The group's attention immediately shifted to the servant woman, who looked uneasy standing in front of them. Her eyes darted between Falko, Leena, Rhea, and Shalana before settling on the ground.
It was rather obvious that she didn't expect to meet so many intimidating people during this day.
Leena stepped forward, her expression softening. "Lyra, can you tell us what happened to you?"
Lyra fidgeted with her hands, her voice barely above a whisper. "I… I don't remember much. It's all a blur, but there's something special I want to share."
Shalana's brow furrowed. "What do you mean?"
Falko stood with his arms crossed, thinking hard. The air in the room felt heavy with the weight of unspoken suspicion.
"I dreamt of a lover," the servant girl whispered, her voice trembling slightly. "He was… charming. I felt safe with him, but when I woke up..." She touched her neck unconsciously, her fingers brushing over faint red marks that still hadn't fully faded. "There were these strange marks. I thought maybe I was just dreaming it all, but it keeps happening."
"I can't even tell if it's real or fake. It's like it actually happened, but at the same time-" She knew there was something going on, as she had enough evidences to suspect that.
Falko frowned, exchanging a glance with Leena. He couldn't shake the unsettling feeling growing in the pit of his stomach. "All the victims," he said quietly, "they've all been women." His mind raced, piecing together fragments of information, but there was still something missing, something lurking in the shadows just out of reach.
"Why only women? Is this monster only attracted to women?"
Before he could speak further, a familiar hum vibrated through his mind. Quest Activated. Falko blinked, momentarily distracted by the glowing text that appeared in front of him:
Sub Quest: Investigate and Solve Countess En-Shelda's Mystery
Reward: ???
Falko's breath hitched, his thoughts suddenly overwhelmed by the system. It had been silent for so long. Since the first few monsters he had hunted years ago, the quest system hadn't given him anything. He had almost convinced himself that it was broken, that it wouldn't activate again. But now, here it was—alive and kicking, and it seemed to know something bigger was going on. He couldn't help but feel that this quest would be more dangerous than anything they'd faced before.
[Yes! It is not going to reward you for every simple thing you do. Things you are going to get reward will be dangerous or at least has the possibility to affect your main goal or your life, so this...]
Gamer paused knowing he didn't have to explain anymore, since Falko showed a face of understanding.
"Falko?" Leena's voice brought him back to the present. She was looking at him, concern etched on her face.
He shook his head, clearing his thoughts. "Sorry. Just thinking."
Leena turned back to the servant girl, her eyes narrowing thoughtfully. "How many times have you had this dream?"
The girl bit her lip, thinking for a moment. "Not many times… it started just last week."
Leena glanced at the Countess. "And when did you get those scratches?"
"Day before yesterday," Countess En-Shelda replied, her voice soft but firm.
Leena nodded, digesting the information. "Do you know of any other victims? I want to see whether these dreams are common among these vicitms."
The Countess sighed, clearly troubled by the situation. "There are more than enough if you start asking around the city. I can provide you with names if needed."
Falko was about to suggest they go back and start investigating, but the servant girl shifted uneasily, her eyes darting around as if she was deciding whether or not to speak. Finally, she took a deep breath and blurted out, "I… I have something else. I don't know if it's useful."
Shalana's sharp gaze locked onto her. "Anything could be useful. Tell us."
The girl hesitated again, then continued in a low, embarrassed tone. "Ever since the dreams started, I've been getting these… aches. Down there. In my crotch." She motioned vaguely toward her lower half. "It's like… soreness. I don't know why."
"Have you been visiting brothels, Lyra?" The countess asked a little curious, but Lyra shook her head. "No! I haven't in months."
Leena's eyes widened slightly as realization dawned on her. She turned to the Countess and gave a quick, respectful bow. "Countess, I have something I need to check on. We'll be back." Without waiting for a response, she gestured for the others to follow her out of the room.
Falko, Shalana, and Rhea exchanged confused looks but quickly followed Leena down the corridor. The Countess watched them leave, her expression unreadable.
The next morning, Falko, Rhea, and Shalana sat in the living room of the inn, waiting for Leena to return. She had spent most of the night researching something in her room, and none of them knew exactly what she had found.
Suddenly, a loud shout echoed from upstairs. "YES! I FOUND IT!" Leena's voice was full of triumph as she came racing down the stairs, clutching an old, worn book to her chest. She burst into the room with a wide grin on her face.
Rhea raised an eyebrow. "Found what, exactly?"
Leena ignored her question, flipping through the pages of the book until she found the one she had been searching for. She slapped the book down on the table, revealing an old, handwritten note.
It was titled Forbidden desires of a mage, which felt like a title of a erotic novel, but others knew if Leena had something like this it might be useful.
"This," Leena said, pointing at the page, "is a note left behind by a mage who claimed to have discovered the way to achieve the ultimate pleasure."
Rhea scoffed, rolling her eyes. "Leena, I think this is the wrong time for your… perverted dreams."
Shalana didn't know where this was going, but the moment she heard about the servant's pussy hurting, she knew this might be something involved with sex.
"Just listen!" Leena snapped, quickly turning the page.
The handwriting in the margins was barely legible, but the description penned by the long-dead mage was something to behold:
"Ye who seeks the peak of worldly delights must first encounter ye ol' Hornguffler, beast of sensual chaos, lord of the forests of Forbidden Desires. Its horns, long as a lance, and thighs mighty as a seasoned stallion's—'tis said one brush of its velvety hide could send the unworthy into fits of giggling ecstasy. Beware its gaze, for it will make ye heart skip three beats, but fear not! For those who endure its gaze are rewarded with—no, not gold nor glory—but ye sensation unmatched by any mortal fancy. The Hornguffler knows no shame."
"Look at this." On the next page was a crude, hand-drawn sketch of a creature—vague and animal-like, but what stood out the most was the exaggerated depiction of its… anatomy. It's penis was the size of the hand of a newborn, and everyone knew something like that might be the wild imagination of a horny woman.
Shalana leaned in to get a better look, her brow furrowing. "What… is that?"
Leena tapped the page. "I think this might be our monster. This mage talks about summoning something not quite human, something that charms its victims and… well, you can imagine the rest."
Falko stared at the drawing, his mind racing. Could this creature be responsible for the strange dreams and the attacks? It was far-fetched, but in this world, far-fetched didn't mean impossible.
"So what do we do? How do we catch this hornguffler or whatever it is." Shalana asked, straightening up. "We don't have much to go on."
Leena closed the book with a firm thud. "We set a trap. We need to lure this thing out. And if it's going after women, we might already have a good idea of how to do that."
Falko nodded slowly, his mind still processing everything. "A trap, huh? That could work. But we need to be smart about it. This thing is obviously dangerous, and we don't know what it's capable of yet."
Leena smirked, her usual confidence shining through. "Don't worry. I've got a plan." She glanced at Rhea, who had been uncharacteristically quiet throughout the conversation. "You with us?"
Rhea looked between Falko and Leena, her expression conflicted. But after a moment, she gave a firm nod. "Yeah. Let's do this."