Since I had decided to accept the System’s mission, I was going to see it through.
Now, the mysterious deaths happening around CrayanCity were the problem I needed to solve.
I walked through the busy streets without any particular destination, with Ella and Casper following behind me like two tiny minions.
The afternoon sun hung high above the city, casting long shadows over the stone streets. Merchants loudly advertised their goods, children ran through the crowds laughing, and the scent of roasted meat drifted through the air. Yet beneath all the noise, an uneasy atmosphere lingered. Every face I passed carried traces of fear, as though everyone was waiting for the next death to happen.
I walked past houses, market stalls, and wandering merchants until my eyes landed on a harlot standing outside a decorated building.
A smile spread across my lips.
"Young miss, could you give me a little information about the deaths happening here in CrayanCity?"
The woman smiled sweetly at me.
"Young master, information isn’t free. You’ll have to pay me a few pieces of silver."
I grumbled inwardly.
Then I gestured toward Casper.
Like the obedient bootlicker he was, Casper happily took out three silver coins and handed them to her.
The woman’s smile widened.
"Well, the deaths in CrayanCity all began when a bride was being escorted to her husband’s residence in a wedding carriage."
She lowered her voice, glancing around as if afraid someone might overhear her. Even the cheerful smile on her face faded as she spoke about the incident.
"The bride was supposed to remain alone inside the carriage. But somewhere along the journey... she disappeared."
"Later, they found her body in the woods."
"They recognized her clothes... her jewelry... even her hair."
"But..."
The woman shivered.
"There wasn’t a trace of flesh left on her body. Her skin had completely dried up. There was no blood. No flesh. Even her bones were gone."
"What else?" I asked after she finished.
Judging from the look in her eyes, I could tell she was still hiding something.
The woman smiled before raising an eyebrow.
"More information... more silver."
She rubbed two fingers together.
I sighed and gestured toward Casper again.
Casper silently handed her another silver coin.
She happily accepted it before continuing.
"Another thing all the victims have in common..."
"They’re all virgins."
"Young girls... young maidens... girls who have never been touched by a man."
I narrowed my eyes.
Reasoning through everything she had told me, it became obvious what this demon wanted.
It was after purity.
Or perhaps... it needed virgins for some ritual. Demons rarely killed without purpose. If it continued targeting only untouched maidens, then every death was likely feeding something much larger than itself.
"What other information do you have?" I asked.
The woman smiled again.
"More coins."
I stared at her.
"If you don’t open your mouth right now, I’m going to snap your head off."
I smiled pleasantly.
"You never know."
"I might even be the one behind the deaths of all these virgins."
The woman’s eyes widened.
Her face instantly turned pale as she trembled in fear.
"T-That’s all I know!"
She hurriedly shook her head.
"B-But... there is one place."
"No one in this city dares go there."
"Different people keep disappearing around that area."
"What place?" I asked.
"An old temple deep inside the forest."
"And where is this temple?"
She lowered her head.
"I... I don’t know."
For a moment, I wanted to snap her head off, but I restrained myself.
She had already told me everything she knew. Killing her now would gain me nothing except another corpse to step over. As much as I enjoyed solving problems with violence, even I knew when it was a waste of effort.
I turned around, and the three of us continued walking through the streets.
The bustling marketplace slowly faded behind us. People whispered among themselves as we passed, some stealing nervous glances in our direction before quickly looking away. Fear had already rooted itself deep within CrayanCity, and every new death only tightened its grip.
Before we had gone very far—
"Prime Minister Yang Yishen’s daughter is dead!"
"She’s dead!"
"She died right after her engagement!"
The cries echoed throughout the street.
The crowd instantly erupted into chaos.
Without another thought, I rushed toward the commotion to see what had happened.
Ella and Casper quickly chased after me.
When we arrived, a large crowd had already gathered around a young woman’s body.
The Prime Minister sat on the ground, crying miserably.
"My daughter... my poor daughter!"
"Who did this to you?"
"What kind of cruel monster could commit such a thing?"
I sighed inwardly.
This mortal was utterly useless.
His face was covered in tears, his body trembling uncontrollably as servants tried to comfort him. Yet to me, all of it looked painfully meaningless. Crying would not bring back the dead. Revenge would.
The crowd slowly moved aside, giving me space to approach.
I crouched beside the girl’s body.
Her long hair was still neat, as though she had only fallen asleep.
But the moment my fingers brushed against it—
I felt it.
A familiar trace of demonic energy.
It was exactly the same aura I had sensed back at the inn.
"You!"
"What are you doing to my daughter?"
"Get away from her!"
The Prime Minister shouted furiously.
Before I could answer, Casper hurried forward.
"Don’t worry. He’s the Messenger of God."
"He’s here to save us."
I clicked my tongue.
There Casper went again, throwing that ridiculous title onto my head.
"Yes," I replied in a completely uninterested tone. "I am the Messenger of God."
The Prime Minister immediately grabbed my sleeve.
"Please!"
"Please find my daughter’s killer!"
"I’ll reward you with as much silver as you want!"
I looked at him and smiled faintly.
Mortals truly were strange creatures.
Only moments ago, this man had been drowning in grief. Now he was already trying to bargain with silver. Their emotions changed as quickly as the wind, making them difficult creatures to understand.
Without another word, I turned away from the crowd.
Ella and Casper followed closely behind me.
We had barely taken a few steps when—
I stopped.
A dense wave of demonic energy swept across the street.
The aura was thick, cold, and familiar. It rolled through the air like an invisible tide, carrying with it the unmistakable stench of demonic qi. Even the surrounding temperature seemed to drop as it brushed past me.
A grin slowly spread across my face.
"Well..."
"A demon that I can completely defeat."
I licked my lips in anticipation, feeling the excitement of battle stir inside me.
"It’s time for dinner."