Chapter 190: Starzone Monsters (1)

Chapter 190: Starzone Monsters (1)

"Aaaaaahh!!"

An ear-piercing scream rang out on the beautiful beach.

Blood gushed out from the melted torso, and the red started to diffuse into the emerald seawater.

"S-Someone died!"

"H-How did this happen?!"

The tourists that were enjoying a relaxing vacation ran to the scene after hearing the commotion and screamed after discovering the melted corpse.

"Ohjin?"

"What's the commotion, Rookie?"

Ha-eun and Riak approached Ohjin after hearing the noise since they were playing nearby.

"...I don't know."

Ohjin looked at the woman's legless corpse and slowly tilted his head.

The woman was struggling in the water just moments before, but she suddenly died a miserable death with her eyes rolled back and tongue stuck out.

'Then when she struggled earlier...'

Was she not drowning, but was she getting her legs 'eaten' by something in the sea?

"Let's get out of the water first, Ha-eun."

"Y-Yeah!"

Ohjin dragged the corpse and went to the shore.

The people flocked and looked at him with fear.

Ohjin spoke to the people who were raising their guard around him with a calm voice.

"She was already dead when I discovered her."

"Don't tell me you..."

"No! Th-That person went to save her after hearing her scream!"

The woman who yelled to Ohjin that there was a drowning person earlier defended him.

Though, even without her, it should have been common sense that someone wouldn't commit murder in broad daylight.

"Then just who...?"

"I believe it was the doing of a monster."

"A monster?"

Ohjin nodded his head.

The only answer that he could think of was that something hidden beneath the sea had killed her.

There was really nothing else he could think of that would 'melt' a human's lower half.

"I'll bring the Colagrande Household's manager!"

"Wasn't the Saintess of Rome here just moments ago?"

"How could this happen...?"

While the tourists were panicking and making a commotion...

[My child...]

"Got it."

Ohjin slightly put his hand into the water and concentrated.

'Star of the Weaver Girl's Hunting Dog.'

A blue current spread out from the tip of his finger.

"Tsk."

Ohjin frowned while using his skill to examine the waters.

Ha-eun looked down at the organs floating in the water and spoke to him.

"Did it run away?"

"No, I couldn't find it in the first place."

The skill couldn't display its use properly since the mana in the water interfered.

'It's not like there would be a smell left in the water, either.'

Ohjin looked at the sea with a perplexed expression.

The clear emerald sea was calm as if nothing had happened.

"I'll go take a look."

Riak decided to be the bait and went into the sea.

"Come out immediately if you think there's something!"

"Hmpf. Just what do you take me for, lizard woman?"

Riak smirked at Ha-eun, who yelled at him in a worrying manner, and swam to the deeper part of the sea.

He wandered around the place where the corpse was first discovered for ages, however...

"It seems that it has run away."

Splash!—

Riak furrowed his brow and clicked his tongue after returning to shore.

He tried to bait it out by suppressing his mana, but the monster hidden in the sea wouldn't reveal itself.

"Is it not reacting because you're not a human? Should I try going in?"

Ha-eun stretched and was going to walk to the sea...

Ohjin shook his head and grabbed her shoulder.

"I don't think there'll be a need for us to intervene."

"Hm?"

"Look over there."

It appeared that someone had reported it, as three to four vans that were identical to the one Ohjin's party rode arrived.

"What's going on?"

Isabella, who was resting in the van, heard the commotion and went to see what was going on.

Ohjin calmly explained the things that just happened to her.

"...So something suspected to be a monster ambushed a tourist?"

"Correct."

"I understand. Our household will investigate this case, so you should head back and get some rest."

"You won't need any help?"

"It's fine. This is our problem." Isabella's eyes shone coldly as she replied with a firm voice.

Like she said, the Colagrande Household was in charge of managing San Fruttuoso. Ohjin had no reason to stick his nose into their business when they didn't even want his help.

"Got it."

"There's a spa that contains the seawater at the residence. You should be able to continue enjoying the healing benefits there."

Isabella turned to face the Colagrande Household's employees that emerged from the van.

"Close the beach immediately and evacuate everyone. Confirm the testimony of the first witness again and search for traces of monsters in the sea."

She gave orders without hesitation.

You couldn't find a trace of Isabella's past image of a meek lamb. In front of him was a commanding, charismatic queen.

'I guess she isn't the leader of both the Hirudo faction and Colagrande Household for no reason.'

Ohjin watched her take care of the scene at a rapid speed.

She had flawless orders, quick judgment, and the charisma to get her subordinates to immediately follow her orders.

Seizing the situation quickly and giving orders was something Ohjin could also do, but he couldn't lead people while displaying such charisma.

"Hmm."

Ohjin's eyes shone while he watched her.

If he could get her to become his ally...

If he could get her in the palm of his hand...

It wasn't hard to imagine how crucial she would be.

'Should I head back for now?'

There was no reason to be an obstruction to her there.

"Hm... but going back like this weighs on my mind."

Ha-eun scratched her head and glanced at the sea.

"It's better than getting in the way here."

"I guess. They manage this place, so they're probably better at this than us."

She shrugged and nodded her head.

* * *

Translator - Maccas

Proofreader - ilafy

* * *

Ohjin took Ha-eun, Riak, and Vega to the pathway in front of the residence.

"It's empty."

"They probably went to investigate the case."

Ohjin went into the uncomfortably silent residence.

