Netori: Stealing The Hero's Party!

Chapter 810: Before Chaos Strikes

Eren Crian–the officer of public affairs in the city of Inktaus, often enjoyed the quiet time in his office. Working on permits and breezing through letters of public complaints were his favorite pastimes besides causing chaos in the theocratic council. But today was quite different as the goddesses were about to strike a deal in just a few minutes with the rumored general. And yet his mind was diverted in a different direction, for the mystery behind the assassin who’d gone into Garcia’s bedroom to kill her right before Ironheart barged in was far more curious.

The assassin sent to Garcia was killed by Ironheart, and since he did not send him after the elf himself–that only left two other suspects, neither of whom made any sense as the culprit for the assassination. Helm Goldtooth and Ditsy Dawn–one a servant of Mesmerazia with no reason to go after the elf, and the other a servant of Fortuna with no apparent reasons either. By that time, Dealer was alive as well, but since he was the next target of assassination, it made little sense for the mastermind behind this whole ordeal to be him.

Then, if not him, neither Ironheart nor Helm is the culprit, then who was it? The thought puzzled him as he stared at the many letters and documents. His signature inked many pages one after the other, and yet the thought wouldn’t leave his head. What in the hells was this mastermind planning to achieve, and since their plans were obviously thwarted with Garcia’s escape, who’s going to be next?

"Mhnmm..." Putting a cap on on one of the only ballpoint pens in Atlaris, he lifted his head and stared at the door to his room. Silence covered him like a blanket, and in that, he wondered if that very door would open for him anytime soon. "First Host, then Garcia–but since the attempt failed, the murderer went after Dealer, which means the next victim might be a worshiper of Mesmerazia."

Noticing an alternating pattern between the murder victims, Eren figured that the next victim might be him, Ironheart or Helm. Going purely by instinct alone, he placed himself into the murderer’s shoes and instantly decided to go after anyone but Ironheart. Between him and the fat tub of lard that did the most damage to the city’s rations and women.

"Who will it be? Who will it be?" Tapping the back of the pen against his hand, he tried to figure out who would be the next victim before the goddesses revealed it themselves. "If the general takes my lady’s deal, then we’d be golden, but if he does Fortuna, then we might have a problem. Either way, we’re about to risk our lives for as long as we have a traitor amongst us."

’Hmm...Then again.’ Deep in his own mind, the alpha horror came to Eren’s mind; what if one of those monsters were orchestrating everything? Possessing one of them to weave this tangled yarn.

’How should I find out who’s the one possessed?’ He asked himself right as another idea popped into his jackal mind. Breaking into a smile, he placed the pen on the table and slid his chair away from the desk. Looking not to the entrance but his own hands, he began whistling to himself. The melody of his voice turned into translucent green chains of magic. Coiling around his wrists on their own, they tied his hand to the armrest, and the same went for his ankles and his chest.

Testing the binds by trying to move left and right, he ensured that he couldn’t break free unless he was of an absolutely sound mind. Sitting straight once more, the man leaned back and took a deep breath. Then he said...

"Come out..." His words, laced with his bardic talent, had his skin crawling with a cold rush. A miasma of dark twisted and contorted him–or at least it tried before realizing that the chains were keeping him in place. Frustrated, the horror possessing him spat itself out and stood in front of Eren as a dark shadow with a burning silver gaze. Smirking at the monster who’d been possessing him for who knows how long, the bard laughed at the absurdity of the situation while the horror tried to sustain its astral shape.

"Ohhh~ I should’ve known that we were all possessed already, ahahaha~!" As his laughs echoed throughout the room, even the monster was left confused and frozen in place. "You were just waiting for the best time to emerge like a butterfly from a cocoon. Ahaha-ahhaa..."

Slowly, as his laughter dried, he looked up into the horror’s eyes.

"Who would’ve thought that a hunch would save my life..." Smiling at the monster, he remained seated in his binds. Seeing this as an opportunity, the creature leapt forward, but before it could lay a hand on him, Eren said the words. "Stab your core and die."

In a flash, faster than the monster’s mind could comprehend, its hand punched through its chest and shattered the soul core within. And as the glassy core began to shatter, the monster looked up at the man and noticed the smile of a devil plastered on what appeared to be a common man. Chaos was the creature’s domain, but in the moment that it died, it noticed that some mortals were monsters at wielding it.

Eren Crian–the officer of public affairs, often enjoyed the quiet time in his office. But what he enjoyed more was chaos, and so despite knowing a mortal truth at this point, he decided to drag things along by not telling anyone. Possessed by beasts and doomed to turn into monsters–monsters that didn’t realize that they were being changed, that their personalities were being overdone. Overwritten by some shadow that was controlled by another shadow, slowly but surely turning into another piece of the puzzle, surely but surely being completely undone.

Packing his stuff with that satisfying realization, Eren rose from his chair and made for the council room. A lot had become clear to him since finding out the truth of the possession; he even knew who was behind the murders, along with the fact that the very person was behind the chaos of these evolving horrors–but would he tell anyone or simply watch how things transpire? The answer to that is already clear.