The Shortcut and the Shot

Seizing the moment when the coast was clear, Ghervil darted out from the forest, a look of dismay etched upon her face as she gently plucked the small, brown burrs clinging to her new socks. Her heart ached with distress.

The plant, akin to burdock, had still managed to snag onto her despite her cautious steps.

The sole benefit was that it served as a shortcut; beyond a few clusters of bushes, lay the street entrance to the residential area.

The streets were eerily devoid of people, a fact that struck her as exceedingly strange.

Her original plan had been to simply ask someone for directions, preferably a local.

Could today be some special occasion?

With no other recourse, she walked along the roadside, keeping close to the houses, intending to knock on the door of an early-rising resident and inquire.

Five minutes later, Ghervil stood at an unknown alley intersection, feeling utterly lost and bewildered.

She had passed nearly twenty households, yet not a single sound emerged from them. From her observations, the people of this world were diligent, and it was no longer early; this was precisely the prime time for people to head out to work.

Having encountered not a soul during her entire walk, the air itself felt unnervingly, almost grotesquely, silent.

A prickle of unease prompted her to turn back, intending to retrace her steps. She walked two intersections, her footsteps hushed, before halting abruptly, frozen in place.

She had stumbled upon an undeniable truth…

‘Damn it all, getting lost at a time like this was truly unprecedented.’

Yet, she couldn’t entirely blame herself; the alleys here were a labyrinthine maze, their paths almost identical, making it nearly impossible for a first-timer to distinguish.

****

A voice, almost a shout, made Ghervil’s body jolt, her heart skipping a beat.

Her expression turned terribly grim as she followed the sound, looking towards the intersection at the end of the alley.

At the intersection stood a brown-haired man, an annoying grin plastered across his face. His right index finger propped up his peaked cap, while his left arm was draped around the shoulder of a shorter man, who seemed equally startled. In the shadow cast by the brim of the tilted cap, the shorter man’s features were twisted into a terrified grimace.

“Luke, you damned scoundrel!” The shorter officer shook off his hand. “You should genuinely be thankful that the orders from above don’t include permission to shoot lunatics on sight!”

“Haha, don’t be so tense. What were you sneaking around doing just now?” The officer, identified as Luke, brazenly placed his hand back on the other man’s shoulder.

“Nothing… Is it over there?” Franz glanced warily around, then shot a look at his colleague. He shifted sideways, creating some distance, his anger still palpable.

“They had the coachman’s house cordoned off all night,” the taller man stated, deliberately raising his voice, a look of nonchalance on his face as he observed no one else nearby. “Two professionals finally cleaned everything up. Nothing special, aside from two poor old people dying. But I think they’re making a mountain out of a molehill—just a few harmless rodents, that’s all. They didn’t make such a fuss when they arrested those guys who escaped from the Sanatorium.”

“You’re only brave with your mouth because the captain isn’t here. Just wait until I report this; then we’ll see you gloat.” Franz sneered.

“I’ve noticed you don’t have many bad habits, except for lying, and you’re terrible at it. You were clearly startled by me and now you’re trying to get back at me—it’s written all over your face.”

“Say what you will…”

“I wasn’t going to expose you, but be honest with me: did you just see something that could earn you merit and try to hide it from me, hoping to handle it secretly?!”

“If you don’t want your job, go ahead, but don’t drag me down with you.” Franz made to leave. After a few steps, seeing Luke standing still, watching him with a mischievous grin and no intention of following, he sighed resignedly.

“Before that, let me ask you: were there no other casualties besides those two old people who died at the coachman’s house?”

“Of course not. Those people gain nothing by lying to us. To put it bluntly, without our cooperation, they wouldn’t stand a chance of solving a case here.”

“Are you certain that when they cleared out the area last night, not a single one of the dozens of households, hundreds of people, was missed?”

“Even those filthy rats in the sewers were all sent to the pyre!”

