Mystery: Mr. Witch and Ms. Hunter

Chapter 15 Venator means hunter
"It's hard for me to find words to describe my surprise at that time. I even forgot to get up from him and kept asking him how he could be like this. It was not until the patrolman pulled me away thinking I was a female hooligan that I realized what was happening."

Venata took the tongs from Altaïr and added two more coals, letting the light of the flame dance and burn in her eyes.

"Later, he told me at the police station that those southerners did not fulfill their promise at all. All my people were sent to the immigration area, squeezed into a small shabby house that was worse than a pigsty. There was no soft white bread or stewed meat. They worked more than 16 hours a day in the factory area of ​​​​Feysac. Those who couldn't do it either starved to death or became criminals like him."

Venata stared at the flames like a wooden sculpture and continued.

"I was just a poor student with no power. It was two days later when my teacher found out that I skipped classes and came to bail me out. I was fine, but my neighbor's child didn't make it through those two days in the police station."

"He died in the room across from me. When he was dying, he stretched out his hand to me and seemed to be saying something. His vocal cords had been damaged by the cold, but even if I only looked at the shape of his mouth that was distorted by pain, I knew what he was saying."

"He's saying, this is all your fault. And I know, this is all my fault."

Vinata's voice gradually faded away, but then she perked up again.

"Of course, I didn't get depressed. When I was little, my grandmother always told me that it didn't matter if I made a mistake, I just had to make amends right away. I'm a sociology student, so that night I wrote a report about it and submitted it to the newspaper where I was interning. In the article, I described the plight of immigrants and used the sentences that I thought were the most touching. I was so excited that I almost cried several times while writing."

"After a few days, there was no response. I couldn't wait any longer, so I wrote a few more articles and submitted them to other newspapers, thinking that someone would be willing to publish them. In the end, what I received was a notice to terminate my internship."

"Newspaper editors are the mouthpieces of the government. They will not allow their newspapers to publish things that bring shame to the officials. Poor students like me are different from those rich kids who come here to gild their reputations. Expelling me will not even make any difference."

"After an unknown amount of time, I finally made up my mind. Since gentle means couldn't solve the problem, I had to resort to hunter's means. I found the man who had discussed the relocation with us, sneaked into his house in the middle of the night, kicked him off the bed, pointed a double-barreled shotgun at his head and threatened him. Then I showed him my leather tanning tools and told him that if he didn't keep his promise, I would cut off his head and put it on a shelf for preservation, just like the wolf heads he had cheated from me."

"It's true that he was frightened, but I also understood the situation. This guy who made our entire tribe fearful and could mobilize those soldiers with high-pressure steam rifles was just an ordinary employee and had no real power to improve our situation. What's funny is that I was stupid enough to take his nonsense seriously and deceived the entire tribe."

"He cried and screamed at my feet, saying that he was just a messenger and that those things had nothing to do with him. If I gave him a chance, he might even kneel down and lick my boots. I hesitated for a long time and finally did not use the tanning tools I prepared. It's not that I didn't hate him anymore, but I suddenly realized that even if I killed him, it would be meaningless. I'm afraid I will never have the chance to correct this mistake I made."

Vinata drank the rest of the milk in one gulp and stood up suddenly.

"You know the rest. While I was waiting for punishment, I was forced to serve in the military. My actions attracted the attention of the official Beyonders, and they said that as long as I went to the front line to fight, they would no longer care about my murder of that guy, and would also consider my request to improve the living conditions of our tribe. I agreed because I knew that at least this time, whether I made the right choice or the wrong choice, it would not be worse than it is now."

The coals in the fireplace crashed down, and the fire in Winata's eyes went out along with the fire in the stove.

"Now that your curiosity has been satisfied, I'm a little sleepy too. I want to take a bath and go to bed."

Venata reached out and wiped her eyes, then spoke to Altaïr simply.

"The bathroom is over there." Altaïr pulled his foot back to make room for her.

As Venata's figure approached the bathroom door, Altaïr called out from behind her: "In return, shall I tell you my story tomorrow night?"

"Who wants to hear your little shit?"

Venata's voice was unclear, and then there was a heavy door slam and a threat behind Altaïr.

