“Do you have a strong stomach?” The half-wolf questioned Eliz, who was looking away curiously.

“Yes?”

Luke called her close with his right hand, whose rubber glove was already entirely red with blood, and when the woman approached, he showed that he was holding a scroll inside Downey’s body.

However, there was one important detail: a small metal wire was tied to the paper, already pulled by the boy. Fearing it was the wire of a trap, the woman said:

“Easy… That is, isn’t it?”

“It probably is.” Luke said, nodding, “Go to his mouth and open it slowly.”

Even with trepidation, Eliz complied with the request, went to the man’s mouth, and as requested, opened the jaw of Downey’s corpse.

‘He must have had a nice smile…’ She thought when she saw the man’s white, lined teeth. Whenever she caught a glimpse of him around the guild, he was wearing the helmet of his armor, which cast quite a shadow on his face.

When she opened his mouth and could also see the dead man’s tongue, she noticed a string tied to his tongue and a tiny scroll. ‘Whew, it’s not a trap…’ Eliz thought, reassured.

“There’s just another scroll here.” The woman said to the half-wolf.

“Sigh… I’ll take this one out then.” He sighed in relief and spoke.

It was not difficult to remove the rolled-up paper. By the edges, the boy and the woman slowly moved it around, still a little fearful, and removed it fluidly.

Knowing he couldn’t read it, Luke didn’t even try and just held out the parchment to the woman.

Eliz didn’t catch the possibility that the boy couldn’t read, so she thought he was being courteous and respecting her authority. She smiled as she took the paper from his hand and began to read the message written in scribbled, almost illegible letters:

[Can you see me in the dark? Look closely, and you will see that I am watching you].

The macabre message could be interpreted in many ways, and the first thing Luke said when he heard it was:

“Poor guy… someone used him to try to prove something.” The half-wolf, for the first time since learning of Downey’s death, felt free to mourn his death.

“Such a brutal murder…to what end?” Eliz said, looking at the body beside her, whose guts were exposed.

Luke covered the man’s body again. “Read the smaller one, please.”

The woman carefully opened the small paper that was gooey and smelly. Eliz almost couldn’t believe it when she saw the contents and turned to see front and back again and again. “There is only one ‘J’ written on it.” She said incredulously.

Using her opposable thumbs and index fingers, she displayed the paper, and there was only a ‘J’ and a faintly bloody fingerprint.

Luke took it carefully and brought the paper up to his nose. If there were any remnants of the killer’s scent, he could tell when he was close. Fniff! Fniff! He sniffed twice and held the odor some time in his system.

“Nothing, there is just a strong smell of stomach acid.”

“Sigh…” Eliz sighed loudly and stowed the two scrolls in a pouch on her belt, similar to the one Luke had. “Wait! Does the message say ‘Dark’?” She wondered and took the larger paper out of the pouch and started reading it again.

The boy was confused and just wanted to get out of that place as fast as possible, after all, there was now an assassin and Nathalia was alone in the other room.

“This is it!” Afraid, she exclaimed and grabbed Luke’s clothes, “There’s a place called ‘Dark’ in Vasconcelos.”

“What? A place?”

“Yes! It’s near the port… and it was a drug-selling point until a few months ago. Today, that place is empty, so maybe there could be stuff there… You agreed to be the first choice for an eventual mission, this is your chance, will you take it?”

The half-wolf turned around, opened the door, and said seriously, “One part of me wants to solve this, and the other part asks me not to get involved. If my partner wants to, we can try to find this killer, if not, we’ll reject it and keep looking for the missing.”

“She’s just a girl, are you going to want to involve her in this?”

Luke ignored her and left the autopsy room. Although he knew he would gain visibility from this mission, he still wanted to discover the mystery behind the grim messages.

The elf upon seeing her companion stood up from the chair in which she was sitting. “So, were you able to figure out the type of poison?”

“It wasn’t a poison.”

Nathalia bit her lips and looked down, even more frustrated. Murder was not quite what she had hoped for in her second week as an adventurer.

“Do you want to go back to the quests? There are two more to go before you reach Class E.”

“Or would you rather find and punish the murderer?” Eliz intruded on the conversation.

Looking at Luke, the girl couldn’t tell which of the two options he wished to pursue because he was as expressionless as he usually was. Since he rarely expressed his desires, Nathalia knew that she would have to decide that on her own as well.

‘Arrest an assassin or fulfill two Class F missions? Urghh… No, I have to think about which will increase my glory more. If what Eliz said is true, the murder took place in a guild building, and solving this case would guarantee me some recognition, no? But my mother is part-owner of this Dungeon and sponsor of the guild. That wouldn’t be a good idea for our image…’

Taking all the time she needed to think, Nathalia considered several different possibilities and scenarios before making her decision, after all, she received mentoring for just such situations. Despite her desire to get justice, she feared the consequences of this for her family.

‘How do the spiders, the Upper Goblins, and this murder connect? I have to find out!’

Seeing the elf’s red eyes burn in determination, Luke didn’t wait for her to answer, he turned and said to Eliz, “We’re going to the Dark.”

“Dark?” Confused, Nathalia inquired.

“The killer left two clues, but I’ll explain that on the way. Now, we should go.” Luke said to the girl. “Eliz, where is this Dark One?”

“Near the docks, there is a tavern, called Cat’s Eyes, next to it is an alley that will lead to a small square in the middle a few blocks away. This square is the Dark.”

The half-wolf nodded to him and started to leave.

“Don’t forget to go to the Dungeon to report back if you find anything relevant.”

Without further delay, the pair of Class F Adventurers left the Necrotarium. However, they still did not know how difficult this mission would be, which would completely change the worldviews of both the Elf and the half-wolf.

——

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