Chapter 41
I braced myself for Lilac’s scolding and followed her into the back alleys of the market.
I saw several people turning a corner, confirming I wasn’t late.
At the end of my tailing, I arrived at a place decorated like any underground tavern but was actually an information guild.
‘Did she really come here? There’s no need for that.’
I couldn’t follow her inside the building. After scanning my surroundings, I closed my eyes. I focused mana in my ears, and my Wild Instinct sharply enhanced my hearing.
Wild Instinct (Lv 2) grants hearing akin to that of bats and cats.
[…I’m requesting information on Martin von Targon Ulvhadin.]
[Since it’s information sought by someone of your stature, I’ll provide it immediately.]
[Is there no information on the Princess’ Black Knight?]
[Hmm, I suspect the Lady knows more about him than I do.]
[…Then there’s no helping it. What about the information on the Cosmos Empire’s secret society I requested last time?]
[Regrettably, no information has been uncovered. No merchant or noble seems to know anything. I’ll refund half of the deposit.]
[No need. Just keep searching for the information.]
[Understood. Oh, regarding the information on Martin von Targon Ulvhadin, what should I focus on? His stock seems to have risen lately.]
[I’ll pay whatever deposit you ask. Find out everything. Where he is, what he’s doing. His hourly location is the most important.]
[Understood. Leave it to me.]
I felt something boiling inside me, a surge of anger.
‘How dare she.’
To investigate me behind my back. I grabbed my rifle and loaded a round.
Footsteps approached. The moment the information guild’s door opened—
Bang!
The bullet I fired grazed past Elisha’s ear as she stepped out.
Startled by the sudden noise, the Lady stumbled, losing her balance. She didn’t collapse, likely thanks to Movement.
Her escorts shouted in panic.
“Lady!”
“Find the sniper!”
“No need to search.”
Using Movement, I leaped off the wall, kicked one escort aside, and swung my rifle, striking the second escort with the butt.
I tripped the third escort charging at me, then aimed my rifle at Elisha.
The other escorts didn’t dare approach.
“You must be very curious about my information, Cadet Elisha.”
“…Cadet Martin.”
“Just ask me directly. I’m not kind enough to stay quiet after being spied on.”
Despite her flustered expression, Elisha, ever the proud Lady, met my gaze defiantly.
“I apologize for using the information broker. Shall we move elsewhere? There are too many ears here.”
She was haughty in a different way from the Princess.
If Princess Adela’s haughtiness was arrogant, the Lady’s was a prideful sort.
“Cancel the request first.”
Elisha turned to the information broker.
“…You heard him.”
“Understood. I confirm the cancellation of the request regarding Young Master Martin.”
Information brokers, like mercenaries, thrive on trust. Having said this in my presence, he’d likely keep his word.
“Let’s head to a hideout I know. …You lot, return.”
At Elisha’s command, her escorts vanished.
I followed Elisha to the hideout. As expected of one of the Four Great Ducal Families, they even had a hideout in such an alley.
Then—
“Huh?”
“Oh?”
“….”
The three of us ran into each other by chance.
“Gi-Gilbert? Why are you here…?”
“Elisha? And… Cadet Martin. That’s what I’d like to ask.”
I’d encountered someone I’d rather not have.
“I ran into Cadet Martin by chance.”
Elisha seemed eager to bury the information guild incident.
Revealing her secret would be amusing, but it’d feel like snitching to Gilbert, which I disliked.
“….”
Taking my silence as affirmation, Gilbert began explaining his situation.
“Good timing. Elisha, if you’re not busy, could you help me out?”
“Help you? Is this the urgent matter you mentioned?”
“Well… sort of.”
Gilbert had skipped the Dungeon Tournament, fearing his identity as the Fallen Crown Prince of the Cosmos Empire would be exposed, using the clichéd excuse of an urgent matter.
‘Ha, so both of them are lying, huh?’
What a ridiculous pair. I wondered what Recola would think seeing this. Would they be disillusioned with the characters they created? Or perhaps this was part of their plan.
They were quite the mastermind, after all.
