His eye narrowed, and he raised one finger.

"Two dead."

He raised a second finger.

And then he pointed directly at Miss Shio.

"One more to go. "

His voice lowered into a deadly whisper.

"Miss Shio… are you ready to die?"

The Condottieri stepped forward, his cloak brushing the ground like a dragging shroud, his attention never shifting from his target: Miss Shio.

He muttered, looking around the shop. "Closed windows... Only one way... out." He chuckled. "Good. I prefer this. Killing you will be much easier."

I mean, the way he talked to her sounded inhumane, like she was some creature.

Wind gathered around Rose, her eyes blazing white. I could tell whose side she was on at the moment. And for me? Still scared to do anything. I felt like an NPC. Why was I just standing, looking at my whole world turn chaotic? Do something, damn it.

But this was crazy. How could a florist who looked this thin-framed pull off that horrific act and be responsible for the missing people?

"All what you're saying about this woman, talking about killing her, is not going to happen on my watch! You have no proof! I won't stand for senseless murder!" Rose said, her conviction stronger than before.

I mean, Miss Shio wasn't frightened. She didn't even seem scared. This was a two-way response: the usual idea was, if you didn't do it, you won't panic or be afraid. You know, the other, more terrible one, was you're so used to doing it that their mentioning it, that you're responsible, is just a normal day. The Condottieri was the little 1% of belief that bugged Rose so much, and even me. This woman was that diabolical?

It was as if he could read our minds. "Believe me or not, job being paid, and now it's personal. You have a kid involved. I take those personally. I'm going to kill you, bury you, and stomp you to death."

"My, my, what's all this false accusation?" Miss Shio's smile was perfect, utterly unmoved. "Do you have any proof to back it? You realize you're calling me a monster."

"Oh, of course. I have so much proof, but why prove myself to a monster anyway? Let me do my usual customary act. The name's Guts, by the way. Know it, learn it. I love to tell the people I'm about to kill my name so they remember me while they burn in hell." He spat on the floor in disgust as he continued, "Tell me, where is the girl, his daughter?"

"All because he wasn't doing your silly little ritual anymore, you guys decided to kill him and now plan to feed his daughter to whatever monster you're worshipping."

"You have quite an imagination there, Mr. Guts the Condottieri," she replied, her smile fixed as ever. "As you can see, you are just saying random stuff—something out of a child's nightmare—and these two behind you are my witnesses, so I suggest you give it a rest. I'm sure you know lawlessness isn't permitted anywhere. Evidence? Where is it? If you don't have it, I suggest you leave my store."

She clapped her hands, not even breaking a sweat. "You two, go tell them at the Mayor's office what's happening here immediately! We found the killer, remember?"

I didn't know anymore. Have we, though? Why was she so calm? I mean, she was right, there wasn't any evidence.

This 'Guts' man didn't seem to care about her talks about lawlessness and evidence.

He chuckled. "You could have just done the easy way: act out and attack me like the other two. But nope, you're going the hard route. Well, it means I have found the brains of the operation."

As the goat Baaaaa-ed, the man looked over. "There's a goat beside you. You have the capacity to care for an animal, but a human? Nothing. You're a real mystery. Enough talking. Time."

With a swift, practiced motion, his hands brought forth his weapon: It was an intimidating thing, deceptively simple. The chain itself was thick and heavy, the links forged from deep, gunmetal-black iron that seemed to absorb the light. At either end, a weighted sphere of dark metal, slightly larger than a man's fist, hung like a grim punctuation mark.

He took a shoulder-width stance and began to rotate it.

A low, building whir was the first sound. He started slowly, one hand feeding the chain into the spin, the weights orbiting lazily around his body. The chain links themselves clattered with a dry, metallic sound, rapidly accelerating into a single, terrifying chorus. As his speed increased, the noise sharpened. The air surrounding the spinning weapon was violently displaced, creating a sound that was no longer a clatter, but a single, continuous, high-pitched whistle.

