Betraying the tranquil exterior, the interior of the house is trashed and messy, thankfully the bodies have been retrieved, probably buried at the local cemetery as it is tradition.
The interior of the house must have felt comfortable before the dry blood-stained walls and floor, and as Das walks deeper inside it, he sees the table still served as if waiting for the family to seat and eat.
He walks up the stairs and as the second floor enters his vision, he sees the crouched figure of the Hunter inspecting the clothes inside a drawer from a nearby room, the one of the couple.
Dressed like all other Hunters, except he has a more decorated mask, with iron on the point of its curved peak.
"Vater?" His voice is deep and low, the Hunter says as he turns his head towards Das.
"No, no. I am his son, Das" A little taken back by the sudden mention of his father's name, he composes himself and moves forward "You knew my father?"
"I guess you could say I did. But, if what you say is true, then I didn't know him as much as I thought" The Hunter stands up and walks up to him, shaking his hand "We worked together a couple of times before he lost it"
Sometimes Das forgets that what he does now used to be his father's job. To investigate or confront problems the crown was too busy to face themselves, and it was always a rare event to meet someone who didn't hold him or his father with contempt or outright hatred.
"If you are here, this must have called the attention of the crown, am I right?"
"Is more complicated than that, but for the now I will also investigate what happened in here"
"I will save you some time then. The house is completely clean, figuratively of course. Nothing feels or seems out of the ordinary" The Hunter walks back inside the couple's bedroom, Das following "My attention was focused on the husband but I got nothing from inspecting his belongings, except the fact he left with the clothes he had on and nothing more, not even silver"
"I would like to take a look on my own regardless," Das says letting his staff levitate nearby as he walks up to the drawer next to the shabby bed "Let's see if my pair of eyes can see something you don't"
Das flashes a smile at the Hunter, feeling a little more comfortable with them. The Hunter nods at him and exits the room to continue his search elsewhere.
The room now for himself, he regrets not knowing any spell that may help in this situation. But soon, he inspects the room to the best of his capabilities.
Soon enough he and the Hunter exit the house, the old guard now accompanied by a pair of younger ones, a nearby crowd of townsfolk had gathered around the entrance of the house.
"Did you got something?" The old guard asks turning to face them both.
"Maybe we will have better luck on the other house, could you take us there, please?" Das aks walking up to him.
He nods and waves the crowd away, they seem disgruntled after hearing nothing has been found, Das already waits to hear the usual whispers or shouts at him, yet, what comes surprises him.
"Fucking Hunters, can't even protect us nowadays" One of the eldest voices out loud.
"We should pay for more guards" A worried mother whispers as she takes away his young child by the hand.
"Aren't they supposed to keep the monsters out?"
The crowd disperses, and the old guard guides him and the Hunter to the next house. It is a first for him, the obvious fact that while a lot of people hate the mages, there is a sea of other things or beings that have gained collective distrust or disdain.
"It's the Headmaster," the Hunter says to him, noticing his puzzled look "We used to take better care of Jagerwald, but this past decade the Headmaster has employed almost all Hunters to the crown or the Coalition of Old if I'm here right now and not protecting some rich man's land, is because of my own choice"
"You also get employed by our enemies?"
"Your enemies. The Hunters have no allegiance, we live to hunt monsters, not to mingle with politics and playhouse with nobles. Why the Headmaster accepted to be subjugated by the King beats me, I wasn't even born then. But at least we aren't demanded to fight in the frontlines or pay taxes to the crown, yet"
"So he is prioritizing silver instead of the protection of his people?"
"I don't understand why, if you spoke to him you must have seen his office. Like the rest of the fortress, it is plain and simple except for the trophies, Hunters don't bother with lavish tapestry or paintings, we only care for the Hunt. I don't see an increase in the quality of our equipment or the number of new members we get each year"
Das rubs his chin in deep thought, analyzing the words of the Hunter carefully. If the Headmaster is gaining so much wealth, and actively seeking more of it, where does it go? What is he spending it on?
However, these thoughts are brief, he will dedicate more time to them after he is done with the task at hand.
The next five hours go on a similar way. They reach a house, inspect it thoroughly and exit it empty-handed to the displeasure of a nearby crowd of onlookers. All while Das curses lacking enough knowledge in the magic arts to do something.
"This is useless"
He whispers, the crowd disperses and the old guard tries to take a sip from his drinking vessel only to realize it is empty. Das squeezes his eyes shuts while massaging his forehead, its somewhat infuriating to not be able to provide any aid to this town.
"Well, I'm out of beer, I trust you know your way out mage, or stay if you'll like, I will be back on the main gates," the old guard says as he turns around and leaves with the rest of his guards near him.
"I doubt even the Headmaster would be able to get something out of these houses," the Hunter says as he takes off his hood, showing off how his mask covers his entire head not letting a single strand of hair free "I've been hoping to catch one of them, but the last two happened while I was here" He undoes some knots at the back of his head and takes his mask off "And they somehow eluded me"
Probably in his thirties, his face is square and marked by scars. His head is completely shaved and his eyebrows thin and long, his eyes cold and calculating light brown.
