Chương 38: Eyes Stuffed With Flowers

A loud, clear voice cut through the sound of the tumultuous crowd.

"Everyone back! Get back, all of you, now!" The crowd shuffled and parted reluctantly, and through the gap came a young man. He was perhaps twenty, with thick curly brown hair that hung just above his eyes, and an insignia shaped like a sword and a hand crisscrossing each other pinned onto his navy blue coat. His face was young and earnest, with bright ocean blue eyes that were currently taking in the scene with an expression of grim resolve. Then, he turned to the crowd with his arms spread wide.

"I said back! This is a crime scene, not a circus!" He quickly brought out a simple wooden baton, slamming it repeatedly against the store's front door to get everybody's attention.

"Anyone who isn't a guard needs to be on the other side of that door right now!" Lio watched the young man from where he stood, a neutral expression on his face as he slightly cocked his head. Erygn Columbine, was it? From what Lio knew, he was twenty one years old. He also held the position of the guard captain of Trestfall for the past eight months, the youngest in the settlement's history to do so.

And more surprisingly, he had achieved this all without having a single rune, which in a place built around and populated by rune users should have made his position impossible. And yet, it had been made possible. And that was because this man had spent all of his life training with the blade, refining his swordsmanship to such a level that he could overtake and defeat most regular upper floor Delvers. Lio had seen him fight once, and even under such circumstances it had left even him a tiny bit impressed.

Erygn moved through the shop with a scowl darkening his face, touching nothing, disturbing nothing, his watchful eyes soaking up every tiny bit of detail. He crouched beside the counter, and studied the carefully crafted corpse. Then straightening back up, he turned and looked directly at Lio.

"You three," he said.

"You're not residents of Trestfall, are you?"

"No," Lio said. Erygn's bright eyes considered the three of them.

"Delvers?"

"Yes," Lio said.

"How long have you been in Trestfall?"

"Since yesterday," Lio answered truthfully. Erygn studied him for a moment, as if committing Lio's face to memory. Then he glanced at William, who was green and staring up at the ceiling, taking deep breaths in an attempt to not throw up, and finally at Ophila, who simply looked back at Ergyn with a thin smile.

"I'm going to need to ask you all some questions," he said, bowing his head apologetically.

"I apologize, but please don't leave Trestfall until I do." Lio nodded pleasantly. Ergyn then swiftly turned back to the body, fishing out a small ledger and a charcoal stick. Lio watched the back of his head as he worked. This was going to complicate things considerably. Gesturing for Ophila and William to follow him, they all quickly filed out of the flower shop and back into the open air of Trestfall's street.

The crowd had mostly all dispersed by now, though the sounds of whispering and shocked gasps could be heard all around them. William made it around four steps before he veered sharply toward the narrow alley beside the building. He quickly leaned against the wall, and after a bout of gagging, began throwing up. Ophila stood beside him, watching him be sick with her arms crossed over her chest. When he finally straightened up, pale and watery-eyed, she patted him twice on the back.

"That's what happens," she said pleasantly, "when you eat too many Ironpulp strips."

"This had nothing to do with the Ironpulp strips," William said weakly.

"Mhm," Ophila said.

"It didn't," William insisted, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. He coughed, spitting out a chunk of thick bile.

"Sure," Ophila said.

"Drink some water." William accepted the waterskin gratefully, first using it to clean his mouth, then drinking greedily. Lio leaned against the alley wall nearby, looking out at the street while they sorted themselves out. After a moment, Ophila came to stand beside him, her voice dropping low enough that William couldn't hear.

"What should we do about that guard? He's probably going to look into us." Lio nodded.

"That's likely." Ophila sighed, picking at the colorful stitching on her sleeve.

"That's really not ideal," she said.

"You know, given my… situation." This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version. Lio glanced at her. She seemed a bit nervous. He turned back, shrugging.

"It'll be fine."

"You sound very certain about that?"

"I am," Lio said. Ophila looked at him sideways.

"Why?"

"Because the guard—he's named Erygn by the way—is very good at his job," Lio explained.

"Which means he's going to focus on the murder, not on three Delvers who arrived yesterday and have no connection to the victim." He straightened up.

"As long as we don't give him a reason to look harder, he won't." Ophila thought about this for a second, until she nodded grudgingly.

"Okay," she said, though she didn't sound too convinced. Behind them, William had finished with the waterskin and was standing upright again.

"I'm fine," he announced, although nobody had asked if he was.

"That's good," Ophila said, taking her waterskin back.

"Because we need to figure out what we're going to do now."

"Both of you should go back to the lodge," Lio said. William looked at him, confusion flashing across his features.

