Bear School Astartes

Chapter 32: 32. Ghoul

Early the next morning, Bopai, with its fur sleek and shiny, was led out by the villagers.

Lann stroked the horse’s nose, knowing that this fellow had been given an extra meal last night.

Two brand-new longswords were already strapped to his back.

Ivan had worked through the night, while Bernie, as promised, contributed the best wood and fish skin to make new scabbards.

In Lann’s eyes, the scabbard alone was worth five Oren Coins.

In the chaos of last night, it was all thanks to Old Allen disclosing that Lann would join the investigation, which more or less calmed the villagers.

In this era, shedding blood for faith is the most natural thing.

Because, no one knows what chaos overly emotional people might cause in their excitement.

Hooves touched the ground, splashing mud and weeds, as Lann leaned lightly onto the horse’s back to reduce wind resistance.

So even though Bopai carried over a hundred kilograms of weight, it still ran with surprising joy.

In less than two hours, Midcops was in sight.

Slowing down, Bopai trotted into the village.

Lann’s cat-like eyes subtly surveyed around, noting that the villagers here were similar to those in Auridon.

They no longer had the heart to focus on work, even though their jobs affected their ability to make a living.

”Aha! You finally arrived.”

It was the same tavern, where Long Halberd Soldier York greeted at the door.

It seemed that a dozen soldiers had requisitioned it as a temporary lodging.

”Commander Strong hasn’t sobered up yet, others are repairing equipment, and I was sent to welcome you, Master.”

He let York take Bopai’s reins and tie him to the side of the tavern.

Lann’s nostrils flared; the smell of alcohol here was rather overwhelming.

”Thanks, just call me Lann, York. Let’s not waste time, can you take me to see the bodies first?”

”Hey, I’m here just to welcome you, let’s go.”

York laughed, adjusting his helmet, and walked ahead with his long halberd.

”We found an abandoned house on the edge of the village; the bodies are there. You know, the weather’s been bad lately. Honestly, I’ve seen how skilled Demon Hunters are in battle. You and your mentor, that old bastard, was the best swordsman I’ve ever seen. But I don’t think you’ll find anything from a corpse that’s about to rot.”

Lann remained silent on the matter.

He couldn’t say much because his proficiency in [Trace Detection] was only 19%.

Though he believed his mutations were perfect, and the Demon Hunter’s sensory effects were quite good in the Demon Hunter business.

But his knowledge of tracking was not even twenty percent of an ordinary hunter.

Speaking too soon was easy to embarrass oneself.

Yet, as York and Lann’s steps moved closer to the village outskirts, Lann sniffed the air and sighed.

His right hand reached over his shoulder, touching the silver sword behind him.

”York.”

”What?”

The Long Halberd Soldier was still casually leading the way ahead.

”I guess you didn’t leave enough lighting by the bodies, nor left anyone to watch over them.”

”Wow, how did you know...” York turned around, only to see Lann already drawing his silver sword.

His face and the hand holding the halberd tightened instantly, ”A monster?”

Quick reaction, brother.

Lann looked at York slightly surprised, then continued.

”Faintly stinking corpses, not buried in the ground, nor burned, and left unguarded... Ghouls love this kind of stuff.”

Without waiting for York to react, Lann’s body sprang into action, entering a charging stance in an instant, movements transitioning as abruptly as a ghost!

”Damn!”

The Long Halberd Soldier swore under his breath and hurried to follow.

Dunham’s case was of utmost importance, with few clues to begin with. If the victim’s body was destroyed, every soldier in this squad would be in deep trouble!

The distance was already short, and following the scent, Lann wouldn’t get lost.

After turning two corners between the wooden houses in the village, a very dilapidated wooden house appeared before them.

He kept moving, the young man issuing a command in his mind.

”Mentos, block out surrounding noise!”

”Affirmative, noise filter completed.”

Instantly, aside from his own footsteps, Lann clearly heard the sound of twelve claws touching the ground inside the house.

Ghouls are four-legged creatures, there were three in the wooden house.

”Boom!”

The wooden door was directly smashed into large pieces by Lann, with splinters flying everywhere.

Before the monsters inside could roar, Lann, assisted by Mentos through sound localization, although his vision was obscured by wood chips, decisively struck first!

”Slash-Aooo!!!”

The bright silver sword left a crescent-shaped afterimage in mid-air, a ghoul’s leg severed from the hip joint in this blind strike.

Even for a monster, this blow incapacitated it.

The following York, just as in his previous cooperation with Lann, leveled his long halberd and thrust it out.

The prone ghoul was stabbed to its side ribs, driven to the base of the wall by sheer force before it was over.

The only surviving monster, at this point, went mad, charging for the door behind Lann, trying to escape.

Lann did not block the way directly but turned sideways, opening the path to the outside.

The ghoul quickened its pace.

But from above, unseen in the ghoul’s four-legged view, Lann already held his sword in both hands, raising it over his head.

The creature brushed past Lann’s swirling garment, but at the same moment, a sliver of cold silver light descended from the sky.

”Zing,” the sound lodged directly into the ghoul’s cervical vertebra!

In swordsmanship, sidestepping generally means changing direction or position. But in Bear School swordsmanship, it signifies an even more powerful next strike!

Spinning is, after all, a part of the Bear School swordsmanship’s force-gathering process.

After a faint ”pfft,” only the headless monster’s body burst out the door, kicking up some dust on the ground.

Lann strolled to the side of the ghoul whose leg was first severed, stepped on its struggling and howling body, and pierced its occipital bone hole with his silver sword.

The sword’s tip emerged from its mouth.

”Damn monsters,” York also withdrew his halberd from the ghoul’s body, looking dejected.

”Great, now even the bodies are gone.”

Lann’s expression wasn’t good either.

But on second thought, isn’t it... it’s not his fault if he can’t find the culprit?

Lann was still somewhat worried about how the result of this mission would affect his reputation.

Isn’t the service industry all about a good reputation!

”?” Mentos sent a question mark in his mind.

Lann: ”What do you mean ’?’, Demon Hunters get paid based on reputation in high-level commissions, isn’t that the service industry?”

Mentos remained silent.

But quibbling with the smart brain was one thing, when it came to the task at hand, Lann was still reliable.

York had already retreated outside; the foul blood of the ghouls made the house reek.

He looked dejected, with a hint of anxiety.

Without a doubt, the clues were gone.

This mission was of such importance that even the baron put tremendous emphasis, sending out a dozen cavalry. But the only clue was chewed up by ghouls right under their noses!

He didn’t dare imagine the punishment awaiting at Raven’s Nest.

”The culprit can’t be caught... Not only the baron will punish us, but even the merciful Meretelli Goddess might unleash her wrath!”

He was, in fact, a devout follower of the Meretelli Goddess.

This time, as Lann also stepped out for some fresh air, he patted the self-pitying Long Halberd Soldier on the back and headed back into the house.

”Hey, if you want to get paid, work needs to be done. Let me see if I can fish out some clues from this pile of ’kitchen waste’.”

York’s eyes lit up with hope, casting an expectant gaze upon Lann’s retreating figure.

Watching Lann enter the room, he looked up to him, thinking Demon Hunters were truly formidable.

Even a room unbearable for someone who played with cow dung as a child and fixed latrines in the camp as an adult, Lann’s sensitive sense of smell was hard at work in there.

No matter if they found clues or not, no one could say the Demon Hunter didn’t try afterward!