Chapter 85

"Why do you ask me about it? I'm just a weak little boy like what the guard thought about me." Ludger said while smiling like a child.

"Hahaha! That's a nice one, Ludger. No one could guess my job after talking for a few days like you. You also know no one will be able to hear us, right?" Darius laughed and said while sharply gazing at Ludger as if he were observing him.

"Oh! You have known about me even before you came here, right? So, did the Duke want from me?" Ludger innocently asked before changing his behaviour as he sharpened his gaze.

Katarina quickly hugged Ludger as she glared at Darius.

"I won't forgive you or the Duke or anyone else who wants to harm my child." Katarina angrily said.

"Aah! It was a misunderstanding! Please don't get angry, Lady Katarina. The Duke only wants me to ask about the previous case. I could vow in the Goddes's name that I won't cause any harm to any of you in Red Dawn. Please believe me!" Darius panicky said as he tried to calm Katarina's anger.

"Is that really your only reason? Did you talk to me because you want to get information too?" Katarina asked with a displeased tone.

"No! I told you I really don't have any bad intent when I talk with you. Please believe me that I only want to know you better. Please believe me." Darius pleaded.

"Pfft...haha..., I never thought I would be able to see him act like that after being teased for a long time. As expected from you, Mam." Hudson laughed happily as he saw Darius' pitiful situation.

"It was not good to laugh at other misfortune. But I feel quite surprised that there was another person who understood how scary it was when my mother was angry." Ludger said with a surprised tone.

"Maybe because both of you are having great skills, unlike someone normal like me." Hudson said while grinning at Ludger.

"Mister Hudson, my child is normal like other children. I won't let you say my child is abnormal." Angry Katarina warns Hudson.

"I didn't say with that meaning, Mam. But this Boy is smarter than most people, so how can I treat him like a normal child." Hudson panicked said.

"Lady Katarina, please forgive me. Although I really wanted to see the person from the reports directly at first, but I seriously wanted to know more about you when the first time I saw you. As if you are my fate person." Darius still pleads to Katarina for her forgiveness.

"W- What are you talking about? I'm busy with my work!" Katarina leaves and runs to the kitchen.

Ludger was surprised by how naturally Darius said such words and he seems to be serious about his feelings for his mother. Ludger feels complicated inside because he doesn't know if he should support or forbid their relationship.

"Wow, do you think you will get a new father, Boy?" Hudson asked with a strange face.

"I won't care as long as my mom is happy." Ludger answers while looking at Darius' face.

"You are really a filial son." Hudson nodded.

"Umm, what should I do? She won't stop talking to me, right?" Darius asks with a grave expression and looks like a little puppy that is being abandoned on a rainy day.

"I don't know. But she might forgive you if you are showing your real feelings honestly to her. And don't make her too embarrassed or give her excessive gifts. All right, let's continue our business so I can tell you to leave." Ludger said with a smile but his tone was sarcastic.

"Wait! Let me know more about her, please I beg you!" Darius begs Ludger.

"If you keep asking me like this, I will leave you here with Mr. Hudson and tell my Mom that you are not a good person because you are someone who lazes around to flirt with a woman when you are working. Such a lazy person won't make my Mom happy. And if you keep annoying us, we will leave this city." Ludger said with a stern tone.

It was not because Ludger hated Darius, but because Ludger was afraid that Darius only acted like this because Darius currently took an interest in his mother. He might act differently if he loses his interest later. So he wants to observe Darius before letting him chase his mother.

"Huft...Let's continue with our conversation. I want to ask you about the previous case related to the first Duke Kadaklan. You said that he told you the way to defeat the group with a black robe is with the special power that the Duke family possesses, right?" Darius exhaled and changed his pitiful expression to a serious one.

"That's right. The other power that can defeat it is the dragon power. But dragons were extinct from this world thousands of years ago." Ludger answers seriously.

"Then, how about the current case? Did you find something after you heard the reports from the guards? I want to hear what you are thinking about it." Darius continues.

"Hmm, the current case is quite strange. Because the culprit seems to only attack a virgin women around their twenties. And they seem to walking near the red-light district alone at night. Maybe they took a shortcut to go to their home. We might be able to use bait with these criteria to trap the culprit. But I think that the culprit is hiding in the red light district." Ludger told them his deduction.

It took some time for Darius to discuss the current case with Ludger. After he heard from Ludger about his hypothesis, he nodded his head or argued about a few parts that he thought that it sounded weird. Sometimes Hudson adds his opinion to their conversation. And it only en after around fifteen minutes later.

"That sounds possible. Thank you for your help. I will report it right now to the Duke with Mister Hudson. I will let you know if we catch the culprit and give you the payment for your help." Darius said while pulling Hudson with him.

"Hey wait! I haven't got my lunch!" Hudson protested but he didn't fight him.

Hudson was an ex-adventurer so he was much stronger than Darius. But he didn't try to release his hand that was pulled by Darius.

'That's strange. Did Darius was actually someone with a high position?' Ludger wonders.

But he quickly ignored about them and went to the kitchen to have his lunch. He later found out that his mother seemed to have an interest in Darius because it was her first time meeting someone who treated her kindly and seriously like him.

In the East, she only found people who looked down on her or those who treated her badly. And in the journey, most people only interact with Ludger because they are afraid to anger Ludger. The time she spends talking with him feels special and when she sees him act shy or pitiful, it makes her think that he is cute.

'Oh my goodness! Will I really get a new father like what Hudson said? That damn jinx!' Ludger curses in his mind as he hears his mother's confession.

***

At night, an area near the red light district.

A woman in her twenties walks alone while looking at her surroundings. She walk timidly as if she were hiding from something. She gets into a dark alleyway. But then she stopped her steps because someone was blocking her way.

"Have you not heard the news that it was dangerous to walk alone in this area at night? Especially when you are a woman. They have found two victims in these last two days." A beautiful and sexy woman said with her seductive voice that wearing a black robe loosely.

"I think it was alright for me to take this alleyway. Besides you are more beautiful than me and you dare to walk alone in this dark alleyway." The woman in her twenties replied.

"Oh! I am not afraid that I will get attacked because I believe that I will be able to safely walk from this alleyway." The beautiful and sexy woman said with her seductive voice.

"I also believe that I will be able to get home safely if I took this alleyway." The woman in her twenties said.

"You are really brave. I never thought I would find someone like you walking around here. But sadly you don't understand how dangerous this alleyway is. I will always be safe because I am the one who attacks the other. So what will you do now? Will you cry and beg for me to let you go?" The beautiful and sexy woman said as a black mist surrounded the woman in her twenties and made her unable to move her body or scream.

The woman in her twenties face getting paler than before. Cold sweat drops from her forehead. Her body trembled from the unknown pressure. And she feels despair as her death gets closer like how the woman in front of her getting closer to her.

"My, my! This is what I hope to see! What a wonderful expression that filled with despair! I really love your expression!" The beautiful and sexy woman said as she got closer and touched her face.

But before she could attack her and suck her life force, a silver light flew in her direction and hit her leg.

"Stop right there! I won't let you harm the people in this city!" Someone shouts from behind as he prepares another magic to attack her.