"What?"

"Go back and stay there until I return." William's expression immediately changed into one of protest.

"Absolutely not. Did you see what was in that shop? There's a killer somewhere in Trestfall!"

"You'll be safer in the lodge than wandering around," Lio said, rolling his eyes.

"Lock the door if it makes you feel better, Mr. Enhanced-hearing."

"That doesn't make me feel much better at all actually," William said.

"I'm just going to check on Senna," Lio continued, ignoring him.

"I want to make sure she's alright." William opened his mouth, then closed it as the protest died out. He frowned, seeing the reasoning. Meanwhile, Ophila had started to smirk, which Lio wisely ignored.

"Fine," William muttered.

"But if something happens—""Nothing will happen," Lio said.

"Go." William grumbled something under his breath but turned and started back toward the lodge, shoving his hands deep in his pockets. Ophila followed, but not before leaning close to Lio's ear as she passed by him.

"Say hi to your acquaintance for me~" she murmured sweetly. Then she was gone, following William down the street with her braid swinging behind her. Lio watched them go, until he was certain that they were out of sight. Then he turned and walked in the opposite direction from the outpost. Right now, he had no intention of visiting Senna. He had better things to do. He moved through Trestfall's quieter back streets, where the regular foot traffic tended to avoid.

Around him the settlement slowly became more dreary and dark, people moving in smaller groups and whispering, while the ground was littered with trash and occupied by vagrants. Lio began thinking through the information. Thanks to the loops, he knew who the killer was. They were a major player in upper floors, and also someone Lio tended to use to obtain specific things he needed. The killer's signature across previous loops had always been consistent as well.

Ghostly Annies all shoved into the victims bodies, emptied of blood and the internal organs. Gruesome, wasn't it? But… There was something different this time. In every other loop, the murders had been confined to the deeper floors, where the population was sparse enough that the bodies sometimes went undiscovered for days. So why had the killer come up to Trestfall? Lio turned down another street, passing a small group of residents huddled outside their building, downing bottles of alcohol and wobbling around.

The second deviation was the victim herself. Across every loop he could recall, the killer's targets had been Delvers. But the flower seller was not a Delver. She was a permanent resident. Which meant either the killer had become careless—which Lio knew that they weren't. Or the killer had another plan in mind. Lio frowned. He turned down one final alley and stopped at the far end of it, where the wall of a storage building created a quiet dead end, pressing his lips thinly together.

The only variable that had changed was Ophila. Which meant either the killer had been drawn upward by something she carried or something she knew. Or maybe it was showing just how big Ophila's butterfly effect was getting? Or.. Lio started then, realizing something. Yeah, they had a contract with those guys, right? He pressed his back against the storage building wall, staring at the opposite end of the alley, a small chuckle running through his body. Wow.

He sighed as he pushed off the wall and began moving further down the alley, stopping at a specific section of the cobblestone floor. He crouched, pressing his palm flat against the ground. Then he began knocking on the stone, making sure to stay to a specific rhythm. For the first three times, he went slow. Then two more times, this time fast. And to finish it, one final time, this time almost slamming his fist into the stone to make a sharp crack sound. There was a moment of silence.

Then from beneath the cobblestone, a thin and reedy voice drifted out, muffled by the stone.

"Who has my mouth?" Lio shrugged.

"The birds." Truly nonsensical, but that was the secret code. Another pause followed. Then a small section of the wall beside him clicked open, swinging out to reveal a door cut into the storage building's base with such skill and precision that somehow, the seams were indistinguishable from the surrounding stone. A single bloodshot eye peered out from the darkness beyond it, studying Lio for a long time. Then the eye disappeared, the door swung open fully, and immediately, the pungent smell hit him.

The thick smell of pipe smoke, old alcohol, and confined sweat, making Lio frown even deeper. Still, he straightened up, and stepped inside. The ceiling was low enough that he had to duck his head. The door clicked shut behind him. Inside, the interior was musty and dim, lit by three ancient lamps. Mismatched furniture filled the space, rickety chairs and tables having been shoved and accumulated everywhere. And at those tables, were people seated. There were not many.

Seven, perhaps eight, if the lump of clothing at one of the counters was alive. Lio moved through the dim interior toward the back, where a heavyset man with a magnificent grey beard covering his entire lower face and neck sat behind a low counter, cleaning a cup with a dirty cloth, though it only served to spread the grime even more around the glass. The man looked up, his humorless eyes settling on Lio's face. Lio flashed a friendly grin in reply.

Well, he thought, pulling out a single Rel and setting it on the counter with a quiet click. It was time to find some information.