Chương 16: The Boogey(wo)man

The smith had a new lock installed the very same day he discovered his shop and home had been broken into, shame that he kept the keys on the inside. I was able to open his front door and step out into the street without a hitch, locking the door behind me as I kept the key safely stored in one of my pockets. Now… Should I target a place with lots of steel, or should I start with just a good old home invasion and home execution?

If I only went to certain places, it would be noticeable that I was not just after the people, but also after the sweet, sweet and delicious steel… I didn't want to attract attention by having a clear and noticeable gimmick. It might lead to some people imagining things about what I may be, and I would rather have them think that what was happening was just murderous robberies. So as a starter, I headed down the street and picked a small place that focused on selling herbs.

I frankly did not know what the difference was between a healing herb sold by such a shop and a healing potion sold by an alchemist, but there had to be something, considering that both kinds of businesses were quite common. It was so small, I was doubtful if there was even enough space for the owner to live in here as well, but after twisting the door open, I found out that there actually was a small basement. As I crept around, I was able to hear someone breathing softly. I wish I had a light of some kind.

Having to find my way around by touch and sound was miserable, especially since knocking anything down in this place was deemed to be painfully loud. But I must have acquired some experience from spending so much time blind and crawling around underground, as I eventually found my next experience bag. I think it's a woman, but I didn't bother to check.

Once I figured out that they were sleeping in a small space underneath the floor that they had arranged into a makeshift bedding area, I just pulled open the hatch and stomped down on what I believed was their head. A faint, guttural noise rose out from below. That might have been their torso, actually… Anyway, as long as they're dead. Now, did you have some hidden riches anywhere, my good friend? I can smell some sort of metal or steel somewhere–Ah, a pouch of coins.

I gobbled it all on the spot, and whilst I was looking around, I found a small oil lantern, providing myself with some illumination. Oh, ewww… I definitely missed the head, and they were sleeping on their side at that… No wonder it felt a little weird when I stomped down, I crushed an arm and the ribcage. I didn't give the ghastly sight more thought than this, and instead got busy devouring the body, but this time. I decided to leave the blood where it was.

The disappearance of Benait and the three other guards would probably be linked to the other crimes I committed, so it was best to change my modus operandi a bit, I could miss out on some of the blood for the sake of reducing the chances of more guards showing up to look for me, especially those like Benait, I managed to get away with getting in a fight with one skilled swordsman, and as immaculately powerful as my steel body may be, I would rather not risk it a second time.

Instead, I used the lantern to look around the shop a bit. Any tools that had even a little bit of steel to them were snacked on immediately, and while I was at it, I made a mess by spilling herbs all over the place and breaking some stuff. I guess I'll close the hatch. The blood down there should make for a nice surprise when someone comes to check on what happened here!

I rub my metallic hands together, already picturing a concerned bystander noticing the state the shop was in, only to be met with the horrific sight of blood stains where the owner was supposed to be sleeping. That should make for a nice dose of fear once that happens- Light, I saw a light peer from outside just after I bent down to close the trapdoor. At this hour?

"Sorry, I am late! I got held up–What the hell happened here? Is everything alright?" Did I really manage to pick the one shop that was going to have a visitor at this hour? Is my luck rotten? Do I have bad karma? I never did anything wrong! I am not doing anything wrong. It's just my nature as a Steel-Bound Curse and Vengeful Spirit! My character is golden considering what I am now, I swear! Urgh, there is no point in trying to use the content of my character here.

I merely remained still behind the counter, listening as the man speaking took careful steps forward through the mess I had created, calling out to the shop owner by name. Yes, just keep moving forward, don't call for help, don't shout. Just… Keep moving closer…

"Is no one here? I can see light…" The man was basically having a conversation by himself at this point. But the shop was small, it did not take him long to arrive at the counter and see the silhouette that was crouched down… My frame was blocking the sight of the blood, so for a moment, the man did not panic.

"Oh, what are you-" Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings. He must have thought that I was the owner for a moment before realising that I looked nothing like them, but even then, he was more confused than anything, or so I guessed, since he didn't scream or say anything else. I rose and spun around, hitting him squarely in the jaw with the back of my hand with as much force as I could muster.

