Chapter 28
“I’ll let it slide just for today. Make sure to come home early. Don’t forget there’s another shifter living with you. Got it?”
“Yesss.”
His presence was so overwhelming that she couldn’t forget him even if she wanted to, but Tinya answered obediently. She’s good at answering, at least. Cher stepped back with a gesture suggesting permission to enter. Only then could Tinya take off her shoes and enter the house. Something felt very strange, but she quickly forgot about it when she saw the toast and fruit set on the table.
“What’s this?”
“Bread. I bought it before but forgot about it until I found it at lunch today. Wait. It’s cold, so I’ll toast it again for you.”
He swiftly took the plate away. After the soft sound of the gas stove igniting, Cher continued.
“By the way, we’re running low on groceries, so I’m going shopping tomorrow.”
“Okay.”
“That means don’t be late.”
Hearing another warning in his voice, Tinya replied while opening the refrigerator door.
“I’ll be careful anyway. I saw missing person notices on the bulletin board. Two shifters have gone missing.”
“…Missing?”
Cher’s gaze, which had been fixed on the frying pan, shifted sideways. Tinya nodded as she took a water bottle from the refrigerator.
“Yes. One man in his 20s and one woman in her 30s. The man was also from District 1, so it bothered me a bit. Though I didn’t recognize the face…”
“Where is District 1? Here?”
Hearing him ask about such basic knowledge, Tinya realized he was definitely a shifter from the carnivorous zone. Well, they hardly interact, so he wouldn’t know. Even the peace zone, which allowed some communication, was rarely visited by herbivorous shifters.
“Yes. The herbivorous zone is divided into 16 districts in total. The lower the number, the closer to the peace zone. This place where I live is District 1, and the place where we bought groceries last time is District 4… that’s how it works.”
She had heard that beyond that was District 10, and wealthy herbivorous shifters lived beyond there. Tinya had never been there. She had never even seen shifters who lived there, as they only used the high-end shops located beyond District 10.
“Where does the other missing person live?”
“They were from District 2.”
“That’s not far from here.”
“No.
While conversing, Cher flipped the bread to prevent it from burning. As the nicely browned side was revealed, a rich aroma spread. Sensing Tinya’s curiosity at the unfamiliar scent, he inwardly confirmed his suspicion.
‘This is the hyenas’ doing.’
It could be an issue among herbivorous shifters, but his instinct pointed toward them. Was the d**g that made him smaller really a coincidence?
“Were there no other disappearances before?”
“I’ve seen notices for elderly people, but rarely for young shifters like these.”
Though her words contradicted Cher’s suspicion, he didn’t abandon his theory. Instead, he contemplated the structure of the herbivorous zone.
They had divided a land smaller than the carnivorous zone into sixteen parts. The fact that they numbered each district suggested a decentralized management system. In such cases, information sharing between districts might be limited. In other words, the information Tinya could access likely didn’t extend beyond District 4.
It seemed necessary to check beyond that. For a carnivorous shifter, traveling from here to District 4 was like a casual outing. Even he could reach it in less than 20 minutes at a moderate pace. Moreover, hyenas with their superior endurance could go even further in the same time without taking breaks.
‘The deodorant’s effect lasts about two hours. Assuming one application, considering round-trip time, I could go at least as far as District 10.’
This was assuming equal spacing between districts. Though somewhat troublesome, he couldn’t ignore it if hyenas were involved. Inwardly clicking his tongue, Cher asked Tinya in a rather indifferent tone, his question seemingly casual.
“Where can I see such notices?”
“They’re usually posted on bulletin boards next to bus stops… why?”
“If you disappear someday, I’ll need to post one there too, so I should know in advance.”
Cher calmly met Tinya’s suspicious gaze. Tinya trembled, telling him not to say such frightening things. Of course, she wouldn’t be kidnapped. And if it happened, he would rescue her before any notice could even be posted.
“Think of your face being posted there if you’re more than 30 minutes late.”
“No way! Sometimes I have customers who finish late!”
“Oh? I should pray you don’t have such customers then.”
“Cher! I really can’t. Make it 40 minutes.”
“Hmm.”
“40 minutes! Please.”
