Verhund didn't have much luck on his return to the Maiden's, Cinthia's turn to attend seemed to be over and the girl was sent upstairs as a punishment for causing trouble.
The food there was as good as ever, though, and his money was well invested. Although he really wanted a partner to chat with at this time, he knew that if he spoke with anyone else they would either react like miss receptionist or just outright punch him.
Life was hard for those who think.
Verhund was also not planning on returning to Tiamat this week, as even this time period he set would probably result in little gains to his 'stats'.
He thought it was funny how in many worlds anything with level as a name quickly increased and could surpass the hundreds in no time, yet here people couldn't even reach level 10.
Then again, if a god was considered to be level one hundred it would make sense for people to be distressed when powering up, erasing a city just by existing wasn't exactly common sense everywhere.
Back to reality, though, Verhund's talk with her citizenship, miss receptionist reminded him of an important problem that he would have to start working on before his investigation on the outskirts of the city or his search for the sewers and waste disposal system.
Verhund has also confirmed that everything that has to do with trash and the like are dealt with the use of... well, trash bins. Just throwing undesirables in the small trash can is enough to make sure it is never found again.
Isn't that a handy tool for the disposing of bodies after a murder? Just cut the guy up and send him down the pipe.
Unless they had some magical device that could be used in these cases, Verhund doubted they could obtain much from the level of their technology.
Lost in the talk again. Anyway, Verhund lazed about the whole afternoon, slowly walking here and there while observing those in passing.
The skies overhead started to get cloudy and the dripping of rain could already be felt by those walking in the streets, who either hurried their steps to their destination or completely ignored the weather.
When the sun receded, the city was already covered in fog. Although visibility was tremendously low, the dungeon was still dismissing adventurers every now and then, who traded part of their spoils in the Guild and headed their own way.
Verhund was aware of all of this, so he walked through the narrow passageways close by, his sleeves ready to fling his trusted short sword out as a low-quality Stalker Claw mask that he bought somewhere covered his face.
The traffic in this place was never high and was even worse at night, people still occasionally passed through, however.
And as luck would have it, Verhund was destined to have an encounter in this deserted walkway, and a silhouette soon appeared in the close distance.
Of course, Verhund had felt that adventurer quite a distance away, so he had already preemptively climbed up the buildings to prepare for the ambush, taking advantage of the fact that his target never thought to pay any attention to the surroundings above them.
With a precise and well-timed fall, Verhund was in his way to drop behind his prey, but he would never waste a precious chance for the sake of looking cool, he took these things seriously, after all.
With the aim to make a definite kill that was not instantaneous, he aimed his sword at his unsuspecting victim's neck... and stabbed.
"AHHHH!"
The force of his fall pushed the blade down until the hilt, severing arteries and mutilating organs,
it sealed the male adventurer's fate in but an instant.
Along with several cries for help, the man choked in many cusses and hiccuped for reasons.
His screams awoke the neighborhood, and soon enough, many lights could be seen in the fringe of the mist, with some right by the crime scene.
No one would come in time, though, as his small bag of money was already taken away and his eyes closed soon after.
"Of course, It's all for the sake of romance. Don't take it too seriously, people, there's more action to come."
Verhund played with his extra money bag, throwing it up and catching it again as he walked out of the place through the rooftops, his steps calm and steady, all of his footsteps' sounds were muffled and no disturbances could be felt by those residing in the rooms just below him.
In this day and age, this was a perfect crime.
Wader's P.O.V.
It was already early morning of the second day after the festival's incident, the sun had barely appeared yet tensions were high, Wander stood a few meters away from the spot the crime took place, watching as the body of a random adventurer was hauled away.
From what he learned by asking around, this was a case of either robbery or plain murder, though it was probably the former, evident by the fact that the adventurer had no wallet or their common bag to carry money.
He also caught a glimpse of the wound on the victim's shoulder, a stab delivered by either a dagger or a short sword, it was precise and deep enough to indicate that the aggressor was either strong enough to thrust their weapon all the way to the hilt or had enough of a boost to do the same.
Wander looked at the rooftops, a certain scene coming to his mind. He shook those thoughts off, though, that was not the only person traveling through rooftops, and most of them come out at night.
There were no leads, the victim was an unassuming adventurer, and the only ones who were worried about it were the neighbors... Wait, what?
Wander paid attention to the expressions of those on his surroundings, while the local residents were looking at the scene with dread, everyone else just seemed slightly troubled by the situation, civilians and adventurers alike.
Wander was a detective before coming here, so he was quite familiar with the faces those uninvolved were making.
It was the look of someone who's not going to work on the case.
To confirm his doubts, he went to talk with one of the adventurers responsible for hauling the body away.
"Excuse me, sir."
"Sigh. Yes, what is it?"
"Do you happen to know what exactly happened here?"
"No. Someone died, that's unfortunate, and that's all."
"And in regards to an investigation?"
"Why would we lose time on that? The guy was an adventurer, he died, end of the problem."
"But the killer has yet to be found?"
"And what does that have to do with me? I don't know anything, you don't know anything, why bother searching for shit when things are like that? I have my own business to deal with later, now clear the way and let me finish this crap off."
"...Sorry for bothering you."
Wander sighed, his impression on this new world turning murkier by the second.
Crimes like theft and aggression happened all the time at Daedalus District, but rarely outside of it.
Wander knew that the place was the playground to deal with stress for sadistic adventurers, even if he tried to intervene, there were dozens of such cases happening per day in an area that spanned a tenth of the city.
If someone grew inside that place but eventually turned into an adventurer, it was possible for them to try and solve this problem somehow.
And if they realized that whatever they tried wouldn't work...
"Revenge, eh? It seems that the problems are just starting."