of the Blackeye Forest."

Having said his piece, Jimmy turned around and left.

The mayor nodded and said to Hewitt:

"You need to come with us."

The three of them appeared in Blackeye Forest.

Hewitt finally understood why the mayor looked so grave.

A nearly intact body, likely that of an adult black bear, lay on the ground. It seemed to have decayed for a few days already, but this was the strange part; such a large quantity of meat, in such a place, usually gets devoured before it naturally rots.

"I've never seen anything so strange in my life?" The constable murmured quietly.

And the only part missing from the black bear's body was its head.

The beast's skull had been torn open, while the place that should have held its brain was empty.