An assortment of flesh, blood and teeth was sent soaring through the air, only to splatter against the wall as the man was sent against the wall, slumping over. Did that kill him? I looked down and saw what looked like one of his cervical vertebrae poking against his skin. Yep, that definitely killed him… Looking around in case someone else decided to be a nuisance, I decided to grab his lantern and put the one belonging to the owner back where it was.

This action didn't mean much, but I already had a whole storyline made up inside my head about what the people would think when they started investigating what had happened. Even if the fate of commoners was of lesser interest, someone would have to get involved to at least give the illusion that the city lord had some care for them. The story I invented on the spot, without any amount of facts to rely on, was simple.

The idea was that the store owner, whom I was fairly certain had been a woman, had been in a tumultuous relationship with this random guy that I was currently stuffing headfirst into my maw. And that, this one night, an argument broke out between the two lovers, and bam! He killed her and ran away. If the idea that there was something between them had any ground to stand upon, which I had no clue about, then leaving bloodstains belonging to the woman, but nothing of the man, should give some credence to the theory.

Boy, I must really be getting bored to be inventing stories like this now… Let's head back to the attic. I wonder if there are any shops that deal with curses or cursed items? Surely, some oddballs specialise in that… Or in ghosts. Where does one even find ghosts or spirits to begin with? I am a Vengeful Spirit, so I should be able to see them… Where do they put graveyards in this city?

I only remember the one where my parents are buried, but it was rather deep into the heart of the city, and since necromancy is a thing, those with the means to do so are very protective of their corpses… But considering just how populated the city is, there should be multiple graveyards lying around for me to visit, and with some luck, the commoners are poorly buried and their necrotic? Spiritual? Phantomatic?

Their whatever energy that causes them to come back as ghosts or to form ghosts is accumulating without check. Aah… I wonder what would happen if someone tried to curse? Would I just eat it like with the totem? Food for thought…

"Honey, it seems like the nightmares are not stopping…"

"I know… I had to come check on him, too…"

"I worry that this is affecting his health. He barely sleeps! He has nightmares every night now! He keeps talking about a figure standing at the end of his bed or hiding underneath it…" The smith and his wife were dealing with problems concerning their youngest child, as far as they could tell. The nightmares had begun because of the spike in unexplained deaths and disappearances of the last two months.

Homes had been struck, shops had been struck, and even people merely wandering the streets at night had been struck. People were being found as mutilated corpses, as just a single limb, or sometimes, they were not found at all, leaving only some blood in the best of cases, and in the worst, it was like they had been abducted. Everyone was on edge, and nobody knew for sure if all of this was the work of a single person or group, or if multiple sources were to be blamed.

The only thing everybody was aware of was that the guards were useless in helping them. For the smith and fellows in the same line of work, it was actually an enormous business opportunity, as everyone wanted to arm themselves, and everyone wanted durable locks and doors. People were bringing out their savings to buy reinforced doors and windows. Everyone was afraid for themselves and their families… And this constant paranoia seemed to have gotten to their youngest son in particular.

His nights were plagued by constant nightmares where the same figure would torment him. They had tried everything they could think of, even going as far as getting special candles, supposed to keep away any unseen creatures that might be responsible for it. But nothing worked, the nightmares never stopped, and their son seemed paler and paler, growing feeble due to the sleep deprivation.

Their son insisted that he wasn't having nightmares, that the figure he was seeing was real, physically present, even swearing that it would escape whenever someone approached his room, vanishing into the darkness. Of course, his parents did not believe him in that regard. There was just no way for something or anything to so easily come and go into his room without ever being noticed, especially since they would be checking on him often at night.

And certainly not with the way he was describing the figure, according to him, it was tall and it was large, a veritable monster. Not to mention that none of their other children had ever had anything like this happen to them… Moreover, he claimed that he wasn't 'allowed' to just go sleep in the same room as his other siblings. That he had to remain in his own room, retain his privilege as the youngest child to have his own room, or else… The monster supposedly claimed that it was going to kill his siblings.

"There is… There is something weird, though" The wife hesitated a bit, but she decided to speak about something.

"What is it, Darling?"

"I was speaking with friends at the market the other day… And they… They mentioned that their youngest children were all having nightmares as well… And were describing the same figure as well…"

"What?"

"They don't seem to have nightmares nearly as often, but still… I feel like that would mean that there is really something inside his room at night!" The smith frowned and covered his face with one hand. A monster in their home? Could this really be possible?