[Sudden Quest]
***
Follow Joana Munster and find out what she needs of you, you’re not allowed to flee or run away.
Complete her requests if she requires assistance and survives her wrath if she deems you the preparator for the murder.
There are no rewards for completing this quest.
Failing to follow will put you at great harm and may antagonize the swordmaster against you.
***
‘That’s so not good…’ Ludwig cursed inwardly as he followed after his teacher.
Joana didn’t speak or utter a word as she navigated through the academy’s main building with Ludwig behind her. Her usually friendly and jubilant and somewhat hazardous nature was transformed into a more serious tone.
This wasn’t Joana the Teacher, this was Joana the Hunter.
Soon, the two of them arrived in front of a closed door of a clinic that was apparently hidden from view for normal students.
Joana pressed the door and it opened up revealing what looked like a morgue.
Several white tables with some blood on them were positioned all over the place, while the corpse storage facilities were constantly releasing cold air.
There was however only one body in the middle of the room atop a table.
Ludwig immediately recognized who it belonged to.
“Von Hubert…” he said.
It was the guy that he first traced from, the one who basically taught him the sword.
“You remember him at least,” Joana said.
“Not like that,” Ludwig said.
The body was completely disfigured, his arms were twisted beyond recognition and pulled so far out of his body that they were only attached with sinew. His legs were broken in multiple places, and his chest was carved out, his ribcage bursting outward while his face was scarred in many places.
Ludwig only recognized him because of the blue hair on his head.
“I know you’re unrelated to this,” Joana said, “You don’t strike me as something twisted enough to cause this,” she said, “But he was my student,” she added. “And you are a monster,” she turned to Ludwig.
“The safety of my students comes first and foremost, so forgive this teacher of yours,” she said as she thrust her palm onto Ludwig’s face.
The latter didn’t move.
He didn’t have to.
If she wanted him dead, he wouldn’t be able to dodge it.
Also, the notification of hostility never showed up.
Joana’s hand stopped a mere centimeter away from Ludwig’s face, the force of the blow was strong enough to rattle his clothes and hair, but didn’t do any harm to him.
“For some reason though, I get the feeling that killing you is not right…” she said.
She sighed once again and dragged a chair then sat down. “He was a very promising young kid,” she said, “Really good stamina, almost comparable to yours,” she said, “And had a good head over his shoulders. He never instigated fights nor acted out in front of his peers, a true good person, that didn’t fit in this academy. If he was at the White Tower, or even the Gray Tower, he might have thrived there. But here,” she spat, “Bunch of ungrateful brats, too stupid to recognize their own worthlessness, too dumb to realize that their parents sent them here because they’re just too much trouble. Most of the nobles here are too proud and too arrogant, and the rest of the commoners have no backbone,” she cursed again.
“BUT THIS FUCKER!” she howled, Ludwig could have sworn he saw the aura of a lion surging out of her for a fraction of a second, “Dared and kill one of my precious students…if I find him, I wring out his limbs and twist his nerves, I’ll make him wish for death a thousand times before I drink his blood from his skull,” she snarled.
Ludwig didn’t say much and only watched.
She then turned to face him, “Tell me, little monster,” she said. “Can you guess who did this?” she asked.
“I don’t know how I can do that,” he said.
She sighed, “The boy’s death is official, his parents have been notified, since his body was discovered in the open. So Even Van Dijk can’t use his little tricks to figure out what happened postmortem since it will leave a trail of Dark Magic. But you’re an undead, you’re my last hope to find out what happened, perhaps as one who crossed the border you might be able to see more than what others can?”
Her request seemed genuine, but Ludwig couldn’t help much.
After all, he already inspected the corpse the moment he laid eyes on it.
Name: Von Hubert
Race: Human
Title: Black Tower Academy Student
Level: 22
Status Effect: [Dead]
There was nothing else he could see, but still just to appease his teacher, Ludwig approached the corpse.
The body was completely disfigured and desecrated. His innards were gone. Lungs, heart, liver, spleen, intestines, stomach, everything was gone, almost as if a monster had eaten him from the inside.
His eyes were ripped out and his tongue was torn, his muscles were all detached or ruptured.
Nothing short of a monster could do this.
“I’m sorry teacher,” Ludwig said shaking his head, “I don’t know what could have done this. But it looks like the damage came from inside,” Ludwig said.
“What do you mean?” she said.
“Besides the scars on his body, they look like they’re made from a sharp weapon, but all the scars were non-penetrating and just looked like slashes. None of the sword scars would have been fatal, painful true, but not lethal. However, the way his chest burst out… It’s like something was inside his body and then busted out… I don’t know,” Ludwig said, he remembered watching a movie before back in his world about creatures that would enter through one’s mouth, grow inside the host’s body, and then burst out of their chest after they mature.
“Parasitic nature… but why the slashing?” Joana frowned.
“Maybe… he realized it? Maybe they’re self-inflicted,” Ludwig said.
Joana frowned for a second, “… you may be on to something, maybe Hubert realized that he had a parasitic entity in his body and tried to end his life… and the parasite could have also realized the danger and did that to his limbs… it sounds far fetched but that’s the best we got… give me a second,” she said as she pulled out a small crystal.
“Vastion,” she said.
“What is it, Joana? You’re still in the morgue?” he said.
“Yes, she said I need to know something, is there a parasitic creature that could cause this?” she said.
“Joana, I was already questioned about this by Van Dijk, he already asked me to look into parasitic-natured creatures… also how did you figure out that it was a parasitic creature?” he asked.
“Ah, I have his disciple here with me, he figured it out.”
Vastion snorted and cut off the call.
“That’s rude,” she said, “I guess you’re on to something,” she smiled, “No wonder Van Dijk was interested in you. Regardless, I heard you say you wanted to meet me for something, what is it?” she asked.
“Eh… right, do you know anything about… chains?” Ludwig said.