"Wh-Where is Lady Isabella?"

At that moment, a middle-aged man walked out of the silent mansion.

It was Isabella's maternal uncle, Guilford.

"She is supervising the scene."

"...Is that so?"

Guilford nodded his head with an extremely anxious expression.

Even when there was no way he wouldn't have heard about the incident at the beach, the person who was supposedly the highest in authority wasn't getting his ass out of the mansion.

"Pay it no heed, as the Colagrande Household will take care of it."

He spoke in a blunt manner and disappeared into his room.

Ha-eun frowned as she looked at the door of his room which was covered in extravagant decorations unlike the others.

"Is that bastard really from the same family?"

"Well, he doesn't exactly share her blood."

"Didn't you say he's the head manager of this island?"

"Yep. That's what I was told."

"Heh. I can see why this kind of incident happened."

Ha-eun furrowed her brow like Guilford really wasn't to her liking.

"...I wonder."

Ohjin slurred the end of his sentence and looked at the tightly shut door.

He did look so incredibly incompetent that it was hard to imagine that he was from the same family as Isabella, however...

'This island hasn't had a single incident to date with an incompetent person like him in charge.'

It just so happened to be on the day Ohjin and his companions arrived.

It felt like he had become an incarnation of disaster that carried cases and incidents around with him wherever he went like Detective Conan or Hajime Kindachi.

'Well, Isabella will probably figure something out.'

It seemed like the best choice would be to leave the case to Isabella and focus on healing his internal injuries.

"Then, I'll be at the spa."

"Hehe. Want me to go with you?"

Ha-eun smiled sheepishly and gently embraced his arm.

"Want me to wash your every nook and cranny?"

He felt a viscous desire in her voice.

Ohjin smirked and lightly flicked her forehead.

"Let me heal my internal injuries first."

"Ugh, fine. Then I'll be resting in the room, so come out when it's time for dinner."

"Ah, I'll have dinner at the spa. Bring me the food there."

"Huh? You're going to eat there?"

"I feel like I should finish with healing as quickly as possible."

"Hmm, alright. I'll bring it there."

Ohjin nodded and went into the seawater-filled spa.

He felt warm energy surrounding him the moment he submerged himself.

'It does feel a little less effective than the sea.'

Still, he could feel the mana inside the water that had been brought from the sea.

Ohjin relaxed his body in the spa that was over 30 meters wide and gently closed his eyes.

The woman's miserably melted body crossed through his mind.

'I don't know what's going on, but I need to be in peak condition to deal with unexpected situations.'

The warm feeling slowly permeated his damaged mana circuits and aided his recovery.

* * *

Three days passed in much the same way.

Isabella didn't return to the residence since she was too busy investigating the scene, and Ohjin spent most of his time at the spa to focus on healing his injuries.

If it was less effective than directly using seawater, he just had to submerge himself in it for longer periods of time.

With the mindset of quantity over quality, he spent the whole three days eating and sleeping in the spa and healing his injuries.

"All of your skin is going to get wrinkly at this rate, man."

Ha-eun, in her swimsuit, approached Ohjin and touched his wrinkly skin with a worried expression.

"Still, this is the best way to recover as quickly as possible."

"But didn't they say that nothing has happened for the past three days?"

"That's the problem."

He would've been more at ease if something had been discovered. The fact that there was nothing found when the Colagrande Household and Isabella were using their full might meant that the case wouldn't be resolved easily.

"Are we sure it wasn't just a random underwater monster that killed someone and retreated?"

"If that was the case, it would've been caught by Colagrande Household's barrier."

Ohjin recalled the floating warning message that he saw when he went too far out into the sea.

That buoy wasn't simply a warning to not go any farther, but it was also a barrier that blocked creatures from entering.

"Hmm. I don't know. Ah, have your injuries healed yet?"

"Yeah. I think I'm nearly fully recovered."

He stroked the stigma on the left side of his left chest and nodded his head.

Almost all of his internal injuries had been healed from bathing in the spa's water for three days.

"Then..."

Ha-eun's eyes shone like a cat's as she nimbly pulled his arm.

All that stopped their skin from making direct contact was her thin swimsuit.

"Do... you want to come to my room for a moment?"

She gently stuck out her tongue and licked his nape while stroking his chest with relaxed movements.

"Or... should we just do it here?"

Whispering into his ear, her hand slowly worked its way down.

It was just about time for sunrise.

The sunlight filtering down illuminated her wet hair and body, and her breathtaking beauty made Ohjin gulp.

What kind of man wouldn't fall for her cunning seduction?

When Ohjin was about to slowly reach out to her—

Splaaaaaaaaaaash—

—they heard the sound of a massive wave.

"...Huh?"

They were located in a mansion built on top of a cliff.

Regardless of how strong a typhoon was, it would still be impossible to hear the sound of waves from there.

"What was that?"

Ohjin and Ha-eun got up and looked around.

Was a cloud covering the sun? The sunlight filtering down suddenly disappeared and the surroundings darkened.

'No...'

He was sure it was a clear blue sky without a cloud in sight just five minutes before.

"O-Ohjin, wh-what's that?" Ha-eun said in a trembling voice.

Ohjin faced the direction Ha-eun was pointing with his mouth agape.

In that place—

"...Holy shit."

—was something...

Something impossibly massive...

Something that far exceeded the standards of an organism...

And that something was raising its body up from the sea.