I Built This City Chapter 58: Chapter 58

Read chapter 58 of I Built This City by ThePudding on NovelPedia.

Merchant Ellen Ellen tried not to think of how long she’d been trapped in this house, unable to get out and do something. Instead, she once again stroked her fingers down the cat purring in her lap. Most of the other Ellens were already out and about. Carpenter and Mason were working on finishing the ice house, while Fisher was… fishing, probably. Cobbler was out with Fighter keeping an eye on the logging, which was going so very slow with only two people. Acolyte and Scholar were out somewhere practicing, while Smith was trying to work her skills up to being able to craft something useful. Hunter and Scout remained, still settling in for a late breakfast after their late night foray into the wilderness. Ellen had briefly awakened when the two returned—the inrush of cold air had been hard to miss—but she’d been so tired from her work day she’d fallen asleep right away. Now, she wanted a report… because she could tell something had happened. “So are we in trouble?” Hunter sighed heavily, huddling herself under her blanket with eyes staring at her porridge. “I don’t know,” she finally murmured. “Village Ellen is… she’s a werewolf now. She claims to still be in control, if I was reading her right, but last night she…” Hunter paused, so Scout finished the statement. “She killed the werewolf that turned her.” Ellen’s eyebrows shot up, but she could see from Hunter’s discomfort that Scout’s statement was all too true. The idea of the quiet version of her had killed anything, let alone a monster that was so close to human—had been human—was startling. Village Ellen had chosen to live in safety, without even the struggle of building a town… and certainly not combat. “It’s true,” Hunter confirmed. “I suspected when I saw her, but she said she was fine. When we heard the howl last night, after we already thought the man might be a werewolf…” “We rushed to find the beast, and we found two of them,” Scout continued. Hunter glanced at her, but Scout seemed unbothered at the implication of rudeness. An expectant look from Scout toward Hunter made Ellen realize that the “younger” Ellen was expecting Hunter to swap sentences like Scout did with the rest of the quartet. Ellen wasn’t sure if she should feel relieved or worried about that. Hunter cleared her throat. “As Scout said. Two wolves, fighting. Or um… it was a short fight. Village threw the werewolf off a ledge. We couldn’t see the body in the dark, but Village seemed to think her job was done. She… winked at us and ran off into the forest.” Ellen slumped back, but she kept her fingers curled and scratched behind one ear of the ginger cat in her lap. Healer had done a good job ensuring the cats were free of fleas before she had died, and now Ellen was glad for that warm, comfortable weight. “You think she might be dangerous to us? To the village?” Ellen frowned as she said that. The idea of one of their own falling to the bloodthirsty curse was worrying. It didn’t sound like she’d been totally under its spell, but the bestial transformation of the mind could be slow and insidious. “No.” Scout said that without hesitation, before Hunter could even reply. Ellen shared Hunter’s perplexed expression as she stared at Scout. It was disorienting to speak to one of the quartet alone like this… their close-knit nature meant that they rarely bothered to speak outside of their tiny group. In truth, Ellen had been surprised that Scout had agreed so readily to join Hunter. Not that it was a bad idea. Scout’s recent Class Evolution had led to something called a Shadow Striker , and her emphasis on stealth and rapid movement made her perfect for such tasks. The name of the Class still made Ellen uncomfortable, but Scout’s utter loyalty to the Ellens was becoming clearer by the day. Hunter shook her head. “Maybe not now, but she violently murdered a creature that she knew was a thinking being. A former human I mean. Sure, he was a monster, but I think he still had some humanity left. And she didn’t hav