Seeing that Haida seemed momentarily unable to pull her blade from the monster's corpse, the remaining two took advantage of the opening to charge at her rapidly... They were two canine-like creatures with entirely rotting bodies, their mouths replaced by straw-like long tongues.
"Second, third."
Haida could certainly force the sword out and slice them both apart with one horizontal slash. But at this moment, she chose a more energy-efficient method...
Unnoticed, she had already released her grip on the sword hilt and drawn her two large-caliber pistols from the holsters under her sister's robe skirt.
Bang!
With the shell casings ejected amidst flame and roar, the steel-core bullets accurately blasted into the eye sockets of these two "Sniffer Hounds."
"One dog's mouth-parts were aimed at my ankle, while the other charged at my arm, trying to knock me down."
"A coordinated hunting behavior pattern, almost like living beasts..."
Haida frowned slightly in thought, but her hand movements were not the least bit slow. After pulling out the power sword, she casually chopped the three monster corpses on the ground into pieces, meticulously completing the finishing work.
Her philosophy on cleanup was very straightforward: if it can live without a head, that's my finishing work being inadequate; if it can live after being diced, then you're just that impressive.
Flamel stood to the side; although she didn't speak, her amber eyes held undisguised admiration.
There was a chilling, eerie beauty to Haida's execution of the kill.
Clean, efficient, methodical, with ruthless determination... If she were an enemy, it would undoubtedly be terrifying.
But if she were a friend, it inevitably inspired a strong sense of security... This Burial Attendant was just too reliable.
Come on, a sister who can seamlessly switch between using a switchblade and a greatsword, while also being proficient with firearms, is truly captivating...
"Sister Haida, are there no more monsters?" Flamel silently moved a bit closer to Haida.
Haida's nostrils flared as she sniffed lightly for a few seconds before giving her conclusion.
"The situation inside the building is still unclear. But at least there are no new scents on the periphery. Let's go in first."
As she spoke, she walked towards the building's back door.
This was a rather old house, constructed from brick and wood.
Though covered in iron mesh and mold, one could still see traces of a classical style from its half-rotten decorations... somewhat resembling a Western-style mansion.
"Mhm." Flamel complied obediently.
She tiptoed, carefully navigating through the scattered pieces of corpses and debris on the floor to avoid stepping in the filthy blood.
The two arrived before the door crawling with crimson rust and stopped for a moment.
Although the mansion's back door was small and hidden, it was secured with an exceptionally exquisite lock. The lock was heavy and thick, gleaming with the hard luster of an alloy, and from its style, it was a key lock.
Out of respect for her guide, Haida first inquired with Flamel beside her about the specific situation.
"Flamel, do you know where its key is?"
"Sorry, Sister Haida. I don't often take this route either... I'm not sure when it got locked."
The girl lowered her hands before her abdomen, sticking out her tongue somewhat awkwardly.
"No matter."
Haida didn't seem surprised by this. Or perhaps she had already thought of a solution.
If Dr. Fran were here, she would probably have the leisure to solve a puzzle.
But for Sister Haida, "efficiency" and "feasibility" were the top priorities. As long as these two points were met, she didn't mind using the most direct and brutal methods.
Haida reversed her grip on the hilt, lifted the power sword "Nirvana," and thrust its sharp point directly into the alloy lock core.
Clang!
The entire lock was sheared off in response, as if it weren't made of steel... but a tofu product just treated with brine.
Haida gripped the rust-covered handle and pulled the door open, emitting a series of grating, teeth-gnashing friction sounds.
Behind the door was a corridor that seemed endless, gloomy and obscure, even more profound than the outside. Sparse candlelight flickered like fireflies along the corridor walls, the frames of the hanging paintings crawling with rotting green mold.
Although Flamel had never shown any sign of fear, Haida now felt her grip on her hand tighten a little.
The two stepped into the mansion, the candlelight shadows beneath them swaying slowly with the flames.
As if a night breeze brushed past, this ancient door covered in rust slowly closed.
