As we were walking, we saw two bars across from each other's, and decide to look into them to see if we could collect some useful information. I got into the one on the left, and Shaylee got into the one on the right. Inside, a few people were drinking in a dismal atmosphere. They all appeared to be demihuman as they were staring at me as I was walking over to the counter.
Without thinking, after sitting down with my gaze going all over the place, I asked the barista to pour me his strongest drink as I was starting to feel anxious being in this establishment.
"Here's your order sir", the barista said.
"Thank you", I answered, with my gaze still looking away.
"So bitter ! What's in that ?!", I shouted after drinking my drink.
"That's what you ordered sir. My strongest drink... Beer", the barista said.
"Really ? I apologize, but can you replace it with a glass of water please ? I don't usually drink", I said embarrassingly.
"Sure", he replied without concern, taking my drink away from me.
After taking a good looking at him, I noticed that he was actually human. With his white moustache, and his black and white outfit, he looked like he's coming from a wealthy family, so what someone of his status was doing here ?
"Why is a human working here ? I though they all hated demihuman", I asked directly.
"Hum... You're a human as well, right ? But does that mean that you hate demihuman ?", he answered back to me with a question.
"Of course, no !", I answered, annoyed by what he said.
"So, not all human hate demihuman. There are ones like you and me who exist", the barista said calmly.
Now that I think about it, he's right. I know other human who don't hate demihuman, like Karl, Bert or Pia. I think I'm still mad at the way they treated Shaylee earlier in town. All those cold stares at her, filled with hatred and fear as if she were a monster. They don't even know her and they allow themselves to treat her like that just because she's half-human? That's bullshit ! I thought angrily as I clenched my fist.
"Demihuman are not different from us..." the barista said, as he started to talk while filling a glass with water.
"They have family, friends, lovers, jobs, hobbies, dreams, emotions. They can laugh and smile as they can cry and frown. They can be mean but they can also be nice like they were years ago to a teenager...", he said.
A teenager ? I asked myself.
"Although he was born into a wealthy family, he ran away from home because he couldn't take it anymore the way of life there. Of course, nobody wanted to bring a runaway teenager back to their house. It was then that, at the rod of death after having spent weeks without a roof, nor eating because he could not resign himself to stealing, a demihuman appeared in front of him. He looked scary, but you could tell that he was worry about him. He offered him a second chance to live, accepted him as a family member, and thanks to him the teenager was able to live decently as a barista..."
Oh ! He's talking about him, I thought.
"We can't judge people based on their appearance; we have to do it fairly. Demihuman may be half-human, but they are more human than most of us. It makes you even wonder who the real monsters are. So, I hope you'll get along with them", the barista said with a smile, handing me the glass of water.
As I stared at him for a moment, his words echoed in my head. It was so simple it looked like it was complicated. If I want people to stop being afraid of Shaylee, I just have to show them that there is no reason to be. I'm fire up now ! I thought with excitement.
"I'm glad you met this demihuman; old man !" I said with a smile, raising my glass of water in front of him.
"So, what are you here for ?" He asked.
"Huh ?" I reacted.
"I can tell that you didn't come all the way here just for a drink. There are better bars than this one in the commercial district", he said.
He's sharp ! I thought.
"Haha, you're right... To tell you the truth, I am investigating the recent demihuman murders that have taken place in this district", I said.
"Hum, so you work for the imperial army. I should have known from your uniform", he said.
"Haha... So, do you have any info about it ?" I asked.
"Let me think about it..." He said putting his index finger and thumb on its chin.
"Hum... Not really, sorry..." He answered.
"Don't worry, I'll just have to continue my investigation elsewhere", I said.
"But I knew one of the victims", he said.
"Really ?" I questioned.
"Yes. He was here the night that he has been killed", he said.
"How was he ? Did he do anything suspect ?" I asked.
"He was short, with cat ears. He had been coming to drink a lot lately, and always looked tired judging by the look in his eyes....", he said.
"I see...", I said.
"But that night, a woman with black hair, looking like a doctor in her black pencil skirt, and her white jacket, in addition to her pair of rectangular glasses, came to take him out as if they had business together. I found it strange since I had never seen her here before", he said.
