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'So someone slits this guy's throat once, hastily and messily, and then slits the other side in a neat and tidy way…because why?' the Gamer thought in confusion.
The clothes the guy was wearing were decidedly odd as well, bloodstains aside. They looked kind of like the robes you'd see on a monk, except this one was white and burnt orange, made of nylon rather than cotton or whatever material monk's robes were normally made from. Emblazoned over his heart was a symbol; a flame set on a shield. The words 'Corpore et anima. Semper pura semper vera, nunquam iniuriam' were written in RĹŤmaji above and below it.
"…is that English or what?" Issei muttered in confusion. His skill at reading English was so-so, but he wasn't recognising any of this stuff. Unless the 'anima' on the top line was talking about the Final Fantasy X Summon, but he kinda doubted it.
The hand that was clenched was rigid, but Issei didn't have over 100 STR for nothing, so the contents were quickly exhumed. It was…
"…a key?" Issei blinked before using [Observe] on it.
[Project Supervisor's Office Key]
This is the key that allows entry into the supervisor's office of Project Rat Poison.
Useful. Wait, so then this guy was…who then? If he had the supervisor's office key then Issei supposed that he was, in fact, the Head of Project Rat Poison, but, if so, why had he been killed? The wounds didn't have the greenish tinge of the Warpstone blades that the Ratmen assassins liked to smear their blades in, so that just left one person.
Agent Flamberge. He had to have done this.
Quelling his fury, the Sekiryūtei stored the key in his inventory and then looted the man's body, leaving him his clothes out of respect for the dignity of the dead. Fortunately, the man had a map of the facility on him. The Project Rat Poison Base wasn't actually large enough to need a map; it was about the size of four school gymnasiums sitting in a square, with three levels to it. The supervisor's office was just a few meters away on this floor, in fact, which actually explained why he still had his key in hand.
He'd likely just left his office when he was killed.
'Flamberge discovered this guy was running and managed to catch up and kill him from wherever it was that he had been previously, supposing that this guy was in his office, in the short time it took him to leave and lock his office and run over here.' Issei thought with a frown. Unless the Purifier Agent was just a few feet away from this guy's office when he started to run, that would be very difficult…or…
The boy examined the way that the body was sprawled, just feet from the door leading to the rest of the facility. The look of pain and realisation told him that the man had been taken completely off guard.
"He was waiting in here for the Project Head to run in, and slit his throat as he entered." He concluded grimly.
But why? It made no sense. Killing the members of Project Rat King made sense, if a grisly, evil kind of sense. But the members of Project Rat Poison? The ones Flamberge had been ordered to rendezvous with?
Deciding that the answer to all these questions lay within the base itself; Issei started forward again. Moving slowly, he left the antechamber behind and entered the main corridor, which, for some stupid reason, were a blindingly bright shade of white. What moron decided that eye-searing white was a good colour for the walls, floors and ceilings of a base? His eyes were actually watering behind his menpĹŤ!
Cursing the Purifiers for their stupid tastes in interior decorating, Issei made his way to the nearby office, trying to keep his eyes from focusing on the eye-searing colour. It wasn't that far; just barely four meters or so. Obviously, the rear entrance was the Project Head's escape route.
Opening the door with the key, the Sekiryūtei entered the office and closed the door behind him, locking it again to prevent anyone from sneaking up on him afterwards. Then he turned his attention to the office itself, walking up to the desk.
It was a basic office not too dissimilar to the office that the Head of Project Rat King had possessed, except very modern and up to date, as opposed to run-down and second hand like the other one had been. The desk looked brand new, the carpet was thick beneath his shoes, the lighting was tasteful and the back wall was a glass window, looking out at the floor beneath, which was crawling with zombies…
…wait, what?!
Issei gaped out of the window. No, he had not been seeing things; there were at least ten zombies wandering around down there, all wearing Purifier uniforms, and all had a cut across the side of their throats, indicating how they had died.
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