Scenes from an Unholy War Read Online Free PDF Page B

his brow. It was a pointless act. Perspiration poured from him with a vengeance. Repeatedly he wiped it away. And as he did so, the shadow of madness gradually began to leave him.
    “Sorry you had to see that,” he said.
    “You must be tired,” the hoarse voice said sarcastically. It didn’t seem to bother Rust.
    Taking several ragged breaths, the sheriff continued, “I’ve been able to ID the ones who wiped out the stables.”
    “Oh? That’s pretty quick work for a hick sheriff!” said the hoarse voice.
    When outsiders committed a crime, inquiries about them had to be made in surrounding towns and villages, and in some cases even the Capital, which usually took a week at the very least.
    Giving the names of all four, the sheriff said they were drifters and hit men. They had no connection to the pseudo vampire’s gang. It was probably the mayor, rather than D, that they’d been gunning for.
    “He’s a real wheeler-dealer. In fact, the reason he hired me was because he heard I’d slapped down about a dozen drifters who were raising hell in the saloon. On the way here, did you notice the strange way the highway twists?”
    D nodded.
    “Originally, it ran straight. Until . . . Until he became mayor, that is. Being off the highway, this village was a desolate place. Not only did he get the road to curve so it ran right up to the village, but he took it upon himself to dub it the Geneve Highway and got it to intersect with the Alasmian Highway. In other words, he forced this village into a place of importance. Thanks to him, the village prospered, but violence began to increase, too. The mayor has a lot of friends, and more than a few enemies. Normally that’d bother some people, but he doesn’t care. Apparently he’s a shoo-in for another term. The deputy mayor’s looking to succeed him, so he’s none too pleased about that. He’s tried all kinds of tricks up until now, but he’s just not made of the same stuff. Everyone thought he’d finally thrown in the towel. Now, it seems that’s not the case.”
    Rust smiled wryly, making the meaning of his last remark clear.
    “We’ve learned who they were, but not who hired them. I wish one of ’em had been left alive, but there was no way around that. They bit off more than they could chew.” The sheriff scratched the back of his head. “If I might share my own personal opinion—since you’ve already signed on with us—the person who went after you with the bats presents more of a problem than the antimayor faction. We’re talking bats here—a symbol of the Nobility.”
    “Do you have any idea who it was, D?” Lyra inquired, her expression rather grave.
    “The strongest possibility is that it was someone who doesn’t want me sticking around.”
    “An agent of the pseudo vampire?”
    “Could be.”
    “Have they already found their way in?” Rust said, pounding his fist into the palm of his left hand. “Well, I figured it might be any time now. We’re gonna have to do a thorough check again on everyone from outside.”
    “You’ve already checked on them?” the Hunter inquired.
    “Three days ago,” Lyra replied.
    “Hmm.”
    “If we don’t check them out, we’ll never get to the bottom of this. Let’s go over ’em again,” the sheriff said, eyes brimming with determination.
    “What’ll you do about the drifters?” D asked him.
    “That’s the problem. It’s impossible to verify their identities.”
    “At any rate, we just have to smoke one of them out,” D said.
    “I suppose so, but . . .”
    “You have a gun?”
    “Yeah,” Rust replied, placing his hand against his right hip. Ranged weapons were extremely valuable out on the Frontier. Even among sheriffs, there were few who owned them.
    “Shoot out the windowpane.”
    “What for? That’s town property.”
    “Take it out of my pay.”
    “I get you,” Lyra said, walking over to the window. Drawing a dagger, she used the pommel to smash the glass.
    “You still don’t