Rather than returning to the palace, Das decided to stay in Blackwood and try to investigate the surroundings.
The town itself was large, with no space to grow food it seemed that there were, quite fittingly, many hunters in the surrounding woods. A river rested at one end of the town, an old wooden bridge leading to the forests that border the mysterious cold bog known as Totesland.
Once deeper in the woods, Das flies up to get a view of all the land. He can see at the far distance in front of him the entangled mess of twisted trees that is the swampland of monsters, a place filled with tales of creatures that defy all reasons. Monsters without equal, to his knowledge, not even the mages dared attempt to settle the cursed land.
To his left, he sees the untamed forest of Grunland, trees that stood at thirty meters tall, and more. It was said they used to be from a land of giants, the mythical lands of the north, across the sea. He could see the mountain range that made Gromfir's Choke pass, the front of the ongoing war against the Skalanners.
To his right, Kaltwald. Thin but countless evergreens as far as the eyes can see in the many hills and enormous white mountains far away in the distance. Land of the trolls.
"It must be hard" He whispers to himself.
Being surrounded by monsters, beasts, and trolls. The people living in Jagerwald had a lot to thank the Hunters who kept them safe with their protection.
His eyes catch something, a tiny figure flying in the air deep inside Kaltwald. It seemed too big to be a bird or he wouldn't be able to see it at all, maybe a griffin like the ones the Coalition of Old use? He couldn't be certain.
There was so much of this world left for him to see. It filled him with a certain, desire for exploration. But he soon focused on the task at hand. He wanted to at least try his best to find the creatures that had murdered those families.
A caw from a nearby flying crow disappearing into the woods draws his attention, the signal to continue his search.
The day turned into twilight as the moon popped into place, and Das decided to give up his search and return to the entrance of the town before he left. As he flew back his eyes catch the cloaked figure of Hans as he walks back inside the last house they searched.
"Giving it one last go?" He says to him, as he falls gracefully from above to the open door where Hans stands.
"It's my duty as a Hunter to track and kill whatever threatens human lives, so I will inspect the house one last time"
"Want some help with that?" Das walks up near him.
Hans nods and the pair walk inside the house, searching again for anything they may have missed.
"How is it possible that a monster kills four people and leaves no trace behind?" Das asks, now irritated as he looks at the same blood-stained wall for the fifth time.
"I have no clue, I have hunted many monsters and they all leave SOME kind of traceable leftover. Fur, hair, nails...even a strong enough odor for me to recognize"
Gears turn inside of Das, as an interesting question pops up, even if he would be forced to keep quiet about the meaning behind it "Can you smell the dead?"
"Of course, naturally, this place reeks of it. However, it is never an issue for a hunter to find different odors even among the strongest ones"
"What if, the monster smelled of the dead as well?"
"Hm," Hans stops his search for a moment to ponder about the question "I suppose I wouldn't be able to smell it then. But all monsters have some other smell on them, after all, a corpse can't do something like this" He says gesturing at the dry carnage surrounding them.
This puts another idea inside Das's mind, what if he can't tell what monster has done this because it is dead? It may seem like a stretch but they aren't too far from Eversmile, and if the Phantom could raise humans from the embracing cold, could he do the same with monsters?
Hans takes a moment to look at Das, noticing he now lacks a cloak "What happened to your cloak?"
"Oh" Das returns to reality, feeling immediately naked as Hans points it out "I gave it to the beggar, I wanted to heal her without others looking at my magic. She ran off with it, along with my silver pouch"
Suddenly, the house is invaded by loud laughter that comes from the amused Hans, much to Das's displeasure "I told you" He says once his laughing comes to a full stop.
"I don't see that as funny enough to warrant that laughter"
"Oh, it is! Especially because your father also got robbed of his silver pouch the first time he came here. He had to run a lot and almost lost it, but in the end, his magic helped him to catch the homeless brat"
"Well, why don't we keep searching? It's pretty cold without it and I would like to return to the palace" Pissed off, Das gives his back to Hans.
"Leave it, we definitely won't find anything in here," Hans says as he walks past Das.
He takes one final glance at the dark corridors of the soulless house and agrees, there is nothing else they can do to figure out what had happened.
The two exit the house, the streets are mostly empty, now taverns and other houses light up while the braziers are lit by the local priests.
"What will you do now?"
"Hunt the surrounding forests for wolves, trolls, or monsters. I've been asking for reinforcements for weeks, the three of them seem to approach more and more this town, and without the soldiers of the kingdom, we Hunters are all places like this have" He looks a moment at the cobblestone road "And we are abandoning them too...what about you? I suppose if his son is here, Vater died right?"
"Yes, he died a little over a month ago"
"I see, was it his madness?"Hans lifts his hand and pokes his head.
"That and immolation" Das replies, his eyes betraying the stillness of his expression.
The two of them share a moment of silence, a lost friend, and a lost father.
"Well, you can come out now," Hans says turning his head at a familiar nearby alley "eavesdropping isn't polite"
Confused first, Das looks where Hans is looking and sees the beggar girl that steps out of the alley, still wearing his cloak. Now furious, he takes a step forward ready to lash out at her, his anger dissipating in an instant when he is surprised by the girl who drops to the ground, kneeling and touching her forehead on the road. The greatest and deepest form of apology or submission, usually reserved only for Kings.
