Earth's SSS Pornstar to SSS Combat God in Another World-Chapter 23: The Story of Mary Cathryn Lacrosse

As they waited in the queue, Joji and Alaric did not let their eyes idle. The gate’s timber bore long claw scores, deep enough to show pale wood under the weathered face.

"You saw," Joji murmured.

Alaric gave a small nod.

Under his hood, Kobluk squinted through the mask’s slits. "This might be a diversion from the real monster," he whispered.

Joji took that in and rolled it around. "If it is, the guards would be watching for big claws and big shadows. That makes it easier to slip something else past them."

Alaric added, "Even so, the beast might be a tool, not the main culprit. Taming is not that common, but it is not that rare either."

"It is true," Kobluk said. "But using a smart beast with conscience and critical thinking is harder. You cannot coax it like a man. Gold does not teach a creature its job. Still, it is not impossible."

Their turn came. Alaric paid five copper each, and the gate guards waved them through with bored eyes.

They went straight to an inn, hoping to secure beds before night swallowed the streets. Alaric stepped to the counter. A woman with brown hair stood there, pretty in a tired way, and her chest rose with a breath that looked like apology before words arrived.

"I apologize, but the inn is currently full."

Alaric glanced back at the group, troubled, then tried anyway. "When do you think a room will be free?"

"I would rather not promise you anything," she said. "Most customers are merchants. Harvest is about to start."

Joji nodded once. It made sense. Coin moved with crops.

"Let’s go," Joji said. "We will look elsewhere."

Alaric offered the woman a polite smile. "Take care, sister. Thanks for letting us know." He even added a wink, like charm could conjure spare rooms.

Outside, Joji pointed down a line of regular houses, shutters tight, smoke drifting from a few chimneys. "We look around first. Maybe we can find lodging with locals."

They agreed and began walking, slow and observant.

Then they spotted a broken house.

Candles crowded its windows like a vigil. The front door hung broken, splintered inward.

Bloodstains had dried brown across the cobblestone path and into the wooden floor beyond.

The doorjamb carried claw marks, the same pattern as the gate, and the cuts were so deep the wood looked nearly severed.

Lilina’s voice came small beside Joji’s leg.

"Should we look inside?"

All five heads shook at once. They did not need words to agree. Walking into that would announce them to whoever had done it.

So they did the safer thing. They waited where they could be seen. They let their faces look like travelers, not hunters.

Their patience caught someone.

An old woman approached, not hunched, not trembling. White hair, neat. Wrinkles, but not neglected. Slim body, and grief sitting plain on her face like it belonged there.

"My son was the first victim of these beasts," she said. Her eyes went to the ruined door, then back. "I know the one who lived here. A single man. His family was in Everhart City. He always told stories about being a young master once."

Her mouth tightened, as if she tasted something bitter. Then she softened it with courtesy.

"If you want to hear more, come have tea with this old lady."

Joji nodded. For now, she was their only lead.

They followed her to her house, set on the outskirts rather than the town’s center. It was still large, four times the size of most homes they had passed, a place built by someone with standing. There was a grain shop attached to it, shutters down now, closed tight.

That eased Joji and Alaric a little. Status meant fewer traps, at least the simple kind.

"Please sit," the old woman said. "I will brew tea."

Alaric moved first, taking the seat closest to the table like a man used to speaking with strangers.

Joji guided Lilina and the two kobolds to sit nearer the door.

Not because he expected an attack, but because monsters had their own restless manners.

If they fidgeted too much, if they stared too long, the old woman might start asking the wrong questions.

The kettle began to boil, the sound thin and steady. The woman set down a block of tea, then walked briskly back into the kitchen.

When she returned, she carried a tray.

Ham and cheese. Not a token bite. A generous spread.

She smiled as she served it. The smile was not born from hospitality.

It was dragged out from under grief, forced into place the way you forced a stiff door to open.

It looked like she had not smiled in a long time.

Alaric kept his voice polite.

"Please tell us your story."

"My name is Mary Cathryn Lacrosse," she said. "The previous wife of the town mayor."

No one spoke. Joji and the others listened.

"I have been widowed for seven years," Mary Cathryn continued, hands folding in her lap.

"I had four children. Two are in Everhart City. One wanders as a mage. My oldest stayed here." Her eyes went distant.

"He used to be a knight at the Everhart Estate thirty five years ago."

Joji and Alaric exchanged the smallest glance. They weren’t even alive back then. They would not have known.

"Please continue," Alaric said.

"At first, I thought it was my husband’s brother," Mary Cathryn said. "I thought he wanted to take over the township." Her voice tightened. "We fought when my son..."

Her tears spilled then, sudden and unstoppable.

"I was so wrong," she whispered.

Alaric leaned forward.

"Why would you say that? Who is the current town mayor?"

"There is no town mayor," she said. "It is just me and the accountants left." Her chin lifted a fraction, pride under sorrow.

"I know it is treason to use the town mayor’s seal. That is why I could only pray for knights to arrive soon."

Alaric’s brow furrowed.

"I see..." Alaric said softly. "I do hope the other knights arrive soon, as well. Would you tell me, how did you come to meet your husband?"

Mary Cathryn’s gaze turned nostalgic. Her intuition told her these were the people who could help, but she did not pry at their identities.

"I met my husband back at the Everhart Estate," she said. "I worked for the Fire Mage Brigade. He was an insistent man. I even burned his eyebrows to test if he would still love me. That was when I became convinced."

Alaric kept his face neutral.

"So... what have you done so far?" the knight asked gently. "I mean, about this monster of a problem."

Mary Cathryn shook her head.

"I have done nothing." She said it like a confession. "I can only say they were a group."

"This house is rigged with magic circles. My reputation as a fire mage deters anyone from moving against me, but if I start snooping, they might grow more aggressive and kill even more."

She took a breath, and her eyes hardened for the first time.

"One thing is certain. These people have no bottom line."

Then she softened again, as if the hardness hurt.

"I invite people into my house often. I apologize if I took too much of your time."

Joji listened, ate nothing, and kept his thoughts behind his teeth. Her story fit too neatly.

Her grief looked real, but real grief could still sit on top of a lie.

She had not given anything certain yet. For now, she could not be trusted.