This time, however... there was none of the sharp, piercing friction sound from when it was opened; the entire process was smooth and silent.
—
Inside the mansion, the raw, fishy smell of iron rust spread everywhere, along with filthy stains of blood that had congealed and rotted.
The corridor was filled with ash-like gray-black dust, seemingly untended for a long time, leaving a shallow imprint with every step.
Haida bent down, lightly picking up a bit of dust with her fingertip and bringing it to her nose to sniff.
"Calcium ash."
This "dust" on the ground was very similar to bone ash in both color and form. Even if its source wasn't human, it was probably the residue from burning some kind of living creature.
"Let's collect some to take."
As she spoke, she retrieved a quartz sampling tube from the pouch at her waist and filled it with the ashy substance from the ground.
Some of the Secrets-Hunters' rituals used human ash as material. For example, the third-category ritual Dissolve the Blasphemous, used to neutralize pollutants harmlessly. Stockpiling some materials in advance was just being prepared.
Beside her, Flamel extended an index finger to lightly touch her lips, her eyes holding a trace of confusion, not understanding why the sister was collecting the dust here.
After this brief interlude, Haida led her deeper into this long-abandoned mansion.
"Stay close."
Having experienced Dr. Fran's sudden disappearance earlier, Haida did not want to see any sudden changes happen to the girl again.
"Mhm." Flamel lowered her head and softly assented.
Entering the mansion was just for travel, so the two didn't need to explore upstairs. They could just go straight from the back door to the main hall's front door.
That said, the mansion's interior structure was very complex.
The corridors were narrow, dark, and winding like sheep intestines, twisting and convoluted. Numerous rooms of unclear purpose interconnected, causing outsiders to lose their way with the slightest inattention.
Even with Flamel leading, reaching the front hall would take some time.
While advancing, Haida did not forget her professional habit of investigating cases, searching for things that might contain clues while maintaining her guard.
"Sister Haida, there!"
Flamel raised her hand to point at a half-open door, where a fawning, smiling head was slowly protruding horizontally from the room.
It resembled an infant's, yet was overly large; it seemed like a dead person's, yet its facial features were writhing in pain.
So close? Probably a side effect of psychic sense overload; I actually didn't sense it...
Haida gripped the power sword with both hands and delivered a vertical slash, severing this head that had emerged from the doorway.
The head fell with a thud.
But at the same time, an arm far larger than a normal human's reached out from inside the door, swatting Haida back several meters.
If an ordinary person were hit like this, even while holding a sword in a defensive stance, they'd likely be knocked to the ground with several broken ribs.
But obviously, Haida's physique was far removed from the concept of an "ordinary person."
After taking this hit, she merely adjusted her breathing for a moment before lifting her sword and charging forward again, leaping into the room. The true form of this monster was thus revealed.
Its body was huge and bloated, two aberrant arms replacing legs to support itself on the ground, its skin a stiff, deathly gray.
Most importantly... aside from the one that had been severed, this monster had another head. At this moment, it was screaming shrilly like an infant.
A twin-body, or simply a deformity?
The answer was no longer important.
As the monster was about to raise its arm again, the sister in black robes had already closed the distance, arriving before it.
The power sword "Nirvana" emitted an almost joyful metallic hum. The twin-body's bloated flesh was soon cut into neat little pieces by the blade. Blood and thick pulp flowed out like a torrent... and it toppled to the ground.
"Ugh..."
Before the strange lament could emerge from its throat, Haida had already thrust the sword tip into its eye socket.
Among the monsters Haida had encountered so far, aside from the colossus wandering the main street, this twin-body was currently the strongest individual.
Relying on its size advantage, it could even slightly overpower Haida in strength. If she only had firearms and a switchblade, she would likely have had to fight it for a long time to finish it off completely.
But ultimately, the twin-body was merely flesh and blood... Against the adamantine edge of the power sword, being diced was its only outcome.