"If you dare to peek, I'll dig your eyes out."

"Tsk, you're just saying one thing and thinking another. Also, what's so good about you? If I really want to see a naked woman, can't I just wait until I reach Sequence 7 and see my own?"

Altaïr sighed and decided not to bother with her, while making a self-deprecating joke in his mind.

No wonder this guy is so obsessed with food... I remember there seems to be a stall selling Dixie pies at the junction of the East District and the West District. I'll take her there later. But then again, the people of Feysac actually used the specialties of Dixie Bay to seduce the natives. Feysac's food culture is quite poor. No wonder the residents have no motivation to follow the policy to industrialize.

Altaïr sighed. Not only Venata, but almost everyone living in the East District had their own tragic experiences, different from each other, but equally miserable. So he rarely heard people talk about these things, because he had no way to help.

"Happy families are all alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way..."

Altaïr could not help but think of this famous quote from Emperor Roselle. Although Roselle was also born into a minor noble family, and was a far cry from Altaïr's class, and logically speaking, it was impossible for him to have similar experiences to realize these things, but Altaïr still felt that this quote was so insightful that it felt like a sharp dagger stabbed directly into his back.

After hearing this story, Artair no longer had the mood to sit downstairs any longer. He took a sip of warm water to rinse his mouth, and without waiting for Vinata to finish using the bathroom, he went straight to his room on the second floor and soon fell asleep.

However, Altaïr's peaceful dream did not last long. Although he had no clear sense of time in his dream, he suddenly woke up and realized that something had entered his dream.

In his dream, he was lying on his bed reading a newspaper, which was his usual habit, and he often did this in the early winter to save fuel. However, just as he turned to the next page, the door of the room was silently pushed open by something, and at the same time, the other party conveyed to Altaïr a clear idea that "this is a dream".

Tell me I'm dreaming... It seems that the other party has no ill intentions, so it's best not to act rashly.

Altaïr warned himself silently in his heart. The Assassin Sequence's amplification of the spirit is not very high, and it is in a standard position among the twenty-two sequences. Since the other party can easily pull him into the dream, it must be difficult for him to break free from the dream.

As the door creaked open, the gap in the door opened wider and wider. Altaïr squinted his eyes and carefully distinguished what appeared in the completely open door...

A golden retriever?
Altaïr scratched his head in confusion.

“Why is there a dog in my dream?”

Altaïr stretched out his left hand and beckoned the dog to come to his bed, but the dog simply sat there, wagging its tail slowly.

Just as Altaïr was hesitating whether to pet the dog, the golden retriever actually spoke. It did not open its mouth, but only relied on its tail to vibrate the air to make sounds. Of course, in a dream, as long as the thoughts were conveyed, it did not matter how the sound was made, so Altaïr was not overly surprised.

"Hello, Mr. Altaïr. Let me introduce myself first. My name is Susie, and I am Miss Pride's hound... er, a hound with extraordinary abilities."

Well, the hound that can pull me into the dream without any resistance must be at least mid-level...

Altair added in his mind, and once again felt the class gap. We are both Beyonders, but I have to be frugal for a material, and I almost lost my life for a 200-pound bounty. However, Miss Pride can prepare an extra potion for her pet, and she prepares it to the middle level... In other words, I can't even beat this dog?

He is a big shot, you can’t afford to offend him.

"Hello, Suzy," Altaïr said in a friendly voice. "What can I do for you, Miss Pride?"

"Yeah. I see you get along pretty well with that Ms. Venata, that's a good sign. I hope the next mission will go as smoothly as the beginning."

Susie wagged her tail and continued.

"Miss Pride wants you to help her investigate someone. She said that although this guy is not of high Sequence, he is very dangerous. We can only track him down after you or Miss Venata reaches Sequence 7. As long as the approximate range is determined, Miss Pride is willing to pay a hundred pounds as a reward."

"Just to find out the general range is worth a hundred pounds?" Altaïr pondered the meaning of this sentence. "Whose information is so valuable?"

"You must be familiar with that person." Susie called out twice in her natural voice, "He's the craftsman who sold you the blood-sucking machine."

(End of this chapter)