"Also, my name is Hans," the Hunter says glancing at Das before focusing on something inside his mask.
"What are you doing?"
"Replacing the poison herbs," He says flatly as he takes out a small triangular piece of metal with a thin paper bag inside of it "In case I face a monster capable of poisoning the air or I have to go somewhere toxic in general, this combination of herbs and charcoal keep most toxins trapped so I can breathe normally, Hunter things" After throwing the paper bag away he takes a similar one out of his many leather pouches on his belt and puts it all back into his mask.
A weak whisper from behind cuts Das's focus on the interesting mask as he turns around, the owner of the voice a thin, sickly-looking beggar girl with muddy, hair curly and blond, eyes a dark green, sunken and filled with terror. Wearing nothing more than dirty rags, she shivers in the cold and stands shily inside a nearby alley.
"Where?" Hans replies to her, his ear many times sharper than that of Das. He immediately proceeds to place his mask back on as he walks up to her.
"What did she said? I didn't hear it"
"She says she knows where the monsters go"
Das is surprised and hopeful, he rushes to the girl who unaccustomed or fearful of the closeness, backs away like a scared bunny deeper into the alley. He takes notice and takes a step back.
"I-I can take you there" she whispers, voice sickly and struggling breath, this time loud enough for Das to listen "B-B-But it cost ya" She gives them a crooked smile and extends a shaky skeletal hand forward.
"How much?" Das asks opening his leather bag.
"E-Enough for, blisswater" She chuckles.
"Ah, never mind then. She is just an addict trying to pay her vices" Hans says with a sigh.
"NO! I s-saw! White skin, red eyes, bloody clothes!" Now more desperate, the beggar rambles, her initial shyness gone as she walks closer to the uncomfortable-looking Das "I saw! I-I SAW!" She then clings to him.
The smell of months or maybe years' worth of filth and sickness invades Das's nostrils, it is so repulsive it almost makes him gag. In an involuntary reaction, he pushes the girl away, who is so flimsy that she falls to the ground, practically collapsing as if a bull had hit her.
"S-Sorry, forgive me! I-" Das is about to walk to her when Hans stops him holding him by the shoulder.
"Don't bother with her, Blisswater fucks up your brain" He releases him and puts on his hood "I will be going elsewhere then, be careful around beggars like these, they will often rob you without a second thought"
Das looks at Hans and then at the girl on the floor, she still whispers that she saw it, slowly dragging her body away from the pair. A wave of emotions washes over him, to see someone so utterly broken.
"Please, just one f-flask, I need it or, I f-f-freeze"
A few people glance at them, but they all just look away and go on their day. Das turns around and sees Hans is already gone, returning his eyes to the girl, his heart aches for her.
Maybe it was all the time he had spent on the fantastical capital of the kingdom, always abundant in well, but he ha had never seen a beggar like her.
Filled with compassion, he kneels in front of her and frees himself of his cloak, seeing the reaction most guards had to his magic it would be wise to not show what he was about to do.
The girl looks unsure at his actions while he covers her with it, gently placing the hood on her head he endures the putrid stench of her body trying his best to not grimace as he is forced to close the distance.
Now, with both hands hidden under the cloak, he uses his mana to heal the frail body of the girl who watches first in fear, then shock, mouth agape, how the green mana goes from Das's hands to her body.
Warmth, the sensation of standing near a campfire spread through her erasing what once had been painful cold. But that was not all, slowly, from toes to head, the pain went away like leaves carried by the wind.
Her long-lost teeth grew back in an instant, her blurry vision, the sick in her lungs, everything that made waking up each morning feel like a curse was cured. Then, she covered her mouth in an attempt to stop the liquid from pouring out with no use, overwhelmed by it, she vomits in front of Das what little contents she had in her stomach. A slimy substance.
"It should be done soon, endure for a little bit" Carefully, he moves away the hair from her face as best as he can.
With each wave of gagging and after each release, she feels the fog in her mind vanish and the world around her clears to her. What was that putrid stench? Was it her? Of course, when was the last time she had taken a bath?
The last gag came with only a little bit of slime, when it's done she can barely hold her weight with her arms, so she collapses on to Das, who catches her, with ever-increasing regret as now he will for sure carry some of that smell with him. Strong enough to make his eyes glassy.
However, even if he is having second thoughts, he leads his right hand to her back and gently pats her. She breaths heavily, uneven, yet soon she springs back to life and practically bolts away from him, running off from view carrying Das's cloak.
"Well, I guess I would run away too" he whispers as he gets on his feet, and in doing so he sees his now open leather bag "Oh no, come on" A quick search is all he needs, she had taken his pouch of silver.
He rushes out of the alley and sees no trace of the thief, the town is large and being the middle of the day, quite busy as the carts carry goods in and out of the city and people litter the street.
"Shit" is all that leaves Das's lips as he inspects his clothes and grimaces at the, thank the light, slight stench leftover from them.