Reborn as a Snake! (1.) [COMPLETED]

72. - So... THIS is an Alchemist..?

[?] "Have some tea, we can discuss the investigation over it."

"Oh... Yeah, well- Thank you."

I replied, reaching to the table and picking up my cup and looking at the liquid inside it.

Can confirm, there is no poison in it.
Not that it would matter to someone immune to poison.

Well, it's still good to know that there wasn't poison inside, incase she had tried to poison me.
Guess that dispells our current theory of her being the one behind the disappearances... For now.

I took a sip of the tea, before placing the cup back onto the table. It was a sweet and sour taste mixed with a strange bitterness. An honestly weird combination all around.
The lady took a sip of her tea as well, before placing it onto the table.

[?] "Allow me to begin by introducing myself - I am Kio, the village Alchemist."

"Nice to meet you Kio, my name is Shin."

Kio raised an eyebrow at my name, seemingly confused about it. It most likely was because she had never heard a name like 'Shin' before, so it was understandable for her to be confused.

[Kio] "Well, Mr.Shin, I appreciate you coming all the way here to lend a hand in the investigation."

She thanked me before taking another sip of her tea. I felt like this was going to drag on if I let her just go off topic even once, so I turned my gaze to as serious one as I could, before looking at her.

"Alright, first, give me a run down of the disappearances and what happened."

I stated rather coldly.

My, my master - That is quite professional. I'd state it may be on the same level as Gidou.

Oh be silent.
Kio also seemed a bit surprised about my sudden tone shift, however exhaled before smiling lightly.

[Kio] "Alright, here is the jist of it..."

She then proceeded to explain the discoveries made so far in the investigation.
I won't bore you all with the looong version of it and instead summarise it down for you all, so you get the basic idea of what's going on.

     The disappearances started a few days ago, with the first victim being a little 12 year old girl, who disappeared into seemingly thin air, in the middle of the night.

The villagers spent around 3 hours looking for her, however couldn't find her. Then, when the 4th Hour of searching dawned upon them, a loud screech, from up higher in the mountains, echoed through the air.

No one knows what this screech was or who it belonged to, however it was at first disregarded as just the wind.

However...
Then, another villager disappeared - a 67 year old man, who, once again, disappeared into seemingly thin air, in the middle of the night.

And then the most hauntingly, was that once hour 4 struck after his disappearance, the loud screech from up higher in the mountain was heard again.
This would be the case for every next person that disappeared as well - they'd disappear in the middle of the night and then once 4 Hours went by after their disappearance, a loud screech would be heard from up higher in the mountain.

Everyone assumed it to be linked to the disappearances and even the possibility of the missing villagers to be there were the screech came from every single time, however no one has been brave enough to go up there and search for them.

[Kio] "And that pretty much covers it. Currently we are trying to make sure no more disappearances occur by increasing the amount of people on patrol around the village."