Chapter 115: The Accusers Were the Fakes
Chapter 115: The Accusers Were the Fakes
The woman quietly shut her mouth. That was when the young man who had introduced them as the night search team abruptly shone his flashlight on Elsa.
"That kid is your daughter?"
"Yeah."
"Do you have any way to prove that?"
"...What?"
Did I just hear that right?
Prove it? The absurd question made Walfred’s face twist. At that, the man who looked to be the oldest of the group hurriedly stepped forward.
"I’m sorry. We didn’t mean to offend you. It’s just that the question matters quite a bit to us, so if you don’t mind, we’d appreciate an answer."
"What’s so important about it?"
"Well... Hah, the truth is, there are monsters roaming this area that imitate people."
After hesitating a moment, the man let out a heavy sigh and came clean. At the sudden claim, Walfred cocked his head.
"Monsters that imitate people?"
"That’s right. Monsters that devour people, steal their memories, and pass themselves off as human. The shelter we were in got destroyed because of those things."
The middle-aged man shuddered.
"So we’ve fallen into the habit of suspecting anyone who looks even slightly off. And that child, well, her hair color is a bit unusual..."
Now it made sense.
When Walfred nodded to show he understood the situation, the middle-aged man sighed.
"But as I said before, we didn’t mean to upset you. I’m sorry."
The middle-aged man bowed his head politely.
Hearing that, Walfred glanced at the sleeping Elsa. Then he let out an inward chuckle.
’There’s no way Elsa is a fake.’
He had only just arrived here.
More than anything, Elsa was Dragonkin.
No mere human-imitating monster could ever devour her. And the clincher: her status window still displayed perfectly fine.
For those reasons, Walfred was certain.
"We arrived here just a moment ago. So there’s no doubt this child is my daughter."
"I see. Understood. I believe you."
The middle-aged man nodded.
Just as Walfred thought the conversation had wrapped up,
"No. That’s not enough for me to believe it."
A voice cut in to spoil things.
The woman in her late thirties.
With her eyebrows slightly raised, she looked back and forth between Walfred and Elsa.
"Anyone can answer with words. So show us proof that the child really is your daughter."
The moment the woman finished speaking,
the middle-aged man cried out in alarm.
"Kayla! What on earth are you saying..."
"That’s my line, Colton. They’re outsiders, aren’t they? And you’re just going to wave them through after such a sloppy screening?"
"I feel the same way. Since they’re outsiders, we need to search them thoroughly."
"Agreed."
Apparently the other three didn’t see eye to eye with the middle-aged man. Leaving the flustered man behind, they addressed Walfred.
"So please cooperate."
"Ha..."
A dry laugh escaped him.
The longer he let this go on, the more ridiculous it got.
A screening? A search? Cooperate?
"Why should I?"
"As we said before, this area is..."
"Your problems are none of my business."
Walfred cut them off flat.
It was a warning of sorts.
A warning not to cross the line any further. In a voice that had sunk low, he spoke as if issuing a notice.
"Just get back to your search. We’re leaving this place at first light."
With those final words,
Walfred turned away brusquely, making it clear he had nothing more to say. Then, from behind, the middle-aged man spoke in a small voice.
"I, I’m sorry about all this."
"..."
"Everyone’s nerves must be stretched too thin, that’s all it is. I’ll apologize on their behalf, so please don’t take it too much to heart."
He bowed his head as if apologizing in his companions’ stead. Yet in stark contrast to his apology, the other three didn’t budge an inch.
"No. We can’t let this go."
"If you leave those monsters alone, they multiply in the blink of an eye. We have to check right now, and if it’s not human, it must be eliminated immediately!"
"Hand over the child."
Despite the middle-aged man’s attempts to stop them, the three strode toward the station office.
And in that instant,
Crunch! Krakakakoom!
Centered on the station office entrance,
a powerful wave of cold suddenly swirled out.
Then, in the blink of an eye, the entire area around the station office froze solid. The three visibly panicked at the sudden freeze.
"Wh-what the?!"
"What is this all of a..!"
And in that moment,
sharp Ice Spikes shot up from the floor, aimed straight at their throats. As everyone fell silent, Walfred’s lips parted.
"Take one more step closer. Go ahead."
"...!"
"I’ll freeze you solid, guts and all."
His newly acquired skill, [Rapid Freeze].
Having frozen the entire area with it, Walfred spoke without bothering to hide his fury.
Meanwhile, realizing the phenomenon was Walfred’s doing, the three went wide-eyed.
"A, a Hunter!?"
It seemed they had only just realized Walfred was a Hunter.
The middle-aged man standing a short distance behind them wore an equally shocked expression.
As the standoff dragged on,
"...Mmn. Daddy?"
Elsa stirred and sat up.
Scratching her tousled silver hair, she let out a yawn. At her sleep-dazed look, Walfred asked with an awkward smile,
"Sorry, was it too loud?"
"Yaawn. Mm, a little..."
Elsa nodded.
At that, Walfred shot the three a murderous glare.
He needed to manage his condition for tomorrow as it was, and they dared disturb Elsa’s sleep?
Under his razor-sharp glare, the three flinched and lowered their eyes one by one.
Just then,
"Huh?"
Still yawning away, Elsa noticed the four people in front of the station office and tilted her head.
Then she sniffed at the air a few times.
A moment later, Elsa tugged at Walfred’s collar and whispered in a small voice,
"Hey, Daddy."
"Hm?"
"Those people smell weird."
"Weird?"
"Yeah. Some of them are people, and some of them aren’t."
"...!"
Walfred’s face went stiff.
The moment he heard Elsa’s words, what the middle-aged man had said earlier came to mind.
That monsters imitating people were roaming this area, passing themselves off as human.
’Don’t tell me, among them...’
Were those monsters mixed in?
Walfred turned to Elsa with a startled face.
"How can you tell them apart?"
"They smell different."
Elsa answered, pointing at her nose.
Just like the time she distinguished snow made of pure mana by smell. It seemed Dragonkin generally had an extremely keen sense of smell.
’I can trust Elsa’s nose.’
She had already proven it back in Philadelphia.
Walfred looked at Elsa once more.
"Elsa."
"What?"
"Of those four over there, can you tell me who’s human and who’s only pretending to be?"
"Yup! Easy."
Elsa beamed.
Then she stretched out a small finger and pointed at the middle-aged man who had been called Colton earlier.
"That man in the very back."
"What? No, I, I’m..."
Colton panicked at suddenly being singled out.
In that instant, Elsa’s words continued.
"Everyone except him isn’t human."