After finishing dinner like that.
Arian and Sadie, having chatted for a while, soon fell asleep.
On the other hand, Aiden, who never slept, stood leaning against the door, as always, guarding the place like a sentinel.
The oppressive day ended, and the cool night air quietly descended.
At that deepening hour of the night, Roman approached Aiden.
“Are you on alert?”
“Yes.”
Aiden replied calmly.
Being on guard here ant expressing distrust in Roman. However, Roman simply nodded, as if it was an unavoidable situation.
It was an inevitable conversation.
After all, Roman and Aiden’s group had just t today for the first ti. So, complete trust wasn’t sothing they could afford after just one shared al.
Roman, for the sa reason, was also not sleeping. There was nothing to say.
“But what about that helt? You’ve been wearing it since earlier.”
“It’s nothing.”
“Hmm... well, if you don’t want to talk about it, that’s fine.”
Seeing Aiden reluctant to ntion it, Roman quickly backed off, as if he didn’t have any intention to pry.
Roman changed the subject, throwing a different proposal.
“Since you’re not sleeping anyway, how about having a chat with ?”
“Not a bad idea.”
Aiden promptly accepted Roman’s proposal. He saw it as essentially a request for an exchange of information.
Guided by Roman, Aiden entered his room.
It was a small, humble room with a mattress, a small table, and just one chair.
Roman brought another chair from another room and placed it in front of Aiden.
“So, how did you end up here?”
Roman was the first to ask Aiden.
Various conversations and small talk continued for a while.
“Yeah, she’s not young anymore.”
Upon hearing the circumstances of Sadie and Arian escaping from Pittsburgh, Roman’s expression turned bitter.
He sighed deeply and spoke again.
“I lost my family here too.”
Roman also lost his son and daughter-in-law and granddaughter in Camden.
Talking about the past, he showed Aiden a small fra lying around.
Inside was a common family photo.
Roman, a middle-aged couple, and a girl who looked about in her teens were in the picture.
She had black hair, just like Arian.
Seeing this, Aiden quickly grasped sothing and voiced his speculation.
“Is the reason you’re chasing the Beast... because of your family?”
At Aiden’s words, the old man let out a bitter laugh.
“Yeah. You catch on fast, huh?”
Before Aiden could ask further, Roman fell silent.
For a while, he remained silent, then slowly opened his mouth.
“My son and his wife died right after the zombie outbreak. What they left was Olivia.”
Roman was looking at the girl in the photo.
With that fixed gaze, he continued speaking.
“I did whatever it took to protect Olivia. Shot countless zombie bastards and scavenged for food on piles of corpses. Sohow... I managed to survive like a damn cockroach.”
Roman’s finger swept across the fra, but the touch of his hand only felt the coldness of the glass.
In an instant, laughter dried up on lips that resembled the sands of the desert, and a voice filled with resentnt flowed out.
“But a year ago, that damn Beast took Olivia from right in front of my eyes. Since then. Since then... I’ve been chasing that bastard.”
“For revenge?”
“What else is there?”
Losing family to zombies wasn’t an uncommon tragedy.
The only difference in Roman’s tragedy was the existence of a specific, identifiable antagonist.
So, Roman had been pursuing that cougar himself.
Understanding Roman’s situation, Aiden nodded.
anwhile, Roman turned his gaze away from the photo and looked at Aiden.
“Were you suspecting ? Wondering why this old geezer is being so kind, offering hospitality.”
“...”
“I know everything. But there’s nothing to be suspicious of. I just... don’t want to see the sa situation again,” Roman said, perhaps sensing Aiden’s caution.
Indeed, Roman’s actions today were enough to arouse Aiden’s suspicion. Inviting unknown wanderers into his hiding place and even cooking for them – it was excessive kindness that would make anyone wary.
So, even during the al, Arian warned Sadie not to touch the food until she did.
Arian, harboring the sa suspicions as Aiden, intended to test the food herself. If there was anything other than food, she could easily detect it.
Even if it were poison, it wouldn’t affect her.
However, Roman’s kindness was genuine.
There was no hidden threat anywhere, and he didn’t demand anything in return.
Aiden, with his naturally suspicious nature, found himself silently watching Roman, unable to say anything.
So, Aiden found Roman’s confession now believable enough. Without denying Roman’s words, he smoothly transitioned to the next topic.
“Then, have you been chasing the Beast for a year, and still haven’t caught it?”
“Hitting where it hurts, huh? Yeah, that’s right. I t that bastard face to face once. Lost one eye to my gunshot, escaped, and never appeared in front of again.”
The old man squinted his eyes.
“He’s cautious about zombies, very cunning. Rembers my scent, even the sound of the truck engine. If I get close, he disappears like a ghost. So now, I’m charging through the woods without any weapons.”
“Risky business you’re involved in.”
To Aiden’s response, Roman snorted.
“I know that much. But... what else am I going to do? How much longer am I going to live? If I can just blow that Veast’s head off, I won’t mind dying right away.”
Roman’s voice, saying so, wasn’t particularly intense. It was just decidedly firm.
