Chapter 61: Calm before the storm (2)
"Kurt? Has Densdor come back—"
The platea Veronica held slipped from her hands and shattered on the polished floor, breaking the silence.
"D–densdor, who is that on your shoulder?" Veronica asked dreadfully as she slowly drew closer.
Kurt didn’t move from his spot, the smile on Densdor’s face never left, his eyes squinted into slits as he spoke, "You guys didn’t want to tell me about Clark, so I went to find him myself."
"Rest assured, I definitely didn’t do any of this to him". He added hurriedly as he placed Clark on a nearby chair.
Veronica’s eyes followed Clark’s charred body with shaky eyes, her mind went blank and she fell to her knees with a lost expression.
A heavy silence descended on the room, Densdor sat next to what remained of Clark and shifted what was remaining of his hair to the side.
"He’s still alive" He commented, "He’s got a pretty strong will to live, but he won’t last long if he doesn’t get urgent treatment".
Kurt and Veronica jolted back to reality and they immediately scrambled to find the Resonance balls in their rooms.
Densdor and Clark were left in the room once more.
Humming lightly, Densdor watched his mutilated face with a smile on his face and spoke, "Can you hear me?"
There was no response. Obviously.
"Hmm...I guess your vocal cords must’ve been destroyed completely, half of your organs are messed up too. It’s honestly a miracle you’re alive"
"Or a curse..."
Densdor fell silent for a while before asking, "If you can hear me, can you twitch your fingers in response?"
His eyes trailed his body as he spoke, "Oh! Sorry, you don’t have one...."
"Well, this is a bit of a problem isn’t it? No matter, my elven buddies will fix you up as good as new! Then we can go for a drink, but no beating up drunk men anymore, you hear?"
Veronica’s and Kurt’s hurried voices interrupted Densdor’s one sided conversation.
"What do you mean you’re not available at the moment?! What am I paying you for, if you’re not going to be ready for emergencies?". Kurt exclaimed
Veronica’s voice echoed in the other room, "I don’t care that your wife is having her third child! Get your things and come down to Vossier!"
Arguments like that ensued for a few minutes before the poor elven healers begrudgingly agreed to come from their different locations to Vossier in the middle of the night.
Densdor chuckled softly, brought out a whitish liquid in a red vial from his golden storage ring and tried feeding it to Clark.
"Come on~, you need to drink this so you can survive for a little longer". He urged with a cheerful smile.
Pouring the white liquid down Clark’s mangled throat, Densdor wiped the side of Clark’s lips as he spoke, "Mhm! Now you’re going to be alive for till the elven doctors come!"
*Knock* *Knock*
"Oh! Those must be the healers! They work fast"
Before Densdor could even stand up, Veronica was already at the door, Kurt followed behind her, urgency written in their expressions as they opened the door.
Their expressions dropped as they saw a formless figures that stood at their door.
"Good evening Mr. Kurt and Mrs. Veronica, how do you do?" It spoke, "I see you’re expecting someone?"
"What do you want?" Kurt asked coldly.
A dry laugh travelled out of the mouth of the being. "I’m not here to cause any trouble, it’s under the Regulator’s orders that I’m here in the first place"
Their expressions changed immediately at his words. "What happened, why are they involved?"
It would be important to note that Kurt’s and Veronica’s view on Regulators didn’t include the ones that came for Clark during the inn situation but rather the likes of Biktriv and Fryn— the high ranking officials of the Regulators and the only level that could make Night walkers make any move.
"I can’t say much for now—mostly because I wasn’t told anything myself. I was only instructed to ask anyone living from Ashford Lane through Vossier to Brindlebrook if they happened to see a heavily injured man, or anyone assisting him. These are just formalities." It answered nonchalantly.
Their hearts dropped immediately, and they exchanged a quick, nervous glance. Veronica’s hand gripped the doorframe so tightly her knuckles turned white.
Kurt swallowed hard, his voice rough. "And what if someone did see him?"
The formless figure tilted its head, the shadow that made up its body shifting unnaturally as though it was amused. "Then," it said softly, "they would be expected to report it. You know how these things go—cooperation ensures... fewer complications."
