Chapter 507
Chapter 507
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 507
Chapter Title: Junior Priest Kim Katt
-----------------------------------------------------------------
"Seriously, blackie cum... How the hell am I supposed to wash this off..."
Winia said, staring at the bed and blankets that had turned into a total mess from my massive wet dream. Her thigh, where she'd been sleeping next to me, was soaked with my semen too.
"Hah. If I'd known it'd be like this, I should've just let you finish last night. Sorry, blackie. I didn't think it'd build up this much in just one day."
Out of nowhere, Winia apologized to me like she'd been struck by lightning.
No, this is something I should be apologizing for.
"No, it's not like that... Sorry. Why'd this happen all of a sudden today?"
Hildegart, you bitch.
"Maybe it's because you slept somewhere comfortable?"
"Sis is right. You hold back when you're on the job, blackie."
Anyway, washing up turned out to be a hassle, so we ended up getting ready late and heading out to work. That unexpected wet dream had wasted some of our morning.
Such bullshit.
Before we started properly searching the forest, I grabbed a few villagers and warned them.
"We're heading out on patrol now, so I won't be able to protect the village while I'm gone. Be careful on your own. Even if it's bright around here, stay vigilant and don't go anywhere alone."
"Ah, got it, Priest. When do you think you'll be back, by any chance?"
For now, I planned to keep sleeping in the village and do the searches from there.
"Around sunset. Alright then."
With that, we ventured into the forest.
The first place we checked was the crime scene. After getting guided around all day yesterday, finding the way wasn't hard. There were a lot of victims near the forest, so the chances were high that the culprit was hiding right in there.
With the murders piling up, folks from the surrounding villages were all hunkering down. If this guy's a lust murderer, he'd probably lose it soon and go completely insane from holding back his killing urge.
If he snapped completely, he might even come charging straight at the village.
That would be a problem.
Anyway, I channeled my serial killer senses to the max and tracked the bastard. Nothing special about it. I just imagined myself as a indiscriminate serial killer and thought about how I'd move.
"Hmm... blackie. Come to think of it, there were those adventurers who came first, right? They must've been tracking the killer just like us."
"Probably."
According to the villagers, no bodies from that adventurer party had been found. They were all listed as missing. So maybe they'd chased deep into the forest and gotten ambushed there.
They were here to work, so they'd have tracked diligently, no doubt.
Par for the course with a D-rank party.
If we went a bit deeper and found their bodies... that'd be the jackpot. But even a murder-addicted psycho would switch bases if he realized people were onto him.
Still, with a fresh kill just recently... who the hell knows. It didn't make logical sense.
"Let's start by looking for that. Five of them moving together, so we'll find traces eventually. They went missing in the forest, so they might've been out here a few days."
Sure enough, after investing a few hours like Winia suggested, we found signs of a campfire.
Charred wood fragments were scattered around.
They'd probably gathered there before vanishing—eating, warming up. It was getting chilly this time of year.
Searching the area, we picked up signs that a few people had been camped out.
"But is this really the adventurers' trace?"
"Hmm..."
Truth be told, the serial killer could've been a group, and this might be their mark. Could even be Ezats remnants. That'd explain the random murders too. Just a possibility, though.
For now, let's assume it's the adventurers and keep searching.
What kind of lunatic would light a fire and hang out here with a killer on the loose? If there were idiots like that, dying would be divine judgment. Not villagers, that's for sure.
"Let's head deeper in for now."
Even if we didn't catch the killer today, finding those adventurer bodies would be progress. That's what we'd come for, after all.
And so we trekked through the dense woods.
Tracking got way easier from here. Traces of multiple people moving were right there in front of us.
We followed the path, getting our bearings. I do this crap all the time, so I'm getting better at it. Tracking skills, I guess—following trails.
Maybe my field of vision's widened too.
"Smell... Katt. Over there."
It was about time to head back when Claudy pointed off to the side. Something like a weird smell was drifting over.
This familiar stench? Rotting corpse.
"Adventurers?"
Winia said, pulling on a mask.
"Probably."
We hurried over, and sure enough, there was a mangled body sprawled out. The stink was pouring off it.
But just one?
It was a whole party... maybe the others were nearby.
"Claudi, Winia. Keep watch around and check for more bodies nearby. I'll search this one."
"Got it."
I left it to Claudy and Winia, snapped off a stick, and flipped the corpse. It was in bad shape. No salvaging anything like this. Looting a rotting body like that spreads diseases.
Anyway, I checked it over carefully to avoid any fluids splashing.
The body was dressed properly—weapons intact, even gauntlets on. Looked like standard D-rank adventurer gear.
The sword nearby seemed usable too... No way I'd dirty my blade with rot-stink, so I used his sword to carefully slice open his clothes and rummage through.
