Chapter 24: A Dangerous Game
Roy pushed open one of the large church-like doors of the Silver Wolf guild house. The hall was quiet, eerily so.
Looking around the hall, Roy examined tables of unconscious men whose rough hands were still tightly grasping empty mugs; It seemed the vast majority of the guild members were still recovering from a night of drinking. Only a few lucid men stood tall in their seats, watching him with displeased expressions.
'It seems I'm not welcome no matter where I go,' Roy thought.
Roy approached a blue-haired woman who stood behind a counter in the back of the hall. Her gaze scrutinized him thoroughly, and her face remained stern as he arrived at the counter.
"Excuse me, but have you seen two people come in here recently: One with red hair, another with a hood?" Roy asked optimistically.
The woman responded with a cold tone, "You mean those outsiders? Yes, I have. Are you an outsider as well who's come to look for them?"
Roy — having learned his lesson from interacting with other townsfolk — didn't hesitate to lie, "Nope. I live on the south side of town and have reason to believe that those two have done something unlawful. I want to speak to them personally to find out for myself."
The woman's face softened slightly at his words, "Oh? Those outsiders are causing trouble? Typical. Well, what do you want to know about them? The name's Cassie by the way. "
Roy inwardly heaved a sigh of relief before speaking, "I'm Roy. Can you tell me why they were here, and if possible, where they went?"
"They came looking to join the guild, but you know how it is with outsiders. I told them them to kill a Rank 3 in the Reinheld Woodland," Cassie said with a smug smile.
Roy's heart sank at her response, "You what!"
Cassie flashed a look of confusion before speaking, "What's wrong? That's how we usually deal with their kind."
Roy regained his composure as he suppressed his anger, "Ahem- Sorry about that, I'm just desperate to find them is all. Anyway, did they agree?"
Cassie's grin expanded, "Ha! Yeah, they did! What complete fools, am I right? They seriously believe that they can kill a Rank 3; How ridiculous!"
Roy wanted to die in that moment, and he spoke with a trembling voice, "Tell me. Did the woman with red hair go with the one in a hood?"
"I'm not entirely sure, but she seemed pretty connected with the other woman, so I'd assume so."
'Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! If something happens to Raya… I don't want to imagine the outcome…' Roy thought, his mood becoming gloomy, but then his attention moved onto what Cassie said.
Roy's interest was peaked as he spoke, "You said 'other' woman?"
"Yeah, it was two women. The hooded girl was one rude bastard, let me tell you."
'It's a woman? Not a man? Interesting,' Roy thought.
"Tell me, did anything about the hooded girl seem suspicious to you?" Roy asked.
"Something suspicious? Not really, other than the fact that she hid behind a hood. Why do you ask?" Cassie asked.
"No reason, in particular," Roy said, his gaze falling on a broken table with a man soundly asleep beside it; The sleeping man had a bloodied face with an ice pack resting on it.
"What happened over there?" Roy asked curiously, his gaze lingering on the unconscious man.
"That outsider beat him to a pulp. Typical outsider behavior, needlessly violent. Seriously, why do we even let them inside?" Cassie said with a look of disdain.
"Let me guess? With one punch?" Roy asked, looking back at the woman.
"That's right. How'd you know?" Cassie asked, surprised.
"I have experience with this sort of thing," Roy said with a smirk before approaching the sleeping man, "Hey, buddy. Wake up, will you?" He said, lightly kicking the man.
The man jolted awake and the ice pack slid off his face, revealing the horribly swollen eye underneath.
"What the? What do you want?" The man asked, obviously annoyed that his sleep had been interrupted.
"You good? What happened?" Roy asked.
"Do I look good to you!" The man barked, followed soon by a sigh, "That damn woman hit me! Can you believe that? Why are people so aggressive nowadays? I just don't understand," He said, shaking his head.
"Yeah, it looks like you've really been through it," Roy said, feigning a sense of empathy.
"I have. Can't an old man just enjoy a drink every once in a while? Dammit."
"Tell me, mister-"
"Call me Tom; That's my name," The man named Tom said, lifting himself from the floor to take a seat in a nearby chair.
"Call me Roy, then," Roy said, taking the seat beside the man, "Tell me, Tom, did you notice anything strange about the girl who hit you?"
