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Chapter 376 - Murder on a Rainy Night (Part 01)

Murder on a Rainy Night (Rainy Rainy Serial Killer)

It was raining in the maritime nation of Vireocean’s capital Ville Zentra, a city that boasted the greatest harbor in all of the continent.

The intermittent rain pouring down for the past two weeks washed away the salt that settled on houses, but the humidity caused mold to grow on food, dampening the people’s spirits.

People flocked to Ville Zentra, eager to travel to the New World, which, after the defeat of the Evil Drakon, was deemed to be relatively safer. The term “New World” drew adventurers in particular, gathering in the Adventurers Guild like moth to flames, bewitched by the prospect of finding new species of medicinal herbs or new kinds of resources. Despite the continuous downpour, the guild was booming.

「Man, is it humid.」

A boy in a hooded cloak walked through the rainy streets of Ville Zentra. Although the road was paved, mud flooded through the cracks in the cobblestones, creating large puddles here and there.

Only a few citizens were outside, and no one paid any attention to the dark-haired boy. To Hikaru.

When Hikaru reached the Adventurer’s Guild, he sensed the muggy heat and the stench of alcohol, food, mold, and sweat mixed together drifting from within.

Facing south, the building was supposed to be like an open terrace, but the place had to be closed because of the heavy rain, leaving only one entrance open. The air could only circulate in and out of one spot.

「………」

For a moment, Hikaru hesitated to enter. He could hear sounds of laughter from inside, as if to forget the gloom brought by the rain. He came here just to gather a bit of information, or rather to see what was going on, but he was already soaked, and he didn’t want to add more to his discomfort.

When he came here before, adventurers only gathered for job-related briefings, or to grumble over a few drinks, but now they were all-out drowning in booze.

「Hey, kid. If you’re gonna go in, then go already. You’re blocking the way.」

Several men came from behind Hikaru. Judging by their showy weapons, they were most likely adventurers.

Steeling himself, Hikaru entered the building.

There were many adventurers in the spacious lobby, bottles of alcohol and plates of food on the table before them. The magic lamps brightly illuminating the inside made the dreary scenery outside seem like an illusion.

Deeper inside was a row of counters, divided into registration, commission acceptance, commission posting, party-related, and fund management. A new window had been recently added—voyage. It mostly entertained matters related to Dream Maker.

Adventurers crowded the “voyage” window, but travel operations weren’t actually proceeding well. Based on what Hikaru knew, there were only enough ships to accommodate less than half of the applicants.

Hikaru dried off his cloak before entering, while the men who came after him stepped straight into the building wet.

「Hey. How was it?」

「Not good. Eyewitnesses reports are vague, there’s no evidence, and there’s only one wound on the body. There’s no way you can find the killer with barely anything to go on with.」

「Yeah… I’d be more inclined to move if it wasn’t for this rain.」

「Yeah, right. I’m sure when the sun’s out, you’re gonna say “it’s too hot, I don’t wanna move.”」

「Damn right!」

The adventurers laughed out loud.

Hikaru turned away from them and headed to the commission board. Adventurers often say that the quickest way to check the situation in the city is to look at the Adventurers Guild’s commission board. And they were right. Most of the city’s demands were all gathered on this board.

「Wow…」

The bulletin board hanging by the wall away from the counters bore all sorts of commissions, piled on top of each other like fish scales. Goblin extermination, cleaning the city’s gutters, exterminating Undead in the city cemetery, delivery, gathering medicinal herbs, manual labors, and many more.

How about instead of drinking, you go through all these jobs? Hikaru thought. They could take on the monster extermination requests in the area—not even touching them just showed how lazy these adventurers were—but it was highly unlikely they’d be able to complete commissions relating to the New World. Alchemists, doctors, and Magic Item Specialists coveted whatever materials found over there. These high-demand materials could also be used for woodwork or engineering. Of course, these commissions were nothing to those who couldn’t travel to the other continent.

Hikaru gave the adventurers disapproving looks, but they paid him no heed. Adventurers were usually evaluated based on their weapons and then their body. To them, Hikaru, who was carrying a dagger inside his cloak, was not even worthy of evaluation.

「Wait, I know you.」

A guild receptionist bringing new commission forms noticed Hikaru. She had long, beautiful blonde hair that she had to tie up in one bunch because of the humidity. Her golden eyes were lovely as a doll, but the freckles underneath her eyes gave her a more human appearance.

「Miss Reine… was it?」

「Yup. It’s a pleasure to see you again, Supreme Code Breaker.」

The moment she said that, all eyes fell on Hikaru.

