Volume 3 : The Bloated Murderer

“Considering you annoyingly insisted on picking the clothes, you’ve yet to comment on my looks.”

Arthur spun once in front of Evelyn as he showed her his newly-bought outfit. They weren’t particularly expensive nor fancy, but they did suit the parasite well. Leonis Sanguis, though a bit old, was a handsome man.

A nose that appeared to end in a blunt plane rather than a point, a square even brow and an unusual jawline that had a commanding bone structure, and lastly, two eyes, which were naturally narrowed to a dangerous degree, making him look exceptionally domineering.

As for his clothes, he had a normal black jacket on top of a simple dark brown shirt. The pants were thin and black as well, and the boots were a shade of darkened crimson, supposedly made from the processed leather of the Salamanders of the South.

As long as his body, or ‘host’, was relatively healthy and comfortable, Arthur would not complain too much about appearances. However, he had to admit that changing into brand new and clean clothes was a good decision, one which was wholly attributed to the maid’s stubbornness.

“Master, we’re not going to the city to pick up girls. All that matters is that we are presentable and non-suspicious.”

As she dodged his question, the parasite clicked his tongue and stopped spinning. He directed his eyes at Evelyn and leaned closer, scrutinizing her from head to toe.

She too, changed into another set of clothes, different from the one she had worn after the massacre in the Maga Venari Village.

‘Twas plain clear that she preferred wearing maid clothes, but that would attract too much unwanted attention. Therefore, Evelyn contented herself with casual male clothes that facilitated her movements in case of a battle.

“I think a dress would suit you a lot.”

“And I think it’s a waste of money, Master. I hate those shiny and absurdly expensive aristocratic lady clothes.”

“Even undergarments? The town we passed buy had a store that sold black ones with stra-”

Seeing her piercing glare, he stopped talking and chuckled as he backed away.

Today was the 2nd of the Red Moon, meaning that a little over a month had passed since the Blood Purge. Along with the non-talkative maid and the half-maniacal Mort, Arthur left the Hollow Creek Region five days after the massacre and, using Evelyn as a guide, they made their way here.

They stopped at a couple of settlements to restock on food and water as well as buy a couple of miscellaneous things, to which Evelyn, as was her wont, was against due to their exorbitant price.

For example, Arthur bought flammable oil and a handful of simple traps for future uses.

In total, it took them twenty days to reach their destination: Blackcrest city.

Blackcrest was one of the four main cities in the Archwood Region. Situated 420 Kilometers (260 miles) North of Wilsden Town, Blackcrest was the Southernmost city in the Archwood Region and home to approximately 250,000 people.

“I expected a long queue near the entrance.”

Since Mort was a zombie and it was difficult, if not impossible to disguise him, Arthur ordered him to stay outside and ‘play’. Of course, the zombie did not object and shot toward a random direction.

The lands around Blackcrest were relatively safe as the city itself was surrounded by well-protected farms and local stables. Unlike in Wilsden, which was the only proper settlement in Greenbell Forest, Blackcrest had its own army and the security wasn’t as lax.

Arthur and Evelyn made their way toward the entrance of the city, which was in the form of two massive gates with a clear golden insignia on both sides.

Apparently, Evelyn had been here before, but Arthur, as someone who had been ‘reborn’ only recently, it was his first time seeing a city in Astria.

He had imagined tall and glorious walls and guards stationed atop them. Indeed, his expectations weren’t that far away; Blackcrest had a wall surrounding all its sides, a grey wall over forty meters in height and ten meters in thickness… not even the passing of time affected this unbreakable structure, which had stood tall for more than two hundred years.

At last, the parasite and the maid reached the foot of the enormous gates and, before they were granted access, they either had to show appropriate identification or pay a small fee.

Although he was possessing the body of a noble, Arthur wasn’t afraid that he might get recognized. After all, Leonis Sanguis wasn’t that famous, nor did he have any influence outside of Wilsden.

“It’s certainly a better sight than the forest or Wilsden. I do like bustling places.”

With no particular destination in mind, Arthur and Evelyn walked down the main road and looked at the fancy shops and energetic workers and patrolling Militant Guards.

Unlike the Maga Venari Village, the architecture of almost all buildings was special and not entirely made of wood. Of course, even a city like Blackcrest paled in comparison to metropolises on Earth, nonetheless, it was still a magnificent place, one that Arthur liked a lot.

It was imbued with that medieval atmosphere, which was further boosted by a mix of Magic and technology.

“Are we heading to an inn, Master?”

Opposite to the parasite, the maid did not like crowded places and had no interest in sightseeing or checking the artifacts, weapons, and potions the shops were selling.

