“Here…” Aurora moved the spoon towards Zach’s face and said, “Open your mouth.”
Zach reluctantly opened his mouth and let Aurora feed him.
Zach, Aurora, and Aria had come to the tavern of the inn to eat dinner. They spent the entire day completing NPC quests because they kept failing due to time inconsistencies. They were tired, and Zach didn’t want Aurora and Aria to make dinner at home. So they decided to eat out.
“Uhh…” Zach tried to say something but stopped and sighed.
Aurora shot a glance at Zach and asked, “What’s with that sigh? Do you not like me feeding you?”
“It’s not like that…”
Aurora smiled at Zach and said, “How about you feed me too?”
“…”
Zach fed Aurora with an awkward smile on his face.
‘What the hell is going on?!” Zach exclaimed inwardly. ‘After the kiss at the house, Aurora has been acting awfully touchy.’
‘She grew up as a princess under strict culture. So I am sure she doesn’t have knowledge about dating and stuff,’ Zach uttered inwardly. ‘What if she thinks we are married because we kissed?’
‘Honestly, I wouldn’t be surprised if that’s the case,’ Zach sighed again.
Meanwhile, Aria was glaring at Zach and Aurora with a frowned face.
Zach noticed Aria looking at him as though a hunter was looking at the prey.
Zach knitted his brows, and his eyes widened as he thought, ‘Don’t tell me… she has developed—’
“Why is my order taking so long to arrive?” Aria uttered in a grumpy tone.
‘Oh, nevermind.’
“I know, right?!” Aurora seconded Aria. “Even my order took 10 minutes to arrive.”
“Yeah, usually they arrive within five minutes,” Zach uttered. He glanced around with a curious yet calm look on his face and said, “And is it just me, or there are fewer maids than usual?”
“Yeah…” Aurora and Aria counted the maids and said, “There are only three maids when usually there are like 12.”
Zach started eating his food without waiting for Aria’s food to arrive. But Aurora shared her plate with Aria.
After five more minutes, Aria’s order finally arrived.
“What took you so long?!” Aria yelled at the maid.
“I apologize for the delay, but we currently don’t have enough maids and chefs,” the maid replied in a polite tone.
“What do you mean?” Aria asked with a confused look on her face. “Aren’t there like 12 maids in this tavern? Where did they go?”
“Well…” the maid glanced around with an anxious look on her face and responded in a low voice: “A lot of NPCs have gone missing since the last three days.”
“And…” the maid’s eyes got teary as she muttered in a low voice: “Help… us…”
Her voice was lower than a whisper, and neither Aria nor Aurora could hear that.
Of course, Aria would have heard it— even with her 10% of physique and power, but the maid was closer to Zach, so only he could listen to her.
After whispering, the maid left.
Zach’s ears twitched as he felt chills in his body.
‘What was that?’ Zach asked himself. ‘Her voice felt so desperate yet lifeless. As though she was living on mercy.’
Zach looked back to check on the maid, but she was nowhere to be seen.
‘Where did she go?’
Zach gazed at the other maid and saw her going upstairs with a concerned look on her face.
‘What’s going on? What is this uneasy feeling I am having? Did that maid put a spell on me or something?’
Zach couldn’t comprehend the feeling in his body. He felt like he had to do something but didn’t know what. It was as though the maid’s words had triggered something uncanny.
Zach turned to Aurora and said, “I will be right back.”
“Where are you—”
Zach glanced at Aria while standing up from his seat and left.
‘Don’t let her follow me,’ Zach said to Aria using telepathy
Zach went upstairs to follow the maid.
Aria gulped down and almost trembled in fear after hearing Zach’s voice in her mind. She thought, ‘What is this feeling? And why did his voice sound different in my mind?’
Aurora stood up and tried to follow Zach, but Aria stopped her and said, “I don’t think that’s a good idea.”
Aurora ignored Aria’s warning and followed Zach. However, before she could catch up with Zach, Aria grabbed her from behind and stopped her.
Zach had lost track of the maid, and he had no idea where she went. He glanced around but found no leads.
Suddenly, Zach’s ears twitched again as though they sensed something.
‘They are reacting to something…’
After a slip second, Zach frowned his face like never before and kick-opened the door of the last room in the hallway.
The room was pitch dark with no lights on, but Zach could smell a scent of blood.
When Zach walked into the room, his steps splashed on a liquid, and he knew without seeing that it was blood. As he walked further in, his leg hit something. It was soft and hard at the same time.
Zach crouched down and picked it up in his hand to see it up close, but he let go of it the moment later.
It was the severed head of the maid who asked for help not long ago.
“..m..”
Zach’s ears twitched again as he heard a faint whimper coming from the corner of the room. He could see a silhouette of a person, but it was vague.
He squinted his eyes and saw something shiny from the same spot.
It was a tear.
Zach took a deep breath and closed his eyes as his ears repeatedly twitched.
***
Total players in the game 404869.
0 new players logged in.
452 players died.
===
Author’s Note- I forgot to add the player count in the last chapter, so this chapter includes two chapters worth of counts.
Thanks for reading, and I hope you are having a nice day.