Chapter 99 99:A Dreary Feeling[2]



Absurd...

The situation had gone beyond their expectations. There was a disgusting and sickening feeling welled up in their heart.

Things had gone beyond the limit.

He did not know why or how but he was sure that this eyeball belonged to a human.

Frederick Adam's apple throbbed a bit.

"Parth...how are you so sure? It can also be of a monster."

"I am a hundred percent sure. The sense of smell can only belong to a human."Parth shouted.

"Let's calm down and look for the innkeeper."

.........

DANG!

"Kyakk!"

The man screamed in terror as a knife was stabbed over his hand. Fortunately, it passed through the gap between the fingers.

"Tell me you piece of shit? Did you think you could fool me?"

"I am the one and only Parth, The Legendary Fearsome lone rider."

"Sir, what do you mean?"

Frederick pushed Parth aside.

Gosh, the innkeeper was informed that the customer was quite happy with his services and wanted to make some donations. The kid's figures were hidden by dark robes but as soon as he saw their exquisite skin and features, he was sure that they belonged to high society.

His heart jumped with joy imagining the prospects, however...

"Was the food not to your liking? Please pardon us for any mistake?"Gosh begged for his life.

"I will ask you a question."Parth's menacing gaze made Gosh shudder.

"How dare you cook human meat and feed it to us, you damn bastard?"Parth screamed angrily and slammed his hand on the table.

"Whattttt?''Gosh screamed in horror.

"I would never dare. It's unethical."Gosh freaked out.

"The meat we use is that of the angora goat. We rarely use monster meat as it's costly but recently we have procured low-cost monster meat."n0VElusb.c0m

Everyone's expression changed.

Low-Cost monster meat. Lucas, who had been part of killing monsters and selling them, knew about the cost. So what was this low-cost monster meat?

"Selling humans is such a disgusting thing, I would never dare."

Just as Parth started to bark again, he was pulled back by Lucas.

"I'm sure you might have a seller."

"Give us the address of the person from whom you brought the meat today?"Lucas asked.

"O...Okay...I have nothing to do with them, please believe me."

"Hmm! We will see that and keep your mouth shut if you don't want to die."Lucas threatened him.

..........

It was already late at night so they decided to stop today and freshen up their minds.

"Why is there so much paper scattered here?"Parth gave Roan a skeptical glance.

"This is all the research. The monster we encountered, I haven't seen such a species in the wild and there have been no reports on them."

"And second, don't you think this occurrence is odd? The monsters were highly intelligent so they could take down the entire orphanage with their numbers, so why are they only kidnapping children every month in small numbers and why do they appear now? Even if they are night creatures, why didn't we find any traces before?"

"Moreover they also respond to the whistle," Lucas added.

Roan's words immediately drew everyone's suspicion.

"Did you find anything in Church?"Roan asked.

"I tried to locate the bloody scent and looked for any underground structure but I did not find any," Parth spoke helplessly.

"You couldn't even find the source of the smell," Frederick asked in disbelief.

If there was a smell then there should be a source, the place where they kept corpses.

"Lucas, what do you think?"Frederick glanced at Lucas's dark expression.

Lucas, who was juggling the knife, threw it on the wall.

Roan jumped up from his seat in fear.

"What the hell?"Parth glared at Lucas.

Lucas, turning a blind eye, pointed at the place his knife struck"Don't you find this odd."

They followed Lucas's sight and saw that the knife was struck at a narrow dense rugged area on the map attached to the wall.

Taken surprised, they assessed the map carefully.

The orphanage was situated in the northeastern part of Hubris while the building that was kidnapped was in the southeastern part of Hubris and a little bit up from the east, there was the Church.

"Don't you find the arrangement too coincidental? The church lies between the 90° arc of the orphanage and the kidnapper building"Lucas gave a goofy darkened smile.

If the map was correct, one can transverse to the Church through the forest.

"What if the smell of dead humans is not coming from the Church but rather the people of the Church? You said it was blood, which meant that this might be masked by the body's natural odour but can't hide completely as it will take some time to get rid of. Maybe they killed too many humans."Lucas assessed.

In fact, he had another possibility but he can't speak that now.

Maybe the monsters are altered humans that had been transformed into their primitive form.

"This has narrowed down our search perimeter," Frederick mumbled, sweeping his glance at the moment.

"Now, we just need to find the butcher and inquire about the meat."

"Parth can move to the Church through the forest and find the monster trail," Frederick suggested.

"Isn't it dangerous?"Roan's body shivered thinking about yesterday.

"It's dangerous but I can sneak in if I use my skills well," Parth mumbled.

.........

Early in the morning, the duo moved out.

Walking down the streets, they searched for the meat shop. At the end of the street, they saw the ragged gloomy store where dried pieces of meat were hung.

"It's nauseating, isn't it? I can't believe this."Lucas gave a self-deprecating smile.

"Did you have to say that?"Frederick sighed heavily.