"Other than her monstrous strength?" Tom asked, falling into thought.
"That's right," Roy said.
"Monstrous? Monster? Oh, that's right! Those freaky ass eyes!" Tom said, his eyes widening as he remembered the moment he was punched.
Roy was bewildered by Tom's sudden statement, "What do you mean?"
Tom quickly spoke, "Her eyes, they were weird as hell."
"How so?"
"They weren't normal. Her pupils were wrong, you know? Not like a human's… More like an animal's or beast's," Tom said, recalling the fierce glare of the girl that was burned into his memories.
Roy heard only a single word, 'Beast?'
Roy leaned forward over the wooden table, resting his chin on clasped hands as he said, "This has been very helpful. Thank you. I hope you recover soon."
"No problem," Tom said, standing to leave, "Welp, see ya. Better get home soon, or my bitch of a wife will nag me to high hell; Damn witch."
As Tom the drunkard left, Roy fell into thought.
'This could be a problem. If I'm right, and this mysterious woman is, in fact, the wise beast, Raya could be in some serious trouble. And that's not even considering the fact that she might be fighting a Rank 3 in the Reinheld Woodland. I may very well lose my job after this; The least I can do is catch the wise beast in the process. Other than that, I can only pray to the many gods for Raya's safety.'
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Zulu approached the wooden gate with a massive bear paw clutched in his left hand, and a dagger in his right.
"Good gods, you actually succeeded?" One of the guards atop the wall said in astonishment.
Zulu looked at the bear paw in his hand and nodded, "Sure did."
"You're stronger than you look, outsider; I'll give you that. Alright, come on in, but where's your friend?" The guard asked, seeing that Zulu was alone.
Zulu flashed a bewildered expression — not that his face could be seen under the hood anyway — and said, "What are you talking about? I haven't seen her."
"Huh, really? She said she was going after you. I guess she failed. Oh well, I'm sure she'll return soon."
The wooden gates broke apart and Zulu entered Noelenwood once again.
'Now I just need to become a member of the guild, get the token, and return to the light mage; Then I can finally get rid of this curse,' Zulu thought.
However, as Zulu walked towards the Silver Wold guild house, a familiarly disheveled man veered off the main road and down a side path, pulling his gaze.
'That guy? Hehehe, it seems fate rewards those who are patient,' Zulu thought, a wide grin forming on his face.
Zulu quickly followed Tom down the side path, activating [Creep], and keeping himself out of sight as he followed.
After a few minutes of stalking, Zulu watched Tom as he entered a ramshackle wooden home.
The house was only ten meters in width with two cracked windows and a simple brick chimney. The house's entrance consisted of a splintered wood door that hung on by a thread with two busted hinges; It seemed as though someone had been trying to bust it down.
Zulu stealthy crept up the house's door, and he could make out the sound of heated bickering on the other side. He pressed his ear up to the door in order to listen in on the argument; Though his fox hearing made it an unnecessary action.
"Yeah, I was!"
"What? Getting drunk? How is that making money, you stupid man!"
"Dammit, woman! I'm trying, okay? Who cares if those damned collectors show up again? They never do anything anyway!"
"Don't do anything? Look at the house, you fool! It's been broken all to hell! Not that you would notice, you're always out getting hammered!"
'Domestic dispute? I'm sure I could help with that,' Zulu thought.
Zulu calmly pushed open the door, and all conversation immediately ceased.
"Please, give us another week!" The female voice begged, "We don't have your money!"
Zulu closed the damaged door behind him as he entered the house. After doing so, he lowered his hood, revealing his identity to the pair.
"A woman?" The wife said, surprised that the collectors sent a thin girl this time.
The woman was advanced in age, somewhere in her mid-fifties. Her hair was a mixture of black and gray, tied into a messy bun. Her clothes were simple and unwashed. She was thin with terribly pale skin; She looked as though she hadn't eaten in a week.
"You!" Tom said, taking a step back.
Tom's wife looked at him incredulously, "Seriously? You're afraid of some little girl? I can't believe I married such a pathetic man," She said, shaking her head.
"Shut up, woman! What do you know? She's the one who gave me this, see?" Tom said, pointing to his swollen eye.
