The moment the eyes locked on me, I froze for a moment, my body shuddering. But it was only for a brief moment as I quickly snapped out of it.
"Ah, pardon for my sudden intrusion."
While trying to be as polite as possible, I took out my Guild badge and showed it to the old woman as she clung to the side of the wooden door.
"....I come from a relatively well-known Guild, and I'm here to investigate a certain matter regarding a recent anomaly that we've caught. I've been told to come here when I asked around. I hope that I didn't disturb you."
I smiled right after I was done speaking, making sure to make it look as friendly as possible.
'This isn't too bad, right?'
I felt like I had been extremely polite with my words. Enough to give a good lasting impression.
However—
Clank!
My smile froze as the door slammed shut right before my eyes.
Wha...
"G-go disturb someone else. I have no time for you people."
Her words were followed by the muffled sound of footsteps leaving, and the silence returned.
I could only stand numbly outside the door.
Errr...
Of all the scenarios that I had formulated in my mind, this was one of the few that I didn't even think of.
'What now?'
I was at a loss. I had come here with the intent of finding something out. But in the end, this ended up being a bust.
So... It was a prank in the end?
I wanted to think so, but at the same time, recalling how fast the old woman closed the door, I had reason to believe that it wasn't the case.
She was hiding something. Or at least, she knew something.
'Knocking on her door again might not bring any result. It might only just make her more annoyed with me.'
Then...
'Should I get the Dreamwalker to sneak in?'
I immediately dismissed the thought.
Firstly, I was afraid the Dreamwalker would lunge at me and start wrestling me. Although it was likely it wouldn't, there was still a chance. Not only that, but what would even come out of me sending the Dreamwalker into the house?
I couldn't share the vision with it, nor could I talk to it.
Then...?
'Should I send Mirelle?'
I also shook my head. That didn't seem feasible. Same situation with the Dreamwalker, and I was also afraid she'd play some sort of prank on the old lady, giving her some sort of heart attack.
Mirelle was definitely the type of anomaly that would do that.
So then...?
'Don't tell me that I have to do it myself?'
I inwardly groaned. Just the thought of forcing my way into the house of an old lady made me want to curse at myself. How could I do that to an old lady?
I shook my head.
'Although I feel like this, it won't change the fact that I'll probably still force my way in.'
I did feel guilty, but my life came first.
I could only secretly apologize to the old lady.
Still, it wasn't like I planned on infiltrating her house just yet. She was probably already alert from my presence. Going in now would only make it easier for her to catch me. The best time for me to go was at night when she was sleeping.
'In the meantime, I'll go elsewhere and look for more clues.'
I felt that this was the most appropriate course of action. I also wanted to make sure she knew that I had left, so that she would be less wary of me.
"Well, I guess it was a prank after all."
Scratching the back of my head while making sure my voice was loud enough, I turned around and headed away from the building.
Making my way down the stairs, I turned around to take one last look at the house. But right as I turned, my expression froze.
".....!"
Peering through the blinds of the window was an eye. It stared straight at me, the sclera was tinged yellow, and a thick clot of dark blood pooled at the edge of the pupil, pulsing faintly as if alive.
A chill rippled down my spine.
Without wasting another second, I turned around and dipped away, holding onto the side of my arms as I felt goosebumps all over my body.
'Creepy. So damn creepy.'
*
Making my way out of the weird area and back onto the main street, I leaned my hand against the side of the wall while letting out a long breath.
"Fuck, that was creepy."
And here I thought I had seen my fair share of creepy things. This world just kept on giving. One creepy thing after another.
"...What should I do now?"
I looked at my watch.
It was still quite early. Even if the old woman was an early sleeper, it would take several hours before the sun set.
Looking around and taking out my phone, I decided to find out more about the situation and ask more locals. Perhaps I didn't even need to go into the old lady's house. In fact, I preferred that it were the case.
"In the meantime, I'll also go ahead and buy some new clothes. It's really too cold in here."
With my mind made up, I headed for the nearest store to buy myself a nice jacket and some thermal clothing.
After that, I went around the city to ask for more information from the locals.
But...
"Ask the old lady at Earl Street."
"...Don't bother me. I don't know."
"Go to Earl Street."
In the end, I received the same two answers. To either leave them alone or go visit the same place as before.
'In the end, I was right. There's something up with the place.'
If before, I could've dismissed it as a prank, that was no longer the case. The key to solving this scenario was that old lady and her house.
Since she didn't want to tell me a single thing, the only thing I could do was sneak into her house and look for clues for myself.
Although I didn't want to do that, this was my best course of action.
I wanted to try and convince the old lady, but considering my time constraint, it was best for me to go ahead and look for the clues myself.
Plus..
She was just an old lady.
There wasn't much that I needed to fear.
"Haa."
With a long sigh, I raised my head to look at the dimming sky. While the environment was already grim due to the clouds that hung in the sky, the moment the sun started to set and the darkness started to take over, something about the place changed.
It felt... darker.
Grimmer.
The faintly flickering lamps by the side of the street didn't help with the ambiance.
Pulling my eyes away, I focused them in a certain direction.
"I'll just go in. Look for whatever I need and leave. I'll be gone before she even realizes it."
I planned on making things quick.
Go in, find a clue, and leave. I also planned to be as silent as possible.
Either way, I planned on making it quick since I didn't want to be there anyway. Just thinking about the place in the darkness was enough to make my stomach churn.
Taking a pause, I focused my gaze on a nearby trash bin while holding onto my rumbling stomach.
Should I...?