Soulgros reported this to Master out of concern that he might be in danger. She wasn’t worried in the slightest that Apollo and the others might have gotten involved in some incident. Among the members of Yerkchira, she was one of the few who could lend an ear to outsiders.
However, this didn’t mean she genuinely connected with them. Like Laladie, Soulgros didn’t care what happened to anyone besides herself and Master.
But Master was different, and his eyes widened in surprise.
How kindhearted he is… Soulgros thought, her already high opinion of Master rising even further. Worrying about Apollo and the others, whose well-being mattered little to her, showed just how kind he truly was.
Ironically, even if Master hadn’t considered Apollo and the others at all, Soulgros would have thought him bold and admired him even more. Her criteria for evaluating Master were exceedingly flexible.
“Well then…”
Master asked if the scent of blood could belong to a monster. Although she wasn’t Vampille that could identify individuals solely by the scent of blood, Soulgros, who had some knowledge of blood, could usually determine the species. She twitched her nose under the cloth to confirm.
“This isn’t a monster. It’s human blood… and quite a bit of it.” Soulgros made her assessment.
“Where is the scent was coming from?”
Naturally, if it was Master’s request, she would do anything to fulfill it. Fortunately, this task wasn’t particularly difficult.
“It’s coming from near the spot where Lucil ran off.”
Soulgros pointed toward Lucil, who was disappearing among the trees.
He probably smelled the blood as he got closer to the source. Master followed him, walking briskly in his direction.
As always, Soulgros followed closely behind. By the time they caught up to Lucil, everything was already over.
“What is this?” Lucil murmured in a daze. Master gave him a somber smile.
As Soulgros had mentioned, the scent of blood was unmistakably strong here. The trees and grass were stained with copious amounts of it. And on the ground lay two bodies, their lifeless eyes staring up at the sky. The fruit slipped from Lucil’s arms, falling to the ground.
“Apollo… Ligg.”
The two corpses lying on the ground, staring lifelessly at the sky, were very close to Lucil. They were fellow guild members, practically family. These were the people who had selflessly offered their time and resources for Lucil’s sister, Lucika. Now they lay dead, their bodies bleeding profusely.
“Why…?” Lucil’s strength left his body, and he sank to her knees. Memories of Apollo and Ligg’s living faces floated through his mind.
Apollo had been a good-natured elder. A laid-back man who loved his drink yet always put the guild members first. Many a time, Lucil had thought of him as a father figure, especially since he had no parents.
Ligg was a kind man. He was strict about manners and etiquette, often scolding Lucil for his ignorance, but the young man knew it was because he cared for him. Although his frequent talks about the Church of Angels could be tiresome, he never hesitated to use healing magic to aid injured guild members, regardless of the toll on his own magic reserves. He always prioritized others over himself.
Lucil never voiced it, but he deeply cared for them both. Now, Apollo and Ligg lay dead, their bodies drenched in blood.
“Excuse me,” Soulgros said to Lucil as she approached the bodies. She gently closed Apollo’s open eyes and briefly examined the state of the corpses.
Apollo’s body bore no wounds indicative of a sharp weapon. Instead, it was covered in bruises, as if struck with tremendous force. One of his arms was also missing, the torn flesh suggesting it had been ripped off rather than cut.
“Hmm… It seems they were attacked by an enemy with immense strength. This enemy likely didn’t use weapons but relied solely on brute force,” Soulgros deduced.
“So, you’re saying a monster killed Apollo and Ligg?” Lucil asked through gritted teeth, his eyes filling with tears as he glared at Soulgros.
“Well, shouting at me won’t help,” Soulgros replied calmly, dodging Lucil’s fierce gaze. Though Lucil’s anger was palpable, it wasn’t enough to faze Soulgros.
Something was odd. The place where Apollo and Ligg fell showed hardly any signs of a struggle. Apollo and Ligg weren’t weak adventurers. Of course, compared to Soulgros, a member of Yerkchira, they might seem lacking, but they weren’t helpless.
In fact, when attacked by the mid-tier guild, Praeshield, they not only survived but managed to defeat their assailants. Yet here they were…
It seems they were killed without any chance to fight back… Soulgros thought.
While there were indeed monsters deep within the forest capable of such feats, this lake was in a relatively shallow area. Could a monster from the shallow regions have overpowered Apollo and Ligg so completely?
“Damn it! I won’t forgive this! I won’t let them get away with it!” Lucil shouted, burning with rage and hatred. Soulgros watched him, lost in thought.
Even if Lucil found their killers and attacked, he would likely meet the same fate. Excluding Ligg, who was primarily a healer, Apollo, who engaged in close combat and led his guild, was more skilled than Lucil. If even he was killed so easily, what chance did Lucil have?
Well, Soulgros wasn’t kind enough to offer a warning.
“Whew… Still, it’s strange. Who could have killed Apollo-dono and Ligg like this?” Soulgros wondered aloud.
“Shall I tell you?”
A voice responded to Soulgros’s musings. This slimy, unsettling voice belonged neither to Master nor to Lucil. As Soulgros began to turn to see who it was, her body suddenly froze.
No, it was stopped.
“This is how those two were killed,” the voice continued.
With a thud, Soulgros’s slender body shook. She moved her eyes to the source of the discomfort—her stomach. A ghastly arm, covered in blood, had pierced through her abdomen, filling her vision with horror.
Then, the unsettling laughter echoed again.
“Ahyahyahyahya!”