C1 Once the Sun Sets

"Gilbert, open the door!"

The visitor's continuous knock made a rhythmic sound on the old metal door. The sun was already starting to set.

To the residents of Yanam Town, uncourteous knocking and loud shouting were often unwelcomed. Such impolite behaviors reminded them of those terrible nights.

However, passers-by had to swallow back their complaints and discontentment when they caught a glimpse of the visitor's clothes, not to mention it was Gilbert whom he was calling.

'He's probably a hunter from the church.'

They thought to themselves as they rushed towards their own homes. It was getting late.

Footsteps shuffled from the inside, then a middle-aged man with brown curly hair opened the door. The lingering sunlight hit the man's face, exposing his tired face.

Gilbert's face trembled when he saw the visitor's face. He looked away and moved aside as he gestured for the visitor to enter the room.

"What's going on? It's not yet your time for duty," Gilbert asked as he closed the door behind him. "Or Mr. Carl plans to come out of the workshop to get some fresh air?"

Carl took off the standard triangular hunter hat from his head, revealing a pale and thin face. He looked too skinny. During his long-term dedication to his studies, he had to provide for himself but recently had to cut back on his food supply, which resulted in his miserable features.

"You're almost as thin as a rake."

Gilbert murmured amusingly, but Carl did not respond to his joke and instead said, "It's early," in a cold voice. He seemed to be in a hurry.

Gilbert gave him a puzzled look. "What are you talking about?"

Carl stared at him with lifeless eyes that looked like two black holes. "The night of hunting. It's been advanced."

Gilbert's expression froze. He looked at Carl in surprise and bewilderment, then asked tentatively, "When is it?"

"Tonight."

Gilbert felt a sharp pain in his chest like a bullet had shot him. Carl might seem to be an unapproachable person, but no one would dare question the authenticity of his words.

Gilbert's eyes darted towards the wall where a hideous weapon was hanging. At first glance, it looked like a curved machete with its blade folded towards the handle, but they specially made it like that for easy storage. There were bloodstains on the white cloth of the handle.

The stains had not completely dried up. Compared to normal people, patients with TransFur Disease had blood much thicker. Its consistency made it easy to contaminate the weapon with unerasable filth after use.

Gilbert finally understood Carl's odd behavior. The air around them felt heavy as his chest tightened. He could barely breathe.

The night of hunting had just ended, but it was about to begin again.

...

After he sent the message, Carl left Gilbert's house and went on his way back.

A lot of Yanam residents dressed as hunters scampered away on the street. Whenever they saw Carl, they would stop in their tracks and bow to him. He might look weak, but the cloak of the Healing Church he had on his back would say otherwise.

The residents of Yanam had full respect for the Healing Church. The town's security and living environment were in the hands of the hunters and clerics of the church, and they were recruiting even more at the moment. The healing church's astonishing status and reputation rose when many of them witnessed how the church's elites hunted wild beasts.

Carl reached out his hand to stop a young man walking in his direction. The young man seemed annoyed but put away his dissatisfaction when he saw Carl's attire. "What is the matter, sir?" he asked politely.

"Is there an urgent meeting?"

Carl asked as he pointed his cane in the direction of the center of the town where the hunters seemed to gather.

"Yes, sir!" the young man quickly replied. He looked down and tidied up his belt that had a hunter's pistol. It seemed to move to the side when he was running in haste.

After he tidied up his belt, he looked at Carl and continued, "It's Sir Ludwig's order. That is, to gather at the center of the town before sunset."

The young man had a reverent expression when he mentioned Ludwig's name.

Carl let out a sigh and proceeded to tidy up the young man's slanted shoulder belt. "Go ahead then, don't be late," he said and patted the young man's shoulder.

"Thank you, sir!"

Carl's expression dimmed once the young hunter ran along the street. The number of hunters from Yanam had completely exceeded the usual number, and right now, those they could recruit were with them. It was something that had never happened before.

