Angelo did a double-take as he spotted Ken standing alone in the middle of a room.
"What are you doing? You're supposed to complete this quest!"
Angelo grouses as he waved his arms to the glowing quest sign above them.
<< SpringClean Inn Trial # 3 >>
<< Repair and Clean the Inn (38%) >>
Ken turned around to answer him, only to stop himself at the sight before him. He stared at the tied-up middle-aged man behind Angelo.
" Who is that? " he asked with his right eyebrow raised.
"Oh, this? Just a cannibal who tried to eat me."
"...what?"
Ken gazed at him incredulously as he watched the middle-aged man glare at Angelo.
"What do you mean?"
"It is what I said" Angelo plainly answered.
"Anyway, I'm the one who's asking you here, what the hell man! What are you doing, just standing there?"
Ken stared at him for a moment before remembering that Angelo's questline haven't been updated yet. He walked up to Angelo and tap him. Instantly, a glowing panel appeared between them.
<< Transferring data >>
<<47%>>
<<90%>>
<<100%>>
<< Updating Quest line >>
<< Quest Updated! >>
[ THE MYSTERY OF THE INN ] >> [ CALL FROM THE OTHER SIDE ]
Angelo numbly stared at the updated questline in front of him.
'Great...just great...'
'What is even my life?...' Angelo sigh in defeat, grumbling as he pinches his nose bridge in consternation.
"Anyway, now that you have caught up...what's up with him? This is not a public instance, he shouldn't appear here"
"As I said, he's a cannibal, and a real-world NPC to boot. Check out his HUD"
Ken dubiously checked the middle-aged man's HUD.
<< Ernesto Bucad Mariano Lvl 25 >>
<< Cannibal >>
<< Busaw Servant >>
"A Busaw servant? How did he get here?" Ken asked anxiously.
"It seems like there's a rift in the instance, when I asked him how did he get in, he said his master help him. That's the gist of it."
"A rift? In a Transcenders' instance?"
"This strange questline and now a rift in the instance? what's happening here..." Ken mumbles as he shook his head to clear his thoughts.
"Anyway, so what are you planning on doing to him?"
"Well, I'll just give him to the Transcenders. It is their instance, so their problem..." Angelo answered with a nonchalant shrug.
"..."
Ken just stared at him deadpan at his lack of care.
"So do you know what a Busaw is? It seems that you're more surprised that he's here than what he is..." asked Angelo. His eyes wandered around the room and found nothing out of place or in disrepair.
"...Ah...right, sorry. A Busaw is a ghoul who eats corpses."
Angelo paused, waiting for more input from Ken.
"...."
An awkward silence engulfs them.
"...that's it? Oh...K, just a typical ghoul then..."
"Typical?" Ken asked, his head tilted.
"Yeah, aren't ghouls, monsters who only eat corpses? An entity that possessed a corpse...something like that?"
"Ah! No Busaw differs from that kind of ghouls, first of all, they don't possess corpses, they are an existence by themselves. Second, during the day, they are just like normal humans. Keyword on the word 'like' and third, they like to turn other humans like them by feeding their unsuspecting victims corpse meat."
"Well, this guy is a cannibal so he will gladly eat it..."
"Busaw can disguise the corpses they acquired into pigs and such so normal humans will not notice it. Ah, yes, illusion...Busaw is also great at Illusion magic." Ken added with an afterthought.
"Huh...you know so much about them..."
"Not really. Just an occupational hazard I guess."
"Occupational hazard? You mean, aside from this?" Angelo asked incredulously as he gestured his arm around him.
"Yes...aside from this. You probably know by now that even without the System, the world as we know it is still full of mysteries, and Busaw...such as this person's master is one of them..."
"Ha..."
Silence engulfs them, only the sound of the Busaw servant's struggling can be heard.
"...you're not going to ask?"
"Ask what? It's none of my business..."
Ken paused at that. He smiled helplessly at Angelo's answer.
"You are really...sigh...anyway, help me out on this one so we can all get out of here."
"Don't forget the cleaning and repairing to be done..."
"Yes, yes...so...what do you think?"
"About what? you haven't told me anything yet?"
"Ah right..."
Ken told him all the details he surmised based on the information he got on the two corpses he found in room number 5. But there's still a hole left in his deduction.
" So are you sure that the woman's corpse is the mistress?"
"Huh?"
"I mean as you said. The wife got an accomplice. She killed her husband but, when exactly? Did she kill the mistress first? If so, why did her husband not hear her killing his mistress? As you said, the woman's skull has no fractures, so the lady got stabbed to death."
Ken nodded at that, agreeing with what Angelo said.
"Also, I have an Analyze skill, so let's head to room number 5 where you found them." Angelo tug the rope tying the cannibal as he waved his head towards the door,
"Let's go"
"You have an Analyze skill? That's...really useful with our situation right now."
"As I said, let's go," Angelo said cheekily with Ken shaking his head in amusement.
They walked their way to room number 5 and immediately, Angelo's gaze zeroed at the corpse in the bed.
"Based on your deduction, with how many stabs she got, she would have screamed bloody murder, but the guy here did not rush in. Instead, he's the one who got struck from behind. Let's say that the wife and his accomplice entered the room together. The wife bashed his husband's head while the other restrains the mistress. But if so, then it doesn't explain the lack of struggle."
"Lack of struggle?"
Angelo pointed at the corpse posture in the bed. The corpse is lying face down but the arms are placed neatly beside its body.
"See?"
"Hmm...indeed."
"But it also doesn't rule out that for some reason, the culprit move the body's arms and position it like that..." added Angelo as he continued to observe the corpse.
Ken stared at him deadpan.
"So how are we going to know the truth then, did your skill state anything about it?" asked Ken.
"Well I haven't used it yet...have you found anything in the room besides the obvious?" asked Angelo back, his left arm waving towards the corpses around them.
"I did find something. Here..." Ken gave the purse he found earlier in the corner as well as the burnt picture he found in room number 8.
Angelo looked at the burnt picture and the picture inside the purse. Activating <
Without further ado, he used <
[ Unknown Corpse ]
[ Cause of death: Multiple stab wounds in the spine area
Sex: Female Age: 25 Height: 152.4 cm
Time of Death: 24 years ]
Ok...not really helpful at the moment but...
"Confirmed, this lady's caused of death was multiple stab wounds in the spine area."
Angelo then handed the rope to Ken, who then accepts it promptly.
"What are you doing?" asked Ken as he watch Angelo touch the corpse's skull.
"I'm trying something..." he answered as he touch the skull's every crook and cranny.
Angelo closed his eyes and focused, visualizing the woman in the picture clearly and the skull he's holding. With the picture clear in his mind, he opened his eyes and activated <
Angelo stared at the blue screen in front of him and smirked. Looks like his hunch is right. He turned to Ken, his hands dropping the skull with a muffled thud.
"It seems that there's a twist in this affair..."