Frederick may be used to killing but at the end of the day, he was noble. All the food on his table had always been decorated grandly.

He was also a picky eater and had been troubled with the quality of food recently. Seeing the things that he eats surrounded by swarming flies made him nauseated.

"Hello, how much meat do you want?"The shopkeeper spoke with a crafty smile.

"We are not here for me....humm..."

Lucas closing Frederick's mouth pulled him back.

"2 Kg of pork please," Lucas answered while glaring at Frederick.

The shopkeeper nodded and went inside.

"Are you an idiot? They don't know that you are noble so if you ask them directly he would be displeased with us and shoo us away."Lucas whispered and asked Frederick to step back.

Lucas put his hands on the counter and asked respectfully when the shopkeeper returned, "Uncle, are you the supplier of Decker's Inn."

"Yeah, why?"

"I am just asking because the quality of yesterday's meat was phenomenal. It's the best meat we have ever eaten so can you tell us what meat is? My father is opening a restaurant so we are looking for suppliers."

"Ohh! Do you want to buy that?"The man's eyes lit up.

"Yes, but before that can you tell us about it?"

"That meat is monster meat."

"Monster meat, aren't they too costly?" Lucas exclaimed in shock.

Frederick twitched seeing Lucas's surprised expression.

'He is acting too naturally.'

"Nah, actually I am acquainted with a man who supplies monster meat at 200R per kg which is just 10% of any 1-Star monster meat."

"Uhhh!What kind of monster meat is that?"

"That..."The man panicked a bit.

Squeezing out a smile, he answered"Actually, I don't know which monster is but the taste and quality of the product is absolute. I can guarantee that."

The man thumped his chest showing his eagerness.

"Can you tell me about that man? I just want to talk about that monster. Our restaurant is open to all classes, even noble ones. Uncle, you must know how self-conscious the upper-class people are. Some may have allergies to a particular monster so we need to know about that, don't we?"

Seeing the man's worsening expression, Lucas assured him and his lips crept upward sharply.

The man hesitated a bit.

Lucas put more fuel to the fire by talking about the amount of money, he even promised to transfer 5000R as a security deposit.

The man finally gave up under the temptation of money.After all,5000R was his half-year's income.

"The man who sells the meat came to me a year ago. I don't know about his true identity but he introduces himself as Jeffrey. He delivers meat within a gap of 3-4 days, there is no fixed timing."

"Do you know his address or anything that could help find him?"Frederick spoke with a brightened expression.

"I don't know his address but I know where he works. He works as a servant in the mayor's office."

'Damn...Out of everywhere, did that bastard have to work there?'

Lucas took a deep breath.

"Thanks for the information. Here is your gift."Lucas transferred the money and took the pork meat.

"Keep the tip."

Following Lucas, Frederick walked out.

Collecting his thoughts, he looked up and noticed dark clouds looming over the horizon.

"It feels like we are soon going to have a conclusion," Lucas murmured.

....

Swish!Swish!

THUD!

A man placed heaps of paper on the table and wiped out his sweat.

"Thanks, Jeffrey!"

"I just did my work."

"In all my years, I have never seen such a hard worker attendant like you."

"You're praising me in vain," Jeffrey replied respectfully.

"By the way, the meat produced on your farm is quite good."

"Yeah, my wife nags every day to bring some home. Can't you deliver meat each day?"

The workers persuaded Jeffrey.

"I apologise, sir! My farm is quite small and the meat I get is from a friend. I have loaned money from the Mayor to set it up. Unless I clear the debt, I don't plan to increase the scale. This is just a side business so because of some meagre money, I can't neglect my duty as an attendant and become a meat shopkeeper."

"Jeffrey..."The worker's eyes were filled with admiration for the man.

"I wish there were more people like you."

The joyful atmosphere lingered for a while and soon they busied themselves with the work.

Jeffrey finished submitting the files and decided to take a break.

As Jeffrey walked down the street, looking for his daily dose of tea from the shop, he stumbled upon a person who crashed into him with great momentum.

BANG!

"Arghhh!"

THUD!

Jeffrey fell to the side.

The world around him spun and his vision became dizzy.

"I am sorry sir.."

"Please forgive me. I was in a hurry so my mind was not ahead."

Jeffrey got up and saw a boy of less than 20 bowing his head while collecting the papers splat from the fodder. His body was trembling and he seemed to be extremely afraid of him to the point that he wasn't even able to look him in the eye.

"Kid, learn to walk properly and if you don't know how to walk just stay at home. If it's someone else, you might be beaten up."Jeffrey snorted and walked away stepping on the papers.

It was only after Jeffrey left, Lucas raised his head.

A deathly chillness flashed in his eyes.

Lucas, raising his smartwatch, murmured, "Reynold, I have fitted the tracker, so track this bastard down."

"Leave it to me but remember one thing, retreat quickly if things escalate or you all will end up like my squad."

"Roger that!"