Martial Arts Worlds

With the moon's lights falling over the streets, Kiernan, and Julian walked down the sidewalk with the help of the street lamps.

Soon, they saw the Foaming Drink Inn in the distance, and saw its sign of a frothy beer mug swinging in the gentle breeze.

However, the closed sign hung in the window.

"Closed this early?" Julian was surprised. "They're usually open late into the night."

"Maybe the owner is busy."

Kiernan said, and then opened the door before entering with his friend, but then they noticed something was way off.

Thegan, the owner of the inn, held his hand over his eyes and looked like he had been crying, as his eyes were all red and puffy.

Someone who looked like a detective was standing in front of him, holding a notepad and pen. He was writing something down as he listened to Thegan's story.

"Thank you for everything, Thegan, this is enough for now." The detective said. "I will contact you as soon as I find something."

"P-please find her…" Thegan said through sobbing noises. "She is all I have anymore!"

Kiernan and Julian looked at each other with frowns. Something was clearly wrong.

"I'll do my best," the detective said, and as he turned around to leave, he tipped his hat to the two young men and then left the inn.

"Boss, what happened?" Julian walked to Thegan.

"Ah, it's you two…" Thegan sat down with a hunched look and wiped his tears. "My baby girl, Raquel, has gone missing!"

Julian's eyes shook in shock.

They saw her just this morning, looking as chirpy and beautiful as ever.

"Missing? How are you so sure?" Kiernan asked as he sat down on the counter.

"She never leaves without my knowledge. Never. She was also supposed to be working still, but she went to visit her room to change her clothes as some alcohol spilled on her skirt.

"Ten minutes passed, not a sight of her. I went to check on her and found her room empty. I went to check the showers; they were empty. The basement, empty. I even went to check outside, but she was nowhere to be found.

"I had no choice but to contact the detectives, and he came to check on her room. It looks like he found someone since he said that she is considered to be missing!"

"I am sure the detectives will find her." Julian said with certainty. "They're like hounds. When they find the first sign of the trail, they won't stop until they find the end."

Thegan shook his head, and more tears started to fall from his eyes.

"T-t-this is not the first time that someone has gone missing here. Raquel is tenth woman to go missing this month alone.

"After they go missing, the very next day, they're found dead in that river that runs through this city—they always have bruises and marks on their bodies…"

His body trembled as more tears welled up.

"My dear Raquel…"

"Don't lose hope, alright?" Julian said, but his tone had turned cold. "Kiernan, come with me."

Hearing his commanding voice, Kiernan just nodded and followed him upstairs. It looked like Julian was more pissed than ever before.

Julian walked straight to one of the open doors—the entrance was taped with a 'keep out' sign, but he ignored it and entered.

"This is Raquel's room?" Kiernan asked as he looked around the well-decorated room.

It looked like a room that belonged to a sophisticated and beautiful woman. The walls were painted a soft lavender color, and the furniture was elegant and stylish.

The books on the bookshelves were neatly organized by color and size, and there were fresh flowers in a vase on the coffee table.

There wasn't a single dust on sight.

"We must find her, Kiernan." Julian said and looked around the windows for any signs of a break-in. "We must."

"It is a tragedy, but shouldn't we leave this to the detectives?" Kiernan asked. "This guy, whoever is doing all this, has been doing this for over a month but hasn't been caught yet.

"I don't think we have any ways of finding him either."

"I know I don't deserve to ask this from you." Julian said and turned to look at him. "Last time I asked something from you, we ended up as slaves. I don't deserve to ask anything from you, but please, I don't want her to die."

"You really care about her, huh." Kiernan scratched the back of his head. "I am not some detective, but sure, let's try."

"Thank you…" Julian nodded. "Whoever is doing this must be some twisted fuck. Kidnapping women. If he has touched a single hair on Raquel's head, I will rip off his limbs one by one."

"Calm your emotions." Kiernan said. "You're of no use if you can't think straight."

"You're right…" Julian nodded and took a deep breath.

He was almost exploding with anger, but after a couple of deep breaths, he began to calm down.

"There are no signs of a break-in!" Julian said. "The window is the only way in, so it seems like Raquel just opened the window by herself to let the kidnapper in."

"Is that so?"

Kiernan frowned, then smelled a strange smell and tried to pinpoint its source, but it was all around the room.

"Do you smell this?"

Julian frowned at his question, and tried to smell anything. It was faint, but he also smelled something strange.

"It smells like burned toast." Kiernan said.

"I think I know who did this now," Julian said with a cold look. "Martial ability user. All martial abilities give off a distinct smell when used."
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"Is that so? Interesting." Kiernan said. "This smell is something of a very badly burned toast. There's no way Raquel, who has worked here since she was a kid, would fail to make something so simple.

"And definitely wouldn't eat something like that."

"The detective must've caught that scent as well." Julian said. "Do you think it is because that smell is in other crime scenes as well?"

"Most likely." Kiernan said and crossed his arms. "We have our first lead. Now what?"