“I’m tracking a criminal who infiltrated the capital.”
“A criminal?”
“A serial killer.”
“A serial killer?! …That’s news to me.”
Gilbert nodded, as if it were understandable.
“It’s only happened in the slums, so it hasn’t been widely reported. I stumbled upon it by chance.”
“Then why not inform the capital guards?”
“Well…”
He couldn’t say. The more entangled he got with authorities, the more people might dig into his true identity.
“I want to secure evidence first.”
A decent excuse. The slums were an area the capital guards avoided, passing responsibility to each other. Without solid evidence, they wouldn’t bother. After all, it was just a few slum dwellers.
“Hmm, where’s the crime scene?”
“The first incident occurred near Nerjin Alchemy Workshop, where I often commission artifact restoration. I’ll start investigating there.”
“Oh, that place…”
After hearing the rough explanation, Elisha glanced at me.
“Gilbert, wait a moment. I have something to resolve, but I’ll be quick.”
Me, who had been silent, interjected.
“…No, let’s handle the case first.”
Elisha and Gilbert’s eyes widened in surprise. I, Martin, had just offered to cooperate with them.
Hah, this was a problem. I didn’t know why I’d forgotten.
“Uh, what?”
“What did you say?”
“I’m saying I’ll join your little detective game.”
Perhaps my willingness was unexpected, as they showed rather fresh reactions.
Still, they couldn’t be as surprised as I was.
‘Hah… I completely forgot because of the Dungeon Tournament.’
Nerjin. The restorer who fixed the rosary from the Slime Dungeon. An extraordinary figure with an abnormal amount of knowledge about the Cosmos Empire. His granddaughter would die in this case.
The serial killer would massacre the slums, and among the victims was Nerjin’s granddaughter. In the original story, her appearance was brief and extra-like, with white-haired Nerjin crying out her name, ‘Bianca,’ at her grave.
But her death would lead Nerjin to his own demise.
***
Gilbert nodded readily.
“Very well. I’ll rely on you too, Cadet Martin.”
If I were the original Martin, it wouldn’t be strange for Gilbert to suspect me as the culprit.
‘His attitude toward me has oddly changed since the Dr. Keren incident.’
Gilbert calmly began explaining the case.
“The first incident occurred yesterday.”
It was when I was making a scene at the Dungeon Tournament, putting on a spectacular act in front of the Princess.
“The discoverer was Manager Nerjin, and I was asked to look into it shortly after.”
What a funny story. According to the original, he’d stumbled upon it while taking a walk. Piling lies on lies to keep up the deception was oddly amusing.
“There… well, I found a strange pattern.”
Gilbert pulled out a notebook, showing a pattern he’d recorded at the crime scene. The wavy, grotesque pattern was no ordinary graffiti—it was a complex, orderly formation with consistent rules.
“So…”
“Kyaaaah!”
A scream tore through the alley. The chilling sensation was unmistakably the final cry of a life at its end.
We rushed over, but the incident had already occurred. Elisha furrowed her brow.
“…Cruel.”
A body, presumably a woman, lay collapsed. Her head was shattered, and her brain and heart, which should’ve been there, were missing. No blood was found either. It was likely related to how the body was shriveled, like a fish dried out on a beach.
“Cadet Gilbert. May I ask one question?”
“Go ahead, Cadet Martin.”
“The material used to draw that strange formation… was it brain matter and blood?”
“…Yes.”
I’d asked knowing the answer, but it was revolting. Blood was too cliché, so they used brain matter for the pattern?
‘If this were just a psychopathic serial killer, I’d curse them for being insane.’
From a sacrificial perspective, it was almost praiseworthy.
‘Brain, heart, and blood, huh? Practical.’
They were the most valuable parts of a human offered as a sacrifice.
‘But was there really a need for this?’
From another angle, the culprit was skilled enough to extract only the brain, heart, and blood. Bones, muscles, and even mere flesh could hold meaning in a sacrifice, so why leave them behind?
‘They noticed us coming and fled!’
Wild Instinct (Lv 2) says you can catch them if you go now.
