After interviewing Rufus Bradley, Victor and Ulrich should’ve returned and reported to Captain Ottis. However, they made the decision to ‘loiter’ near the dock. In fact, Victor would visit a couple of ‘residences’ nearby, flash his badge, and ask a series of related questions.
As for Ulrich, he was a helpless sack strapped to Victor’s back, but did not express his disapproval of Victor’s behavior since both parties had agreed upon the decision. Thus, in the silent hill of night, they were fireflies buzzing before dawn.
Their goal was to lure out anyone, and potentially, the culprit who might be keeping a watchful eye on Rufus Bradley, or those who investigated the matter relating to Albert's disappearance.
At this moment, Ulrich was leaning against a lamp post, fiddling with the coin inside his pocket. By now, it had basically become a habit, a way of keeping himself distracted.
Meanwhile, Victor was taking sips from a steel hip flask.
Five minutes… Ulrich counted in his heart. Immediately, his hand stopped, then glanced at Victor, who also put away the hip flask and turned to Ulrich.
In that instant, a mutual understanding formed between their gazes. This eye contact only lasted for a split second, but enough for a smile to appear on both men’s faces.
Immediately after, they walked toward the main road, hoping to call for a late-night carriage.
“What do you think about Mr. Bradley's final statement and attitude?” Victor asked, his voice was sharp and loud, almost like a spear as it whistled in the cold wind.
Ulrich didn’t answer immediately. Inwardly, he was musing on the fact that he had to ‘pretend’ to think, when this wasn’t the first time Victor had asked this question.
After about ten seconds, Ulrich took a deep breath and expressed his skepticism as well.
“Very suspicious.” He said blankly, his foot caught itself as he stopped. At the same time, his eyes darted toward the corner of the street behind them. Unfortunately, he couldn’t quite turn around and only saw a vague shadow.
“I share the same thoughts,” Victor nodded. He didn’t point out Ulrich’s strange behavior and continued walking.
After about a minute, he raised another question with a mysterious smile, “I’m sure Captain has told you, but what do you think…” He paused, his voice came to a gentle whisper,” A Galebreather can do?”
What? Ulrich didn’t expect this question.
He looked up, hoping to gauge Victor’s expression; however, there was nothing.
The colleague who was just a feet ahead of him disappeared, like a ghost in summer, or the ‘moon’ above the black sky.
In that brief instant, Ulrich's body and mind separated. While his thought was frozen, his hand subconsciously reached toward the revolver under his coat.
At the same time, he closed his eyes to remove the filter that dampened his ‘senses’. The effect was immediate as a series of sounds and strange whispers homed in on his mind.
Not far from his current position, a wave of fresh air arrived. The breeze was soothing, and quickly, they came together to form an invisible trail which tugged at his white collar.
His foot moved before his mind could process the revelations, and soon, he found himself chasing behind two shades of shadows in the muted night.
These two shades of shadow gradually congealed to form two figures, Victor and an unfamiliar man.
At the same time, Ulrich narrowed his eyes, noticing that around Victor’s black coat, there was a strange wisp of wind. This ‘wind’ wrapped around his body, almost like a silk spider cocoon.
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As for the other figure, it was a man dressed in a loose dark blue shirt and brown trousers.
He didn’t have the time to examine closely when the blue shirt man's hand moved toward his chest. In that same moment, Victor's movement stopped, his mouth quivered, like reciting a chant, or whispering a prayer.
From here, Ulrich couldn’t hear it clearly. However, he didn't pay Victor any attention and aimed his gun at the man’s back, his finger resting on the trigger.
A gun? No, it wasn’t a gun.
The man's hand revealed a ring embedded with a blue gemstone. Before Ulrich could narrow on the marking edged into the ring body, a bellowed imploded the silent street.
"Frost!"
Ulrich immediately recognized the language. Without hesitation, he pulled the trigger, aiming at his legs.
Bang! Bang!
He expected a cushion sound, a mushy sensation, one that crawled on one’s skin as a fast-moving metal tear apart human flesh. However, reality was disappointing.
The sudden appearance of ice widened his eyes.
Ice? He was startled, then took a giant leap backward. Ulrich didn’t have the time to look at Victor as the color of blue rose like an ocean wave, blocking his entire view.
Quickly, the soiled, black pavement was painted blue; the ‘crystal’ reflected the lamp light.
Seeing this, Ulrich's heart skipped a beat. He maintained his composure as he tightened his grip on the revolver, while his eyes lingered on the chunk of ice.
Just as he climbed toward the balcony of a nearby building, another voice came.
“Chains!”
Victor!
The layer of mist made it difficult to see clearly. The most Ulrich could make out was a vague black shadow that extended from the ground.
“Damn Watchmans!” The man exclaimed, his voice echoed as it vibrated off the ice chunks. He didn’t even look at Ulrich or Victor and sped off into the distance.
However, was it so easy? The wind tugged at him, not gentle like a light tug, but more like thick resin gel. Quickly, it took a black, shadowy form, congealing into a hand as ‘it’ grabbed onto his feet.
Finally, Ulrich was able to get a closer look as the mist dissipated. The man struggled, attempting to pry open the black hand.
Madness! This person is a lunatic!
Looking at this sight, Ulrich hissed with dreadful breath. There was a crazed look in the man’s eyes, the kind that was eerily not human.
He struggled to yank his foot back, trying to escape the grip of the black hand; yet, all that followed was a deep rash of crimson. For some reason, the scene was extremely compelling, a kind of compelling similar to watching a slug smothered in salt.
This sent a chill down Ulrich’s mind, and his body subconsciously shivered. Eventually, the man's flesh was scraped away, revealing a beige white color. Seeing this, he can't help but swallow forcedly, enough that it is audible.
At the same time, Victor arrived next to him.
"You're alright?"
Ulrich nodded, noticing that Victor's behavior was odd.
He was holding onto his left hand with his right to stop a tremor. This only lasted for a few seconds before he turned to Ulrich and quickly explained,” He’s not a Weaver. The ice comes from the Cursed Ring on his finger. This is a ‘Cursed Object and it has ‘tainted’ his mind. Simply put, he’s not in the right state of mind…”
Cursed Ring? Objects? Tainted? Ulrich held back his urge to ask further as the situation was pressing.
“The matter relating to a ‘Cursed Object’ is dangerous. Normally, I would work with the captain or our on-field members, but the situation is urgent.”
He paused, as though to consider his words carefully, before letting out a deep sigh and stating,” From the look of it, this person cannot maintain a rational mind. His actions are instinctual. I doubt he can use the ring again."
"I’ll retract my ‘Chains’ and let him escape. Then, we will follow after him, see if it could lead back to the true culprit!”
Ulrich expressed his approval with a curt nod. However, there was a question in his mind,” What is our next course of action if we do discover the location of the culprit?”
Without hesitation, Victor answered,” We return and inform Captain before taking further action.” After which, he looked toward the crazed man on the ground, then snapped his finger.
Immediately, the hand that chained his feet disappeared. He didn’t look back at Victor and Ulrich, as though he couldn’t see them.
At the same time, Ulrich and Victor chased after him from a distance.
