Loud, obnoxious, crowded. 

An overwhelming stench rushed towards me as the guards opened the tall wooden doors. The tavern was full to the brim with people and looked as if thousands of people were crammed together inside. 

Of course, after I entered, the guards propped open the doors as a crowd formed behind me. No more people were allowed inside, the tavern was way too full. Those lucky people, at least I would have had an excuse not to find her.

I dodged through the crowd, slowly making my way. I glanced around trying to find the woman, but I could barely see past the people around me. 

“Excuse me.” I mumbled, “Pardon me.”

I held my arm out as I weaved through the people around. People did not appreciate me walking past them, and quite a few times I was greeted by an elbow to the face. 

I finally made it to the very left side of the tavern, where the tables were all pushed to the side and the chairs were lined up facing the stage. 

“Over here!”

A woman sat on one of the tables pushed up against the wall. She had wavy black hair and sharp, piercing brown eyes that cut through the crowd. She gave a warm smile as she waved me over. 

“I never expected so many people to show up.” She tapped the table next to her. “But I guess a lot of people, even like you, are kind of worried.”

She leaned over and whispered into my ear as I sat down, “There might be a killer among us.”

“That would make anyone anxious.” I said.

I followed her gaze as she looked out over the crowd. Some people sat around looking down at their feet while twiddling their thumbs. Others stood around cheerfully talking to others, catching up. Some people were definitely worried, but others did not seem to care about the recent events. The only one that I could see that was enjoying the atmosphere was her. What a strange woman.

“I see you almost every day, but I don’t think I caught your name.” She held out her hand.

“Alaric.”

“Katalina.” She smiled, finally a genuine smile, not the disapproving kind. She got her way again since I showed up here. Still very cheerful despite the situation. 

“Thank you all for coming.” The voice echoed loud throughout the hall; everyone simultaneously fell silent. Every person in the tavern simultaneously stopped what they were doing and faced the stage. 

I could barely see the mayor; he was rather a short fellow. I could vaguely see a gleam from the top of his shiny head; the rest of him was hidden behind the crowd. His voice was deep and stern; he demanded respect, and respect is what he got. 

“There are a great many people here this evening. With the size of this turnout, I can only believe that you all have heard about the unfortunate event that took place last night. It is with great sorrow that I inform you that such an event had taken place in my kingdom. The crime scene was indeed horrific, but at this time we do not believe there is a significant threat to our community. The knight commander will explain further.” 

Knight Commander Nolan stepped forward onto the stage. “Both of the victims were men that were believed to be involved in criminal activities.”

The crowd erupted into whispers. Katalina leaned over to me and smiled, “So a criminal that goes after other criminals. See, I told you this would be interesting.”

“We believe that there is no threat to the general public.” 

“As of right now we are still not sure who is behind this brutal murder, but rest assured that they will be found, right Commander Nolan?”

He cleared his throat. “Of course.” 

“Thank you all for coming this evening. We will be sure to bring you more information on this matter as we find more information.”

The chatter erupted into the crowd, and soon people started to leave, pushing into each other, trying to get out. I looked over at Katalina, but she had yet to move an inch. She seemed less chipper.

“What's wrong?” I asked.

“Nothing…” Her eyes fell lost over the crowd; her smile vanished, and the light in her eyes went dim. I don’t think she even realized that her mind had wandered far from where her body was.

“Katalina”

She shook, and her eyes widened as she looked around the room in a panic, “Huh.”

“It's time to go.” 

The people that were standing in front of us were slowly moving towards the door. I swung myself off of the table onto my feet. The crowd had started to move but kept stopping because of how many people were plowing through the door. 

There wasn’t much more for the Lord and the knight commander to even find. They had a body, but too many suspects to count. The three men that died were very vile humans; anyone and everyone had a problem with them. 

“You all have a lovely evening.” The knight that was originally standing at the door was gone. I guess the investigation only had a brief pause. However, there was something strange about the man who took her place. The way his eyes followed me as I walked out of the door. The cutting look in his eyes did not lie as he waved us goodbye.

The tavern was jammed full of people, so why was he watching me?

“You have a lovely evening as well.”

I tipped my hat to the man as I was greeted by a gust of cold wind. I started down the road towards my shop with Katalina following behind very slowly. 

I paused and waited for her to appear by my side.

“I know that I said that this was interesting, but really, how can someone ever do that to another human being? I just don’t understand it.” 

I stood there in silence for a moment. What a strange thing to ask. Does she really not understand why? It seemed pretty obvious to me. There are two types of humans in this world. On one side a human might kill another for the sake of survival, while the rest would kill for reasons that a human like her would never understand. 

“I don’t understand it, either.” I simply replied. 

She looked at me with a calm yet steady gaze. She must actually be worried about this despite the way she had been acting earlier. 

Cute.