"How… how could it have turned out like this?"
The old man was completely stunned.
"Where is Lord Baker? Where did he go? He hired high-ranking adventurers, there's no way something like this could have happened to him!"
His pupils shrank sharply. Cold sweat beaded on his nose and forehead. He didn't seem to be lying.
Shaka asked calmly, "Were you in the hotel all night?"
"Yes. I was sleeping in the attic."
Shaka didn't give him time to think and continued pressing,
"Didn't you notice anything unusual?"
"No. Everything was the same as always, just annoying crows and stray cats. Besides, the tenants here were from the Albera Merchant Guild. They even hired level-3 adventurers for protection. It wasn't my place to worry about them."
As he spoke, as if suddenly remembering something, the old man shoved Lulune aside and tried to rush into the basement.
"I need to check if Lord Baker is there! He can't be dead, he still hasn't paid me!"
More than a dozen people had died mysteriously in the cellar. At this rate, he probably wouldn't be able to keep the hotel open at all.
The Albera Chamber of Commerce…
Shaka concluded that the old shopkeeper wasn't lying. That meant the information he provided was valuable. Coincidentally, Shaka was familiar with this merchant guild.
In the original story, this guild once lured Bell into the dungeon under the pretense of investment, offering him one million Valis. Their real purpose, however, was to work for the Ishtar Familia, which ultimately resulted in Bell being captured.
They were definitely not good people.
So why had so many people died here?
Tsk… these scheming people are truly rotten.
As Shaka was deep in thought, Lulune suddenly shouted:
"Watch out!"
Shaka snapped back to reality just in time to see a dark shadow burst out of the pitch-black cellar at terrifying speed. Like a bolt of lightning, it slammed into the old shopkeeper's forehead, then crashed headlong into Lulune's arms.
The massive impact forced even the level-3 Lulune to stagger back four or five steps. But the dark figure didn't stop, it rebounded and shot straight toward Shaka, only slightly slower than before.
"So fast!"
Shaka's expression changed instantly.
Something that could knock back a level-3 adventurer wasn't weak at all. And speed clearly wasn't even its strongest point.
There was no time to think.
As the dark figure closed in, Shaka remained calm.
He had experienced similar attacks before, long before transmigrating.
He tilted his head, the crimson light of the Zone blazing in his eyes. His body moved on instinct. Spinning with practiced familiarity, he assumed a striking stance and swung his weapon with everything he had.
Swoosh—
Air tore apart.
A few droplets of blood bloomed.
No, this isn't right!
Shaka's pupils shrank.
He had definitely hit something, but the sensation was wrong. Only then did he realize the problem—
He was holding a dagger, not a racket.
The length, weight, and striking surface were completely different.
So it was just luck that I managed to scratch it…
Shaka reacted instantly. Rolling across the floor, he avoided being caught between two angles and retreated, leaving the front line to Lulune.
When he looked up again, the room was silent, no different from before.
"Don't panic," Lulune said calmly.
"That thing escaped."
She crouched down and picked up a tuft of black fur from the floor.
"It's a monster. Looks like it was already injured. The moment the lock opened, it chose to flee."
She examined the fur carefully.
"Conservatively speaking, it's a feline-type monster. A saber-toothed tiger? Too small… Hmm. Possibly a subspecies."
Shaka asked, puzzled,
"You can tell all that just from fur?"
Lulune shrugged.
"Even though the smell of blood masked it, the sharp stench of wild cats was still obvious."
She pointed to the bloodstains on her clothes, distinct plum-blossom-shaped claw marks, confirming her conclusion.
Shaka frowned instead.
"I think it's closer to a shadow. Its body was completely shrouded in darkness, and its movement was strange,almost like it was part of the shadows themselves."
Lulune didn't refute him, but she couldn't confirm it either.
"Maybe it's an enhanced species. If it was being transported as cargo, it must at least be rare."
"Let's go down and take a closer look. We might find more clues."
Shaka didn't move.
Instead, he walked over to the old shopkeeper and checked his breathing.
"He's not dead. But his brain suffered a severe shock. He probably won't wake up anytime soon."
Lulune crossed her arms.
"Just leave him. This old man isn't exactly innocent either."
Shaka shook his head.
"Maybe he can still give us useful information. Let's try to save him."
"…Whatever."
Lulune ignored him and went down into the cellar alone.
Two minutes later, Shaka followed.
"Did you find anything?"
The basement was a complete mess.
Shaka covered his nose. The red glow of the Zone still hadn't faded from his eyes. Every muscle in his body tightened, forcing his internal organs into control just to stop himself from vomiting.
This was the first time he had ever seen such a horrific massacre.
If the Zone hadn't been maintaining perfect bodily control, he would have disgraced himself on the spot.
Adapt. Adapt.
Shaka took a deep breath.
The fishy stench flooded his nostrils again.
Overtake it.
Thankfully, Dekomori and the others weren't involved in this…
"You okay?" Lulune patted his shoulder casually.
"I'm fine."
"First time?" she teased. "Want me to guide you? This is nothing for me."
"No,no need." Shaka was drenched in sweat and in no mood to argue.
"So? Did you identify them?"
Lulune's expression turned serious. She pointed at a massive iron cage with its door wide open.
"They were the same group as yesterday. All ordinary people, except for one level-2 adventurer."
She continued:
"And I sensed the aura of a curse here. The conclusion is obvious. The monster broke free and retaliated."
"It could freely use curses," she added grimly.
"And it killed everyone cleanly, without anyone noticing."
Shaka stared at the cage.
It hadn't been forcibly broken from the inside.
Suppressing his nausea, he searched nearby. Sure enough, beside a corpse missing an arm, he found a key.
"So they opened it themselves…" he muttered. "But why?"
"I think I know," Lulune said thoughtfully.
She pointed at the cage's structure.
"This cage is sealed on all sides and made of expensive, specialized metal. These mercenaries probably didn't trust the cargo they were transporting and decided to inspect it themselves."
Shaka frowned.
"They didn't even know what they were transporting?"
"That's normal," Lulune replied calmly.
"For mercenaries, as long as they know they're escorting something, the contents don't matter."
She added with a pout,
"Lord Hermes often accepts similar requests. We investigate some of them out of curiosity and gain plenty of valuable intel that way."
Shaka narrowed his eyes.
"In that case, there's only one question left."
He looked straight at her.
"According to the shopkeeper, the merchant named Baker and the level-3 guard are missing."
Then he asked quietly,
"And tell me, Mud Dog,
which Familia did the dead level-2 adventurer belong to?"
A vague suspicion had already formed in Shaka's mind, just waiting to be confirmed.
"We'll know Baker's whereabouts once that old man wakes up," Lulune said.
"As for the Familia…"
Her expression turned strange.
"Its Ikelos Familia."
Shaka froze.
"…Really?"