CLA.S.S NEUTRAL: Stranger Is Coming

Assumption. Track. Terrible Find.

We went to Nars' house. I didn't understand why I didn't see any signs of death around, and Kurbakht's amulet didn't detect any magic. I had to rack my head and strain my eyes before I found something.

The bas.e.m.e.nt was covered with soundproof material. What for? Taking into account the traces that were below, these people were held against their will, and no one had heard them.

Judging by the absence of chaos in their footprints, the victims had been intimidated. As a result, they had sat quietly and waited for their sad fate. Then why didn't I see the sources of death in the area?

"I've found a strange smell—as if something strange was mixed into it—and I don't like it," said Eleya.

Hmm… the words 'tranquilizer' and 'chloroform' came to my mind. Perhaps it was some kind of potion with a similar action. The murderer had put his victims to sleep and taken them here.

When they had woken up, they hadn't been able to understand what had been happening. Nobody had heard their screams; the bas.e.m.e.nt had been locked. Nars had been absent from home for a long time, and when he had returned, he had been too drunk to notice anything.

Eleya's sister hadn't received a full dose, and therefore, she had been able to wake up and run away at the very entrance to the bas.e.m.e.nt. Now I had even more questions: who had used Nars' bas.e.m.e.nt to throw suspicions away from himself?

I see only one set of tracks leading to the bas.e.m.e.nt, but there were no traces on the stairs below and no reverse chain.

"Follow me; there is something there," the fair-haired werewolf said, and we went after her.

I covered the girl with a large cloak so that people didn't pay too much attention to her. Fortunately, Nars' house was on the outskirts of the village, so there weren't many people here.

The road led us into the forest. It had got completely dark, but we kept going. Judging by the map, we traveled more than six miles from Downhill. The Search for Death started working. Some purple specks were visible over to the side.

"Now follow me." I pointed toward the spots and headed there.

We found all the girls there—or rather what was left of them: tattered clothes on their half-gnawed skeletons, covered with dried blood. They were chained to trees. This made my blood turn into ice. What monster was capable of this?

"I'll kill this bastard!" I snarled like a m.a.t.u.r.e werewolf and immediately heard a quiet m.o.a.n.

I rushed toward one of the trees and saw a girl, resembling Eleya, only she was about eighteen, her eyes were darker, and her light hair was thicker.

Near the girl there was a wolf-like beast with a bloody maw. Its teeth were hooked and long as well as its claws.

Gray scavenger-torturer, level 17

This monster ate a piece of flesh, torn from the girl who barely fluttered, blood flowing from her side. I got mad. I didn't even notice how I had taken my sword out.

With one blow, I plunged the blade into the beast's head and pressed the monster into the ground, leaving a hole in it. The blow was so strong that the monster's skull cracked. Having dropped the sword, I grabbed the scavenger's skin and tore the monster in half. Only then did I regained consciousness and found myself able to control my actions.

Effect 'Righteous Vengeance' is over!

"Sister!" Eleya exclaimed and hugged the girl, and then she looked at me. "Help! Please help her!"

Seeing that the girl was almost dead, and life was rapidly leaving her, I, without hesitation, snatched the Alyrra's White Glow from my bag, chewed it, and kissed the girl.

It had helped Narylna, and so I hoped it would help now, because there was no time to think. The blood stopped after a couple of seconds, and the girl, with a sigh of relief, closed her eyes.

"Sister! Sister!" Eleya sobbed. "Don't die! Don't leave me alone!"

"Don't worry, her breathing has evened out, and the blood has stopped flowing from the wound. I didn't know that this was possible without magic. So she's sleeping." After her friend's words, the werewolf lost consciousness, hanging in my arms.

I was scared to look around. How can developers torture these people? I don't give a shit about those who say that this is just a program code. They'd better not meet me. Otherwise, I'll show them who is a program code.

With difficulty, I managed to break the girl's chains. Now I knew where I'd leave the murderer, and how I'd kill this monster. I didn't touch the scavenger—this creature was disgusting to me, and I didn't care about the loot.

The Death emanations were so strong here that everything ruffled before my eyes, so I had to turn off the Search for Death. It meant that this beast didn't glow, since it was only indirectly guilty of the innocents' deaths. It was nothing more than a scavenger. The real killer was still out there.

Now, it was a matter of honor to find him, even if Kurbakht wouldn't wait for me. Helping these people was much more important than anything else, and if the royal gatekeeper couldn't understand this, then we had different ways to him and his king.

Now I would search the whole village and find this f.u.c.k.i.n.g bastard—if he hadn't left it. However, even if he had left, I would find him anyway. I'd pump my Pathfinder up to the maximum level, and then I would find him.