Having been on duty all night, Luke was utterly exhausted, both physically and mentally. Growing impatient, he stepped forward and shook Franz’s shoulder.

“What exactly did you see? Stop playing these ghostly games!”

“This is strange…” Franz furrowed his brow, his hand slowly reaching for the holster at his waist. “Before you arrived, I smelled a faint, fishy stench around here. And there’s been no wind this morning, yet did you hear a strange, subtle rustling, almost like breathing… I think there might be more than just two victims.”

“You mean…!”

“Shh!”

Years of working together made Luke realize his companion wasn’t joking. His hand instinctively went to his holster, his nerves taut. In a situation like this, any sudden movement would prompt him to immediately draw his weapon. Whatever it was, he’d give it a ‘peanut’ (TL Note: Chinese slang for a bullet) first.

The two men positioned themselves, one to the left, one to the right, their guns raised, slowly inching along the wall.

As they neared the corner, they exchanged glances and nodded in confirmation.

Franz half-crouched and rolled outwards, with Luke swiftly following, peeking around the corner.

Before them stood a girl in a long dress, somewhat familiar. The girl took a step back, evidently startled by their sudden appearance.

Breathing a slight sigh of relief, Franz lowered his pistol. He intended to warn his companion, but then saw the idiot’s index finger still on the trigger, exerting pressure to pull it. The entire sequence took less than five seconds.

“Stop, you damned fool!”

“Bang!”

The bullet flew just as Franz tackled Luke to the ground.

His gaze had never left her as the girl’s body simply crumpled, limp and lifeless.

“This is a disaster…” Ignoring the pain in his scraped knees, Franz struggled to accept reality, his eyes glazed over. At less than three meters, even a novice would have a high probability of hitting the target, and he recalled that the idiot’s marksmanship wasn’t bad.

‘That height, that hair color… there couldn’t be another face so beautiful.’

‘It could be no one else. They had committed a grave error!’

“Get off me quickly, your weight is the complete opposite of your courage.”

A struggling groan emanated from beneath him, as a force tried to push him away.

“Look what you’ve done!” Franz, finally reacting, landed a punch on Luke’s face. He then grabbed Luke by the collar, hoisting him up forcefully. “We just met Sister Ghervil not long ago! Why did you shoot?!”

“What are you talking about?! I clearly shot at…” Slowly, Luke turned his head, his gaze falling upon a body lying motionless on the ground.

“Shot at what?! You bastard, look me in the eyes and tell me!”

“I… I don’t know…”

****

Still reeling from the shock, Ghervil, having stumbled and fallen to the ground while dodging, stared at a severed strand of white hair on the ground, her heart pounding with lingering fear.

The bullet had grazed past her ear, the sound of it tearing through the air and her hair still echoing. She had believed her end was nigh.

Fortunately, at the last moment, the shorter man had tackled the taller one. Otherwise, the Abbot’s inheritance would have been left without an heir…

She had intended to wait for the two men to leave before emerging, as being discovered would certainly prevent her from proceeding further. The information she had overheard told her she was in the right place, but who knew these two had such sharp hearing?

“Regardless, shooting the last nun of the abbey is enough to get you killed several times over. And I might very well suffer the consequences too… What terrible luck! To run into you, of all jinxed people…”

“I didn’t foresee it either! If you hadn’t mentioned those bizarre discoveries, how would things have come to this? If the higher-ups investigate, you won’t escape death either!”

…

These two were still bickering. Weren’t they going to check if there was any hope of saving her?

Ghervil lay motionless on the ground, continuing to listen. She considered startling them, just to see what kind of commotion it would cause, but the words that followed made her hair stand on end.

“Now we’re two grasshoppers on the same boat (TL Note: A Chinese idiom meaning ‘in the same predicament’), and there’s only one way out.” The taller officer, Luke, quickly regained his composure, a chilling glint appearing in his eyes. “Think carefully: this place is already sealed off. No one can get in, not even that nun…”