Judging by the facts, this little town named after its locally quarried gray limestone probably had no shortage of monsters and misfits.
After suffering one group beating after another, the cautious users finally gave up on trying to squeeze any further profit out of the situation.
After dawn, they delivered Black Charcoal, who had almost completely lost the ability to move, to the man concerned. Considering the risks, they had even been forced to feed Black Charcoal some blood, lest those grievous injuries cause an untimely death.
This clearly dealt their dear mayor, Mr. Tantus, a small psychological shock.
Especially once he confirmed that this grievously wounded "corpse" was still barely alive, had even shown signs of recovery after being nourished with blood, and retained some ability to speak.
They acted as though they had not noticed any of the mayor's subtle body language as shock, horror, unease, curiosity—and even a trace of concealed greed—played across him.
Clearly, compared with those terrifying threats, a monster for whom "death was not the end" in a very literal sense, one that even retained a human appearance and, according to their interrogation, could sustain itself and prevent bodily decay simply by drinking the blood of living people—
Something like that was enough to suggest countless possibilities to many people.
Human nature was simple and complex, yet never stood up to a test.
Whatever the case, the mayor at least had not missed the point or done anything foolish out of greed. That allowed the battered users to breathe a little easier.
They watched as more than one pigeon-like bird was quietly released from the dovecote.
They seriously doubted how much help mere feudal nobles could provide against threats so clearly tainted with something "abnormal."
Still, once they confirmed that their main quest progress