Chapter 58: Road to the Capital (Part 7)
Tamae held her breath. Her eyes shimmered with tears, but she turned her face away, suppressing the turmoil rising in her chest. That woman—they had only known her briefly... yet her kindness was still fresh in their memory. And now she was dead, murdered. It left a heavy guilt pressing down on Tamae’s heart.
"If only I hadn’t stepped out. This wouldn’t have happened," she whispered.
Alvaric clenched his fists. His jaw tightened. He was the one who had asked Tamae to come with him. Indirectly, he too had played a part in this woman’s death.
This creature wasn’t just a monster. It didn’t kill only to abduct—it killed to spread fear. And now, it had slain the only villager who had shown them kindness. But something was off. Tamae and Alvaric looked at each other.
"Where’s the child?" they both said.
Realization struck them. Without delay, they split up to search every corner of the house. But the child was nowhere to be found. Even in the smallest, most unlikely of places, Alvaric still checked—just in case.
But the result was the same. No one was there.
Tamae and Alvaric exchanged glances. Their minds reached the same conclusion.
"Don’t tell me, he..."
This house had been attacked by the creature called Shadow Stalker. The most likely scenario was that the child had been abducted. They both looked at each other and nodded.
"We need to split up immediately."