A shiver ran down Veronica’s spine. She stepped forward, forcing her expression into something calm. "We haven’t seen anyone like that. Our home has been quiet all night."
The being lingered, as though studying her words for cracks. Then its head swiveled slowly toward Kurt, who held its gaze firmly despite the growing weight in the air.
"Good," the entity finally murmured. "That will make things easier."
Behind them, Densdor’s voice broke the silence. "Oh, is that so? Because from where I’m sitting, things don’t look very easy at all."
The formless figure’s head snapped toward the room, its shape rippling. Kurt and Veronica stiffened, fear spiking in their veins.
Clark’s ragged breaths wheezed faintly through the air, and Densdor, still sitting cheerfully by his side, swirled the red vial in his hand as though he’d been waiting for this exact moment.
"Care to explain," Densdor said with a smile that didn’t reach his eyes, "why a Night Walker is sniffing around here in the middle of the night?"
The figure didn’t respond immediately. Instead, the shadows around its form seemed to pulse like a heartbeat, filling the doorway with suffocating darkness.
Kurt instinctively reached for his weapon, while Veronica’s trembling fingers brushed against her storage ring.
And then, in a voice colder than the grave, the being spoke:
"Because the one you are hiding... does not belong here."
A low chuckle left Densdor’s lips as he slowly stood up with his hands in his pockets, "Oh really? And what makes you think we’re hiding anyone?"
"Densdor, now is not the time to play games" Kurt interrupted with a serious expression.
The formless figure tilted its head, its empty gaze sweeping past Kurt and Veronica as though the doorframe itself couldn’t keep its sight out. The air grew colder, pressing down on them like a suffocating blanket.
"...Strange," it murmured. "I sense... something."
Veronica’s throat went dry, her body screaming at her not to glance back at Clark. Kurt, steadying his breath, stepped forward half a pace, blocking more of the doorway.
"You’ll have to be more specific," he said evenly, though his fists were clenched at his sides.
The Night Walker’s amorphous face twisted into something resembling a smile—or maybe it was just the flicker of the lantern light. It leaned in, its presence washing through the house like smoke seeping through cracks.
"There’s blood nearby. Fresh. Pain clings to these walls like perfume..."
Veronica’s knees nearly buckled, but she forced her voice out, strained and brittle. "We’ve... we’ve just slaughtered meat earlier. For storage. Maybe that’s what you’re sensing"
For a long moment, silence stretched between them. The Night Walker didn’t move, didn’t breathe, didn’t blink. Then, with a sound like dry parchment tearing, it straightened.
"...Perhaps."
It lingered one second longer than comfort allowed, then finally turned its faceless head toward the street.
"Remember this: when Regulators ask, it is not optional. If the man passes through here, and you fail to report it... the punishment will be worse than death."
With that, the shadowy figure drifted away, vanishing into the night.
Kurt closed the door immediately and Veronica sat on a nearby chair with heavy breaths.
"What a fun day this is!," Densdor exclaimed, "Good thing I placed a distortion spell on Clark when we got here"
There was no response from Kurt or Veronica as they watched his smiley face with weird expressions.
Kurt finally spoke, "...How did you meet Clark?"
Densdor snapped his fingers and a faint ripple of mana travelled through the room as he spoke, "Hmm...he looked lonely, then I had to cheer him up, but he didn’t look like he could be cheered up so I took him to have a few drinks in the tavern, but he nearly killed a man for making fun of Lady Miriam, then he found out I was your son from the crowd and cut off contact immediately and now I’m here!"
With his hands under his chin, Densdor recounted his story to himself to make sure he didn’t miss anything and nodded proudly when he was certain.
"....."
"....."
Veronica buried her face in her palms and sighed heavily as she listened to Densdor’s rushed but accurate explanation.
"You met today?". Kurt asked with an unreadable expression.
Densdor nodded.
"Then...he couldn’t have told you about our short history". He replied with a sad smile.
Densdor cocked his head to the side with an amused smile and answered, "That’s why we’re going to fix him up!"
Almost immediately, a low, broken, voice travelled to the ears of all who were present, "Kill me."