Watching Bernadette vanish before her eyes, Aelia finally pointed at the corpses by the door and asked, "Do you need help with these?"
Odis took a drag from his pipe, "No need."
Aelia nodded, "I'll return tomorrow to learn how to craft the bullets."
Odis gave a noncommittal "Mm" in response to her farewell.
Only after Aelia had also left did the dog next door begin barking...
Though there were no pedestrians outside, the air itself seemed to stir back to life, no longer trapped in the eerie stillness of a sealed space.
'Bernadette must have isolated this area earlier,' Odis mused.
That explained why no one had heard the gunshots, sparing him a police interrogation.
After finishing his pipe, Odis closed the shop door, donned a pair of gloves, and dragged both corpses into the courtyard.
By now, the Beyonder Characteristics (his rightful spoils of battle) had already separated from the bodies... Storing them in an ornate wooden box, he then used scissors to cut away their clothing and a dagger to slice open their flesh.
From the storeroom, he retrieved a gas mask and deerskin gloves, along with a large bottle of yellow liquid kept at the bottom of a cabinet.
Pouring it over the corpses, the solution immediately began sizzling as it rapidly dissolved muscle, blood, and bone...
While the bodies liquefied, Odis fetched a burlap sack and a large dry sponge, then he tidied up the shop.
Three of the four flame-bullets that had missed their targets had embedded themselves in the wall, leaving behind charred patches that would need repainting tomorrow. The fourth had shattered a pane of the shop window, which would also require replacement.
By the time he finished cleaning, the corpses had melted into pools of bloody liquid. Odis soaked up the remains with the sponge, dumped it into an oil-paper-lined sack, and tossed it into the garbage bin outside.
A final rinse with water, and the two bodies were disposed of without a trace.
Having efficiently handled the aftermath, Odis settled back behind the counter and relit his pipe, 'I need to advance to the next sequence, fast...'
...
~Late at Night, Tuteva Street, South of the Backlund Bridge~
Fors Wall, her brown hair loosely tied back and dressed in a long skirt, sat anxiously on the living room sofa, her gaze flickering intermittently toward the door.
It was well past midnight, and Xio still hadn't returned.
As a bounty hunter, Xio occasionally worked late, but she hadn't mentioned anything this morning about staying out so late.
Just as Fors was about to go search for her, she finally heard footsteps outside, unmistakably Xio's.
She exhaled in relief...
Seconds later, the door opened to reveal Xio Derecha, her delicate features softened by a hint of baby fat, "Sorry, Fors," she said with a smile, "Something urgent came up. I didn't have time to send word."
Fors stood up and said, "As long as you're safe." Then she asked, "Have you eaten?"
The loud growl from Xio's stomach answered for her.
Fors had saved her some bread and lamb stew with potatoes, though the latter would have gone cold by now and needed reheating.
Xio placed the pot over the fireplace to warm, "You won't believe what happened today! This morning, I met with that gold-masked contact. He told me the police are investigating me!"
Fors, who had been preparing tea at the dining table, paused, "Did you take on some questionable job recently?"
For a bounty hunter, police scrutiny usually spelled the end of a career.
"That's what I thought too, at first," Xio said, staring into the flames of the fireplace, she continued, "But even my contacts couldn't dig up any details. So I switched tactics. I reviewed all my recent jobs and revisited the clients..."
As the stew began bubbling, Xio hooked the pot out and ladled a portion onto a plate.
Fors brought over two cups of tea, and they sat across from each other. Xio shoveled a spoonful of potatoes into her mouth, a chunk of bread in her other hand.
"It took forever," she mumbled between bites, "Just as I was about to call it a night, I finally found a lead." She tore off another piece of bread, "Remember that job hunting down East Borough vagrants?"
"Of course," Fors said, "Not many people would pay good money to track down homeless folks... Was that the problem?"
"Not exactly. It was the client, Byron." Xio chewed vigorously, "A few words in, I could tell something was off. You know how my instincts are sharp when it comes to sniffing out supernatural trouble..."
"...Byron clearly didn't expect me to know I was being investigated. Then again, if I hadn't met that gold-masked informant, I'd never have found out..."
"...After some chasing and… persuasion, he confessed. He was trying to recruit me for a secret Mysticism gathering. The police investigation? Just routine vetting by the organization behind it."
Fors blinked, "An Mysticism gathering? One that can order police background checks?"
Xio nodded, "Yep. It's backed by official Beyonders."
"According to Byron, the host has close ties to the Machinery Hivemind and an extensive intelligence network. The meetings focus on trading high-level secrets..."
Fors sipped her tea, amused, then said, "Isn't that exactly what you need?"
For a bounty hunter, access to classified information could be a game-changer.
But Xio hesitated, "I'm still deciding whether to join. The host is too mysterious. And the fact that the meetings are held in a fixed location feels… unsafe."
Fors frowned, "Huh?"
Xio explained, "Byron said the host goes by 'Leader', Everyone knows he emerges from a basement to start the gathering and returns there afterward... No one has figured out how he enters or leaves the building..."
"Since most attendees are intelligence operatives, naturally, some tried investigating. One staked out the place for a full day after a meeting... They never saw 'Leader' exit..."
"...Another, who specializes in mechanisms, bribed the two servants 'Leader' employs. They searched the basement thoroughly but found no hidden passages."
Fors's expression turned uneasy, 'That sounds like something straight out of a ghost story...'
.....
Fors Wall & Xio Derecha...