"Oh! You're back," the girl said with a smile. "Any business in particular, or are you just looking for work? And what'll you have?"

Oulan grinned back. "Checking out a rumour I heard, and a cold beer, in that order - ah, Julie, isn't it?"

The barmaid smiled. "You remembered! Thank you, Lady Oulan!"

Oulan winced. "I told you, drop the 'Lady!' I'm no noble!!" After a moment, she continued. "Anyway, have you heard anything about this monster that attacks women?"

Julie nodded. "A few things, actually. What d'you want first - general stuff, specifics, or our latest local flap?"

"Local flap?" Oulan asked, puzzled.

"Yeah, but it's related, don't worry," Julie replied.

"All right, give it to me in order," Oulan said, sliding 20 potch across the bar. "Here's a cover charge for my time in the inn."

"Thanks," the girl said. She was one of Oulan's network of informants - people the bodyguard paid to keep on top of local news and keep her informed whenever she came to town. She often used women like Julie - tavern girls, maids, page girls, even street children - because those who thought themselves important never seemed to notice them, or keep quiet when they were around. They heard and knew a lot more than most folks gave them credit for, and her informants were always glad to earn hard coin for just a few minutes talking. Several, like Julie, actually idolized the young bodyguard, or took her as a role model - something Oulan appreciated, but wasn't sure she was comfortable with. Seeing Julie about to speak, Oulan shook her head and dragged herself back to the here and now.

"Okay," Julie began, "The general stuff is pretty simple. The peace agreement with Highland meant people started paying more attention to lesser worries like this monster thing. So of course more details started to pop up. Even with all that, though, all anybody can confirm is that this thing seems human-shaped, and that all the women who've escaped are very weak, like they've been starved or exhausted or something." Oulan nodded, but her hands clutched the bar hard enough to make it creak. Jolie flashed her a quick grin and continued. "Specifics are pretty sketchy. We know it lives in what used to be North Window-"

"Wait. The town Neclord depopulated before Lord Viktor killed him in the Gate Rune War?" Oulan asked.

"Yup. Viktor was *from* North Window, didja know that? Well, the monster's using the ruins there as a base. Troops on patrol have seen lights and movement there at night, and one of the escaped women was stumbling out of there when a traveller found her. Best guess is it's inside the ruined castle there."

Oulan's eyes narrowed, but her hands relaxed. **I have a target.**

Julie nodded at Oulan's relaxed hands and continued. "Lastly, you may not be the only one after this thing. A couple of days ago, if you believe Emmett Chalmers, a woman broke into his shop stark naked, forced him to make clothes that were 'elegant and suited for a fight,' he said she said, and left. The gate guards talked about a similar pale-haired woman who left that day, and she was muttering about how she'd 'get him this time.' She headed right for North Window, can you believe it? Alone and on foot!" The barmaid smiled at the pale woman's craziness, but a look at Oulan's face stole the mirth from her.

Oulan was in that particular look that many who knew her called 'the face of stone.' Her eyes were hard and unwavering, and she was frowning. It was usually a sign that she was restraining her formidable temper. "Let me recap this last bit," Oulan said. "A woman who may be a prior victim of this thing headed back out after it, on foot and alone, two days ago? Was she armed? Did she buy runes? *Anything!?*"

"Ah- no, I don't think so-" Julie stammered.

"SHIT!!" Oulan cursed, springing to her feet. She whirled toward the door, yelling for the stablemaster and some of the page-boys.

Within half an hour she galloped out of South Window on the best horse she could afford, her traveler's backpack laden with Medicine, a Sacrificial Jizo, and several aces-in-the-hole. **I can only pray I'm in time!!** she thought desperately as she urged the horse on to greater speed. **It's about two days' walk from here to North Window. If I push the horse hard I can be there in half a day. Whoever you are,** she thought to the pale woman, **I hope you were a slow walker.**

At the gates to North Window, Oulan got off her horse. It was a measure of how fast she'd come that the great animal actually seemed to appreciate the lesser load. **It looks like they fought a war here,** Oulan thought as she looked around. The village itself was just a ghost town, like others Oulan had seen in her travels, but the gate was a slaughterhouse. Bodies, obviously long dead, were strewn about in a gory mess, except for one circle of eerily flat, razed ground. Oulan crouched in that circle, obviously the work of a Rune from the severed arm that neatly vanished as it crossed the circle's boundary. **Not a Fire or Rage Rune - no ash,** Oulan thought. **Not an Earth Rune either, or any Rune Unite I've ever heard of. Could it have been.. either a Darkness Rune, or McDohl's Soul Eater? Black Shadow would do this...**

She stood, and it was then that she realized the other *wrong* thing about this scene. **The bodies.. they look like they've been dead for years, but the gore's too fresh - it can't be more than an hour old! That means... zombies, like Neclord was using when Viktor killed him.. and the women.. some crony of Neclord's must have come back here and set up shop!**

With a grimace, Oulan noticed some of the gore clinging to her shoes, then cursed herself for a fool and looked at the ground around her.

Sure enough, there was a set of footprints headed for the gates gaping open like jaws at the top of the hill. They were small and light, and not too far apart. **Whoever made them - and my money's on the pale woman - was in no hurry,** Oulan thought. **Good, I might still be in time.** With no further delay, the redheaded bodyguard ran for the entrance, leaped in, and turned left to go up the stairs.

**Whoever you are, just hang on!!** she thought as she ran.

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"Oulan" and "Suikoden 2" are (C) Konami This chapter was posted on November 8, 1999