As if there were no other option.
Aiden gazed into the quiet space in silence.
His original purpose in coming here was for a reasonable trade and an exchange of information.
However, unintentionally, he had received quite a lot already. Even though Roman seed to expect nothing in return.
Aiden believed the old man’s confession sufficiently. The proposal felt like a request to him.
What he received was a al and a night’s stay in return for hunting down a mutant Beast.
“...”
However, it seed like too heavy a price.
Aiden, thinking if there was no way to balance this, soon spoke.
“I noticed you store weapons here.”
Thinking about the weapons he saw in Roman’s hideout, Aiden ntioned it.
“Why is that?”
“I want to make a deal. It’s not just regular weapons you have, right?”
“Well, that’s true. I collected a lot of things while obsessing over hunting that Beast. But... I can’t sell those. The hunt isn’t over.”
“How about this then?”
Aiden made a proposal to Roman.
They would assist him in hunting the cougar Beast, and in return, after they succeeded in hunting it, he would hand over the weapons Roman had gathered as the paynt.
“Help , you say?”
“Yes.”
Roman looked at Aiden with a dissatisfied look.
“Think hunting the Beast is an easy task? Don’t take the hunt too lightly.”
“It’s not that. Didn’t the cougar avoid you? In that case, we’re certain to have a way to help.”
“Hmm...”
Roman seed to ponder for a mont.
It was, as Aiden said. Although Roman had been persistently hunting the mutant Beast, he was starting to feel the limits on his own.
This way, ti would pass endlessly.
The aging body, growing weaker with each passing day, couldn’t predict how much longer it would endure.
Therefore, the assistance of soone else seed even more urgent from his perspective.
“A bait... Naturally, it would be you, right?”
In Roman’s voice, a result of careful consideration, Aiden nodded.
Among Aiden’s group, Arian was the most suitable person for the role of bait. She was adept at luring the cougar as well as resisting its attacks.
However, Roman was reluctant to accept this task. Despite Aiden’s explanation, Roman’s concerns persisted.
“It won’t be over in a day or two. Finding it might not be as easy as you think.”
His words were reasonable.
Even if they used bait, there was no guarantee that the Beast would take it. In the worst-case scenario, they might have to search through the vast forest and still not find a trace of the creature.
“I found its tracks after almost two weeks. It might take another fortnight to find the next one. Is there a surefire way to locate him?”
“That’s...”
Aiden hesitated for a mont.
Although not a hunter, Aiden had an almost perfect understanding of zombie behavior.
Therefore, he could personally search for the tracks in the forest and follow the cougar.
But if he were to think of the easiest way, it would undoubtedly involve utilizing Arian’s abilities.
Her sensory capabilities surpassed even those of wild animals. Just wandering through the forest might be enough for her to locate the cougar, or she might have additional thods.
Aiden tried to find a suitable example and eventually ca up with one.
“Like a hunting dog... sothing similar.”
“A hunting dog?”
At Aiden’s words, Roman smirked.
At that mont, a coughing sound ca from the next room.
Roman briefly glanced at the direction of the sound and then spoke again.
“Fine. Well, if you’re confident, it’s not my concern. But there’s a condition.”
“If it’s a condition...”
Roman raised his index finger, pointing at himself.
“I’ll be the one to finish the Beast. Rember that.”
Aiden nodded in response. It was a natural and not overly challenging condition.
“In return, we have one request.”
“What is it?”
From his bag, Aiden took sothing out. It was a clean blood collection kit.
“How about donating blood once?”
Facing the syringe, Roman looked at Aiden with a puzzled expression.
* * *
The next morning.
“Did you call a hunting dog?”
Arian, who had just gotten out of bed, suddenly asked Aiden.
Realizing that she had overheard yesterday’s conversation, Aiden calmly admitted.
“It was just an example. I would have asked you sothing similar. Anyway, if you heard it, there’s no need for further explanation.”
Aiden looked at Sadie.
Just awakened from sleep, Sadie had just lifted the upper half of her body, rubbing her still half-closed eyes.
Compared to the sowhat drowsy Sadie, Arian was already fully awake, her eyes wide open.
Is that also a characteristic of vampires?
With that thought in mind, Aiden threw a question.
“So, looking like a hunting dog to .”
Arian laughed leisurely.
“Of course.”
“Well then, let ask you directly. Is there a way to chase the Beast? We have secured a bit of blood.”
Aiden’s question made Arian smile confidently.
“Of course.”
“How specifically should we proceed?”
Hmm– Arian pondered for a mont. Although not from this world, she had enough experience hunting monsters disguised as beasts.
Thus, she easily continued.
“First, we should check the place we visited yesterday. It seems like we need to listen there.”
“...And after that?”
“We find it. It won’t be difficult to locate.”
Aiden barely swallowed his question, knowing that he would not understand the thod even if he heard it.
So Aiden just waited for Arian to continue.
“Oh, and let’s go just the two of us today. We won’t need a car.”
Aiden nodded.
With that, today’s plan was decided, and Aiden imdiately took action.
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