Claude ascended the stairs slowly and perked his ears up to hear what was happening in his surroundings. Much to his surprise, it was almost completely silent upstairs. There wasn’t a single sound. Even after he focused the best he could, he couldn’t even hear people breathing.
Where are they? He made it to the second floor smoothly but saw half a soul. It was a two-meter-wide corridor with rooms lining it on the side. The corridor was also covered with a goat-fur carpet, which was much more luxurious than the ones downstairs.
He pushed open the wooden door of the first room. The door was really thick and the insides of the room were messy. But there wasn’t a single person hiding within. It was a large room that was connected to a smaller one. There was a bed inside the smaller room and it looked rather messy. It could be seen that an exciting match of flesh pounding had gone down there. There were still traces of the scent from the deed in the air.
Beside the bedroom was a small washroom with a toilet bowl and a washing basin. Nobody hid within it. Inside the large room was a table and some gambling chips and wooden cards were placed above it. The table was neighbored by four lean back chairs that had goose-feather cushions. There was one chair that was flipped over on the ground. It was apparent that the one who sat in it was in such a hurry that they tipped it over.
To the left wall were two single-person couches and one large tea table on which a few bottles of grape and blueberry wine and five to six glasses were placed. Two of the bottles were empty and one of them was half-empty. There were some wine remaining inside the glasses.
There was a long table near the wall on the opposite side with a few silver platters on them, packing roast meat and honeyed bread as well as fruits and other snacks.
Claude left the room and entered the one on the right. That room was more or less the same as the previous one, but it was tidy and neat, perhaps because nobody used it.
How could they all be gone? Claude quickly searched all the rooms on the second floor and found that every one of them was empty. He recalled paying attention to the stairs during his fight in the hall and not seeing anyone go down.
He once more walked from the stairs to the balcony. There was only one way through the corridor, and along the way were fourteen rooms on both sides, seven on each. There were no other exits. The only possibility was that there was a secret exit that the people including Arbeit used to escape.
“He’s on the second floor!”
“Up there! Go catch him!”
CLaude looked down and saw that a large bunch of gang members swarmed in from the iron gate he entered. They were dressed in all sorts of outfits and armed with various weapons. There were two that even wielded rifles. A rough count put them at around 60 people. They poured down incessantly from the entrance into the hall.
Those Blacksnakes took advantage of their numbers and saw the pondering Claude the moment they entered and began to make a fuss. But the moment they entered the hall proper and saw the terrible state the men on the ground were in, their calls quieted down. A few of them standing at the front even dropped their weapons and collapsed on the ground from fright.
Claude dashed back into the corridor. He wouldn’t be a sitting target for them to shoot at. Looking at the doors on both sides, he thought, which room is the secret path in?
If he didn’t count the guest rooms, the most probably one with the secret path was the store room in the middle. Claude remembered searching it just now. It was different from the other rooms. There were only two single beds within the smaller section of the room and a large storage rack in the larger one with all sorts of food and crates of wine.
If there really was a secret path on the second floor, then it wouldn’t be placed inside the guest rooms. It had to be in the store room that would be guarded at all times. Claude touched the racks and believed that the path couldn’t be hidden behind them since the racks themselves were almost immovable given the heavy goods stored on them.
He then entered the smaller section of the room and stepped on the two single beds. The outer bed was fine, but the inner bed sounded hollow when stepped on. As expected, when he removed the mattress and the wooden plate beneath it, a dark hole down there could be seen. There was even a staircase with a railing to hold on leading downwards.
Claude cast Luminous Pearl and dropped it down the hole and discovered that there was a room around two meters deep down the hole. WIthin the small room was a wall with a door-shaped opening.
He jumped down and stood next to the opening before throwing a Luminous Pearl into it, revealing a long and narrow corridor inside that gradually led upwards to who-knows-where. With the radiance the spell afforded him, Claude could clearly see the messy footprints on the ground as well as the scuff marks on the muddy walls.
He cast a Projectile Barrier on himself and entered the corridor. He intermittently cast Luminous Pearls along the way to prevent himself from getting attacked in the dark.
The corridor led out to an old hut, within which three young maidservants were hiding. They probably didn’t leave because of the cold outside and chose to huddle among the hay to keep warm. Seeing Claude emerge from the hole, the three women were so terrified that they huddled up against each other and shivered.
“Where’s the rest?” asked Claude in a low voice.
A more daring maidservant pointed outside the hut. “They… they’ve scattered.”
Claude no longer paid them any heed. He exited the hut and saw a small alley that led to the slums on one end. As for the other… it seemed to lead to Hurian’s shop.
He looked towards the slums and saw quite a bit of commotion. The Blacksnakes seemed to be aware that something went down in their den and were gathering their men together. It wouldn’t take long before they made their way here. Even though he was sure that Arbeit would be near the slums, the situation meant that Claude wouldn’t be able to get back at him even if he wanted to.
