I waited for a while, however, no response. This wasn't a repeat of the scene that happened in the Deadmans Graveyard is it?—
I would prefer not to break into someones house only to have them ambush me again.
I decided to wait a little while longer, just to see if anyone would come to the door before knocking again. However, it seemed like no one was replying, so I simply exhaled lightly and knocked onto the door again, only a bit harder this time.
'Gotta be careful with the strength I put into the knock. Don't want to break down the door.'
I thought, before crossing my arms and waiting again. Luckily, it seemed like this time was loud enough, as I heard some scurrying and rustling on the other side of the door.
[?] "C-Coming..!"
A voice inside announced. It sounded like a female voice, so I was immediately guessing that this alchemist was female, even before they opened the door.
A moment later, the door was unlocked before being flung open, with a.... Human? Standing in the door frame exhausted. No wait, upon a closer look, this person had animal ears and what looked like a bushy tail.
Maybe a beast folk person?
I had heard about them in Ordial, the so called 'Demi-Humans'.
The woman looked at me, her eyes wide as hell, even without any shock in them. Guess it was by nature.
[?] "Oh! H-Hello! Can I help you?"
"Uh... Hi.. I am an Adventurer from Ordial and I came here to participate in the investigation of the recent disappearances of multiple villagers..."
[?] "O-Oh! You're from the Guild? Then come in!"
She rushed slightly back inside, nudging me to come inside after her. I was a bit hesitant and one may say 'sceptical' at first, however a moment later followed after the lady inside the house, being forced to crouch down slightly as the roof of the house wasn't exactly.... Suited for my human forms height.
Part of we was dying to go into my Snake form, however, I knew that would simply cause unnecessary problems and complications with this beastfolk lady.
Speaking of which, the lady led me through a rather narrow hall with had the aforementioned low ceiling, before leading me into a large room, with a significantly higher ceiling and a lot of space inside of it.
On a rough scale, I'd say this was shockingly comparable to the Ancient Ones lair I found back in the Deadmans Graveyard.
Please do not compare my grand lair of masterful engineering to this amateurs hole.
Wow—
Harsh much?-
[?] "Apologies for the slight mess, I have been very busy with the investigation of the recent disappearances so things like cleaning up have taken a break."
She apologised, facing me.
Now that I had a full view of her body, I was able to use my appraisal skills to figure out that the woman belonged to a species named 'Tynoon' which basically were squirrel and racoon people.
She so happened to be one of the 'racoon people' that were in this species.
[?] "Please, take a seat dear adventurer! You must be exhausted from your journey here."
'Not really, but I suppose I can take a seat to discuss the disappearances case.'
I thought to myself, before sitting down into the couch she had pointed me to, as she quickly scurried around.
A moment later, she brought out a teapot with two cups - strange looking cups I should mention, before pouring what looked like tea into both of them.
[?] "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."
I see...
So a rather tough situation. I'd say this felt like a very, very intense Detective scenario - almost like those you'd see in high blockbuster detective films, only, in real life....
I will not lie Master, I have suspicion that the screech we heard while climbing up the mountain was the same one as the one the villagers have been hearing everytime someone disappeared.
'You also connected it to that? Guess we're on the same page after all..'
I thought, scratching my chin.
Clearly, the screeches source and the disappearance of the villagers was linked... My only question was why on earth did the screech only happen 4 hours after a villager has gone missing every time?
That part seemed the most sketchy to me.
It could be that the source of the screech has a routine of sorts.
Yeah, but that doesn't tell the full story.
As I was continuing to discuss the details with Kio, a village guard rushed into the room.
[Village Guard] "A-Alchemist Kio! We have a problem!"
[Kio] "What?! What happened?!"
[Village Guard] "Another person has gone missing, b-but there is more to it this time..!"
Kio seemed to grow shocked, while I simply grew more interested.
[Kio] "Lead me to the house where the disappearance happened immediately. Mr.Shin, please accompany us."
I nodded in response, getting up before following Kio nd the Village Guard.
We were led outside, before being led towards the otherside of the village, where infront of a house, was a rather large group of villagers gathered around something, with the sounds of what sounded like a mourning woman in the middle.
Kio managed to push through the crowd and get to the middle of it, her eyes widening as she did. Upon reaching the crowd myself, I pushed through as well, getting a good look at the situation.
It was a woman, crying and mourning with a severely injured man in her hands, who had a very, very large wound in his chest - almost like something had pierced him.
Kio dropped to the woman.
[Kio] "What happened?! Tell me Linda, what happened?"
[Linda] "M-My husband... He saw a figure in our daughters bedroom from outside a-and so he rushed inside to see who it was... H-However just moments later he was flung through the upstairs window with a giant wound on his chest..! A-and-"
The woman continued her explanation with stuttering and breaking of her words. I simply looked up towards the broken upstairs window, before focusing on the room inside.
'Just as I thought... The supposed daughter is missing.'
I thought, looking back down to Kio and the villager woman. Part of me couldn't help but not feel any remorse for her, probably because I wasn't human.
Then, a loud screech echoed through the mountain, causing me to divert my attention to where it came from.
Master, I've confirmed that the screeches source is nearby, somewhere on the road which leads up higher into the mountains.
It is a possibility that the missing child is with the source.
Then I guess I know where I'm going.
The villagers seemed to panic, as I kneeled down and placed my hand on Kios shoulder.
"Keep a watch down here, I'm going after the screeches source."
I stated simply, before turning around and sinking into the shadows before beginning to rapidly move towards the source.
[Kio] "W-Wait! Mr.Shin!"
Kio called out towards me, however I did not pay attention to it and simply continued my pursuit of the screeches source.
Whatever was going on here, I was going to solve it as fast as possible.
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Heeyy.... Yeah, Iyka here.
That lazy Dragon asked me to the ending bit.
I gotta say, something about Faofa interacting with that Tynoon lady made me feel a bit... Angsty.
Anyways, I don't understand why he is so keen on helping the village solve the case of the missing villagers so much - I mean, it doesn't benefit him in any way.
Next Chapter:
73. -
"A Dungeon in the Mountains."