Death was a perfectly normal occurrence in Mad Hatter Town. It happened practically every day.
But Lagron's death was highly unusual.
The reason was that, at the time of the incident, no one within a hundred meters had heard any obvious gunshot.
But even more chilling than the gunshot was the fact that the bullet had struck Lagron after passing through a wooden wall.
Never mind its power. This meant that the shooter did not seem to have been aiming at Lagron. It was more as if someone had fired a shot at random.
And then Lagron became the unluckiest person there.
After the other pirates around Lagron figured out the "truth," they were scared into a cold sweat.
Still shaken, they cursed a few times. A few minutes later, they continued drinking and chatting as though nothing had happened.
The night passed.
A bar in the alley.
Wolf Rat, having learned of the incident, sat at the bar with a hopeless look on his face.
He looked at the wooden-faced bartender before him and sighed. "Tatam, I'm done for. Before I die, I want you to inherit my fortune, so all that hard-earned money won't go to waste."
Tatam, who was built as tall and stout as a bear, wiped a glass like a robot. At those words, he paused, then continued wiping the glass as if nothing had happened.
Seeing that Tatam showed no reaction, Wolf Rat's eyes darkened. "I'm not joking. That damn Lagron wanted to die and dragged me down with him!"
Tatam continued silently wiping the glass, but his gaze had fixed itself on Wolf Rat.
He realized that Wolf Rat really was not joking.
"It wasn't an accident?"
Tatam spoke, but his voice sounded like an oriole singing. It was unmistakably a young girl's voice, completely at odds with his bear-like build.
He was asking about the shot that had killed Lagron.
"It wasn't."
Wolf Rat had long since grown used to Tatam's incongruous voice.
He lowered his head and stared at the liquor, his tone filled with unconcealed fear.
"I can guarantee that bullet was aimed at Lagron."
"..."
A trace of terror immediately flashed through Tatam's eyes.
Wolf Rat sighed. "Can you imagine what it's like to have a bullet ready to take your life, one that can lock onto your head at any moment? Maybe I'll walk out that door and get my head blown off."
"My condolences."
Tatam's reply was brief and to the point.
"Sigh."
The more Wolf Rat thought about it, the more despairing he became.
"The only thing I can't let go of now is the money I haven't had time to spend. After deducting the storage fee, there should still be enough left to buy a few bottles of good liquor. I've thought about it, and I'll leave it to you, Tatam."
"Forget it. Too little."
Tatam put down the glass, poured half a cup for himself, then raised it to Wolf Rat.
"Have a safe journey."
After offering his farewell, Tatam downed the drink in one gulp.
Wolf Rat nodded and silently drained the liquor in his cup.
"The way to eliminate fear is to face it. Farewell, Tatam!"
Setting down his cup, Wolf Rat abruptly rose and headed toward the bar's entrance with a tragic expression.
He pushed open the door and walked out.
A few seconds later.
Bang—
A gunshot suddenly rang out from the street.
"Fuck!"
Wolf Rat's voice became an expression of shock universal to every world, ringing clearly into the bar.
Tatam's gaze sharpened. He turned toward the empty doorway, then lowered his head slightly and mourned Wolf Rat in silence.
A moment later.
Wolf Rat's somewhat crazed laughter rang out in the alley.
"Haha, haha... I'm not dead! I'm not dead! Haha...!"
Inside the bar.
Hearing Wolf Rat's laughter, which sounded like a survivor's joy, the corner of Tatam's eye twitched.
He looked down at his cup, then at the fine liquor he had stored nearby.
"What a waste."
Two days passed, and Red's death failed to cause so much as a ripple. Everything remained calm.
Maud thought he had hidden himself well, unaware that Mad Hatter Town had information workers like Wolf Rat who operated without regard for reason.
He also did not know that after Saul took him as a disciple, Saul had casually resolved one of the hidden dangers facing him.
Otherwise, given Lagron's cautious and troublesome manner of doing things, he might well have struck Maud a vicious blow from the shadows.
What Maud knew even less was that Wolf Rat, who had taken money to do the job, had spent two full days worrying over the matter. His suspicion of everyone had nearly turned into full-blown paranoia.
Unaware of all this, Maud began a new round of hunting once his mind had settled.
It was deep into the night.
Maud was fully prepared to leave.
Before setting out, he briefly checked his equipment—two flintlock pistols and a fairly good dagger.
These were weapons he had obtained from Saul.
Before their relationship had been established, figuring out how to ask Saul for weapons had been an ordeal of the century.
After their relationship was established, however, the problem was instantly solved. Instead, it became the simplest thing in the world.
After checking his weapons, Maud slipped out of the weapons shop in the dark. Like an agile monkey, he climbed onto the roof and hunched low as he made his way toward the building where his prey was staying.
After his physical enhancement, leaping and climbing were no longer difficult for him.
Therefore, this time, Maud, brimming with confidence, planned to use a dagger to ambush and kill his chosen prey.
This method could reduce the chance of exposure, while the two flintlock pistols he carried would improve his margin for error.
After some effort, Maud successfully slipped into the building where his prey was staying under cover of night.
He crept to the door and could hear snoring coming from inside.
After pausing for a moment, Maud slowly pushed the door open.
By the faint light, he looked toward the bed inside the room.
On a bed not far from the window, beneath the dim light,
"Two again...?"
Maud was slightly surprised as he silently approached the edge of the bed.
A foul odor mixed with sweat and alcohol washed over him.
Maud frowned slightly. Once his eyes had fully adjusted to the darkness,
"..."
Looking at this painfully ugly scene, Maud silently drew his dagger. He shifted his gaze away from Gaden, and a thought suddenly occurred to him.
"We can't let it go to waste."
Maud thought this silently.
He immediately plunged the dagger twice into Gaden's back, then swiftly turned his wrist, reversed his grip, and drove the blade straight down through Gaden's throat.
The three strikes were swift and ruthless. Compared to when he had stabbed Watt with a knife, the difference was like heaven and earth.
Gaden took all three blows and suddenly opened his eyes. After barely making a few faint gasping sounds, he fell silent.
After killing Gaden, Maud reached out with his left hand and clamped it around the muscular man's neck. At the same time, he held the dagger in his right hand and stabbed the man three times in the abdomen.
After this series of movements, the muscular man suddenly woke and began struggling violently.
However, Maud was no longer the same as before. Using the advantage created by the ambush, along with his considerable strength, he pinned the muscular man firmly beneath him.
After gaining the upper hand, Maud turned the muscular man's eyes toward Gaden, who lay nearby with his eyes still open in death.
"How about we talk?"
His icy voice swept past the muscular man's ear like a cold wind.
A few minutes later.
Maud left the building.
Two more stars had appeared on the black cover of Hunter's Notebook.
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