"Nghhh..." I throw her on the bed and look around. Nothing is out of place.

A few bags stack in the corner, most of them are useless antiques and ornaments. Her wardrobe is full of expensive soft clothing, most in the colour of red.

If she sells all of this, she would have a decent sum.

"Hmmm...? Where are you?" Ela says, still facing up laying on the bed, she refuses to move her body.

I sit beside her and she grabs my arm. "Baby...come here."

...

"Say, Ela, you have quite an amount of stuff...why do you not have money?" I ask.

"Whatttt??" She furrows her brow. "Don't ask stupid questions like thattttt~ come..."

I sigh. "Is that so?"

I take out the gun in my coat and point it at Ela. Ela, still intoxicated, takes a few moments before she jerks up in realisation.

"A-A gun? What?" She moves away from me.

"Are you sober?" I ask.

"W-Why are you doing this?"

"I intended for this from the start."

Ela shivers at the sight of the barrel. I stand up and search her room, while still pointing my gun at her. Nothing useful was found.

"You know Huke Pie, yes?"

Ela nods frantically.

"What is your relationship with him?"

"I-I...w-was simply his lover for a while."

"Really? Nothing else? If so, you have no money but can buy heaps of information from Flower? Who gave you the money and what information do you get?"

Ela gulps and glances out the window.

"I...simply asked for information of people Huke wants to know. He provided the money and names."

"What do you do with that information?" I ask.

She glances outside the window again.

?

"I hand them over to my father. He is a cook at an eatery."

"What eatery?"

"Mountain Eatery."

A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

Suddenly, I detect a few malicious presences outside the room at the door. Three people. One of them raises their leg and prepares to kick the door down.

*BAM!!!!!*

The door bursts open and three men jump in with aura-engulfed swords. Mana extends from my fingers to form a blade and with one swift sweep, their body splits into two.

Ela takes that chance to slip a knife from under her pillow and charge at me. My body abruptly vanishes.

??!

I grab her wrist from behind and twist it, forcing her to drop the knife. "Arghh!!!" She cries out.

With the barrel of my gun in her face, she begs with tears. "P-Please spare me, I can help-"

*BANG!*

Blood splatters from behind, staining the wardrobe red.

...

I throw her corpse against the wardrobe. Guts splattered, pools of blood, bits of fingers, amputated arms, and lumps of meat. It's a mess.

I take off my bloody coat and wipe off the blood on my face and throw it on the bed.

Local authorities soon arrive and check the situation. By then, I am nowhere to be seen.

==================================

Mountain Eatery is a normal restaurant famed for its desserts and beers, best for miners after work.

The owner of the store, a man in his late fifties with a grey messy beard, anxiously packs his valuables into a bag after hearing the news of his daughter's death. In the storage room, he stores the hidden gold and jewellery, planning to escape before I find him.

He glances over at a barrel. Within the barrel are stacks of paper.

...

He decides to abandon the papers and leaves through the backdoor only to meet me waiting patiently outside, leaning against the cobblestone wall.

I smile and wave at him.

"W-What..."

He quickly runs back into the restaurant and locks the rear door.

*BOOM!*

One kick is enough to send a deep dent into the metal door. A second kick sends the door flying out of the hinges.

Ela's father tries to escape through the main door.

I manage to catch his collar before he steps past the door and pulls him back in.

"NOO!! ARGHH!!!"

With one simple throw, he clashes through a door into the kitchen. Clinking and clanging echo from the kitchen. Different utensils litter the floor and a wooden kitchen countertop is bashed into pieces. A dash of crimson paints the remnants.

"Ugh..." Ela's father groans.

"The first thing you do upon your daughter's death is to run?" I say as I walk closer.

Her father's breathing becomes unstable. He mumbles something.

A thin flow of blood travels across the flooring. I run to the man and notices a knife lodged into his back.

"Call for help..." The father mumbles.

I could only glare at him in disgust. He used his daughter for money and left her without a penny. Even after her death, he only thinks about himself.

I leave him to bleed to death as I visit the storage room and check the barrel of papers.

"What the..." I mumble with my eyes wide open.

The top layers are all information about people. One is the Minister of Finance in Libra. Another is the BOV captain of the division in Oras. (Oras and Libra are both cities in Rodgof.)

The rest of the papers are information about BOV officers, business owners, mercenaries, and merchants.

The information Ela gathered was about people. Among the pile, I find one about Rena and about both me, Arsto, and my fake self(my persona when I wear the face mask).

Why?

I will need to dig further.

For now, I store the pile of documents and left the district.

By the time I return, darkness coats the sky.

Melissa stands outside the inn with her arms folded as she walks anxiously around.

She lights up when she sees me and immediately frowns in anger. "Bastard! I told you to return by dusk! I was worried."

I scratch my head and smile awkwardly. "Sorry...I lost track of time."

"Jeez..."

...

"Let's make up for it," I say.

"Hm?"

"Want to grab something?"

Melissa shakes her head. "No, I still have to continue the investigation tomorrow and you stink. What's that lingering smell?"

"Ah..."

Melissa hands me my room key. "Take a bath and sleep."

She heads back into the inn.

"Hey! How about this, I will help with your investigation."

She looks back and sighs in disappointment. "Sure...I guess."

...

Did I say something wrong?

I have nothing to do for tomorrow.