「What did you just say?」

What Hikaru heard were unfamiliar words. He didn’t want to think about it too much, but it seemed she was referring to him.

「Word of your unlocking King Allegro’s Treasure Chest has spread all over the city. It earned you the nickname Supreme Code Breaker.」

A different kind of commotion rattled the guild. Hikaru put his hood back on to hide his face.

「Sorry, I came here just to check the situation in the guild.」

「I understand. If there’s anything you want to know, just ask me. I’ll answer your questions. Please, come this way.」

Reine led Hikaru to a reception area at the back.

It was noon, yet heavy clouds blanketed the sky. The lamp inside the room had to be turned on to provide illumination.

「Fuel’s too expensive.」

Patricia Zylberstein, Supreme Leader of Vireocean, sat on her office desk, and turned her gaze to the elder secretary standing in front of her. A woman of around thirty, she exuded an intimidating aura.

「So… Any reason you brought a mere murder case to me?」

「Yes, Ma’am. If it were a simple murder, I wouldn’t bring this up with you. But this case is a little peculiar.」

「Murder is a case for the prosecutor’s office. How many were killed?」

「Fifteen. In eight days.」

「That’s too many.」For the first time, Patricia’s eyes showed interest.

「Since there is nothing in common between the victims, we believe the culprit is killing people randomly. The crimes were committed on rainy nights. The culprit came to the rooms of people who were up late at night and stabbed them once from behind.」

「Sounds like a government official too passionate about their job could be a good target.」Patricia said jokingly.

But the secretary did not smile one bit.「Three government officials are dead.」he said.

「…Is there anything more?」

「The problem is that the culprit didn’t leave any evidence at all. Some victims were found immediately after the murder, but the discoverer said they didn’t see the culprit at all.」

「Hmm? Not only did they not see them, they didn’t hear them either?」

「Exactly. We don’t have a lot to go on, and the prosecutor’s office is at their wits’ end.」

Patricia finally realized why the secretary brought this case to her attention.

「You’re thinking it’s him?」

「It’s possible.」

Sneaking into rooms without anyone noticing and stabbing victims from behind. No witnesses. No evidence left behind.

There shouldn’t be anyone who could pull off such a superhuman feat, but one person came to Patricia’s mind.

「Silver Face is in the New World, right?」Patricia asked.

「It seems his whereabouts are unknown.」

「So it’s possible he’s back here. What does Ville Dream say about this?」

Ville Dream was a settlement built next to Ville Zentra. Now a small city, it was inhabited by residents of Dream Maker, the only city in Grand Dream. Many of the residents, however, had already left for their homeland. Two thousand people who were thinking of settling here permanently remained.

Information regarding Grand Dream should have made it to Ville Dream as well.

「They don’t seem to know where Silver Face is.」

「I see…」Patricia leaned against her chair, arms folded.「If there’s a possibility, we should look into it.」

「I agree. Then…」

「Yes. I’m giving you permission to launch a manhunt for Silver Face. But keep the information to yourself. Use only men you can trust.」

「Understood.」The secretary bowed and left the room.

「So it looks like I’m wanted.」Hikaru said.

「Why are you so lax about it?」

Hikaru’s party, who had been living in a hotel for the past month or so, were having after-dinner tea and talking about what happened today.

Lavia, who had been frequenting the library, talked about the books she read, while Paula helped out at Ville Zentra’s church. Hikaru was talking about the mysterious murderer and him being wanted.

「When I heard about the cases at the Adventurers Guild, they said the culprit left no evidence, there were no witnesses, and he killed his victims with a single stab from behind. Then I thought, “Sounds like it could be me.” So I sneaked into Patricia’s office to gather info only to witness myself being put on the wanted list. The timing’s too good, it’s almost funny.」

「You should clear this up!」Paula said.「So did you just leave the office after that?!」

「Yeah. If I showed myself, I’d just draw suspicion. I couldn’t really prove my innocence anyway.」

Hikaru couldn’t care less if he was wanted or not. He switched to Silver Face only for a little time this month. Right now, he was simply the adventurer Hikaru.

「But I’ll admit I’m curious about this killer. He’s clearly despicable, so I was thinking of looking into it.」

「‘Kay. Take care.」

「Thanks, I will. See ya later, then.」

It was almost ten o’clock now. Hikaru grabbed his cloak and left the room.

There’s a high chance that the culprit has the same abilities as me. I’m curious how he learned them. I’d like to see his Soul Board if possible.

Or maybe… Just maybe… They came from a different world, just like me.