There was no town as unique as Sighișoara in Romania or even all of Europe. This was referring to its 'unchanging' nature. It was a small town with a population of thirty thousand, but the people who came to sightsee felt as if they had slipped back in time to the Middle Ages just by walking through the town's historical district, which was labelled a World Heritage Site.
If you walked through the extremely rough, stone-paved hill road, you would find private houses that looked exactly the same as they had in the sixteenth century lining the streets and even public squares where witch trials were once held.
Other sightseeing spots included the home in which Vlad III was born (it was now a restaurant), the town's landmark clock tower, and a church at the top of the mountain in the old city district. At any rate, the town was the most suitable sightseeing area for foreigners to experience the 'Europe of the past'.
And presently, Sighișoara was gripped by fear due to a serial killer. It was a ghastly situation where visiting tourists had been murdered one after another and all their corpses had their hearts gouged out.
There was no evidence besides the corpses left behind, and no link could be found between the victims at all. But only a select few people knew the truth. The victims were all magi—in other words, something extraordinarily 'abnormal' was occurring in Sighișoara.
Shishigou and Saber of Red had been walking for an hour now through the streets, lit faintly by sodium-vapor lamps, on edge all the while. Saber's armor clinked noisily, but fortunately there was no one around who questioned them. A drunken homeless man carrying a wine bottle in one hand gazed at Shishigou and Saber with an open-mouthed expression. Not even bothering to use suggestion magecraft, Shishigou waved his hand at him, and the man banged his head and started drinking again.
Although they encountered policemen several times, they were immediately driven away using Shishigou's suggestion magecraft. Even the policemen probably didn't want the duty of remaining on watch for a crazy killer. Shishigou was able to drive them away without even forcing them that much.
But more importantly, Saber was more serious now. Not long ago, she'd been complaining with "This is boring", "So dull", and "Are they here yet?" over and over again, but now she had gone silent.
"What's wrong, Saber?"
"...Sorry, please let me concentrate. I have a bad feeling here."
Shishigou's face tensed at her words. If she was taking such a vigilant attitude, then there was definitely a Servant nearby.
At some point, their pace slowed down and became cautious. They surveyed their surroundings—the dim glow of the streets lamps seemed to conversely make their vision fuzzier. A freezing gust passed through that seemed to lick at the nape of Shishigou's neck.
"...A mist is forming."
Just as Saber said, before they knew it, a mist broke out around the two of them. This would obstruct their vision more and more————no, wait.
"Mist...?"
Even though the air was clear just moments ago, could a mist so thick it obstructed their vision just suddenly appear? ...Impossible.
Shishigou and Saber stopped walking at nearly the same time. Saber already had her sword out, and Shishigou had his hands on the holster of his favorite shotgun.
"This mist is..."
The instant that Shishigou tried to mutter something, the inside of his nose was struck by pain like scattering sparks. He reflexively coughed and covered his mouth.
