Shinobi From Hell

Chapter 207 - Broken Puzzle

Unlike Maebi who was but a fletchling in hell, Klautz was a veteran. He was dyed in hell's color the most… more than Maebi could ever imagine. The only thing that differentiated between the both of them was probably this.

Vengeance? Revenge? Klautz had already gotten dull to those feelings. Killing wasn't the only thing that he had nulled against, he was even nulled to the joy in it that many hellsfolk claim to feel..

He had killed so many that he felt no elation from it. It was just like no matter how much you love the job that you do. After doing it day in and day out 24 x7 the job gets wrung off the joy that it once used to bring.

Klautz would never let those who bear fangs against him unscatched. Death would knock at their doors the moment they raise their swords against him. There was no mercy for them in Klautz's eyes.. But he wouldn't feel any joy from it either. Neither would he feel disgust. It was something that he was ought to do.

Klautz listened to Maebi and her exploits as he took out his butchering knife taking in materials. A thought was running through his head. Somehow the pieces of the puzzle didn't fit in place.

It is said that 'the environment that one resides in permeates one's heart, dying it in the same color.'

Humans were the most adaptable creatures of all. Be it the snow filled lands of the north or the extreme heat at the middle east, humans had survived them all. Wherever they found an opportunity they set up their camps and settled together. History is witness that they have survived even in the most extreme of climates.

But the same adaptability also exists on the social levels other than the physical and geographical levels.

There is a saying that 'expose a human to crime and he would fear it, expose him longer and he would get used to it and expose him more and he would internalize it.'

The same went true for most. A human's will wasn't as unbending as it appeared to be. It was heavily influenced by their surroundings.

'It's not impossible… but it's just weird.'

That was the reason Klautz felt that there was something amiss. The newbie drill didn't lack order. At least it was nothing compared to hell itself and the tutorial zone where lunatics were able to show their true colors.

The structure in the newbie drill was pretty orderly. There was an undisputable ruler that went by the name Gozoto. He had his officers in the form of guards and also the strength to put his justice to practice. And the newbies could earn a suitable pay for their work.

'In the small scale, wasn't that a fine enough social structure?'

Hell wasn't as safe and orderly as the newbie drill. The power imbalance made it impossible to be so. In fact the newbie drill was specifically made for the newbies to be more comfortable about the changes they had encountered in the new world.

'The killer is clearly a newbie.'

Klautz didn't believe that the killer was some death God showing its wrath on the masses. He believed that it was rather a foolish mortal that used supernatural powers to appear so. That was what the stats indicated.

Therefore, in such an orderly structure it was hard to imagine some lunatic to let loose.

One must remember that back on earth the number of lunatics that brazenly committed such homicide was almost negligible.

Was it because there was no existence of such people? That would be the worst assumption.

It was only because they fear the order in the society that most have them controlled their urges. Such urges get let loose in the tutorial zone and in hell. But having something like this happen in the newbie drill? That was strange considering the existence of guards several times stronger than the newbies.

The supreme power should have made them stay low key.

"Either he is extremely confident or a total fool." Klautz whispered.

Lunatics were normally not known to be fools. They were always great actors and absolute liars, that is what allowed them to control their urges and survive in the orderly society.

"Sorry?" Maebi asked.

But Klautz shook his head with no other reply.

KLautz was betting on his life here. It was risky. He couldn't help but weed out every variable that he encounters. That was how his brain worked. It had become his nature.

But in the current scenario, Klautz could only claim it to be a rare exception that he hadn't expected to happen.

***

"What are you guys doing? Why isn't the murderer caught yet?"

Bam!

Gozoto slammed the table as he faced the smiling man in front of him. His smile could only get on his nerves causing is veins to pop out further.

Klautz wasn't the only one who had deciphered the data. Gozoto had deciphered the meaning of the stats too far before Klautz could ever have. Hell! The murderer should have been caught that night when Klautz encountered it for the first time. But Gozoto's assumptions were quite in the contrary to what he had expected.

The man who sat in front of him was supposed to catch him since Gozoto didn't specialize in this field. Or specifically the organization behind him. He was a hunter by profession… not a ninja.

Why was the aid of a ninja needed in the matter?

One must note that the data that both Klautz and Gozoto had deciphered didn't actually pin point to a specific target. There were multitude of possible targets who needed to be monitored all at the same time to catch the murderer red handed.

And monitoring work was what ninjas specialized in. The guards that worked under him were but mercenaries the same as him. This was just not their forte.

***

Author: 

Creation is hard for authors. Cheer me up with your power stones.

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