In the Jaws of the Beast

All I could focus on was the rhythmic drumming of my horse’s hoofs, as it ran through the night. I had spent the entire day hitting the stores. First, I’d bought upgraded lock picking tools. No way was I going to be caught with my pants down, once again unable to open the door.

Next, I had caught a whiff of myself. Indeed, my school uniform had ripened. So, now, I rode in my grey boots, black pants, and a sleeveless, black gambeson, over a loose, grey shirt. I looked like a supervillain. However, like a salaryman who’d just lost his job and home, I couldn’t part ways with my uniform. I had stored it inside a bag I’d bought, along with my school shoes in the satchel.

Looking at the map, I was right outside Allister’s neighbourhood. I stopped the horse and hitched it to a streetlamp.

I carefully looked at the house numbers, which were engraved directly into the doors, as I walked by. Even in the dark, my hood stayed up.

Aha!

There it was. Number 16. The cozy, brick house my spies had uncovered. I vaulted over the small, white fence and approached the front door. Two locks? Eh, whatever. I successfully worked my way through them, courtesy of my new tools.

I crept inside and carefully closed the door behind me. Okay, where to start?

I entered the first room, to my left. It was a kitchen/dining room. The moonlight highlighted the room’s cleanliness.

How does a blind guy keep a room so spotless? I didn’t see a ring on his finger, so I assume he’s not married. Unless, they don’t have marriage in this world? Or maybe they don’t use rings?

I exited the kitchen, theorising about this new world’s culture.

Hm?

Stood right outside the kitchen, to my left, was a locked door.

I had it open within a few minutes.

It was the most standard looking study I had ever seen in my life. The first thing I saw, was the desk at the back. It was covered in papers. Cabinets stretched across the side walls, like ivy.

Right, then. Guess I have my work cut out for me.

***

I was making quick work of these cabinets, though I didn’t know exactly what I was looking for.

I refuse to believe that twenty-one people can go missing without a trace, regardless of the existence of magic.

Above all else, I refused to believe that none of this was connected. The locksmith had to be Allister. He had to be connected to these disappearances. That had to be Mr. Matsumoto on the poster. Because, if none of that was true, then… It was too terrifying to think about—to think that I may have been transported into this world for no reason.

I sighed. The final cabinet was just an archive of ledgers. They were all marked as property of Allister Twain, so at least I knew I was in the right house.

But seriously? Not one written master plan? Not even a spellbook featuring a teleportation spell?

Finally, I turned my attention to the desk. Why hadn’t I begun with that? Well, better late than never. I started with the papers messily strewn all over it.

Boring documents… more boring documents…

Nothing.

Did this desk have any drawers? A cursory glance said it had several.

I picked the lock of the topmost drawer on the left-hand side…

*Click!*

The satisfying sound of a job well done. I opened the drawer and placed what I found onto the desk: a stack of papers and a pen on. I read over the first paper...

Contract Agreement.

This agreement, dated 999/03/21, is made between Nasyra Price and Allister Twain.

Nasyra Price? Why did that name sound so familiar?

I took the case file out of my backpack and flipped to the first missing person’s poster. My eyes twinkled with excitement. There she was; the most recent disappearance.

I excitedly returned to the stack of papers I’d taken from the drawer and flipped to the next one. It was also a contract. Henry Sampson. A cross reference confirmed he was another victim. If these papers were arranged in chronological order, then the fourth one must be…

Contract Agreement.

This agreement, dated 994/09/29, is made between Khurael Walkur and Allister Twain.

So, Allister and Mr. Matsumoto really have met before! I could hardly contain my excitement, as I snapped some pictures.

“What’s all the commotion down here?” A woman’s figure in the doorway. She wore a frilly, pink nightgown. Her face was covered in shadows.

Damn, he really is married!

“I can tell someone’s there,” she said.

What does she mean she can tell? I bravely raised my lantern, to see her face. Her eyes looked straight at me, but their vacantness told the full story. She was blind… I needed to get out of there. I decided to stay silent and sneak out when she moved away from the doorframe.

I ever-so-slowly put my camera and quest poster in my bag. As an afterthought, I took the entire stack of contracts with me.

“If there’s anyone there, please identify yourself,” the woman pleaded. Her voice gave me the shivers. It sounded like a man doing a bad falsetto. The woman slowly approached the desk. She ran her hands along it. She felt the opened drawer and sighed deeply. “Always making a mess…” she tutted.

By now, I’d snuck around her and was tiptoeing towards the door.

“… aren’t you, Kugo?”

I spun around in time to see the woman fly towards me at an inhuman speed. She tried to grab my throat…

Again, that sudden burst of power. I dodged her attack and countered with a clean jab. On impact, the woman’s face was replaced by the locksmith’s. It reverted back to normal just as quickly as it had distorted. This caught me off guard, allowing the woman to backhand me in the face. She struck me so hard, I went flying into the bookshelves against the wall.

Somehow, the blow hadn’t knocked me out, but it had caused some of the books to fall down. I nimbly dive-rolled behind the desk, as the woman attempts to stomp on my head. I threw the book I was holding against the wall to my right, in hopes of diverting her attention. Then, I sprung out from the other end of the desk. Sure enough, her head was turned to where the book had just made impact. I leaped into the air and tried to kick her in the temple. She reacted just fast enough to bring her arms up.

This time, she was the one who went flying into a wall.

She sat up against the wall. Her right arm—the one that had taken the most the impact—looked like it belongs to a man. She gritted her teeth. The lower half of her face vaguely resembled Allister’s. “Damn you!” she roared in Allister’s voice. She slowly rose. Her arm returned to a woman’s arm.

I unsheathed my sword. The next moments were a blur.

Whenever I landed a solid blow, or forced the woman to make a quick dodge, I saw those weird flashes. A hairy forearm here, a veiny hand there. Sometimes, I caught glimpses of Allister: his moustache or his eyes.

The woman was overwhelming me, despite being blind and unarmed. In all fairness, my backpack did slightly weigh me down and restrict my movements…

She’ll kill me if I don’t end this now!

I dived over to the lantern and picked it up. I wound my arm back and flung it at the woman with full force. It exploded into a ball of fire. Flaming shards erupted in all directions, like tephra. All this wooden furniture and paper…

Both my opponent and the room were promptly set ablaze.

I sprinted towards the woman and leaped into the air.*

*Boom!*

I drop-kicked her so hard, she soared out of the room and out of the house itself. She violently tumbled, crashing through the fence. Luckily for her, all that rolling put the fire out. However, the motionless figure no longer belonged to a woman. It was Allister, now in full.

The shrieking of neighbours rung out over the roaring flames.

I rushed outside. People stood on their porches or ogled through their windows.

“Over there!” Voices in the distance. “You! Don’t move!” one of them called out.

I looked over. A group of city guards were being guided to the house by some neighbours. The civilised side of me wanted to stay and explain the situation. However, the rational side knew I didn’t have evidence to justify my actions. Even with these freaky contracts, I couldn’t prove Allister had committed any crimes. I, on the other hand…

Welp, time to go.