A new morning has arrived.
After cleaning himself up, Zach was back in his normal clothes. White shirt, black pants and round hat. The only difference is that now there is a wooden chest in his left hand.
Walking out of the house casually after having breakfast with Ilya. This time it was he who wanted to take the initiative to go to Vanders' place first. This is not an agreement but because of his own will.
He had also met some of the neighbors and greeted each other. Even though it was only his second day at Vandash, He had adapted easily.
After walking through several houses, Zach arrived at a house that was no different from any other house in Vandash town. It has two floors with a solid sturdy feel. It stands made of brick and cement.
"This is his house? How come there is no old feeling at all?" Zach asked questions and hesitated for a moment when Vanders slowly opened the door.
After seeing the withered-eyed man's figure, Zach calmed down a bit.
Seeing Zach at his doorstep, Vanders couldn't help but chuckle "I was just about to get to your house"
"..." Zach was silent for a while as if he had goosebumps seeing the person in front of him chuckle.
...
Time passed, now their tracing began to be carried out quickly. Zach is used to starting from the way of life and the environment of the city of Vandash.
It proved that He had great adaptability.
...
The sun had reached the middle, making the heat spread.
After some deliberation they decided to stop at a diner for lunch.
After walking a few steps, a crowd of people immediately came into Zach and Vanders' sight. From between the people, Zach could see a yellow line running through the crowd.
"What's that?" Zach seriously asked.
Vanders held up his old hat and said with a serious expression, "There's been a serious incident recently. I wanted to share this with you. Some clues say that shadow creatures were involved in this."
Zach was immediately enlightened when the newspaper he read last night came to his mind, "Serial killer?"
Vanders wasn't surprised when Zach found out. That's because it's basically been the hottest news lately.
"Does that mean I'm going to start work?"
Hearing Zach say that, Vanders shook his head. No, I have information that one of the factions has already started investigating this matter.
"As the clan head said, you will start work when you become a Gate Keeper"
After some discussion around the matter, They decided to head straight the other way. Entering a place to eat that is quite far from the crowd. That is to prevent discomfort when eating food.
After lunch, they went out and continued their "aspect".
Passing through a fairly quiet street, they entered a slum area on the outskirts of Vandash City. Along the roadside, a child and even an old man sat leaning against the wall of a building as if waiting for someone to feed him.
The musty smell of things in this place was overwhelming. Zach couldn't last long before asking to go somewhere else, after all this was far from where he lived.
Zach believes he will get to know this place better as time goes by and lives in Vandash City.
When he decided to turn around, from behind a hand grabbed Zach's left hand which was holding a wooden chest with a metal handle. The cold and rough feel of that hand made Zach reflexively turn around and pull his hand away.
The figure before him was a middle-aged man in tattered clothes. his face was messy and heavily stained with dust. his eyes are indistinguishable as they turn red over time.
That's a bummer.
The tramp's gaze was always on Zach's crate. The edges of his mouth drooled slowly.
Seeing that, Vanders patted Zach on the back while instructing him to turn around and leave. "Lots of homeless people are desperately looking for food. It's normal here, he must think you brought food." Vanders didn't really care because it was normal.
In the city of Obsidia, it's rare to find a homeless person. Although basically this condition cannot be avoided and must exist in every city. But this is the worst in Zach's eyes.
This squalid condition alone made Zach unable to stand it. That made Zach remember some rumors saying that Vandash Town was the most corrupt city.
The survival here is much worse than the city of Obsidia.
But what bothered Zach was the fact that the bum made a terrible impression on Zach. The cold and rough feeling from his grip made Zach feel a strange sensation that he couldn't explain.
In the afternoon, They returned quickly for some reason. one of them is an appeal from the police not to roam around at night. It's understandable, the serial killer still hasn't been found.
Without knocking, Zach opened the door of the old house with a simple feel and entered. As before, Ilya swiftly arrived at the front and helped Zach to take off his jacket and hat.
"You arrived early..." Ilya said as she gently carried Zach's coat.
Zach took a deep breath then said "Well I'm getting used to it. There are a few places we avoid for some reason plus the patrols take our freedom away. So Mr Vanders instructed me to go straight home"
Zach immediately sat in the living room chair while leaning back relaxing his body.
After doing a few things, Ilya came back and sat in front of Zach.
"Mr Clourfuss, I found your revolver on the table" Ilya said this with an ordinary expression.
Zach felt his waist then slapped his own forehead. "Ah, I forgot"
"I'm sorry, it seems I'm not competent to be a wife" Ilya blamed herself, her expression was gloomy but still showed calm.
After watching Ilya for a while, Zach sighed "Don't say that, it's not your fault"
"It's an old habit. Forgetting things... Well if only it could be used in other aspects..." Zach's expression gradually became gloomy as he said that.
Ilya was sensitive enough to notice that quickly, She shifted the conversation, "Would you like some tea?"
Zach came out of his gloomy expression then nodded slowly.
...
At night, After cleaning up. Zach went straight to bed. After a moment of silence, Zach opened his mouth as he said slowly, "Are you okay with this?" It was aimed at Ilya who was sleeping next to him.
This refers to the game of fate said by Jack Miller. For Zach, it was quite strange that Ilya would agree to this so directly. There must be an objection in her heart that she couldn't let out.
Ilya, who happened not to fall asleep, lowered Her eyelids when she acted as if she was asleep and didn't hear Zach's question.
"..." Silence fell as Zach chuckled for a moment.
...
On a quiet night, Zach is suddenly awakened by the sound of screaming for help from outside his house.
The sound came from the house next door. Although a little muffled by the building. Zach could hear the sound of a girl crying who kept asking for help.
"Hel...lp" The voice slowly faded away leaving endless silence.
The awakened Zach surveyed the situation for a moment before his metal-handled wooden coffin shook abnormally.
He glanced at Ilya and found that She was still sleeping soundly.
Zach stood up from the bed and resolutely approached his Sealing Medium. It kept shaking as if it sensed something abnormal.
At this time He glanced towards the window and faintly saw two red lights moving quickly leaving behind black smoke that gradually dissipated.
"Shadow creature?" Zach was surprised to find that thought in his mind.
It was a dark night, a darkness that seemed to devour everything. The stars hid as if afraid to be seen.