Two hour earlier

“So you started the long tenure of the demonhunter, Lil Zecruix?”

Demonhunter as they are commonly known or their older and original name that are Rakhe-threc-zal in their native Ehridolon was a select few that carry the gift that only half-Ehridolon have, which is the Artus of Exorcising or Rakhe-threv.

A bald, slightly overweight man, who had a smirk on his face, was diligently wiping the table that seems to be clean from a distance but that man was vigorously wiping a particular spot on the table. Zecruix who had known the man since he was young, knew of his over tendency for cleanliness.

“Forcibly! I had two more years of training and that man kicked me out because he wants to have a relationship! Is that even allowed for us?! I’m going to go to the Demonhunter hall in Trusyonium and file a major misconduct report!”

Zecruix was fuming verbally in his chair.

“Eh, I’m just a simple village chief. Kravstor been here for about five years, you guys and us had a mutual relationship! We get a discount service while we provided supplies! Ah, since you’re here, we been having a slight problem with an abandoned house. This sounds right down in your alley!”

The smirking village chief, bending his back, was wiping the window while with eyes squinting, looking for dirt to clean.

Zecruix frowned and after a moment of thought. He spoke-

“An abandoned house? Look, it’s better if you round up some of the men in the village and march down to the house. I mean it might not be anything Rakhe-related like a stray bandit using it as a hideout or a bear finding a shelter.”

“Well that is the problem. When some boys who were playing near the abandoned house five days ago and reported that there were unnatural sounds coming from there, the men were reluctant to check and the bravest of us were observing the house for a whole day and nothing came from there except strange noises were echoing!”

The Village chief got up from the window and looked at Zecruix, waiting for his reply.

Zecruix sighed and with a bored expression, puts his right elbow on the armchair.

“Look, ‘unnatural sounds’ or ‘strange noises’ don’t qualify for Demons… Just tell your men to man up!”

When Zecruix had said the latter, he cringed a bit for its hypocrisy.

“Ehh don’t say that. How about this, whether it’s non-related we’ll gave out a reward for it, a free stay in my house and supplies of food! I mean, old man Kravstor probably didn’t give you enough denurs to make it to your next village.”

The village chief smirk was even more pronounced as he said that. Zecruix folded his arms as he shuts his eyes and made a conflicting expression.

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If it was just a broken piece of the house that was making the noises, then he already completed the job which is to investigate the house. He will simply get the reward. Even if some stray bandit or bandits were there, he could handle them and lastly, if it were a Rakhe or demon-corrupted, it was something that he needs to handle either way.

After much thinking, he opened his eyes and nodded.

“Fine, if there’s nothing, I’ll still get the reward alright.”

“Yes, yes.”

The village chief, still maintaining a smirk, went to a small table on the corner, opens the underside drawer, and took a paper from there.

On that small table, there was a pen on top of it. He took the pen and wrote something on the paper. After that, he walked towards Zecruix and gave the paper to him.

“Here is the direction of the house. Try to be back before noon!”

                                   --

He had been trying to figure a way to get inside the house without breaking the door down but it seems that there were no other choices.

He walked and stood in front of the door and lifted up his leg and kicked the door down.

The door swung open with ease.

Looking closely, the interior of the house was dusty. Taking a deep breath before going in, he entered inside.

Taking a few steps inside with the feeling of trepidation, Zecruix carefully looked at his surrounding and listened to any unusual sound.

As far as he concerned, there were no ‘unnatural sounds’ or ‘strange noises’ when he had come here. Perhaps they had exaggerated the fact.

The moment he thought of that, it happened. Not far in front of him and above him at the center of this house, something was growling unnaturally.

“GukGukGukGuk!”

As he looks up at the creature that was hanging upside down, he deducted what manner of creature it was.

“A Demon-Corrupted…”

Although he was standing firmly at his spot and had a nervous bravado of a smile on his face, he can’t help but feel drops of sweat dripping on his back.