Even with the strong metallic smell and morbid scenery, Hilda walked through the crimson street with her arms folded behind her back, unbothered by the blood staining the bottom of her boots, like a regal sovereign who had seen their fair share of blood and gore.
If anyone else had been in her position, they would immediately retch, even throw up, from the strong smell and sight of this street. They would even want to distance themselves from this area as much as possible. But Hilda was slightly different.
As someone who detested Predicaments more than anything in the world, there was one thing on her mind at this moment that she wanted to know.
How many Predicaments did the winner of the Poison Jar kill to flood this street with so much blood? By Hilda’s estimation, it had to be at least several dozen. And if so, how strong was the Predicament that came out of it?
’I’ve never seen such a bad case of Poison Jar before... well, except for that one time,’ Hilda mused, though darkly at the end. She continued to wander around, even finding herself on a rather familiar street.
She stopped in place and looked down. Despite the fact that this part of the area she was in was faintly painted in blood, she was able to make out a large burn mark on the street that spanned its entire width.
Hilda caressed her chin, thoughtfully. ’These burn marks don’t look ordinary, especially with how the mark is spread out... Isn’t this the work of my {Flame Wave}...?’
She then glanced at the buildings around her. Was this not the street where she had saved Nadia before Ben’s untimely passing?
’The place where the Poison Jar took place should be somewhat close, then.’ Hilda deduced.
She continued onwards, eventually stumbling upon a familiar neighbourhood. Walking down the street, she came upon the home where she had left Ben behind to rest and found it to be in dreadful ruin.
It was a bitter scene to see, especially when she located the bathtub that had acted as Ben’s coffin, which looked to be clean and polished — if one ignored the claw marks on its sides. Even the inside of the tub was clean of blood.
At this, Hilda narrowed her eyes solemnly. It was clear that whatever Predicament that won the struggle for Ben’s corpse had gone so far as to lick the tub clean of his blood.
At this deduction, she couldn’t help but sigh sombrely. ’How depressing...’
Although her main reason was to remove deadweight, there was another reason why she wanted to leave Ben behind. It was because of the smell he would give off as he grew closer to death’s door.
Predicaments, mainly Scoundrels, hunt using their strong sense of smell or keen sense of hearing. The moment they caught a whiff of injured or deceased prey, they would all gravitate towards the target like a family of sharks. And once they were at that location, there was almost nothing that could distract them from getting that prey.
It was for that reason why she was so willing to leave him behind. To act as bait, so that when she confronted Nadia to give her the bad news, there would be nothing to disturb the girl as she processed the news, which... hadn’t gone as she had predicted — referring to the fight they had.
As for why she hadn’t mentioned it before... she was sensitive enough to know that it wasn’t a good idea to make them out to be bait for monsters, especially after calling the deceased deadweight.
Hilda was many things, but the idea of intentionally saddening someone, even for a plan... wasn’t something she would ever be keen about, especially when it was about the dead.
Once she had deduced the area to be free of Predicaments, she moved on to find the location where the Poison Jar occurred.
...
By now, she had been wandering around for an hour or two. With the streets being so frighteningly stained, it was difficult to trace which route actually led to the source, especially now that the sky had begun to turn dark.
But eventually she got it down. And when she did... she stumbled upon a daunting and horrific sight.
In an area submerged under an inch of blood, a hill of corpses lay in the centre of the location — consisting of headless Scoundrels stained in dried blood.
The smell that emanated from the horrifying monument was sharp and pungent, burning the insides of Hilda’s nose and throat.
It was definitely a sickening sight to behold, and one that repulsed the nose. But it wasn’t something that Hilda hadn’t already become accustomed to.
Unfazed by the gory sight and pungent smell, she hummed slightly before walking around the wide perimeter of the hill and investigated for life. At the same time, she did her best to count how many bodies were piled.
’There’s definitely at least a few dozen Scoundrels here...’
After making sure all of them were dead, she kicked the side of the hill a few times playfully before quickly losing interest. With an urge to torch the entire hill, she turned to the immediate area in an attempt to dissuade the temptations.
And when she did, she immediately squinted her eyes. Glancing over at the ruined buildings and the way the area was laid out... why did she feel a sense of familiarity with this place? And one that felt like she was only here just recently?
After walking around for a few moments to inspect the area, she came upon something that caused her to widen her eyes a little.
’Is that...’
Bending over slightly, she leaned down and picked up a long, black, heavy object shaped like a clock hand. Wasn’t this what she had used to fight Nadia?
’If that’s so, then doesn’t that mean this place is...!’
Scanning the area one last time, she finally realised where she was. The Poison Jar that had occurred here had actually taken place in Place d’Armes; the location where she and Nadia had fled to and fought!
’To happen here of all places... what a coincidence...’ Hilda smiled bitterly.
Afterwards, she turned to look down at the bloody clock hand before summoning her System and opening the Inventory screen. ’This worked well as a weapon last time; I might as well keep it on me just in case.’
Once she stretched the screen to its maximum size and adjusted the clock hand’s orientation, she stored it.
[System Inventory: Metal Rods (x20), Predicament Eyes (Scoundrelx30), Clock Hand (Damaged)]
Hilda soon turned back to the morbid hill, her fingers itching to go through with her urges. But soon decided against it. With how many corpses here, mostly in good condition, it would be wasteful to destroy such resources that could be used for weapons.
With a slight shake of her head towards her logical side, she stepped away from the hill with her arms wrapped behind her back. ’I think I’ve spent enough time here. By now, Miss Rutherford should’ve taken action to migrate in the direction of the warehouse.’
Hilda had figured that since the Predicaments were going to split to target both groups, it should also mean they would group together for an all-out attack. When that happened, she would swoop in and get rid of them all.
Of course, that would depend on the System notifying her in time, because anything serious would occur, unlike its sloppy timing with Ben.
Her eyes narrowed at that.
’Maybe I should begin making my way over there, just in case.’
In consideration of the System’s sloppy timing and the considerable distance between her and the warehouse, she decided it was best if she got herself into position. But before she could follow through with that idea...
[ALERT!]
Her ears twitched.
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