"What time is it now?" asked Jacco. His voice didn't sound like someone who was okay.
The sky outside was already dark and the street was busy with people coming home from work or arriving from another city. There were intercity buses driving by as well, carrying passengers in and out of Sloten. Trucks carrying various materials were also seen on the road with their exhaust pipes emitting black smoke that rose to the air.
Graham, who was sitting at the front seat, looked at his watch. The street lights outside shone their yellowish light upon the interior of the motor carriage and helped him see.
"It's almost eight now," he replied.
They had reached the city after driving for more than two hours, slower than when they went. The traffic into the city was worse than traffic out, so it took them longer to actually enter the city, although Agatha was still driving like a maniac the whole time.
Jacco rested his pale face on the carriage window with his hand as a cushion. It was to dampen the impact of Agatha's rough steering.
"Luuk, I'll leave the stuff to you. Tomorrow I'll go to the bazaar to sell them but for tonight can you keep them?" he looked at the back seat at the man who was sitting leisurely.
"Sure. You're not going home?" he asked.
"No. I still have one more mission," Graham replied shortly.
Another mission? Where might they be going? It should be something easy seeing as they don't need extra help.
They were close to Tuinstraat already and Agatha was still driving at a high speed, taking over vehicles one at a time. Even at the traffic lights, her reaction speed was top-notch; within milliseconds of the light turning green, she had already gone ahead.
"Where should I drop you off, Mr. van Wert?" asked Agatha while keeping her eyes on the road.
Jacco's other free hand was holding his stomach tight, probably to keep it warm or to prevent something from coming out.
"Just drop me off with this guy. I can't stay here any longer,"
They arrived on Tuinstraat not long after and Agatha pulled over right in front of the apartment building with the sign 'Vakbond' above the main door. Jacco didn't waste his time and the second the motor carriage stopped, he opened the door and got out. Agatha also got out to open the trunk door for Luuk.
Click!
She got the door open and exposed the many things inside: scales, backpack, bundles of odd-looking objects. Luuk put on his backpack and picked up the scales that were tied up with a rope. Graham also helped out by carrying the rest of the stuff up to the second floor, including his own briefcase that was bulging. The two men walked carefully not to drop anything while still keeping up the pace so people couldn't have a chance to look at the items that they were carrying.
Thud!
Luuk put down the heavy scales and it hit the floor harder than he intended. He didn't pay it any mind, however, and proceeded to look for his keys inside his pocket. He unlocked his apartment door and quickly entered with Graham following behind. Without even turning on the light, Luuk put everything down on the floor in the living room, right in the middle where other random items were already lying around. Graham still remembered the locations of the objects on the floor perfectly so he managed to avoid them all despite the darkness. He carefully made his way to the sofa and put the stuff he was carrying next to it so that it wouldn't obstruct people from walking.
"What do you think about Agatha?" asked Graham as he was sitting down on the sofa.
"What are you doing? Aren't you supposed to be going?" asked Luuk instead, looking at the man who was now closing his eyes.
"Just a second. I'm sure she won't mind," he replied shortly
Luuk shrugged and then answered his previous question while sitting on the edge of the table, "I think she's extremely powerful despite her looks. She is also highly intelligent. It's also surprising that she is willing to do hard-work despite her being our employer."
Graham nodded sleepily and not long after, he had fallen asleep. Valentine opened his eyes after a moment and he stretched his body. His cold blue eyes were now able to see how messy the room really was.
"So what's your next mission?" asked Luuk curiously.
"Just gathering more stuff for our employer," answered Valentine shortly. His voice had gone deeper and colder.
Luuk was watching the man on the sofa. He noticed the change in eye color and voice.
The man has changed again. If I'm correct, when he is like this, his specialty also changes. I think this persona is like a secret assassin or something.