"I'm sorry!" she shouts in a tremulous voice that now can be heard without grunting or obstruction, her entire body shivers "I acted out of instinct, I was not myself! I'M AN IDIOT!" she then presses her forehead even harder on the ground, twisting her head around like a worm trying to dig itself up inside the dirt.
"Yes you are stop doing THAT!" Das replies rapidly as he rushes to her "Please, don't do that and especially towards me" He says as he kneels in front of her and tries to gently raise her head.
Red washes over Das's face as he gives the beggar an awkward smile before glancing at Hans, who stands idly looking at them, his expression hidden behind the leathery mask.
In the beggar's vision, Das practically glows with a light of his own, and the redness of her cheeks is not caused by shame. She takes his hand and kisses it as many times as she can before Das, now creeped out, bounces backward and away from her.
"Are you The Lightbringer?" She whispers, trying to move closer to him as her naked leg extends forward, moving close to the ground "You cured me, my mind is as clear as a puddle after the recent rain"
"What?! No! I'm a mage! That's why I can also cure your mind and not just-" Das is forced to move even further away, this time standing behind Hans as the beggar creeps closer.
"Is that another name for you? Maige?" She pronounces the last word proudly as if being given a great honor, oblivious to her mistake.
"Blisswater or not, this bitch is crazy" With one swing of his foil sword Hans sends sparks flying near the beggar, who instinctively backs away "You cured her of her addiction?" He asks at the nervous mage that cleans the back of his hand with the end of his tunic.
"I felt sorry! I couldn't just leave her like that, she looks so young"
"I've never seen a priest heal an addict so thoroughly"
"That's because they are not mages, only a mage can fully exploit the capabilities of spells" He then cowers more behind Hans as he looks at the beggar "But we can't cure mental illness"
"I'm not insane!" She replies, standing up from the ground "I'm just grateful to you, maige" Her indignation is only momentary as she smiles at the archmage with deep devotion.
"If you are grateful" Das steps ahead of Hans "Then hand me over the pouch you stole"
Shocked, the beggar searches somewhere hidden by the cloak and pulls out the leather pouch, still heavy with coin "Yes! I'm so sorry, I only bought some bread and water, I couldn't help it, my stomach hurt so much" she then takes a few steps closer realizing how her strong odor must bother Das "Please!" she then throws the pouch at Das.
He opens it and sees that indeed, there are only a few silver coins missing "Must have been a lot of bread, at least most of it is here. Thank you" He says, making the beggar grin from ear to ear.
"Bread? Why do you smell of turkey and wine then?" Hans points out, causing the beggar to giggle and smile nervously.
"It doesn't matter if she had bread or a whole goat leg, she had something to eat, didn't spend all my silver and that's that" Das places the pouch back into his leather bag and turns to Hans "I just want to leave already"
"Wait! I can take you to where the monsters went!" the beggar shouts, catching the attention of both.
"Do you know where are they?" Hans asks walking closer, seeing the beggar nod, he takes out both of his foil swords "Take me to them"
"I'm going too" Das adds, the orb of his staff glowing.
"Are you sure? It didn't seem like this matter was directly ordered to you by the crown. I should be able to handle it myself"
"I'm sure. We don't know what are these monsters or what are they capable of, so an extra capable pair of hands could aid, even if less experienced"
"Fine then" Hans walks up next to the beggar "Lead the way"
The beggar guides the two of them through the city and into the gate leading up to the river, as they cross the bridge they begin to enter the forests that lead to Totesland, with no more roads or lights. Only wilderness.
"Exactly where are you taking us?" Hans asks at the beggar.
"That alley was my alley, I-" she nervously looks at Das, who walks next to Hans "I helped a friend that needed me elsewhere, but something happened, and I returned to my home earlier, saw the monster as she walked out of the house, she was Ms. Lina, she gives me warm soup in Light's Blessing...but it wasn't her anymore. I thought I was seeing things, I had Blisswater right before coming back, but now with my mind clear, I remember it perfect-" she hits the root of a tree and falls forward with a short shriek.
"Look ahead, not to the side" Hans comments as they wait for her to stand up again "Go on"
"Y-Yes" she hurriedly fixes her hair before continuing forward "Her eyes shined red and looked like that of a lizard, the skin was pale and had no wrinkles on it despite her old age and...hair black when it used to be white. She had countless needle-sharp teeth on her wicked bloody smile! I was so horrified, that I passed out...woke up the next morning when the guards were there" she tightens the cloak around her body as if to comfort herself.
"You missed the part where you tell us how you know where it went" Hans, now more impatient, voiced his doubts.
"I know all people in Blackwood, living on the streets for a decade now. So I know the faces, especially pretty ones. Make me think of when I used to be pretty" a shy hand reaches up to her cheek, she may no longer be sick, but her face is still sunken and thin after years of poor feeding.
"To the point"
"D-Don't be too pushy, Hans. She is getting there" Das adds as he tries to calm the ever-increasing doubtful and impatient Hans.
"I saw a woman, the most beautiful woman I have ever seen. Her hair was curly and the color of copper, skin white, pale. And eyes blue, like the sky-No! Even more"
Das stops, that description sends his heart racing.
"This woman, what clothes did she had?"
"I don't know, she wore a black cloak, couldn't see anything beneath it"
The Phantom.