Know-It-All (Lv 2) analyzes the traces left by the culprit, predicting their escape route.
Movement (Lv 3) is ready to run.
Gripping my rifle, I dashed forward.
“Cadet Martin!”
“Where are you going!”
I heard them calling me from behind. They soon followed.
I looked down at the ground. My vision, enhanced by Wild Instinct, caught faint footprints in the dirt.
‘The footprints are small?’
They were like those of a 10-year-old child. Hardly those of an adult.
Then, as I was charging forward, I stopped abruptly.
“…?!”
They were gone! The footprints vanished.
‘What the…’
Wild Instinct and Know-It-All seemed confused, stuck in a loading state.
“Something’s off.”
This was strange. Truly strange. I’d followed because Wild Instinct and Know-It-All guided me, but the culprit revealed in the original was a woman our age.
‘Hah… What’s getting complicated now?’
In Dr. Keren’s lab, a Count-rank Demon from Hell appeared, something from the original’s mid-to-late story.
At the Dungeon Tournament, I had to face an unexpected battle with Platinum Knight Dominic.
What had changed this time?
‘Something’s changed here too…’
But it wasn’t exactly in a positive direction.
Wild Instinct (Lv 2) senses an enemy ambush!
I drew my rifle, turned, and aimed at Gilbert and Elisha. They froze in shock.
“Cadet Martin?!”
Gilbert’s hand went to his sword hilt.
Bang! A crisp gunshot rang out. A piercing bullet struck a monster that had sprung from his shadow without warning.
Gilbert slashed a monster emerging from Elisha’s shadow, and Elisha drew her bow, shooting a monster behind me.
It was perfect teamwork. Almost annoyingly so.
“….”
We watched each other’s backs, preparing for another attack.
“We’re surrounded.”
At my words, they looked around, but nothing was visible. I was sensing it through instinct. Countless killing intents emanated from the shadows of the alley, untouched by sunlight.
“Surrounded, are you sure?”
In response to Elisha’s question, I fired a shot into the darkness. The monsters’ cries echoed shrilly.
“….”
The cartridge ejected with a ‘ting,’ rolling on the ground. Elisha gave me a meaningful look as I reloaded the smoking rifle.
“I’ll admit it. Your instincts surpass those of ordinary people. Almost like…”
Elisha seemed to have more to say but swallowed her words, changing the topic.
“So, what’s the plan to get out of here?”
A plan to escape? Honestly, I didn’t have a great one.
“If we wait, the moment will come.”
But in the original, a situation like this happened once. Precisely today, probably around this time.
“You’re awfully optimistic. We followed you here.”
“Who told you to follow?”
“What did you say?”
As Elisha and I growled at each other, Gilbert forced a smile and intervened.
“Both of you, calm down. Let’s wait for the moment Martin mentioned.”
“…Fine. I don’t know if such a moment will come!”
Elisha’s sarcasm didn’t even warrant a response.
While we stood guard with no other choice, I finally sensed a presence.
“Southwest, first floor of a three-story house.”
Elisha questioned me.
“What?”
Rustle!
The sound of flipping paper rang out. Turning, I saw an old man standing in a dilapidated building—Nerjin, the manager of the alchemy workshop. He shuffled cards in his hand, drew one from the deck, and tossed it into the air.
“Everyone, run this way!”
A flash of light erupted, followed by the monsters’ pained groans. We fled toward Nerjin, jumping through the window of the ruined house and running to the other side.
“They’re chasing us!”
Elisha shouted. As she said, a black wave was surging—a wave of child-sized black monsters.
“Hm!”
Nerjin drew another card and threw it behind. A pillar of fire shot up where it landed, blocking the path.
“Let’s hurry while we have the chance.”
We managed to escape to Nerjin Alchemy Workshop. The demons seemed to give up, as they vanished halfway.
“To think such monsters were lurking in the heart of the capital.”
Elisha bit her lower lip in frustration. Gilbert bowed to Nerjin first.
“Thank you for your help.”
“No need to thank me. I should apologize, Gilbert. I didn’t know it’d be this dangerous.”
“No, it’s fine. But what were those things?”