Luuk kept watching the man with interest. Valentine had stood up and slit his palm to allow blood to pool there. Luuk knew that the man was going to place anti-divination on their battle loot. That many body parts and organs of supernatural creatures were bound to leak out spiritual energy. Valentine dropped some of his blood on the stuff next to the sofa and then did the same with the backpack and the scales that Luuk had dropped on the floor. His briefcase didn't need special attention because it had been placed under the Shroud of Secrecy long before.
"It's done. I'll leave now. Don't get these stolen. I'll also leave my briefcase in your care," said Valentine.
"Leave it to me," replied Luuk convincingly.
Valentine walked out of the door and made his way down back to the front of the apartment. There, Agatha was waiting by her motor carriage but Jacco was nowhere to be seen. He must have gone home somehow.
The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.
"Let's go," said Valentine.
Agatha entered the motor carriage and sat on the driver's seat while Valentine sat next to her.
"So where can we find the ghoul?" she asked. Her right foot was on the gas pedal, ready to take off at any time.
"The concrete. We'll go there,"
She nodded and drove off right away. They went back north but this time, they were headed to the part of Noordeinde with the massive building blocks. With Agatha's driving speed, it didn't take them long to reach their destination, and unlike Graham, Valentine was completely fine inside the bumpy carriage.
"We're here. Where do we go now?" asked Agatha politely. She parked her carriage in the parking area where a lot of other motor carriages were parked.
The two people got out and headed towards the entrance of the concrete. Despite having spent her whole day outside in the wild, Agatha still looked dazzling. Her red coat was somehow not dirty. Only her hiking boots showed evidence of being outside. She was still holding the purse that she had been carrying all day while Valentine was carrying only his gun and dagger. The leather belt on his waist had a complicated pattern on it, ready to use as a secret weapon.
"Follow me," said Valentine as he walked into the biggest alley between two tall building blocks.
"How can a ghoul be in this kind of place?" asked Agatha curiously as she was observing her surroundings.
The Concrete at that hour was still extremely busy. Agatha stood out in the crowd because of her appearance and also her pretty face, causing people to look at her in curiosity. Valentine didn't pay attention to any of them and kept walking ahead with Agatha not far behind. She was also looking ahead, ignoring all the hungry eyes of the men staring at her. She seemed to be used to something like that.
"There is a part of this area that is different from the others. You will notice once we get there. As for the reason, I don't know why," replied Valentine.
The two of them walked down the crowded windy alleyways, avoiding people as they went. The smell of food cooking mixed with the sweat of the people penetrated their noses, and the noise of people chattering filled the place. Despite the moonless night, the street lights provided enough lighting in the alleys, although they didn't really need any. They walked fast following the route that Valentine remembered.
The farther they went, the quieter the alleys became. The two of them finally reached the part of The Concrete where there was only a handful of people around. The number of street lights had dwindled greatly and they were flickering, making that area darker than it should be. The lights in the buildings were mostly turned off and all the windows were blocked off by curtains.
"Where... is this?" asked Agatha.
She couldn't believe that they were still in the Concrete. It was completely different from before. The pleasant smell of cooking had been replaced by the smell of vomit and another kind of putrid smell that she couldn't quite put. A thin layer of fog was floating above the ground and it felt much colder there.
"I'm not sure myself, but this is where we'll find your ghoul," replied Valentine.
Suddenly, a man came approaching Agatha. He seemed to be drunk and the sight of a beautiful woman aroused his interest. He was probably in his thirties and his clothes were actually decent, so he should not be homeless. He stumbled in his walk and slowly came closer to her.
"Hey, beautiful. Wanna leave your boyfriend and come with me?" he said.
She ignored his words and kept walking ahead. The man became more daring and quickly walked in front of her and came very close.
"Hey, don't ignore me!" said the man, raising his voice.
The man raised his hand and tried to grab Agatha.
"Poor guy," muttered Valentine.
