The moment the rag was lifted by the short dagger, Yuuri’s pupils quivered.
Beneath the rag was a human corpse.
What was even more shocking was that most of the body’s flesh had been gnawed clean, leaving only scattered bits of tissue clinging to the bones. In the dim lantern light, the skeleton gleamed with a chilling luster.
Why would there be a corpse here?
And the flesh was gnawed a bit too cleanly.
At first glance, Yuuri had thought perhaps it was the work of rats living in the sewers, devouring the body. But if that were the case, the rag covering it would have been torn to shreds long ago.
Was the person killed and then dumped in the sewer?
But if he’d been murdered, the body should have been dealt with more thoroughly, not left half-eaten.
Then what really happened?
“Is this the person Yuuri-chan was commissioned to find?”
“No.”
Yuuri looked at the remaining flesh on the corpse; it had been rotting for some time, and the stench was coming from there.
“The timing and the state of decay don’t match. It shouldn’t be him.”
“Eh, then we have to keep looking?”
“Until we find a trace, we have to keep searching.”
At those words, Iris’s face grew a shade darker.
She’d thought they could leave this cursed place, but now, they still had to keep searching.
“It’s just a corpse, anyway. All right, Yuuri-chan, let’s keep practicing magic as we discussed earlier.”
“Wait a moment.”
Yuuri continued to examine the corpse, trying to find some clues.
Discovering a corpse in the sewer changed the situation immediately.
Maybe, beneath the surface calm, there was a danger she hadn’t anticipated.
She didn’t know if Kaf was still alive. If he was, that was good—after finding him, she could just take him back the way they came. If not, she’d have to go through the trouble of finding his corpse, retrieving a keepsake, and handing it over to Brol.
And maybe, when she found the corpse, she’d be attacked by something dangerous.
From this moment on, this task of finding someone in the sewers might be much more dangerous than she’d imagined.
“Why are you still staring at that thing? Yuuri-chan, don’t tell me you think if you stare long enough, he’ll come back to life and tell you how he died.”
“I’m just thinking, what kind of being could have gnawed a corpse like this, and…”
Who covered the corpse with that rag?
“It’s been gnawed so badly. What could you possibly see? Let’s go.”
After a final glance, Yuuri used the short dagger to hook the rag and covered the corpse again, making sure it was fully concealed before standing up and leaving.
Who knew where Kaf was now.
Might as well go further in. Originally, Yuuri had planned to make some noise deep in the sewer to attract Kaf, but now that she knew there was some unknown risk, doing so would only reveal her position.
As she went deeper, the number of forks in the sewer increased, like a complex underground labyrinth. Fortunately, Yuuri had been leaving marks along the way, so there was no worry of getting lost.
Moving forward, the air around her grew thicker and heavier. She didn’t know if it was just her imagination, but the darkness ahead seemed to deepen, and the lantern’s light could not reach as far as before.
It was getting darker and darker—a bad sign.
She could only slow her pace, constantly turning the lantern in different directions, afraid to miss any corner.
At that moment, Yuuri vaguely heard something.
It sounded like footsteps, coming from a nearby side passage.
Someone?
Yuuri stopped, focusing all her attention on the noise.
She could hear it clearly—there really were footsteps in the side passage, sloshing through the water, uneven and hurried.
Someone!
Could it be Kaf?
Yuuri slowed down, gripping the lantern tightly as she cautiously approached the side passage. The footsteps grew clearer; if she quickened her pace, she might bump right into whoever it was at the exit.
The footsteps stopped at the entrance of the passage. Yuuri shone her lantern in that direction and saw a vague silhouette.
In the next second, the figure spun around and, accompanied by a frantic patter, melted into the darkness.
He ran.
Chase!
Yuuri wasn’t sure who it was, but she had a feeling it might be Kaf. Maybe after spending a whole day in this environment, he was mentally unstable and mistook her for a threat.
As long as she caught up and explained why she was here, she believed he’d calm down.
Yuuri set off at a run, splashing the filthy water as she went. In this deathly silent place, the noise was especially jarring. She didn’t care about that now; she had to catch up.
Chasing that vague figure, Yuuri didn’t forget to keep marking the walls—she didn’t want to get lost in the sewers after finding him.
She’d thought the exhausted Kaf, after a day in the sewers, would be easy to catch. Driven by survival instinct, though, he was faster than expected and still accelerating, showing no sign of stopping.
If this went on, what was supposed to be a quick pursuit might turn into a drawn-out chase.
Too bad her grappling device was at the blacksmith’s for repairs and upgrades, or this chase would’ve ended before it started.
The pursuit continued for several minutes. Perhaps out of desperation, the other party ran straight into a dead end.
With nowhere to run, the figure crouched, hugging himself, and stammered,
“Don’t… don’t kill me… the goods have… already… already…”
He was trembling like a leaf, terrified beyond measure. Who knew what he had gone through to be this scared.
Yuuri raised her lantern and shone it on him. In the light, she could see clearly: it was a man in his thirties, thin and pale, covered in filth from the sewer, his eyes filled with despair.
Yuuri walked closer. “Mr. Kaf? Don’t be afraid. Mr. Brol sent me to find you.”
But Kaf seemed not to hear, still hugging his head, repeating the same words.
Was he truly scared out of his wits?
“Mr. Kaf?”
Getting no response, Yuuri called again, but he still didn’t react.
As she spoke, she suddenly felt something strange beneath her feet, as if she’d stepped on something.
Yuuri looked down and realized that the dead end was a bit lower, making the sewage deeper here, past her ankles.
Not good—these shoes were ruined.
Another expense.
As she winced at the cost, something slick wrapped around her ankle. No, there was something in the water.
She tried to lift her foot, but it was surprisingly difficult. Maybe something had stuck her sole to the ground. With some effort, she finally pulled her foot free.
What was that?
She shone her lantern on the water, but the sewage was too murky to see anything.
But with water only ankle-deep, nothing big should be able to hide…
Unless…
“Yuuri-chan, be careful.”
Along with Iris’s voice came the sound of bubbling.
Something’s wrong!
Yuuri’s heart tightened. She spun around. On what had just been calm water, bubbles were rising—something was emerging.
She aimed her lantern at the bubbles and, in the dim light, saw two oddly shaped creatures slowly surfacing from the sewage.
Abyssal monsters?
Why are they here?