Chapter 452 - 452: The Beast in the Fog

"There's a scent of blood and two unknown mana signatures that shouldn't be from the parents," Catherine told the others.

"Is the one kidnapping the children a group?" Alexander asked.

"I don't think so; the two seemed to be against each other. There were signs of a minor fight a few meters outside. Not only that, but the mana signatures of the two aren't normal."

"What do you mean by not normal?" Nina asked.

Catherine focused on the two foreign signatures again.

"One of them feels cold and thin. It has spread throughout the fog so evenly that I can barely separate the two. It does not feel like the mana of an ordinary person."

"And the other?" Cael asked.

"It is denser and much wilder. Its mana resembles that of a magical beast, but there is something human beneath it."

"A beastkin?" Ryan asked.

"Perhaps, but I have not sensed a beastkin before, so I can't tell for sure."

"Can you tell which one the blood belongs to?" Ryan asked.

"No, that's not something I'm able to do." Catherine shook her head.

Cael, who had been silent this entire time, was also examining the area Catherine was facing.

At first, he saw nothing unusual. The outer wall appeared undamaged, while the narrow passage beside the house had already been disturbed by guards and curious residents during the original search.

"Where did the fight happen?" Cael asked.

"Near the second-floor window, beneath the edge of the roof."

"I see..." Without saying anything more, Cael entered the house.

Alexander and the others followed him inside. Hektor hurried after them and guided the group toward the second floor.

Right now, the child's parents were not present, as they were still out looking for her. The place didn't seem to have been cleaned for a while now, and based on the half-finished food on the table, it was clear that the family had been eating when whatever affected them took hold.

The food had already spoiled, filling the room with a faint sour odor. One of the chairs had fallen onto its side, while a shattered cup remained on the floor beside the table.

Hektor then led the group to the second floor of the house, where the child's room was located.

"The room at the end of the hallway belongs to the girl," Hektor said.

Cael opened the door and stepped inside.

The bedroom was small, with most of the space occupied by a bed and a wooden cabinet. Several dolls had been arranged near the pillow, while part of the blanket had fallen onto the floor.

There were no signs of a struggle. Across the room, the window remained closed.

"Was the window like this when the guards arrived?" Cael asked.

Hektor nodded. "It was closed and locked from the inside."

Cael approached the window and carefully examined its frame. The latch was undamaged, and there were no marks suggesting that someone had forced it open. This entire thing was weird.

The group looked around the room some more but found nothing else. Seeing as there was nothing more to find, Alexander spoke.

"Let's split up in groups of two and look for clues," Alexander suggested.

"I think that's the right move, as there's too much we don't know and not enough time to figure things out." Mina agreed with Alexander.

"I guess we have no other choice," Ryan answered while shrugging his shoulders.

"Um, how can we split into groups of two with our numbers?" Nina asked.

Alexander gestured toward Hektor and the two guards. "Including them, there are ten of us."

Nina counted everyone again before nodding. "Right. I forgot to include them."

"Catherine will come with me. We'll stay here and continue to investigate the two mana signatures she sensed. Everyone else, group up and look around."

Elion paired with Hektor, while the two guards remained close behind them. Cael paired with Mina, leaving Ryan with Nina. Once the others had left, the house became much quieter.

Catherine continued to try to figure out what had happened in this room using her heightened senses, while Alexander simply looked around the room with his eyes.

Alexander then looked out the window. He could not see anything through the fog surrounding the place. Even after enhancing his eyesight with aura, Alexander could see no farther than a few meters into the fog.

'If the Martial God and the Heavenly Demon saw me now, what would they think?' Alexander could already imagine the Martial God sighing, while the Heavenly Demon laughed at his inadequacy.

The Martial God would probably tell him that he was relying too much on his eyes. The Heavenly Demon would call him an idiot for continuing to use a method that had already failed.

Alexander released a quiet breath and turned away from the window. "So do you sense anything else?"

"The colder presence seems to have entered the room by blending into the fog. It took the girl through the window, but the other presence attacked it the moment it came outside. Their traces then headed toward the eastern edge of the city, but I cannot follow them any farther from here."

"I see... First, let's go to the last place where you can still distinguish their presence."

Catherine nodded and led Alexander downstairs. The moment they stepped outside, she turned toward the eastern side of the city.

"The traces traveled across the rooftops," Catherine said as she jumped up to the rooftop. Alexander followed behind her.

As they crossed the rooftops through the thick fog, Alexander was once again amazed by Catherine. Anyone watching her move would never have guessed that she was blind.

"You're staring at me," Catherine said without turning around.

Alexander was momentarily caught off guard. "How did you know?"

"Just a feeling. So why are you staring? Have you perhaps fallen for me?"

Catherine was a strikingly beautiful woman with long, wavy black hair that fell halfway down her back. A narrow strip of black silk covered her sightless eyes, emphasizing her delicate features and full lips. She had a tall, shapely figure, and although her academy uniform remained proper, its fitted design did little to conceal her curves.

There was also something naturally seductive about the way she carried herself. Her movements were slow and graceful, her voice was soft and smooth, and a faint, knowing smile often rested on her lips. She never appeared to be deliberately flirting, yet the way she tilted her head toward someone while listening made it feel as though they had her complete attention.

The staff secured across her back, and the two revolvers resting against her hips added a dangerous contrast to her alluring appearance.

Still, the one she was trying to tease was Alexander, who rarely paid attention to such things. "I apologize for staring. I was just amazed at your ability and skill to move like that despite being blind."

Hearing Alexander's reply caught Catherine off guard. Human emotions caused subtle changes in mana, and desire carried a particular warmth and restlessness that she had learned to recognize.

She had sensed it from countless strangers and from many of the men who had attempted to court her. Even some of her relatives had an inkling of it when they looked at her, but Alexander was different.

Alexander's mana had not changed in the slightest. It remained calm and steady, without even the smallest trace of hidden desire. The only people who had ever regarded her with such complete innocence were children.

More than that, his mana felt warm like the sun itself. It was at this moment that Catherine became a bit interested in Alexander.

"You're an unusual person, Alexander," Catherine said, showing a radiant smile.

Seeing that smile of hers for some reason made Alexander's heart flutter for a second. This was the very first time this had ever happened to Alexander, which confused him.

'What is this? Am I getting sick?'

While Alexander was confused, Catherine, who could pretty much hear his heartbeat, was happy to see that she was able to make Alexander flustered.

Catherine could not help but giggle at the rather cute side of Alexander. She no longer said anything as they continued through the rooftops.

***

After a while, the two stopped on the rooftop of a certain house as Catherine spoke. "This is where the trail ends. The fog has erased the remaining mana."

Alexander found cracked tiles and dark stains beneath the overhang.

"The blood?" he asked.

Catherine crouched near the stains. "It is old. This must have been where one of them was injured during the fight."

Something had become trapped inside one of the cracks. Alexander pulled it free, revealing coarse black fur. Alexander then gave the fur to Catherine. "What do you make of this?"

Catherine took the fur from Alexander and held it near her nose and examined its scent. She then used her mana to investigate.

"This is weird. This thing, wherever it came from, has a mana signature containing both human and beastlike qualities. It could really be a beastkin, but there aren't any of them here in Norvaegard or anywhere this far west."

Alexander could not help but frown; everything happening in Mayburn was not making much sense.