Before the man could grab her, she grabbed the man's hand first and looked straight at him with murderous intent. Her eyes glowed red in the dark and a dangerous aura emanated from her whole being. The man's face turned pale instantly and pain came from the hand that she was grabbing. Sweat came running down his forehead.
"I'm sorry I'm sorry please let me go I'm sorry!" begged the man in quick succession. He sounded truly scared, judging from his voice.
"Come on. We have no time to waste on someone like that," said Valentine.
He had continued walking and ignored what was happening behind him. Agatha finally let go of the man and caught up with Valentine, while the man collapsed to the ground with sweat all over his clothes.
Valentine and Agatha went deeper into the strangely quiet part of The Concrete and the number of people they saw kept dropping until they were the only ones left. The putrid stench that they had been smelling was getting stronger and the area got even darker. The layer of fog also got thicker.
Their sense of danger was triggered suddenly. They looked at each other and nodded. The ghoul that they were looking for should be close. They walked carefully past a broken iron gate and reached an opening that looked like a small square for the residents. All the windows were covered by curtains and the building lights were turned off.
In the distance, Valentine and Agatha could see a thin humanoid creature squatting on the ground on its hooves, seemingly eating something. It was a view that Valentine was very familiar with because it was the same as last time. Although, last time his spiritual sense had been triggered far in the distance for some reason, unlike this time.
"Is it eating a dead body?" asked Agatha quietly.
"I think so. The last time I saw it, it was also eating someone dead. There must be someone intentionally feeding the thing," replied Valentine.
They slowly approached the ghoul and suddenly, it turned around!
Its face was covered in the blood of its prey and it was baring its sharp fangs at them. The ghoul looked slightly different from the one he had seen there before and even different from the one he and Luuk had fought.
"Something is not right..." said Valentine. He readied his gun on the right hand and dagger on the left.
"What is it? And how do we defeat it?" asked Agatha. She had also readied her knife.
"It's weak against blood attack," replied Valentine shortly.
The ghoul was still observing their movement. It then stood up and revealed its front body to the two people there.
"It has breasts! What the fuck!" Valentine lost control of his own thought. The sight in front of him was just bizarre.
The ghoul's chest, which was only flesh on the bone before, now was covered in weird, sagging breasts that were leaking a reddish liquid that was thinner than blood. Besides the breasts, everything else about the ghoul still looked the same; its body was still covered in wounds that were leaking pus and blood and its claws looked very sharp.
"Does it mean it's a female ghoul?" asked Agatha cluelessly. She had never seen a ghoul before so she didn't understand Valentine's surprise.
Valentine nodded and slowly approached the female ghoul that was observing the two of them. Meanwhile, Agatha had slit her wrist and collected blood on the ground. The ghoul noticed it and suddenly dashed at her at a frightening speed.
"Your opponent is me!"
Clank!
Valentine charged at the ghoul with his dagger and it deflected his attack with its sharp and hard claws.
Bang!
He shot a paralysis bullet at the ghoul but it managed to dodge it completely. Its speed seemed to be higher than the one he had fought with Luuk before.
"I, in the name of the Deity of the Tongue, order you to stop moving!"
Valentine quickly used one of the two charges of Order he had on Purloin and stopped the ghoul from moving. While he still had the chance, he quickly chanted again.
"I, in the name of the Deity of Uncovering, ask you to reveal your secrets to me!"
Slowly, an illusory text started to appear above the immobilized ghoul.
'A Ghulah that has evolved unnaturally from a Ghul. It possesses very high speed and agility, and its attacking power is also not to be underestimated. Its main form of attack is by using its sharp claws and fangs, but it can also emit a cloud of disease that will weaken its enemies. With the evolution, its bodily fluid has become highly toxic, being able to kill enemies in mere minutes after exposure. This female ghoul is on its way of evolving further into an Umm Ghulah.'
"What a troublesome one, aren't you?" muttered Valentine as the text disappeared.
The Ghulah was almost free from his control, so he quickly shot another paralysis bullet at it.
Bang!