When the Serial Killer Next Door Gained Harem System

Chapter 133: Jelda’s Mother

"Hello?"

"Hey," I said with a small smile. "Um... you’re Jelda’s mother, right?"

The woman standing in front of me looked old, probably in her mid-sixties, with short gray hair and kind eyes that had clearly seen better days. It was obvious she had been crying for hours, maybe days, because the skin beneath her eyes was dark and tired, and her hands shook slightly when she held the door open. Whether that came from age or from lack of sleep, I couldn’t tell. Either way, it didn’t look pleasant.

Her face also looked... just wrong. Along with her voice. The poor woman had to be like that since her daughter died. Crying nonstop, I suppose.

"Yes?" she asked. "Who are you?"

"Aceston Walker," I said, pressing a hand to my chest. "I was her friend, ma’am."

"Ah..." She nodded slowly, then gave me a broken little smile. "Hello, Aceston. I’m Hatche."

"May we talk, ma’am?" I asked. "In private?"

"Of course." She stepped outside and closed the door behind her. "I’d invite you in, boy, but the house is a mess right now."

"No problem." I smiled back at her. "I just want to ask a few questions."

"Go ahead." She smiled, but her voice sounded robotic for some reason.

"Does Jelda have any relative who’s a noble?" I asked. "Or maybe someone rich?"

She frowned and put a hand to her chin. "No, she doesn’t. Why?"

"Maybe a distant cousin, or a friend?" I asked. "Think carefully, please, ma’am."

She exhaled and let her hand drop to her side. Then she glanced toward the window, staring into the house for a while before finally looking back at me and shaking her head.

Fuck. So she really didn’t know anyone noble or wealthy who knew Jelda? That didn’t make sense.

"Hmm," I muttered, glancing toward the window as well. "Are you sure, ma’am?"

"Oh... actually," she began, then hesitated. "Or... no. That wouldn’t make sense."

"Please," I said gently. "Tell me anyway."

"When Jelda was twelve, she caught the attention of a noble," Hatche said. "He proposed to her, but I didn’t allow it."

"How old was he?"

"Twenty-two... or... was it twenty-five? I’m sorry, lad. I can’t remember the exact details. You have to forgive me."

"It’s fine, Ma’am. What was his name?"

"I can’t remember," she said with a tired sigh. "That was the same year my husband died, and everything from then feels blurred together. Something with an M... Me... no, I can’t recall. I’m sorry."

"But are you sure his name started with M?"

She nodded. "I’m sure of that. There was no way I was going to allow it."

"Maybe you remember his surname?"

She shook her head. "I don’t. I’m sorry."

"M," I muttered under my breath. "Hmm. Is there anything else you can tell me about Jelda?"

She shook her head. "Only that she was the sweetest person in the world, Aceston. And that she couldn’t even hurt a fly if she wanted to. It’s... this world is not fair. It is not."

She sniffed, then put a hand over her mouth. She looked like she was ready to cry. I had to go before I made her feel even worse.

"Yeah... I’m... I’m sorry." I nodded and took a step back. "Sorry for bothering you, ma’am. I should go now."

"Were you curious about her?" she asked quietly. "About what kind of life my Jelda had?"

"Not exactly curious," I said, backing away while still looking at her. "Let’s just say invested. Anyway, thank you for talking to me, ma’am. Have a nice day, and... I’m sorry for your loss."

"Thank you, kind boy. See you soon."

I started walking back toward Bildirweight, but my mind was already racing.

Something with an M.

Fuck. The nerve of that creep, trying to marry a twelve-year-old when he was twenty-two. Whoever that noble was, I had to find him. My gut was telling me this was the same guy I’d been looking for, and if that was true, then I was getting close. If only she could remember the name.

I turned the corner and quickened my pace. The house Ken and I had found earlier might still hold some answers, and I needed to go back there and check it again for anything I might have missed. I had to find this guy. I just had to.

"I’ll find you," I muttered under my breath as I kept walking. "I swear, you creep. I’ll find you."

ꨄ︎ꨄ︎ꨄ︎

I entered through the same broken window and slipped back inside the house, then moved straight into the living room and pulled on the rope hanging from the ceiling until the ladder came down. I climbed up, shut the trapdoor behind me, and took a moment to look around again. Last time we had been here, we found the hidden passageway, but it still felt like we had missed something important.

I went to the table and started opening drawers, pulling out books, flipping through them as fast as I could, and tossing them aside when they turned out to be useless. I did not even know exactly what I was looking for, to be fair, but I had this feeling that if I found it, I would know immediately.

"Come on... what the fuck am I missing?"

I reached for what I thought was just another book, but it turned out to be some kind of ledger. I pulled the chair back, sat down, and set it on the table before opening it. The first page greeted me with a page full of careful handwriting. It looked like the kind of ledger someone would use to keep track of what they had sold and bought at a stall.

"Hm... over fifty gold transactions are listed here."

I kept reading through the entries, scanning the names as quickly as I could. Most of them were just random buyers, but one name stood out immediately because it kept appearing more often than the rest.

Cadence M.

M.

Could that be the same M the mother had mentioned? It could not have been a coincidence. I had been looking for a noble, and this Cadence guy definitely seemed like one if he had been buying that much over time. His name had the right letter in it too, which only made it feel more likely.

"Are you the man I’m looking for, Cadence?"

I memorized the name, then tore out that part of the page just in case I needed it later. After that I tucked it away and closed the ledger, putting everything back where I found it.

Then I climbed back down the ladder, shut the trapdoor behind me, and left through the broken window the same way I had come in. Now I had one more thing to do, and that was to ask around about this man without drawing too much attention.

I needed Sora. She could look into him without raising suspicion.

"Guess I’ll have to find her."

I walked around the house and back onto the street. A few people were still standing behind their market stalls, trying to sell trinkets and random bits of junk before night fully settled in. The sun was already dropping lower in the sky, and some of the stall owners were beginning to pack their things so they could head home.

As I headed back toward the dormitory, I passed a small gathering near a fountain where several robed people had formed a loose crowd around one woman standing on the fountain’s edge. A few ordinary citizens stood with them too, listening closely while the water behind her ran in a steady rhythm.

"It was the elves," she said. "The elves raped and brutally murdered a student."

"Fucking elves!"

"Kill them!"

"Poor girl..."

"But!" the woman shouted, cutting through the noise with practiced force. "Our guards managed to catch them! We will see this city cleansed of the plague we call elves, and we will give our children a safe and happy future!"

The crowd answered her like she had just handed them permission to breathe. Angry voices rose all at once, and the whole thing felt less like a speech and more like a sermon. It was not subtle, and it was definitely ugly, but people were eating it up without question.

Jeez. They really were blaming everything on the elves, huh? Whatever. That was not my problem anymore. My problem was the third suspect, Cadence M. Comp, and I had to find him so I could ask him a few questions... possibly with my dagger.

When I reached the entrance to the circular street, I had to step back because two horse carts were passing through, and since there was only one way in and out, I had no choice but to wait until they were gone. Once the carts cleared the entrance, I stepped inside and let out a breath.

"Cadence M..." I muttered. "Maybe Pix knows something about him."