The journey to our destination was quite strange. There were not many people around; some paid no attention to us and continued walking forward, their gaze empty.

Others gathered around the furry corpses, hanging or lying on the ground, beating them with sticks, feet, and stabbing them with knives and forks.

Still, others just stared at us, their eyes resembling those of Uncle Jack's neighbor.

Zombies were no longer encountered due to the second category of people who dealt with the threat and prevented it from reappearing, constantly beating the corpses.

In such a strange atmosphere, we reached the Guild. The corpse, once hanging on the lamppost near the building and later falling to the ground, was nowhere to be seen. The door was partially open.

Pushing and opening the door, we were faced with an empty registration-dining room. When no one was here, the room seemed quite large.

The staircase to the second floor was to the left of the registration desk, where that unpleasant lady used to sit. Like everything else here, the staircase was made of wood.

Taking the first step towards the second floor, there was a creak. I had never noticed this before, but when there was no one here and the only source of sound was us, it was hard not to pay attention to the creaking.

Upon reaching the second floor, we were faced with six doors, three on the left and three on the right. All were closed. I looked at Uncle Jack, silently asking which of these rooms the person we needed lived in.

Uncle Jack walked ahead of me and headed for the second room on the right. Knocking, he began to wait for a response. But there was no response.

We exchanged glances, and Uncle decided to open the door, but as he reached for the handle, a cold voice came from the other side:

"Who is it?"

"It's me," Uncle Jack replied.

"What do you need?" the voice asked.

"You remember Kyle and Adele, don't you? You once did a job for Kyle's father, I need to know where he lives," Uncle Jack got straight to the point.

"How will this knowledge help you?" the man on the other side continued to maintain a calmness more suited to a robot than a human.

"I just need to know, will you help?" Uncle Jack asked. His face expressed concern.

"Help you or not? Of course, I'll help you, but I'd like you to answer a few of my questions," replied the emotionless voice.

Jack and I frowned.

At that moment, I thought that his voice hadn't changed its tone throughout the conversation.

It seemed like we were talking to an AI from the 2010s, which couldn't mimic human emotions and communicated in a monotone.

"First, what's my name?"

There was a brief silence. To say we were surprised would be an understatement.

"Derrick," Uncle Jack replied, a mixture of surprise and concern evident in his voice.

"Second, what do I look like?" the voice continued with its strange questions.

"You're a man of average height, with a thick beard, black hair, slightly tanned skin, brown eyes, and a big nose," Jack replied after a brief pause.

"Third, do you believe in God?"

"I believe in the God of Sun."

"Fourth–..." the voice abruptly fell silent. "Is anyone next to you?"

I swallowed. I hadn't spoken a word during all this time, fearing to scare off the interlocutor and not give him to tell the necessary information, but it seemed he somehow knew I was nearby. Not surprising, considering his oddities.

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

"No," nevertheless Uncle Jack replied negatively, which surprised me greatly. Hopefully, it wouldn't affect the outcome.

"East, Founder Street, two-story red brick house," the voice replied.

"What? Are you sure?" Uncle Jack asked. "That's one of the three stone buildings in town, along with the church and the mayor's office."

As expected, there was no response. Well, it was the only lead we had, so it was better to check it out.

As we began to descend to the first floor, we heard a click, followed by a prolonged creak. It was unlocking the door!

By this point, we had already made it to the first floor, and immediately bolted towards the exit of the Guild.

We ran for a while, then turned the corner between two buildings.

"That could have ended badly," I remarked, catching my breath.

My companion simply nodded, still breathing heavily.

After a short rest, we resumed our journey to the designated house, hoping that this creature hadn't lied to us.

It seemed to me that the closer we got to the city center, where the Victory Festival was taking place, the denser the fog became. It also became more dangerous.

We tried to stay as far away from the center as possible, making our way from the western part of the city to the eastern part, but even so, we couldn't avoid some threats. For example, zombies.

There were three of them, two furries and one human. They emitted a disgusting odor, had a terrifying appearance, maggots, and glowing green eyes.

As soon as we entered their field of vision, they immediately rushed towards us.

