ALL NOVEL 36
“Now then, what should we call you?” I blank out
Forgot to prepare a name. Think. I have a fake witcher necklace. Witcher. Witch hunter. Ludwig? Maria?
“Just call me Gehrman.” I blurted out.
“Was a logger and a hunter before coming here” Continue to make up things on the go.
Ludwig scoffs at the latter mention.
“You? A hunter?”
“Never said I was successful one.”
“You never said that.” He repeats. Raised my eyebrows in confusion. Ludwig seems like those people who take things too literally.
“Then does this necklace of yours keep shaking whenever it detects magic?” The Inquisitor now asks. I frowned at my necklace.
“Yeah, I think so.”
“Ludwig is a shaman, does that mean the necklace won’t stop shaking if he’s nearby?” Maria asked.
“Seems so.” My frown deepened. Started to think that making this necklace is not a good idea. If it keeps shaking on minute traces of magic I would get many false positives.
“Will it not be useless then? I heard there are many wizards in Middenheim.” Alright this thing is useless based on what Maria said. Wasted 4 souls. Can I even refund this in soulforge or perhaps upgrade it to be more specific?
“Most wizards are dispatched outside to help the surrounding villages along with the witch hunters. There are only a handful of Hierophants in Middenheim. That necklace of yours might prove useful.” the Inquisitor added
“I sure hope so.”
“I believe we have enough pleasantries.” The Inquisitor finally starts the briefing.
“You all know what happened. Cases of mutations have grown significantly after the golden light a few nights ago. But even then, adults suddenly and instantaneously turn into chaos spawns are unprecedented. Previous records suggest that this is only possible with the use of a chaos artifact. Four cases such as these happened yesterday.”
She shuffled through some reports
“All of you are personally involved in one, one within the temple district near the refuge area bordering the slums, one near the town square, and the last one is a knight panther. My men are… busy dealing with the knights. The situation there is pretty volatile. So I will leave the investigation on the town square and the temple district to the three of you. I suggest you start with the town square. One of my men will be there waiting for your help.”
“What about you?” Ludwig ask
“My presence is required to handle the knights.” Then he just nod
With nothing left to ask we exit the building and back within the alleyways
“So, does anyone remember the way out of this?” Ludwig confidently walks without a word. Maria smiles as she follows. Guess that means yes and I follow them for now.
____
Back within the building
“Keep an eye on the three of them. You are allowed to kill them if they prove suspicious”
____
I followed the couple a distance away so that my necklace does not shake like crazy. Ludwig led us outside the alleyways quickly enough. The couple are whispering to each other and keep looking back at me. Unfortunately they are too far away to be heard properly this time even with my mutations They don’t see through me right? Is one of them either the Changeling or the Masque? Can’t be both of them at the same time right? Thinking about it again, both working together is quite unlikely. The Changeling is part of the reason the Masque cursed if I remember correctly.
Then the necklace started shaking wildly again. I saw Maria slowing down to walk beside me
“This necklace of yours, does it keep shaking like that if it detects magic?” she ask with some concern.
“Seems so.”
“I didn't see you wear it yesterday.” She probe
“I pocket it. It never shook this wildly before so I don’t bother wearing it. Why? You can do magic too?”
“Yes, though I didn’t enroll in those magic universities so my practice was not… acceptable.” So that’s what it is. Still suspicious though. A very convenient excuse too. The witch hunters did brand anyone using magic without enrolling to those universities as witches and servants of dark gods. Even then they still watch the wizards with suspicion.
“Can you not tell the witch hunter we are meeting that I can do magic?”
I just nod. She smiled in response. Seemingly happy with just that.
Our walk to the town square is quick. There are still fewer pedestrians than they are before. Also there is a burning pyre in the middle of the square. Near it is a witch hunter carrying a torch in one hand. Other than that, he has the standard weaponry of a witch hunter. A rapier and a repeater pistol sheathed and holstered on his belt. Not Middenheim local it seems as he cleanly shaved his mustache and beard unlike everyone I have seen so far.
“Judging by how confidently you approach me, you must be the help I was promised. Rest assured everything here is taken care of.” he spoke with level tone
“How? By burning everything?” I asked
“Yes.” He answered a matter of factly
“What have you uncovered so far?”
“Enough.”
“Well, we have promised that we would help,” Maria stepped into the conversation. “So we will help in any way we can Mr…”
“Gerald Kostner.” He answered Maria and start to think
“Hmmm. With most busy dealing with the knights problem I guess I can hire the three of you as temporary bodyguards.” Maria looked back at Ludwig who just shrugged and at me who just raised my eyebrow.
“Seems like there is no objection from us.”
“And what of that foul contraption?” He point at my necklace
“My necklace detects magic.” I said. “It has never been this active before.” Then I add
Kostner hums as he thinks.
I am now at the very front of the group. The rest are very behind to the point that my necklace is not shaking anymore. Now I am the canary of the party. Being the first one into danger and letting them know if my necklace detects magic.
“Don’t worry! We are right behind you!” Maria yelled in assurance from the back
“Now turn left!” Kostner yells
I turn left. The buildings start to get more and more rundown. I start to think about this sudden mutations. This must be either the Changeling’s or the Masque’s doing. Could be both as all 4 cases are in different locations. Since this happened yesterday, Ludwig and Maria are not both. Kostner might be the Changeling or the Masque. In fact, anyone could be one of those two daemons. Not to mention I still need to find Taal and Rhya.
Still deep in thought, I step on something soft. Stopping to look down, I stepped on a woman’s corpse. Looking around, there are many more corpses. Dozens. With many body parts and innards strewn around. Kostner walks towards the scene of carnage. But then he looks at my face instead and hums.
“What? What are you doing?”
“Nothing.” He then walks forward, careful to not slip or step on the bodies.
I looked back confused and saw a similar confused expression from Maria. Then it dawns on me that he is judging my reaction to this carnage. And I did not react!. A blunder on my part. Though judging by Maria’s face, he did the same to her and Ludwig.
“Did that necklace of yours react, Gehrman?” Kostner ask as I catch up to him
“No.”
“Then the trace is already cold.”
“What happened here?”
“That.”
He points at a chaos spawn with multiple wolf heads grown haphazardly all over its body. Swords still sticking to its corpse and the body riddled with bullet holes.
“Was a former priest of Ulric. He was supposed to lead the newest batch of refugees. Instead he turned into that and maul everyone here.
A deep growl comes from Ludwig seeing the chaos spawn. Visibly shaking with rage.
“How is this killed?”
“The guards hire some mercenaries to help police the increased number of refugees.” I saw plenty of corpses with mismatched armor parts. These must be whatever is left of the mercenaries.
“Any survivors?”
“Just one. A nervous female mercenary who somehow gets out unschated.” He said with a tinge of suspicion
“Now start piling those bodies!” He said to me and Ludwig“I have a corpse to dissect.”
I want to check the chaos spawn corpse too. But I am already suspicious enough as it is. As I pick one of the bodies strewn into an alley I look back. Making sure Ludwig and Maria is a far enough. The necklace started shaking.