Meeting the Witnesses
I met the witnesses. No special problems stood out about them.
"I saw it with my own eyes! Those bitches were running away loaded with food, their clothes splattered in blood!"
"I see. Do you remember specifically how much blood was on them?"
"Well... I don't remember that clearly. We were trying our best to hide so they wouldn't spot us."
"Hmm..."
"But they definitely killed someone! Their clothes were definitely bloody, and when we got back to the supply point later, a ton of supplies were gone!"
"I see."
"If you need more details, go talk to the merchants. They're probably still around here somewhere."
There was no room for doubt. Even pushing my abilities to the limit, they didn't seem to be lying. Their pupils were shaking a bit, but it wasn't fear of suspicion—it was just terror from reliving the memory. At the very least, what they'd seen was undeniably real.
I even checked the murder site myself, and an unmistakable crime scene awaited me. Countless bullets riddled into the display shelves showed traces of the brutal fight that had gone down there.
"Hmm..."
Seohee and I were on the move to find the merchants. Her expression wasn't great.
"A little..."
She glanced my way like she wanted to say something, then shook her head.
"Nah. Forget it. Sorry, don't mind me."
"If you've got something to say, spit it out now."
She let out a heavy sigh.
"I can't say for sure. But... something feels off."
"What does?"
"Those bitches have shitty personalities, sure, but they're not the type to just up and murder someone out of nowhere."
"Something hard to believe?"
"But then again, I can't just blindly suspect them either. It's not like they absolutely couldn't do it."
It was ambiguous. Too ambiguous to pin down anything for sure.
"They betrayed me once, and when you're starving, who knows what you'll do."
"Hmm..."
"Plus, those women at the mart? They weren't exactly normal. Total power-tripping assholes."
"Power-tripping?"
"Y'know... when you're stuck guarding some boring-ass supply point outside the base, not safe, not fun, your personality turns to shit."
This was info I didn't know. I wasn't fully clued in on how this world worked, after all.
"But the organization can't just send weaklings on important jobs like that, right? So they give 'em some leeway. Pretty generous leeway, too."
"Be specific."
"Like, they can use supplies however they want within reason, or overlook it if the girls there bitch out the others a bit. That kinda thing."
"..."
"A lot of people hated those women. Me and my crew included. Factoring that in, whatever went down wouldn't be that surprising."
My head was starting to ache. Too many variables to juggle.
"For now, let's talk to more people."
People aside, as I wandered the area, I kept my eyes on the dirt ground. Still gathering info. And soon enough, I'd be able to make it mean something.
"This seems like the spot?"
Facing the merchants, I couldn't help but let out a dry chuckle at the weird vibe. A few big cows were mooing peacefully in greeting.
"I'm a guy!"
"What brings you here?"
"Looking for a girlfriend? I'm the prettiest one here, though!"
They welcomed me like I'd just stepped off a red carpet.
"Nah, that's not it... I heard you witnessed a murder recently."
"Oh, you're here about that..."
"You with Seven Seed? Never heard they had such a hot guy!"
"Nah, I run a small group in Anseongu."
"There? Thought that place was a death trap! Impressive!"
"Thanks."
"Anseongu isn't that dangerous these days?"
"Pretty decent, actually. No elite monsters prowling the streets."
"Then we gotta visit sometime!"
"I'd be thrilled if you did. You sell ammo by any chance?"
"Ah, well..."
The merchants smacked their lips regretfully.
"We just sold out our last bullets right before you showed up. Too bad."
"Can't be helped."
"How about food instead?"
"We've got plenty of food, but... if something comes up later, it'd be great to trade."
"Ugh... such a shame. We'll definitely swing by sometime!"
"Anytime. We'd appreciate it."
We were already short on essentials since merchants didn't come around. Trading with them would benefit us both.
"Anyway, down to business."
They smacked their lips again, but I didn't have time to waste.
"I heard you saw someone get killed."
"Yeah! They didn't spot us, but we saw them!"
"Can you tell me exactly what happened?"
The merchant pondered for a sec, then nodded.
"Normally we'd charge for info like this... but you're cute, so freebie."
"Appreciate it."
"We were heading to the mart to trade."
"Trade?"
"Big groups like that always have surplus supplies. Us merchants make a living snagging that stuff."
"Ah..."
"Then those criminals showed up."
"Hmm..."
"They charged in outta nowhere, stabbed the people inside with clubs and knives, then finished 'em off with guns."
"Got it."
I committed her words to memory, feeling a twinge of unease.
"Grabbed the supplies and bolted. That's it. After they left, we checked for survivors..."
"All dead, huh."
"Yeah. We were so scared, we reported straight to Seven Seed HQ."
"Nothing else weird?"
"Weird? How could there be? We saw people die right in front of us, they looted and ran."
"Yeah. Thanks. That's plenty."
This time, I got something more substantial. I'd have to mull it over slowly to figure out what it meant.
"Catch you later."
"Yeah! Thanks for calling on us!"
After parting ways, I scrutinized the ground.
"Whatcha looking at?"
"Tracks. Nothing major—just confirming 'yep, those are merchant tracks.'"
"You can tell from that? Like when we found Soi?"
"To a degree."
Of course, I couldn't be 100% sure. A decent amount of time had passed since the murder, and plenty of people and zombies had tromped through in the meantime. Still, it wasn't impossible. I methodically hunted for traces.
And I scored some pretty meaningful intel.
"Way too many weird things."
"...You think so?"
Seohee tilted her head.
"Didn't you feel it too? Seemed like you did."
"Nah, I wasn't blind to it... but I'm involved, y'know? Figured I might be overthinking."
"Nah. It's definitely off to me."
Too many questions. Too many unexplained bits.
"But we shouldn't judge till we've heard from everyone involved."
"Judge?"
"Yeah. We can't hear from the dead, fine—but we haven't talked to your crew yet."
It wouldn't be simple.
"Thought you'd just kill 'em outright."
"Gotta hear 'em out first."
I gave a wry smile. Might just be digging up useless truth. Maybe it'd be better to wrap it up with 'you fucked up, end of story.'
But I didn't want that.
"Let's find 'em."
/////
It didn't resolve right away. I had to patiently sniff out a ton of scents. Twice, I chased the wrong ones and ended up meeting random survivors. Awkward chit-chat, then back on the hunt.
Had to move with Seohee, who had speed limits and needed sleep, so no rushing. Still, I kept going. Sniffing scents, analyzing footsteps, searching and searching.
Enough time passed that it felt like I'd scoured every survivor trace outside Seven Seed territory.
And I bore fruit.
"...That them?"
I figured it'd be another bust. I hated the ones who'd tied up Seohee, but I couldn't remember their faces. Only glimpsed 'em once through the convenience store glass.
But not Seohee.
"...Yeah. Found 'em."
She was trembling. Tears welling faintly in her eyes.
"Good. Then—"
Before I could finish, she shot forward like a bullet.
"You fucking bastards!!!!!"
Gripping her new nail-studded bat tight.