Uncle Jack didn't wait for them to approach and charged at the running zombies, beheading one of them, while the other circled around him and tried to strike him from behind.

But at that moment, I was nearby and attempted to replicate Uncle's move – to sever the zombie's head with one strike. However, I slightly misjudged the trajectory of the blow and instead of hitting the neck, I struck the temple.

As a result, my blade penetrated the enemy's head almost halfway, but it was enough to keep the undead subdued for a while longer.

By this point, Uncle Jack had already dealt with the third zombie, who had previously been human.

Having dealt with the group of enemies, we continued our journey.

At that moment, despite all the horror that was happening and my heart pounding fast, one thought flashed through my mind: I lacked sword skills.

...

In front of us stood a two-story building with its small courtyard surrounded by a wooden fence.

The house was painted red, which had faded over the years. A paved road led to the closed doors of the house.

Knock-knock!

I knocked on the door, not intending to barge in where we might encounter something like Derrick from the Guild.

To my surprise, the door was unlocked and slightly opened from my knock.

I peered inside, but due to the darkness, I couldn't see anything.

"What do you want here?" a voice echoed from the depths of the room.

"I came for Adele," I replied into the darkness.

By this point, my eyes had adjusted to the unlit room, and I could see my interlocutor.

It was a familiar young guy with blond hair and a rattail.

"Come in, it's not safe outside," he said, lighting candles in a candelabrum nearby.

With the room illuminated, I could finally see it.

It was a rather spacious hall, carpeted throughout. In the center of the room was an armchair, next to which stood a nightstand. Kyle sat in the armchair, and on the nightstand, accordingly, stood the candelabrum.

The room had two windows overlooking the courtyard, each with a table and a chair nearby. A chandelier hung from the ceiling, but instead of light bulbs, there were, of course, extinguished candles.

There were three doors in the room, one entrance and two others on either side of the room. There was also a staircase, starting with a few steps in the far left corner, which then turned to the right.

Right above Kyle on the ceiling was a painting depicting a man, a woman, and a little child.

Unfortunately, due to the dim lighting, I couldn't make out the faces of these people, but it was clear that it was Kyle's family.

Right in front of Kyle lay the body of a furry. Dismembered. The head, two arms, and two legs were severed from the torso, with a sword stuck in the head, once gifted by the mayor.

Kyle's leather armor was stained with blood.

"Welcome to my home, Assreal," he said grimly.

"Where's Adelle?" I asked.

"Upstairs, follow me."

He got up from the chair and headed towards the staircase, taking only the candelabrum with him.

"You said it's not safe outside, but why was the door unlocked?" I asked, not moving from my spot.

"Someone broke in here and broke the lock," Kyle replied, ascending the stairs. Though he didn't say who exactly, I instinctively glanced at the lying corpse.

I followed Kyle, with Uncle Jack right behind me, closing the door behind us. We both held our swords ready.

The second floor was a corridor, consisting of doors, each of which was someone's room.

Reaching the penultimate door at the end of the corridor, Kyle opened it and stepped aside, leaning against the wall.

When I reached the spot where he stood and looked into the open door, I was overwhelmed by various emotions, but the most prominent was rage.

In the room with a double bed, two nightstands were placed, each with lit candles illuminating the scene.

On the bed lay a body, covered with a blood-soaked blanket. Occasionally, it twitched and emitted strange gurgling sounds.

I slowly turned to the carefree Kyle. He was smiling.

I tightened my grip on my sword but remained in place. I turned on my brain, realizing that Kyle himself wasn't a threat to me. He didn't bring any weapons and had trapped himself in the corridor between us and the wall, daring to openly mock me.

He must have an explanation; otherwise, he signed his own death warrant.

"Hahaha!" he suddenly laughed, almost dropping the candelabrum. "You should have seen your faces! Pure comedy! Hahaha!"

I didn't take my eyes off him. Eventually, he calmed down and caught his breath.

"Whew, hehe, you don't have to look at me like that, it's not Adele," at that moment, his face seemed to turn to stone, "it's my parents."