A woman who is not from the area suddenly appears the evening of the death of one of the victims... If you want my opinion, that's definitely suspicious; I thought.
"Thanks, old man ! It was very helpful", I said cheerfully.
"I'm glad I've been of any help", he replied.
"Next time I come back it will be just for drinking, old man", I said followed by a smile as I was getting ready to leave.
"I'm looking forward to it. Please come back again sir", he said followed by a smile.
He's a really nice guy, I though optimistically, as I was about to open the door, when suddenly...
A flying person coming from outside smashed it and found itself flattened against the wall behind the counter where the liquor bottles were.
What just happened ?! Who was it ?! I thought, in shock from the action, with my butt on the ground, surrounded by the smoke from the impact.
When I turned around, as I slowly looked up, I saw that the person who had been thrown against the wall was Shaylee. She was coughing up blood, while trying to get up with the help of her sword.
Shaylee ?! Why ?! Is this an attack from our assassin ?! And the old man ?! How is he doing ?! How is everyone doing ?! I thought, confused by the situation. It was then that I noticed the old man was still standing, thankfully unharmed, behind the counter, and everyone else had started to panic.
"Eh... Sorry for the inconvenience, but the bar across the street was out of space, so we decided to come here to continue our conversation...", someone said from behind the smoke in front of the door. The closer this person got the more you could hear the clatter of its footsteps. It was definitely coming from heels. The figure drawn through the smoke grew sharper and sharper as it dissipated.
When it was completely gone, you could see a doctor-like woman with her hands in the pockets of her white cloak, standing in front of you. Her skin was as white as snow, and through her pair of rectangular glasses, you could see her beautiful red eyes outlined by her long eyelashes. Huh ? Wait a minute... In addition to her black hair, she exactly matched the description of the woman the old man described. Was she the one who threw Shaylee like that ?
I peeked outside through the door behind her and saw that the bar across the street had been torn to pieces. Moreover, I could slightly see different limbs of people's bodies, with blood flowing from them among the debris.
What happened there ? I thought, still confused by it all.
"But now that you've seen this, I have no choice but to kill you all", she said, followed by a sigh.
Huh ? What did she say ?! I thought, with my eyes wide open.
She instantly pulled many surgical knives out of her pockets and tossed them at everyone in the room, after smirking.
I received one in the shoulder, trying to dodge it by rolling on the ground to get out of her field of view.
"Aaaarrgghh !" I cried out in pain while grabbing my right arm as the blood coming from the wound had started to trickle onto my hand.
Lucky for me, I noticed she was aiming at my throat, so I managed to stay alive for now.
I thought I was goner ! I exclaimed with relief in my head, after this little fright.
However, not everyone was as lucky as I was. Before I knew it, there was a bloodbath around me.
They're... all... dead... I thought, shocked at the sight of this horror scene.
Each of them had a surgical knife stuck in their throat, and that's when I started to feel anxious. So, I turned to look for Shaylee, and after seeing that she was still alive, despite being in bad shape, it helped calm me down a bit.
Then, I looked for the old man on the other side and saw an arm on the floor sticking out the left end of the counter, with a good amount of blood flowing from there.
"Hey... Old man ?" I said, blankly as I stood up, and began to walk in that direction. While I was walking slowly, I could only hear my heartbeat quicken, and the sound of my footsteps in the puddles of blood on the floor. The closer I got to the counter the heavier my steps became, and when I finally got there...
I looked behind it, but obviously the old man was...
"Dead..." I said, still blankly.
He, too, had one of the surgical knives stuck in his throat, with his eyes and mouth wide open.
The old man is dead... Well... Too bad... We could have been good acquaintances.... I thought, as I started to go into a deeper state of mind.
I really don't care about other people death except for those who are dear to me, but... What did the old man do to deserve this ? No ! Actually, it's not question of deserving or not. Just killing people is inherently bad. It's like saying that other people's lives are less valuable than yours, when they are all the same. Then why ? Why does she kill people that easily ? Does she think she's some kind of superior being or what ?
Aaaahhh... I expressed, weakly in my head. She managed to piss me off. Hey... Can I too ? Can I too do the same thing as her ? Can I kill this bitch ? I wondered after I turned to face her, glaring at her as I grabbed my injured arm.