"Whew." Haida let out a light sigh, leaning on the sword hilt to rest briefly.
For ordinary Secrets-Hunters, if they experienced psychic sense collapse to the degree of "bloody tears," they would need immediate treatment, or their life would be in danger. But Haida was merely weakened, even still retaining a high combat capability.
Flamel ran to Haida's side, examining her with concern.
"Sister Haida, are you hurt?"
"No, just a bit tired. Let's rest here for a few minutes."
Haida wiped the blood that had splattered on her sister's robe during the fight, a flicker of weariness passing through her gray-chestnut eyes.
"Mhm."
Flamel helped Haida over to a wooden bench in the room, where they slowly sat down.
Because of this brief respite, Haida had the leisure to observe this room. She had originally just glanced casually, but she soon noticed something peculiar...
This room seemed to be the mansion's conference hall. The room was spacious and empty, solemnly and splendidly decorated, with a wooden conference table standing in the center.
Furthermore, on the wall behind the head seat of the conference table hung a portrait. Although its frame was also crawling with mold and rust, a vague facial outline could still be made out.
Since entering the mansion, she had noticed the nearly ubiquitous hanging paintings in the corridors. But most were severely rusted; even scraping off the rust with a switchblade made it hard to discern what the canvas depicted.
About a quarter of an hour later, Haida ended her rest.
Her nearly exhausted psychic sense now showed signs of recovery, and the feeling of physical weakness also eased.
Haida rose from the bench and slowly walked to the large portrait in the center of the conference hall to begin removing the rust. Flamel followed curiously beside her, just watching quietly without asking.
As the mold spots and oxidized metal flakes peeled away, what the portrait depicted gradually became clear.
— It was a hunter dressed in winter hunting attire. He wore a leather tricorn hat, and a giant scythe blade forged from shadows stood beside him.
He gave an impression of aloofness and coldness, like a finely crafted weapon unsheathed, a steel-core bullet ready to be fired, perpetually prepared to reap lives.
But he looked very young, probably not even thirty. And most surprisingly... the corners of his lips held a faint, almost imperceptible, shallow smile.
Somewhat stiff and also somewhat shy, but it greatly diluted the cold, murderous aura around the hunter.
Haida's breathing grew slightly heavier.
Clearly, the person in the portrait was her father, Ahern Moira. But why would his portrait appear here? And this faint, elusive smile... Did that man actually smile?
Since her birth, Haida had never seen this blood relative of hers show a smile. No, to be precise, she had never seen any expression other than "aloofness" appear on his face.
"Sister Haida? Do you know this older brother in the painting?"
Seeing Haida fall into a complicated silence, Flamel finally couldn't contain her curiosity.
Haida felt her thoughts somewhat unsettled, but she didn't hide it, answering truthfully.
"He is my father."
"...He's your father? I thought he was your older brother."
Flamel widened her amber eyes, looking somewhat surprised.
After all, although the two bore some resemblance, they seemed to be of similar age. But she didn't dwell on this... after all, this portrait looked quite old; a gap of over twenty years in between was not impossible.
"Let's go."
Ahern's oil portrait gave Haida a sense of ominous foreboding; she had to speed up her progress to leave this mansion.
The two soon left the conference room and resumed heading towards the front hall.
The vast room returned to silence, with only a shattered twin-body corpse lying in a pool of crimson blood.
Soundlessly, the still-young Chief Hunter in the portrait slowly closed his eyes.
When they opened once more, those clear gray-chestnut eyes had already turned into pitch-black voids, from which deep red, oily, rotten blood slowly overflowed.
+++
T/N: Hey readers~! New Translator here! Before I say anything, I'd first like to thank the original author for creating this wonderful story. Without them, I wouldn't have the chance to share this adventure with you. I hope my translation does justice to their work, and that together, we can enjoy this story.
With that said, I'm happy to let you know I'll be uploading daily chapters. And for those who wish to support my work and gain early access, I've set up a Patreon where advanced chapters will be available.
[email protected]/PeakTL