Beast in the Woods, Deep in the Night

12.1

Christine took a quick look around the two-story house she was staying in. As if Edgar had prepared it in advance, every closet and shelf was filled with clothes and trivial items she could use.

‘I was worried about not having anything.’

The only things she brought from the Golden Horseshoe Guild were a couple of clothes and some travel expenses. She was worried that Duff would suspect her if she left with luggage filled with weapons, so she planned to find one near the Black Forest if necessary.

She was worried about having to stay for a month because she suddenly ran into Edgar, but she was relieved to have everything she needed.

Christine stretched her arm and hid the train ticket she had bought in advance for her return trip deep in the closet.

The important thing now was to get to know the guild members and get information about Edgar. Christine needed a reason to get close to him.

So, she adjusted her clothes and headed to the building Melkin had told her about. It was a kind of cafeteria that prepared meals for children who were still too young to cook.

She looked around intently as she headed there before realizing something unusual.

All the people who spent time here like normal villagers were chimeras. Although their ages were varied and each had their own personality, they certainly had either green eyes or black hair.

‘It seems like they gathered only chimeras here on purpose… With luck, I might be able to get some chimera’s tears.’

Chimera’s tears were made when the bodily fluids of a chimera hardened, whether it was sweat, blood, or tears. If she moved diligently, she might be able to gather enough jewels to subside the symptoms of her and her mother’s curse.

She might not be able to find a way to lift the curse through Edgar, so it would be wise to collect enough chimera’s tears so that she didn’t have to turn to Duff until she figured it out.

Christine thanked Edgar inwardly for allowing her to stay in such a perfect place.

She would go to the cafeteria kitchen to do what she could and get to know the chimeras there.

Meanwhile, a group of chimeras were watching her in the distance and being noisy. All of them were chimeras from the early to mid-teens who had completed their morning training.

Although they were all members of the guild, they had not yet received information about Christine.

“Who is that woman? She doesn’t seem to be a chimera.”

“Who brought her here? It’s unlikely that Mr. Edgar allowed an ordinary woman to stay here.”

“That’s true. She doesn’t resemble us at all.”

It wasn’t just that she didn’t resemble them. The woman was full of a certain elegance and splendor that they had never encountered in their lives. She was like a flower carefully cultivated in a greenhouse.

In addition to that, her hands didn’t have any scars, and she had long, flowing hair. The woman looked like a young lady who had never done anything harsh before.

“Why is a woman like that here?”

Toma, the boy frowning harshly, spat out. The chimeras who were with him agreed and expressed their displeasure.

If there was anyone the chimeras here held blind hostility towards, they were nobles or wealthy merchants. They were desperate to smuggle the chimeras with the blood of Grand Duke Richard.

The chimeras were so strong and sturdy that they were incomparable to ordinary humans, and their purposes were diverse. Smuggling a young chimera to be used as a slave was the idea of someone with a relatively healthy mind.

There were many who bought chimeras in heat and tried to satisfy their despicable s*xual desires, and there were many who raised chimeras as combat slaves and made them fight for money.

The worst were those who bought several chimeras and tried to breed them, saying they were going to make money by selling them. They forcibly fed stimulants to the chimeras, who were born with supernatural abilities but were rational and intelligent, and locked them in cages.

They were treated like dogs, handled like animals and not people.

The life of a chimera was to be sold around by wealthy people just because they were born with inhumane strength, and then die a miserable death at a young age while resisting things they didn’t want to do.

‘If Mr. Edgar and the Black Fang Guild hadn’t rescued me, I would have died like that.’

All the young chimeras gathered here were rescued from similar situations.

That was why they harbored a vague hostility towards anyone who seemed to be noble or wealthy. Since they looked similar to those who tried to take their lives, their bodies reacted first, and they became wary.

There was no way that Christine’s presence would be pleasant to young chimeras with such wounds.

“I don’t know why an ordinary woman crawled in here, but should I scare her?” Toma said with a grin, and the other chimeras agreed.