"Rose, go get help now!" Miss Shio yelled quickly. "This psycho is going to kill us all!"

Rose was stuck. She didn't know what to believe, or who to believe.

"What the hell is going on?" she muttered as her white glowing eyes were directed to only one person. "Miss Shio, is what he's saying true?"

"You're lying!" she yelled at Guts. "You want to make these innocent children watch me die in your twisted fantasy?"

At least she was losing her composure. What was that weapon? Almost as if she knew that weapon was bad news.

"Ahh, the moment I brought out my special grade weapon, Manriki Chain, before you took me seriously... prepare to die! Two of you, get out now!" He turned at us.

He ignored her for the first time, took his eyes off her for just a moment, addressing Rose directly. "Think about it. They are worshippers of some beast. What she does is spread her herbs around town to everyone, making them use it. Once you take them, you start to feel very sleepy and start to hear voices."

"The whole town is now hooked on it, like some addictive drug. Those who wake up to the sound of the voices are the ones who go missing—the perfect meal for their monster. While the whole town's asleep, the person themselves walk over to you. Isn't that right, Priestess?" He then turned to her.

So I wasn't dreaming that night, and that tea Granny...

"Well, I haven't taken any herbs, so I don't believe that. Only someone who has taken them can shift my stand."

"He's right, Rose. I believe him…"

"What, Astraga?" Rose looked surprised. "You have taken her herbs?"

"Yes," I replied. "The day I went to Granny Maera's, I took that tea—the same one she usually gave her son as well. And I heard the voice, but thought it was a bad dream... "

"Turns out you escaped the selection process," Guts said.

Rose said."you really believe this? If that's the case, Astraga, I also have to take her down."

Guts chuckled. "Well, now you sure you're up for this, kid? I will advise you to take your little brother and gooo."

Miss Shio's perfect attitude started to show little cracks. "And I was so nice to both of you," she said, shaking in disappointment.

"With all I have heard, ma'am, either you follow us peacefully, or we drag you with force."

Rose didn't wait. "O tempest untamed, O sharpened sky—pierce the foolish who defy!"

Dozens of glowing wind arrows began to materialize, each humming with violent pressure, their tips shimmering. The arrows hovered, each vibrating with deadly intent, aimed directly at Miss Shio.

"If you're innocent, then you should be proving us wrong now."

She gave a big sigh, her left hand gently feeling the counter she usually stood attending to her customers.

"Careful now," Guts said, "don't try anything funny."

"I'm going to miss this town," she said genuinely. Missing killing people? This would mean she is sick in the head.

And then her true colors began to brighten up. "All that bastard had to do was to keep quiet, enjoy his wealth we gave him. But he rather sacrifice himself for some noble cause! He had no issue sacrificing others, but the moment he knew people he cared for was next, he started acting up! Selfish old fool!"

Rose, now feeling the situation becoming more and more a major confrontation, being inevitable, forced herself to speak as she was terrified. "So you used the Butcher's knife to kill him?"

Miss Shio, who had remained calm through the entire exchange, finally laughed—a sinister, chilling sound that explained her unnatural composure.

"Knife?" she sneered, stepping backward from behind the counter, utterly untouched. "Noooo. I used my nails." She extended her left hand fingertips, revealing five polished, bone-white nails, far cleaner and sharper than anything I had ever seen. "The knife was his defense against me."

"You shouldn't have taken your eyes off me, Guts," she said, a smirk on her lips.

Five wickedly sharp, obsidian-black nails extended from her right hand tha had been hidden behind the counter the fingertips, stretching five feet long like sharpened claws. With a desperate snarl, she drove them through the wooden counter, aiming for my torso!

Guts reacted faster than anyone . His rough hands, which looked like elephant hide, moved with blurring speed. He tanked her strike head-on, just as the razor-sharp nails pierced the wood and tore through the thick timber the nails pierced through his skin and flesh, skewering the left palm of Guts blood spattered on my clothes all I could see was a left palm filled with shio finger nails,

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