With bags hanging from both elbows, wrists, and then a few more cradled in her arms, Claire barely made it through the front doors of the hotel without dropping anything, "Thank you!" she called out right before the door closed.
"Whoa, was that a cannibal helping you carry all that up the hill?" Vaggie asked as she rushed to help lessen the load by taking the top bags.
Claire gave her a grateful smile, pushing off from the door to go set what remained down on a table by the couches. "Yes! That was Jonathan. I never would have made it back with all this without him. In fact this would all still be sitting at the base of a tree if it wasn't for him."
Vaggie followed along and also set the bags she'd taken down on the table, giving the contents a curious look then turning it on Claire herself, "How was your first day out and about? It can be a little much, but if you're already charming cannibals you're doing better than most."
"It was good! There's more variety in the shops than I thought, and I was able to find a couple of books and even make some connections." Claire started pulling a few of the non-perishables out, brandishing said books before setting them aside.
After a short pause she added in a bland tone, "I did see a lot of penises though."
"Yeah, that's going to happen," Vaggie grimaced, stepping to the side as Niffty appeared to start helping with the produce.
Claire pulled out a brand new notepad and flipped open to the first page, "Hey, do you know anything about a guy named Orkas?" she asked casually, rooting around in the bag to find the pen that was supposed to come with it, "His name kept coming up today. I guess someone killed him?"
"Orkas like the overlord Orkas?" Vaggie asked wrinkling her nose distastefully, "Good riddance."
"He was a bad boy!" Niffty giggled, picking up one of the bags full of food and turning to head towards the kitchen. As she did, Claire's eyes were drawn to the menu she'd posted earlier that day by the front desk. The main course, which had read 'Pastitsio,' was crossed out and someone had crudely written 'JAMBALAYA' beneath it.
Rude.
"Orkas preyed on vulnerable new sinners," Husk commented as he wandered in from the bar, bottle still in hand. He had a swig before finishing his thought, slumping down in a nearby armchair, "Not surprised someone took him out."
Finally finding the pen, Claire tried to click it, then realized it was a twist top. Of course it was. This was Hell after all. "Will the owned souls revert back to their original owners now?" She asked, setting the tip of the pen down on the notepad.
"HA!" Angel appeared almost out of nowhere, draping himself on the back of the chair Husk currently occupied, causing him to start, "If it were that easy, we'd be dropping overlords left and right."
"Low-level overlords tend to have a pretty high turnover," Husk explained to Claire, though he glowered up at Angel, "The killer likely assumed the contracts first, so I'm sure we'll be hearing about it."
"So, nothing happens to the person that murdered him except they get a promotion?" Claire asked incredulously.
Angel gave her a flat look, "It's Hell, Claire. Even double deaths don't bother no one. Except the person that's getting their soul destroyed of course."
Claire looked up from the notepad, "Hold on, back up. Souls can get destroyed?"
"I keep forgetting you haven't been here that long," Vaggie interjected, looking uncomfortable with the conversation, "Normally things that would kill you are just an…inconvenience here."
"It's no good torturing someone if it kills them right away, right?" Angel nodded wisely, making a cutting motion with his hand. "Then the funs just over."
"The only way it becomes more than that is with a double-death," Vaggie further explained, "But you'd need like, angelic weapons or something special for that."
"There's no coming back from a double death. Ever." Husk's tone was always somber, but it seemed even moreso now, "Your soul just stops existing."
Claire's pen flew over the paper, "And that's the kind of death that happened to Orkas? I feel like this should upset people more. Why is that even a thing?"
"Who cares, the guy was a shitheap!" Angel exclaimed, all four arms flinging out to the side for emphasis, "I'm sure there's tons of people glad he's dead for keeps."
"…are you taking notes?" Vaggie asked suddenly, leaning in to try to get a look at what she was writing. "Why are you even interested in this?"
"A lot of reasons," Claire replied, a touch defensively, flipping the notepad closed, and picking up the books on the table. "I like figuring things out and knowing how things work."
All three of them gave her the same skeptical look.
"…also, I'm kinda bored." She admitted after a short pause, starting for the stairs.
"That last one explains it," Vaggie nodded knowingly, seemingly content enough with that answer to not press her any further.
Once she was back in her room, Claire set the new books on the second shelf of the bookcase since the top was now full and then pushed it to the side to expose the chaos board. It had grown considerably since she'd started it and she added a few questions to it now—'Who killed Orkas?', 'What are angelic weapons made of?', 'Double death' got two question marks and placed next to 'evolution' on the edge of the board.
She stepped back to take it all in with a sour expression. "Too many questions," she muttered, scanning all the tacked-up notes. "Time to find some answers."
Reaching up she pulled down one she'd just put up: Who killed Orkas?
"Okay," she said to herself with firm resolve, looking down at the note. "Let's solve a murder in Hell."