"Gods, you're even more pathetic than I thought," His wife said with a sigh, "Hurry up and beat this stupid girl; Maybe then you could reclaim your manhood," She said with a snort.
Zulu broke into their conversation, "As fun as this marital banter is, I'm afraid your husband tried to stab me in the back. For that, he will become my food."
The wife's face contorted with confusion at those words, "Huh? What the hell are you talking-"
Before the woman could finish her sentence, her throat erupted with a wave of crimson, painting the door red. She dropped to her knees before growing still, her face slamming into the wood floor soon thereafter.
"H-Honey?" Tom said, his face going pale.
Zulu had reappeared behind the woman, grasping a bloodied dagger.
"W-What have you done?" Tom asked, terror gripping his body. His mind was screaming at him to run away, but he had long lost his legs to fear. He was a lamb to the slaughter, and that fact filled his heart with a dense dread.
"I'm hungry," Zulu said, instantly moving with a [Dash], reappearing beside Tom before slitting his throat with one swift motion.
Tom fell forward before slamming face-first into the floor, soon becoming limp and devoid of life.
The quaint household grew quiet as the dysfunctional couple left the world as one. The floor was drenched in a shallow layer of red liquid; Every step Zulu took was followed by a light plop.
'Damn, I've become quite desensitized to violence. Whatever, time for lunch,' Zulu thought, quickly consuming the corpses of the couple.
'This thing sure is helpful,' Zulu thought, playing with the eight-inch dagger in his hand, 'Biting people in my human form doesn't seem too effective, considering my small mouth and flat teeth. Hopefully, upgrading [Corporeal Illusion] will be able to eliminate some of those limitations.'
After finishing his meal, Zulu cleaned the blood off his body before departing the house of bones.
After a few minutes of walking, Zulu arrived at the Silver Wolf guild house. He pushed open one of the doors and approached the counter.
The blue-haired attendant, Cassie, was shocked by his return, but formed an arrogant grin instead, "Returning already? It's okay if you were too weak to defeat a Rank 3; It just means that you're not allowed to join our guild. You can leave now," She said, shooing him away.
Zulu ignored her provocation and placed the large bear paw on the counter with a thud. He simply smiled at her dumbfounded expression and said, "How's this?"
"Uh- You really succeeded? There's no way! This must be some kind of a mistake. This must be a Rank 2. I'm sorry, but we don't allow liars into our guild," Cassie said with a snort.
Zulu's patience was already thin with the woman, but at her blatant disregard, his infuriation boiled over. "Give me the guild token," He said sternly, his eyes emanating only malice.
Cassie's face twisted with contempt, "What was that? Who do you think you are? You don't make the rules here. Now get lost, we don't want your kind in the guild."
Zulu's expression relaxed at her words, "Oh, I see. No, you're right. I apologize."
Cassie scoffed and looked away. However, as she looked back in Zulu's direction to see if he was leaving, she found that he wasn't there! A chill crawled up her spine and her hair stood on end when she felt a sharp point pressed against her back.
"Give me the token, bitch," A voice said coldly from behind her.
Cassie's senses told her that she was in extreme danger, and she no longer dared to defy the girl's demand.
"S-Sure," Cassie said meekly, hastily pulling something from her shirt pocket and holding it behind her.
Zulu took the token from her hand and pulled away his dagger. As much as he wanted to kill the woman, he was still in the middle of the guild hall, and plenty of eyes were on him.
Zulu's actions had obviously attracted quite a bit of attention. A lot of the men in the hall were praying inwardly for a fight between the two women to break out; Fights were the greatest form of entertainment in the hall after all.
As Zulu retracted his dagger and hopped over the counter to leave, a cacophony of disappointed sighs filled the hall.
'I should have done that from the start. Playing nice with humans never works out. From now on, threatening people will be my go-to strategy,' Zulu mentally concluded.
However, before Zulu could leave the guild hall, a band of people stepped in front of him. The group consisted of a man with long blonde hair as well as three hooded figures wearing red robes.
"That was a nice show. How about you sit with us for a chat?" The blonde-haired man asked with a smile.
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
TooLazyToWork
TooLazyToWork Thank you for reading! Will release chapter 25 tomorrow.
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