Her mood worsened ever since entering the city and, clearly, she wanted to return to quietness. Ironically, she was the one to propose coming to a city to properly restock and rest after all they had been through.

“We will… but not now. If you’re in a hurry, you can go now and I’ll catch up to you later.”

“That’s not happening. You are wont to look for trouble, Master.”

He shrugged then, with his chin, pointed at the relatively happy civilians going about their businesses.

“Trouble is not so easily found, you know…”

Just as he said those words, the parasite’s feet halted and his eyes landed on a seemingly new poster hanging on a large wooden board.

“Would you look at that!”

He chuckled and leaned closer, proceeding to read what little contents were written on the poster.

“The Bloated Murderer strikes again. This is what he looks like…”

The sketch of the criminal wasn’t absolutely useless. It was a hooded figure lacking any facial features or description about the killer’s height or approximate age.

Evelyn also inspected the poster with a frown, “That’s strange. Blackcrest has notoriously tight security, so much so that it’s hard for Black Markets to function. How can they not apprehend a single killers.”

“Evelyn, what’s this ‘Auxilium et Adiutorium Investigation Office’?”

“I’ve heard about them. They are- for want of a better word- a private small company that gets paid to investigate certain affairs, mostly killings.”

“Oh?”

Interested and intrigued, the parasite ripped the poster and read it again before stuffing it in his pocket.

“I didn’t know they existed here. They seem to be doing piss-poor job in catching the criminal, though. Incidentally, I am curious about this Bloated Murderer.”

“Master, please don’t.”

“Don’t what? I haven’t done a thing.”

He feigned innocence with a pained expression, which didn’t work on the maid.

“I know what you’re thinking. Let’s leave it to the professionals.”

“I’ve yet to meet them, however, after seeing this poster, I wouldn’t call them ‘professionals’.”

Evelyn sighed in exasperation and averted her eyes. Her protest notwithstanding, it was plain clear that her master has been entranced by a mystery and no words, however reasonable, would dissuade him.

“Come on, my dear Evelyn! Scarce our boots entered the city did we stumble upon a mysterious killing case! It’s definitely fate beckoning us! I mean, what could be more interesting than chasing after a murderer we know nothing about!”

“Master, you seem to be forgetting about your identity. Although none of the civilians will recognize you, there is the Duke of Blackcrest, who’s close to Sancha Leonis and had seen ‘you’ before.”

“Ha! What are the odds of crossing roads with this Duke? Besides, when have I ever taken any chances? I’m a careful and diligent survivalist.”

“That’s…” She snorted and spat, “Complete and utter bullshit.”

The parasite chuckled and lowered his head ever-so-slightly to meet Evelyn’s gaze. Their faces were so close to each other. “Do I take your rarely-heard vulgarity as agreement?”

She neither pushed him away nor backed away, merely stared back with narrowed eyes and a forced soft smile.

“I would call it necessity rather than agreement. As I had seen how you operate, it would not be surprising for you to recreate something akin to the Blood Purge.”

“Only if I have to…”

He leaned back and continued walking, his eyes jumping from one building to the other, trying to remember every little detail and potential targets.

It wasn’t a lie that he was intrigued by the Bloated Murderer. Their agenda was devoid of interesting activities, therefore, he had to busy himself with something or he would be haunted by boredom.

Furthermore, Blackcrest was a big city and its resources and inhabitants were bound to be more appealing than the religious zealots of the Maga Venari Village.

Although he did not admit it to Evelyn, he had an additional objective in coming here; Learn more about parasites and, hopefully, find a way to evolve his Race for the second time.

After all, ever since possessing the Vampire ‘Rodric Donovan’, he had not gained any race-related skills. Yes, possessing corpses would grant him stats but he wanted more than that, he wanted to gain access to skills that would not be rendered obsolete when switching to a host that wasn’t a human. For instance, Leonis’ unique barrier magic couldn't be used by all kinds of hosts and that was greatly detrimental to Arthur.

Coincidentally, this murderer on the loose was able to avoid the tight security of Blackcrest and, as the poster mentioned, killed eight civilians. Surely, whoever it was, they were strong and equipped with Magic… magic which Arthur wanted to get his hands on.

Having his Stats reduced under the sunlight limited what he could and could not do and he thought-no… he knew it was the right time to evolve. All he needed were the hidden requirements, the factors that he had to uncover himself, in due time, of course.

Arthur never made it his main goal to get stronger, but after his battle with the nameless reptilian beast, he understood that his magic, albeit strong, was simply not enough. He needed more tricks up his sleeves, more life-saving trump cards, and more efficient supportive skills. What better place to fish for those than a city that houses over 250,000 people?