Carl walked to the side of the street. He supported himself with the guardrail and began to think of the situation.

Yanam had always been a town with a unique structure. The buildings built along the mountain path gave off a strange feeling of overlapping layers, and right above Yanam, there was another town that belonged solely to the Healing Church.

During the night hunt, people were to hide in their homes and lock their doors. No one could walk the streets at night except for the hunters patrolling the streets.

Carl ran his fingers along the guardrail and felt a long, narrow dent. It was the mark left by some beast's claw.

Those usually silent, humble people who once fell into the process called TransFur, left tiny and inconsequential scars on the town. However, judging from the recent situation, those accumulated scars seemed to have threatened the entire town.

Without a doubt, the time for hunting came early. At this point, the church no longer tried to hide the fact that the night could be far worse than those in the past, given the large number of hunters gathered.

Carl took a last look at the people wandering on the streets, then turned around and left. He still had to make a trip to the Hunters' Workshop where the urgent necessities such as Quicksilver Bullet and gasoline bombs could be bought.

He walked towards the entrance of Church Town. The lingering light from the setting sun would soon be gone. He had to leave Yanam before they closed the gates.

The street was quiet, but there was an indescribable tension and panic in the air. Everyone seemed to have noticed this, but they knew better than to go out and wander about. With confidence and courage, they stayed at home and prayed to god for blessing.

Carl smelled something delicious that unexpectedly aroused his desire for food, but it soon made him shiver when he smelled blood.

It wasn't the smell of blood used for Blood Healing. On the contrary, it smelled rotten and sticky. Even with such a faint smell, it was enough to alert them that a TransFur was happening nearby.

He tightened his grip on his cane's iron handle and walked toward the source of the smell.

TransFur would usually not happen during the day because the patients with the disease were conscious and could use sedatives and blood given by the Church for themselves. Thus, TransFur would only occur during the night when the patients were asleep or when they were unconscious.

Fortunately, there were only a few TransFur cases during the night.

Suddenly, sharp cries came from the distance. Carl quickly followed where the sound came from and rushed into a narrow alley. In just five strides, he arrived at the end of the alley where a wooden door stood and kicked it.

"Bang!"

The lock broke easily, and in an instant, a strong smell of blood greeted him through the small opening of the broken door.

The process of the TransFur Disease could be slow but could also happen in just a snap of a finger. The common symptoms were ruptured skin and distorted joints. Once irreversible, blood would burst out from all the cracks in the patient's body. At that moment, the patient might still be conscious, but the intense pain and fear made it very easy for them to be controlled by their desire to attack.

At that moment, the figure that lunged at Carl was exactly a pitiful patient.

As if he had rehearsed countless times, Carl raised his right hand. His thumb pressed down hard on the handle of his cane and loosened it up as if it had fallen apart. The metal slanted upwards and down, forming a serrated weapon with saw teeth connected to the metal joints.

With the strangely shaped sawtooth whip unfolded just like that, Carl moved upward and whipped forward with the wind.

The razor-sharp sawtooth produced an ear-piercing sound as it slid across the wooden wall, followed by the sound of flesh being torn apart.

This strange extendable cane was a weapon commonly used by hunters. Its sharpened bottom and hard body allowed one to use it as a short sword. When necessary, it could also unfold into a deadly metal whip.

To hide the weapon in the cane and use it to whip the enemy was a kind of mercy. It was also to prove that the blood and pain during the hunt could never corrode the noble soul of the hunter.

A horrible smell lingered in the air as blood splattered across the room. However, this kind of whipping could not stop a TransFur patient.

Hunting wasn't new to him, and even if hunting wasn't the main task of the Church Hunter, Carl could deal with it skillfully.

The arms of the patient, covered in black coarse fur already, spread out to both sides and moved towards him. However, just as the sharp claws were about to reach Carl's body, the extended metal whip quickly twisted. As the thin hunter thrust forward, the long whip once again transformed into a cane. The sharp end of the crane easily struck the opponent's chest.