After pleading desperately, Tinya succeeded in extending the time by 10 minutes. While she couldn’t quite understand why she needed a curfew for her own home, she didn’t entirely dislike having someone care about her to that extent.
***
When Tinya had fallen into a deep sleep.
Cher quietly opened his eyes. He carefully rose, trying not to make a sound even when pushing back the blanket. As he put on a black zip-up, the form-fitting material flowed smoothly over his muscles.
Next, he pulled on a hood without holes, then quietly sprayed deodorant. Anticipating a long outing, he secured a small spare container at his waist. He didn’t forget paper and pen either. Before leaving, he scanned the room one last time. Tinya’s faint breathing in deep sleep could be heard.
As soon as his eyes adjusted to the darkness, Cher slipped out of the room like a flowing silhouette. His movement without a single footstep was like a moving shadow.
The door closed lightly. Cher’s shadow slid into the darkness along the alley entrance. There were occasional herbivorous shifters walking at night, but they didn’t even notice Cher passing by.
Moving along the gaps in walls untouched by streetlight, he soon arrived at a small bus stop in District 1. Beside a pillar stood a crude metal bulletin board with papers attached to a thin plastic panel. Cher’s gaze moved quickly among the many papers fluttering in the wind.
The two missing person notices Tinya had mentioned were posted side by side. He read every word without missing anything.
‘Male in his 20s, raccoon shifter. Female in her 30s, sheep shifter.’
They seemed to have been missing for about 2-3 days. Cher lowered his body again and quickly concealed his presence in the shadows. The papers fluttered as the wind stirred from his movement. In that moment, he left.
Afterward, Cher stopped whenever a bulletin board came into view. The missing person notices Tinya had seen were spread up to District 3.
Eventually, his body arrived at the District 4 bus stop. Next to the stop was a bulletin board larger and more densely covered with postings than in District 1, standing like a fence. Cher’s hand quietly skimmed through the papers. Advertisements, job postings, small furniture sales… No missing person notices were visible.
‘Either buried under advertisements. Or they couldn’t afford to post them.’
The previous missing person notices had no police seal. It wasn’t strange that police influence diminished closer to the peace zone. His intuition proved correct when he entered District 5. On one side of the organized District 5 bulletin board hung a missing person notice with a police seal.
A teacher in their mid-30s. A District 5 shifter, with their travel route specified, missing for two weeks now.
Cher immediately increased his pace to check districts with higher numbers. After examining up to District 10, there were a total of five missing persons. All were under 30 and of different species. If this many cases had surfaced, the actual number of victims would be much higher.
At that point, he turned around and headed back toward District 1. The reason he didn’t check further was that there was a police station in District 10. Even the hyenas would have been somewhat reluctant to venture beyond this point. Above all, now that he had confirmed there were multiple missing persons, there was no need to look further.
Cher climbed onto the rooftops to increase his speed. Most buildings were low, making them easy to climb. Reaching the peace zone in one breath, he moved to the place where he had encountered Tiga. When the familiar rock came into view, he stopped in front of it and took out paper and pen.
[Confirmed five herbivorous shifters of different species are missing. Presumed to be hyenas’ doing. Please note. ]
If they had not only illegally crossed into the herbivorous zone but also committed kidnapping, it meant the hyenas had already gone too far. It would likely be difficult to find anything suspicious. He could hear Tiga’s troubles escalating, but after staring at the note for a while, Cher added one more line that would infuriate him:
[Lend me some money. About 10 gold. ]
Though he had several safes, the one buried in the tiger zone near the peace zone didn’t have much money left. Tinya might suddenly decide to buy something, so he needed to prepare extra funds in advance.
He folded the note in half and effortlessly lifted the rock from below. He smoothly inserted the note between his fingers into the slightly opened gap, then silently lowered the rock back down.
Having completed today’s schedule, he stretched. As his neck extended, his gaze naturally reached the night sky. Seeing the stars blur faintly, it seemed that thin clouds were slowly gathering. Clouds with diffused edges were clumping together to cover the sky.
“The weather will be cloudy tomorrow.”
After muttering this to himself, he lowered his stretched arms and slowly turned around. Before heading home, he didn’t forget to dig up Tiga’s safe and take out some money.
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