37 Cat's Eyes.
In a very short time, Nathalia and Luke arrived at the outskirts of the docks. Since it was still relatively early, there was no movement of people.
“How are we going to find the tavern Eliz mentioned?” Nathalia questioned.
The half-wolf remained inexpressive and quiet for a few seconds. She knew he looked like that when he was thinking of some plan, however, this time he surprised her once again when he said:
“Come, I found alcohol smell.” And he took her by the hand, intertwining his fingers with hers.
“H-hey! What are you doing?” She whispered, embarrassed, restraining herself from speaking loudly.
“In case the killer shows up, we can pretend we’re a couple of lost adventurers.” Luke explained calmly, “Now squeeze into my arm and let’s go.”
The girl’s face was still reddening, she tried to pull herself together and hugged the boy’s right arm.
The half-wolf shivered when he felt the girl’s voluminous breasts tuck into his muscles and had to concentrate as much as possible on the burning smell of alcohol, so as not to lose it.
The alleys in that area had no sidewalk and, to Luke, resembled the infertile terrain of the Oukiwa suburbs. Even the rotten architecture of the houses was similar, due to the old timbers and broken windows.
When they finally managed to get close to the heady odor, the pair saw a large sign, held up by a rusty chain. On the plaque was a drawing of a mug of beer, and on it was written: Cat’s Eyes.
Next to the tavern was a dark alley whose aura was dark and gloomy.
Nathalia and Luke exchanged glances, and she said: “This is it, isn’t it?”
“As per Eliz’s instructions, yes, it is.” The half-wolf replied, still holding the girl’s hand. “Would you rather go quietly, or do we give ourselves away on a platter?”
“L-let’s keep it that way. There may still be residents here, and if they see people on the rooftops, they may end up alerting them, and I’m guessing the killer won’t be here, sitting in a chair while he waits for us.” The girl tried to explain herself dashingly, her voice much louder than it should have been.
“Shhh… Quiet.”
“Sorr—” Luke pulled her by the hand, without at least asking permission, and held her by the waist. “What?” The girl muttered with a blush on her face.
“Shhhh!”
Countless footsteps entered the Cat’s Eyes street and alerted the attentive ears of the half-wolf. The clumsy tapping of their feet on the earth made little noise, the opposite of their voices, which were quite loud.
“Don’t you guys find that Junior annoying?!”
“Yes! He believes he is the big boss just because he owns the ball. Tsk!”
“Do you think he’ll be okay?”
“He sure is, it’s just a little bruise.”
At that moment, the trio of teenagers passed under the tavern sign and also down the alley that led into the dark. Glancing around, they saw two silhouettes very close together.
“Hehehe… were they picking each other up?”
“I don’t know, do you want to go back and see?”
“Not me, I’m not a pervert.”
The three boys went on their way while giggling.
When they walked away, Nathalia and Luke were red with embarrassment. Although they didn’t kiss, their cheeks were glued together for a few seconds.
“Shall we g-go away?” Luke said, tossing a small lock of hair behind his ear, embarrassed.
The elf didn’t say anything, just turned her face away and started down the dark, musty alley, which was quite long and meandering. Although it was a gathering of many blocks, no other alley cut off the path to the Dark One, merely a few doors, and windows, however. The concrete wall made it look like a death row.
As soon as they reached what seemed to be the end of the tortuous path, the adventurous duo saw a large square where some children were playing soccer. Still, the children were not the first thing that stole the attention of the two, because there was a large sentence written on a wall:
“Chaos is just beginning. Chaos will reign.” Nathalia read aloud.
“Hey, kids! Do you come here a lot?” Luke stepped forward and inquired.
All the boys and girls were very thin and dirty, yet they seemed to be enjoying themselves until the half-wolf alerted them.
“Why do you want to know?” One of them asked, looking much braver than the others.
“I don’t know… maybe I can give this bag with a hundred silver coins to whoever helps me…” said the half-wolf, at the same time taking from his belt a small bag, making a tinkling sound.
The braver child slowly approached and tried to be quick to grab the bag, but Luke made the bag disappear in just one movement.
“Uff… I’ll help you, what do you want?” He questioned after snorting.
“That phrase right there, when it appeared?” Then the boy pointed to the large sentence written on the wall in white ink.
“Hmm… it wasn’t here yesterday. We are weirded out too, but here in the ghetto, there’s always some nut job. When it’s not the religious fanatics, it’s the church. I just think it’s a little unnecessary to write that here.”
“Diggo, aren’t you going to tell them?” A girl with dirty dark hair approached.
“Tell them what? Come on, get out of here, I’ve told them everything I know.” Said the brave boy. “Unless he is willing to give a hundred and fifty silver coins, then maybe I know a little more.”
The half-wolf stood up and now up close, the boy realized how great the height difference between them was. With his bright yellow eyes shaded by his hood, the boy looked serious and asked:
“Do you usually keep your words?”
The boy merely nodded frantically.
“Agreed, then.” And he held out his right hand to Diggo.
The other five children in the sextet smiled excitedly and whispered among themselves, exchanging happy smiles.
Luke understood well how much a hundred silver coins could change the lives of children like these overnight, so he didn’t feel like bargaining or bullying money to get free information. With this money, they could eat whatever they wanted or buy new clothes.
Diggo took the sleeve of the boy’s tunic and led him to a nearby barrel. As Luke approached, he smelled the odor of blood, and it was obvious that the smell was coming from the barrel.