Guess his luck still hasn’t run out. Claude gulped with dissatisfaction. He turned towards the other end of the alley and felt a little guilty about it. He fought Blacksnake for no good reason and killed so many of those guards without achieving his main goal. Even though he managed to locate Arbeit, he wasn’t able to teach him a lesson and had to watch as he got away scotch-free! How utterly infuriating!
The weather grew colder by the moment. Though it was hot enough within the den to cause him to sweat, he felt bone-piercing chill when he headed out. It was no wonder the three maidservants were unwilling to leave, given their summer attire. Going outside was only suffering senselessly.
The snow was almost goose-feather shaped. They fell gradually from the skies.
Claude looked back and thought, not bad, it wouldn’t take long before the snow covers up my tracks. There’s no way the thugs can find me, so I won’t have to worry about being found out. With the possibility of being discovered pretty much nil, he pulled his robes tight, lowered his hood and continued forwards.
The snow began to fall more and more. Claude could almost not see ahead of him. However, he had already reached the intersection of four alleys where Hurian’s shop was located. He looked forward and chose the alley leading to the lake bank. Even though it was a huge detour, few people trod that path, so he wouldn’t have to worry about being spotted.
The skies were dark with snow falling incessantly. Claude stepped on the snowy ground and the crisp sounds of ice giving way could be heard.
The alley got closer and closer. All of a sudden, he heard the sound of wheels coming from the alley nearby, coupled with footsteps and chatter. A few people turned into the alley with a push trolley and blocked Claude’s way.
He quietly moved to the side and let them pass first.
The people pushed the trolley past him as they looked at him with a suspicious gaze. But they appeared uninterested in causing trouble and merely continued forward after a short gaze. A woman’s voice could be heard saying, “I think I smell some blood. Do you guys smell it too?”
“Nope. You must be mistaken. It must be the Bloody Mary you drunk just now. It’s confusing you,” said a man.
“It’s not. Bloody Mary just describes the color of the drink, not the smell. My nose is sensitive, you know,” the woman countered.
“I don’t smell it. Let’s just go quick. We’re almost home and it’s warm inside. It’s far too cold out here. I told you to pack up early, but you didn’t listen…”
Claude grimaced. Even though he didn’t see them, he could tell from the voices who they were. The woman was Kefnie’s sister, Kesline, while the man was her boyfriend, Jerad of the Sharks. The ones beside them were their escorts. They seemed to be returning after manning their stall at the moon shrine.
Last year during new year’s eve, Kefnie served in the tent her sister set up. Even though it bore the plaque of Mermaid, Claude later found that Kesline had rented the spot in the name of the tavern owner, Aleksim. To prevent trouble and confusion, she used the plaque of Mermaid. It was said that the profits from that night alone was enough to pay off Kefnie’s school fees for a whole year.
Claude sniffed himself and did indeed smell a heavy scent of blood. He must’ve been covered in some from fighting the last three men in close range. One of them was stabbed by him seven times after being disarmed and the other was slit at the neck. The last one had his arm snapped and the blood that spurted out covered his lower body, but he didn’t notice it at the time.
He didn’t think that Kesline had the nose of a dog and could detect the smell after passing by him. Her boyfriend on the other hand didn’t want to cause any trouble, so he feigned ignorance. Guess I won’t be able to keep these clothes. Better burn them up in the kiln to erase all evidence.
When the trolley passed, Claude continued on his way back. Another figure popped up in the alley, looking to be in a rush, and bumped into Claude.
“Kyaa!”
Clang!
The first sound was the clear cry of a girl that sounded rather familiar. The next was the sound of something in the basket the dropped into the snow breaking.
The trolley ahead stopped. Kesline’s sound could be heard. “Kefnie, are you alright? What happened?”
“I bumped into someone… Ouch.”
Claude was pushed to the ground from not standing firm. Fortunately, snow covered the ground and the fall didn’t hurt.
The girl had bumped into his chest. Perhaps she was running too fast, or the ground was too slippery, so she was unable to stop in time and knocked Claude down. She appeared to be fine and landed on Claude, so she didn’t fall face-first into the ground. She rubbed her knees as she knelt on the ground.
“Sorry, Mister. Are you alright?” When her knees stopped hurting, Kefnie suddenly recalled that she had bumped into someone.
“I’m fine. Could you move aside, please?” Claude asked. Kefnie was kneeling on his robes. It was no surprise her knees stopped hurting after a short rub.
“Ah, I’m sorry…” The girl hurriedly apologized and stood up. After that, her nose twitched. “What smell is that?”
“Ah, it’s nothing. I helped someone slaughter a goat just now and some blood got on my clothes. I was just going back to wash it.” Do they all have dogs’ noses or something? They’re so sensitive to smell…
“Eh? Your voice sounds familiar. You’re…” The girl widened her eyes to look at him.
It was then when he realized that he had forgotten to speak in a lowered voice. Fortunately, he was still wearing his mask. He hurriedly looked down and said, “It’s not me…”
Gosh, what am I saying?! Claude stopped speaking and hurriedly passed the girl by and disappeared back into the snow.
