Chapter 281: Chapter 199: Horrible Realization
Closing his eyes, Adryan took a deep breath and sighed.
Already calmer in mind, Adryan opened his eyes that had turned cold.
Approaching the boy who was already selling several newspapers, Adryan reached into his pocket and pulled out a penny.
"Give me one" The redhead said in a deep, heavy voice.
The boy who had his back on Adryan smiled at a new sale.
"Of course sir! Here you go-" Turning around with that business smile, the boy held out the newspaper to the man but froze upon seeing his cold red eyes.
He even stopped breathing for a few seconds.
Seeing what he had done, Adryan sighed and relaxed his gaze.
"And my newspaper?" He asked with a calmer and more soft voice and this made the boy react but now he had a very shaky smile and was very pale.
Swallowing, the boy shakily extended the newspaper to the man and took the coin.
"T-Thank you S-Sir. H-have a-nice day." The boy stammered and stuttered with his words but Adryan just nodded in response.
Turning away from the terrified boy, Adryan read the front page of the newspaper.
"You almost scared the kid to death you know?" Flora commented but was ignored by Adryan.
Clicking her inexistent tongue, Flora was going to complain about that but she swallowed her words as she read what the redhead was reading.
<Tom Catnuss, widower and single father of a child was brutally murdered in an alleyway outside the Residential Building where he lived with his daughter.
After investigation, it was determined that Tom died Tuesday night after returning from work.
The remains of the body were discovered the following day by a police officer.
The man's body was mutilated in such a way that only a mass of flesh and his left hand remained. As if it were a dark joke made by a demon, he was only identified by a scar on that hand.
His only daughter, Jerry Catnuss 14 years old, disappeared and was last seen by a neighbor who saw Jerry leave the room she shared with her father when she was going to the bathroom on the same night as the murder but did not see or hear Jerry return.
A small search was started but there is not much hope of finding her...>
Adryan crumpled the newspaper in his hands and began to tremble slightly.
He immediately recognized the style of Tom's killer. The brutal style with which the man was killed was identical to an artifact that hungered for human flesh and only one name popped into his mind.
The actual owner of that artifact.
He clenched his fists tighter and exhaled again a little more hoarse.
"Qilangos..." The redhead growled and spat out the name with an ice-cold tone that seem to burn with anger. His scarlet eyes glowed with bloodlust.
"Adryan?" Flora asked carefully. This was the first time she had seen the redhead so angry and she wasn't quite sure what to do.
She didn't have much experience with this kind of thing.
Sigh*
Releasing a slow sigh, Adryan relaxed his fists and his expression became serene but there was still anger dancing deep within his eyes.
"I'm fine" The redhead said calmly in an emotionless tone that worried the worm lady a lot...
"Are you really sure about that?" Flora questioned, clearly not buying at all what the man said.
The redhead didn't answer immediately, instead, he walked over to a garbage can and tossed the ruined newspaper into it.
Walking away from the dumpster and still with his shopping bag in his hand, Adryan suddenly said with the same emotionless tone.
"I'm fine Flora. I'm just a little angry"
He wouldn't lose control like he did last time.
Flora wanted to bite her non-existent tongue when she heard that tone that made her shudder uncomfortably but she remained calm and spoke carefully.
"Adryan it wasn't your fault" Flora tried to console as best she could but due to her lack of experience, it sounded a bit forced. She had heard the name of the Pirate Admiral Qilangos but did not understand why the redhead would say it.
'Was he the one who did it? But how does he know? And how is he so sure of that?' She swallowed those questions and kept trying to comfort the redhead.
Hearing what Flora had said, Adryan could barely refrain from letting out a laugh.
'I'm not so sure about that Flora' He thought heavily as he walked with silent steps.
He knew what Qilangos did in his time on Backlund but he hadn't thought deeply about what the pirate had done.
But after this?
All kinds of thoughts fill his mind, feeding into his anger and hate.
Qilangos had to kill one person a day to prevent Creeping Hunger from devouring him but Adryan had never wondered who had been the glove's food.
How many fathers and mothers had he killed? Were there children on the glove menu? Considering the man's cruel personality, there was no denying the possibility that he could have done it...
With that in mind, Adryan reached into his pocket and pulled out the Burnt Band, and placed it on his left arm.
"Sigh* I thought you would take a break today?" Flora asked with a sigh, already having an idea of what the man wanted to do.
At the question, Adryan laughed darkly and slowly shook his head.
"You know what they say, right? There is no rest for the wretched"
With that said, Adryan walked and entered a dark alley. Taking a step into the shadows, he was engulfed in them and disappeared in an instant.
...
Wolf Troath.
Inside the Residential Building where Jerry lived.
Inside the small room 23 on the third floor...
