Chapter 122 Strange Paintings

Strange Paintings.

[Ace POV],

At this point, I didn't need the people in front of me to tell me where we were going since I could tell which way we were going based on what I was seeing.

It was a house ahead of us, built with stone and mud for the base and straws for the roof.

I suppose this is a typical commoner's house.

As we approached the location where I may perhaps find my first clue for the quest, I turned to look at Emma beside me, whom I had momentarily forgotten owing to my thoughts and noticed a familiar expression on her face.

It was the expression she wore on her face when we were first descending the stairs and the primordial chronicle had not yet been notified that a dungeon awaited us.

Even though she tried to cover it, I could see the disgust on her face. Although it may be difficult for others to see because her face appears calm now, I can still detect the disgust because I have seen it on her face for a period of time.

I've been wondering why she was disgusted by something for a second and then suddenly forgot about it after we left. If I'm not mistaken, she said it was the mana in the air that made her disgusted, and at the time, I couldn't sense what she was sensing in the mana in the air, but I did feel the surroundings were cold, but that's different now because I felt the air was quite normal, so why did she suddenly become disgusted?

'I should keep an eye out,' I reasoned as I returned my attention to where we were going.

I couldn't go meet her to ask since the already tense mood could complicate matters if someone suddenly remembers that two unfamiliar people in their midst still haven't expressed the purpose of their sudden entrance into their village.

With the villagers' current state of mind, it was extremely possible for unexpected things to happen, therefore I was ready for it.

'I should probably find a better response in case they do ask,' I thought as I returned my focus to my surroundings, having finally arrived at the house of the mother whose daughter had mysteriously disappeared.

As everyone arrived at her house, the woman quickly opened the door and invited Sir Roland, who invited Emma and me in while the rest of the villagers remained outside.

Before entering the building, I looked at Emma and noticed that the emotion of disgust had almost escaped her face, which she immediately controlled as her facial expression reverted to being calm, making it appear that the former expression was a lie, but seeing that everything was still fine, I returned my attention to the house I had just entered.

The house's layout was as predicted as it was normal. The only thing I could see in the house were some wooden chairs, a wooden table, and a few other pieces of furniture strewn about.

If it hadn't been for the fact that I knew there were people disappearing in this village, and her daughter was the most recent victim, I would have assumed she was lying, but even after we thoroughly searched the entire house, which appeared to be now nothing compared to how it was when we arrived, we still found nothing.

It did appear that her daughter vanished into thin air without a trace.

This was my thought before Emma called my name, which drew everyone's attention in the house.

"Ace, come see this," Emma said as she called my name.

Seeing this, I went to her side, followed by the others in the room who had heard her call my name.

When I got to her side, Emma didn't let me speak as she suddenly pointed to a certain object in the room.

It was an oil painting on the wall of a woman who appeared to be looking the other way from her with a black sack at her back.

The painting could be described as perfectly painted since the image of the woman, particularly her face, was precisely laid out.

Something on the woman's body drew me even more to the painting.

It was her eyes. They gave me odd vibes for some reason, to say the least.

After a while of staring at the painting, I turned to Emma and asked her a question.

"So, what's the deal with the painting?" I inquired as Emma did not respond immediately as she turned to the mom who had lost her kid and asked a question.

"Aunty, where did you get this painting?" Emma questioned the woman, as her husband who heard this was on the verge of losing it when he heard the question.

He probably thought Emma's question was pointless in this situation and a waste of time. A part of me agreed, but I remained patient and listened.

It was only because of Sir Roland's glare that the woman's husband didn't completely lose it, as he kept his fury as he glared at Emma, which she ignored.

The woman who saw this chose to answer Emma's question.

"I got it from a merchant who came to the village a few weeks ago to sell his products," she explained as Emma inquired.

"Was this the only thing you bought from the merchant?" Emma asked.

"Yes"

"What exactly does the merchant sell?"

"Paintings"

"Were you the only one who brought a painting from him?" Emma inquired, as I was starting to think that everything she was doing was a waste of time, and Sir Roland's expression indicated that he was thinking the same.

It was just that we were both waiting to see where things would lead.

The woman who heard Emma's query did not respond right away, pausing to think for a few seconds before responding.

"It wasn't just me who bought paintings from the merchant; other villagers also brought some," she explained as Emma turned to gaze at me before speaking.

"Ace, what do you think of the painting?" she asked.

Despite the oddity of the query, I responded.

"I can only say the painting is really good," I responded, as Emma's next words were unexpected.

"Don't you think the painting's eyes are moving?" Emma uttered something strange, and before anyone could respond, she spoke again.

"Ace, destroy it," she urged.

When I heard this, I immediately formed a fist and punched the painting on the wall with all of my force, coating it in blue flames as I did so.

Though I thought Emma's request was strange, I followed it since I immediately grasped something when Emma urged me to destroy the painting.

I saw the eyes of the woman in the painting move toward me in a split second.

....

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