He'd been slashed up anyway, so peeling off the clothes was easy. Definitely killer work.
I pulled out whatever items I could and laid them on the ground. His possessions were mostly intact.
"..."
This is fucked up weird.
Kill a guy like this and not loot his pockets? Just the gauntlets and sword alone would fetch a few silvers easy.
Why the hell didn't the killer farm him?
"...Shit."
A chill ran down my spine.
Even if you rounded up a truckload of killers, you'd never find one who'd ambush an armed guy just to murder for no gain. No matter how brutal the criminal, they always rifle through pockets after a kill. Basic common sense.
—But there's one type it doesn't apply to.
A guy with a completely alien mindset.
A natural-born serial killer.
So it's purely about killing people? No need for loot or anything. Just people.
This body, with its stuff untouched, started feeling horrifying... Worse than Ezats. He even had cash on him. I'll launder it and use it.
"Katt, no other bodies around. This one's the only one."
"Weird. Dying here alone... What's the point?"
Claudi and Winia came back.
Looked like the killer had the skills to take a D-rank party. Sliced one up, and the rest bolted.
Natural-born serial killer.
High chance he's that strong.
The other adventurers' bodies had to be somewhere nearby-ish.
Still, D-ranks know their way around a blade... Beat them all solo and make them run? The deeper I look, the stranger this case gets.
Even famed detective Kim Katt's stumped.
Today's haul: one body. I took 5 silvers 27 coppers and his guild plate from his pockets.
Too contaminated for more.
Sky was darkening. On the way back, I shared my doubts and guesses with the girls. Both Claudy and Winia looked pretty baffled too.
"Killing without taking anything is rare. Maybe those heretics?"
"Sis. Monster odds?"
"Body was sword-killed, so unless it's a sword monster, it's human."
Heretic likelihood highest, huh.
We got back to the village right as it got dark.
"The priest is back!"
"We're here. Anything happen in the village?"
"Nothing. But the killer...?"
A few villagers had been waiting with lanterns and rushed over asking questions. I shook my head.
"Didn't find him."
"Ah..."
"But we did find the body of those adventurers who came before. Looked like the killer got them. Just to check—when the village victims' bodies were found, were their belongings missing?"
The villagers said nothing was taken. Details matched—no looted bodies. Same perp. We called it for tomorrow and turned in.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ We spent the next three days combing the area around the village.
Found all the adventurers' bodies. No big differences from the first one. They must've run together and gotten picked off one by one—like sausages on a string. Seasoned-with-the-blade adventurers just fleeing and dying singly...
Anyway, turning in their plates to the guild should count as completion. Losing core D-ranks hurts the guild bad.
No new village victims in those three days.
Did the killer bail? Whatever, the guild quest was just investigation.
Villagers'd be bummed, we'd have wasted time, but no penalty. Still, a psycho like that wouldn't leave. Obsessed with killing. Maybe fled to the next village over.
He won't stop murdering.
We tore up that forest and no ambush. Didn't even sense a presence. Should we check the next village?
"Priest! Big trouble!"
"What?"
A villager came running up in a panic, so I bolted out. Killer show up? Nah, something else.
"Th-that!"
"No way!"
"Is that really happening?!"
People were crowding and murmuring. Looked like someone from the next village over had shown up. Pale as death, he was yelling like he was puking blood.
"It was... an insanely skilled swordsman! He slaughtered my companions without breaking a sweat! I barely escaped!"
"Hmm..."
He said he'd been heading to Isvant with buddies to sell goods when they got jumped. Killer popped out of nowhere, massacred the group, and he barely made it here.
Guess he did flee to the next village. Should've moved sooner. Let's head there today.
"Tell me the details. I'm a junior priest of the Brass Celestial Society. Here to resolve this mess."
"P-Priest?!"
I grabbed his shoulder and asked. He broke down crying once he heard that. I calmed him and got the full story.
"Sniff... He was a monster... swordsman! Can't forget that black sword!"
"Black sword?"
"Yes! He butchered my friends with that black sword! Not human! Knight-level skill!"
Country bumpkins wouldn't know knight skill. But if they rate him that high, he's damn good with a blade.
Village farmers have work-hardened muscles, carry tools or arms for defense. But even so, against a D-rank slayer, one's enough solo.
"Five of us... I'm the only one who barely got away...! Sob!"
"Explain how you escaped."
"Well..."
They scattered different ways the second they realized it was the rumored killer. He saw two definitely die, doesn't know about the rest. Thinks they're dead since he survived—the killer chased the opposite direction.
"Good. Then we're going there."
"Y-Yes?!"
"It's for the public good. Follow even if you're scared. We leave now."