Chapter 7: Finding the Thief

Chapter 7: Finding the Thief Damian couldn’t quite grasp the gravity of the problem. Troy had to explain it to him. "Damian, think about it. There are countless demon-related crimes every day, all over the world, right?" "Yes, that’s right." "There are many companies that employ us, hunters. Now tell me, who would have the money to hire a company to send their hunters to investigate a crime scene, find the guilty monster, and then have someone clean up the scene, take the body parts for the family to bury, and all that?" At that point, Damian understood the situation. "Powerful people with contacts and, more importantly, money. And now we’ve lost the body parts of someone whose family wanted them for burial..." "Exactly... Do you understand why we’re screwed?" It wasn’t that hunters didn’t hunt demons on their own. They did, after all, fighting demons was a form of training to become stronger, and it was possible to sell demon parts for good money. But in Troy and Damian’s case, they did it because they were employed by a company. They weren’t working for themselves. Powerful clients sought the services of the company that employed them. The situation wasn’t good at all. Both knew they had messed up badly. "Want a ride home? I’m going to the company to deal with this alone; after all, I’m your superior right now. I don’t want to get you into trouble," Troy said. He was being a really good guy for doing that. Despite wanting a ride, Damian decided to stay. "I’ll stay here, have a few more drinks, and then call a cab home. Good luck, Troy..." "Thanks, I’ll definitely need it." Damian’s reason for staying wasn’t to have more beers but to try and figure out what on earth had happened to the body parts that were in the car. The first thing he did was look around. There were no cameras in the area. It was indeed a more isolated part of the city. "Somehow, they opened the car without triggering any alarm, meaning it couldn’t have been a human. After all, how would they know there were body parts in there, and why on earth would they want them?" he thought. The most likely culprit in that situation was a demon, and if it was a demon, he could track it! Damian was surprised Troy hadn’t tried to track it too. He believed that perhaps Troy was too affected by the alcohol and the shock of what had happened to be thinking straight. And to track a demon, Damian had exactly what he needed. [Demon Eyes (Rank B)] [When this ability is activated, one of your eyes will transform, granting enhanced vision. You’ll be able to see traces of mana in the air, see in the dark, and even gain heightened reflexes.] [This ability can be improved.] With his first ability, acquired from that first demon he had encountered, Damian could see the mana traces left by the demon that supposedly stole the body parts from the car. As soon as he activated the ability, his vision changed completely. After activating his Demon Eyes, Damian could clearly see the traces of mana left by a demon—presumably the one who took the body parts from their car. The mana trail led him to a nearby alley. It was a dark, grimy place, filled with dumpsters, scurrying rats, and graffiti-covered walls. It reeked of danger and looked like a haunt for thugs; Damian even spotted a few sleeping on the ground, covered by cardboard. They either didn’t notice him or were too exhausted to care. Eventually, Damian’s enhanced vision picked out a creature. It was a large, dog-like demon with black fur and two horns, sprinting through the alleyways. In its mouth, Damian saw the plastic bags containing the very body parts he was looking for. He found it odd that the demon wasn’t consuming them. Why not? And, while the demon itself was invisible to normal eyes, the plastic bags certainly weren’t. Anyone else would just see a plastic bag full of body parts floating through the air. Because of this, Damian guessed the demon wouldn’t venture onto main roads and would stick to the alleys. He took off, pursuing the dog as it led him into an abandoned, dilapidated warehouse that practically screamed "danger." Just as Damian was about to enter, a hand clamped onto his shoulder. It was Troy. Troy glanced at Damian’s transformed eye but remained silent for a moment. "Wait here, and let me deal with it," Troy instructed. Damian was unsure what to do. Troy had seen his transformed eye, and that wasn’t a good sign. Would he report it? It wasn’t an easy thing to explain, in fact, it was practically impossible. Damian was supposedly someone with no mana in his body, so how was he doing that? Ultimately, Damian did as Troy said. Troy had a briefcase in his hand. He placed it on the ground, opened it, and pulled out a spear. Weapon in hand, he stepped into the abandoned warehouse. Troy quickly spotted the two-horned dog in the middle of the abandoned warehouse. It was handing the plastic bags to someone else. That’s when things got strange. The recipient of the body parts wasn’t a demon but another hunter! This hunter wore an all-black outfit with a cloak, a mask covering their face, and a hood. Troy knew it was a hunter from the mana fluctuations, which differed from those emitted by demons. "What are you doing with those?" Troy demanded. He gripped his spear tightly, ready for combat. The hunter was mysterious. Besides the strong aura emanating from his body, he also had that dog, which would surely fight Troy as well. "These? You mean these body parts?" the person said, raising the plastic bags. "Nothing you need to know. I think you should leave." Damian couldn’t hold his curiosity. He found a small window, and from there, he saw Troy and the mysterious hunter.