Adryan was standing in the middle of the room dressed as Mr. Holmes, the dark eyes in his gloomy mask looking around the room taking in every detail like the finest of cameras.
The room was no longer what he remembered. The walls that previously had newspapers pasted on them were now empty, leaving only the old brown color of the walls. The little kitchen in the corner was clean.
Turning his head slightly, he saw how the door of the room had police tape around it, closing the room as a place of investigation.
Releasing a silent sigh, Adryan looked at the ground.
His Sequence 7 Pyromaniac eyes and nose easily found footprints of different sizes along with different scents in the air.
This caused the redhead to click his tongue in annoyance.
"They made it look like they cleaned the room but in reality, they only cleaned the walls, the kitchen, and changed the sheets but nothing else."
He could still smell the scent of Jerry and Tom on the mattress.
"It seems that as soon as they close the investigation the Landlord plans to have the room rented out as soon as possible." Flora pointed and Adryan nodded in agreement.
"He may be a piece of shit but at least he made my job easier. I can easily track Jerry down thanks to him." Adryan said then chuckled darkly.
"In the East Borough, no normal person could clean a room well enough to hide from me" The masked man said predatoryly as he looked around with cold eyes.
With the increased ability he had as a Pyromaniac to track people. One would have to douse the room with chlorine to ruin his sense of smell and even then he would still be able to follow the invisible trail they left behind as they fled, a trail only a hunter can see.
Focusing his scarlet eyes on the ground while using his sense of smell, Adryan easily picked up Jerry's trail.
He noticed how the trace circled the room several times as if she had been anxious to then stop for a long time in front of the window.
Looking out the window, Adryan watched as it faced an alleyway with police tape covering it.
"..." He felt how his heart clenched but he didn't show it.
With serious eyes, the redhead followed the trail out of the room, out of the building, and onto the street...
Using the shadows to hide, Adryan looked to where Jerry's trail led.
Jerry's trail stopped momentarily in front of the alley closed off with police tape, then into the darkness of it.
'Oh no...' Flora thought, extremely concerned for the redhead who had remained still, still as a statue.
Adryan's scarlet eyes turned so cold they would freeze the soul of anyone who looked at his eyes. He could feel his blood burn with fury at the horrible realization that came.
A realization that Flora also arrived but didn't dare to say because of what it meant.
According to the newspaper, Jerry was last seen leaving the room on the night of her father's murder.
Jerry's trail led to the alley...
'The policeman wasn't the first to find the body... It was Jerry' Adryan thought as he clenched his gloved fists with such force that it almost broke his skin.
He knew what that meant...
It didn't just mean that Jerry had seen the nightmarish image of what was left of her father...
But it is also very likely that she has run into his murderer.
Adryan said nothing, he just relaxed his fists and taking a step he disappeared into the shadows.
Stepping out of the shadows, Adryan reappeared in the alley.
Looking around, the masked man frowned slightly.
The police may have done a better job here than in the room, but he could still smell the blood in the air amid the stink of the alley itself.
He could recognize the scent of the owner of the blood being Tom Catnuss, Jerry's father.
Adryan took a deep breath and frowned.
'Creeping Hunger is very useful, isn't it Qilangos? ' The redhead thought coldly.
He couldn't smell the Pirate Admiral and he knew why. It was because he had used the Faceless ability on the glove to hide his scent.
Faceless Sequence 6 of the Seer Pathway could not only change appearance at will but he could also change the smell he gave off becoming the 'perfect disguise'
Looking at the ground, Adryan groaned slightly.
'You also covered your tracks...' Shaking his head, Adryan sighed in disappointment.
His target was a Pirate Admiral of Sequence 6, it was obvious that it wouldn't be that easy.
Narrowing his eyes, Adryan looked up from the ground and down the alley.
'That does not matter now...'
He would chase Qilangos another time, he had detected something else when he entered the alley.
Jerry's trail continued!
Adryan watched as the trail stopped for a few moments in front of a stain on the wall before running toward the end of the alley.
Looking at the stain on the wall, Adryan's expression softened.
Tom's scent was stronger there.
That was where the body had been...
Saying nothing, Adryan walked up to face it, and dropping to one knee, he lowered his head and placed his right hand on his chest.
"I'm sorry I couldn't protect you Tom and that you had to die like this but I promise to you. I promise that I will find your daughter and keep her safe"
With that said, Adryan stood up and in front of the mark he saluted.
Paying his respects, Adryan turned and ran to the end of the alley following the trail Jerry had left which had become easier because she now had the scent of her father's blood.
The masked man couldn't help but smile sadly.
'Even in death, a father will find a way to protect his daughter...' The redhead thought with a heavy heart.
Shaking his head slightly, the redhead quickened his pace, following the path that the father had made so Adryan could reach his daughter.
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