Host, Please Be Honest! What Exactly Are You?

Peculiar… Very peculiar...

Everyone listened attentively to the guards retelling all he found strange... Or should they say far too suspicious?

Hiss~

Many sucked in the air around them, moving their eyeballs from side to side.

The gloomy air... The cool low toned voice of the guard and the impending mystery surrounding the case was enough to form goosebumps on their chests.

Maybe the head guard Botan was indeed innocent. But judging from the actions retold by this newbie guard, it's clear he has more skeletons in his trunk...

And though they say it as a metaphor, maybe this guy really did have bones hidden somewhere.

For all they knew, they could be dealing with a real psychopath. But this was of course all suspicions. For now, they must first see what was going on with his situation.

Payne held his walks talkie. "Did a Mr. Botan Riverre exit the premises?"

[Negative. Over.]

No? Then he was still in his room?

Bewoh stepped forward.

"Sir Payne, inform your men to always stand behind us. We will lead the group."

"What?!!"

The investigators and field agents were livid. What did these people mean?

Everyone suddenly felt insulted. But seeing Payne's stern glare, they dared not say a thing.

This was just too unfair!

Their expressions looked like they were forced to eat dog sh**. And soon, they adjusted their minds, feeling that once these people mess up, they would indeed step in and show them how it's done.

But whether it was Payne or Bewoh, they didn't care much about their feelings.

They were here to do a job, and that was that.

"Lead the way."

"Ah!--... Yes., yes, yes." The little guard responded humbly, arching his back and quickening his pace.

Where were they going?

The gang left the grand hall through a side door and walked through a very long hallway, bypassing several massive windows that peered to a garden on the side.

How strange...

Everyone frowned.

The more they advanced, the more the flowers outside looked withered and dead.

At first, it was only 1 or 2 that looked dead. But as they moved while looking through the windows, it was clear just how badly neglected the gardeners were treating and caring for the many flowers here.

That is… was it because they felt this was a bound spot, so they didn't take care of these flowers leading to them all dying?

"No. That's not the case." The guard quickly defended.

He had seen the gardeners try their hardest to no avail, as though the flowers here were tastefully refusing to accept nourishment.

Even if one wanted a new flower, it would die within a couple of hours or days.

Everyone had different thoughts.

Could it be there was something deadly buried or thrown here that's messing up the soil ph or air quality? Or was it some unknown plant disease eating the petals and fibers of these plants? Was there some odd reaction going on that they couldn't identify yet?

Strange…

"When did things start looking like this?"

The guard tilted his head in thought. "Right around the time people started getting missing.

" What a coincidence," Someone commented, squinting their eyes at the garden.

"Sir--..."

"I know." Payne replied coldly. "I know... But now is not the time."

Everyone understood. Their first priority was Botan.

.

They walked past the very, very long hallway that took them across the perimeters of the building's left side before reaching a dark and dismal stairway.

It was odd that now it was daytime. But the stairway looked too creepy.

The windows here were sealed, and no light came in.

"It's head guard Botan. He requested this to be done."

Once again, everyone had another imaginative visual of what this Botan guy was like.

~Click.

The light switch was turned on, and the many lightbulbs strategically placed came on.

It was just that they flickered more and more the further they advanced up the stairway.

Are you telling them that a big estate like this can't afford to fix the lights?

"About it... We changed the bulbs severally and also checked the circuits. But there seems to be no problem. So we don't know why it keeps doing this."

Suddenly, they felt the little guard was giving too many excuses.

If there was no problem with the lights, then why were the bulbs blinking so much? And what was that smell?

Forgive them for asking, but there was a very, very, very faint but noticeable smell looming around the hallways.

It smelt of sulfur and dead mice.

But it wasn't unbearable, but just itchy to their noses.

The little guard opened and closed his mouth, failing to utter a single word.

What could he say? That exterminators had searched for the dead mice or rodents to no avail? The more he explained, the more even he felt it was redundant.

Augh~

The poor guard led the way, no longer bothering to defend the workers.

What was the point?

Alas…

Ghu Sota and the rest had different options, especially when seeing the walls through their 3rd eye.

The group reached the top of the stairs, arriving at another hallway far less luxurious than the others they passed. Still, it was grand in its own right, even though the little explained it was better looking than the many other paths the workers used.

It can be seen that anyone sleeping here could be a top dog worker/guard.

The hallway had 7 doors, 3 to the left, 3 on the right... And one at the furthest end of the hallway. And from the looks of it, it should be the biggest room, A.K.A... Botan's room.

"Sirs, only our head guard stays up here because the others couldn't stand the smell they perceived from time to time."

No one said a thing but calmly approached the black door ahead.

1 2, 3...

~Knock. Knock.

Payne took in deep breaths.

"City Police. Please open up, Mr. Botan."