After obtaining messages from the other four assassins in the party chat that the suspect they were tracking was the Clossbay Killer, Tryndall told everyone to meet up where all of them had congregated before splitting up, with the trio being the first to make their way there.
Ding!
While continuing to move through the rooftops to make sure no one was following them, a notification sound resounded within Valyr’s mind, getting a foreboding feeling as he looked at Tryndall. Seeing that Tryndall had also turned his head to look at him, a bitter smile appeared on Valyr’s face as he commanded the system to show him what notification he had obtained.
[You have completed the main requirement for the quest: The Clossbay Killer.]
[You may head to the mayor of Clossbay City to receive your rewards, or you may complete all of the quest’s requirements before doing so.]
“Did you get a notification from the system that you completed the quest’s main requirement?” Once he was finished reading through his notifications, Valyr swiftly sent a message to Tryndall through the party chat.
“Yeah.” It did not take long for Tryndall to send a response back, even nodding at Valyr after doing so. “To be honest, once we found the true suspect among the five, I would have apprehended the guy with you so we could get all of the rewards, but now…”
“Let’s talk about it later.” After Valyr sent this message to the party chat, the two stopped messaging each other in the party chat for the meantime, focusing all of their attention on heading back to the meet-up spot for now.
…
With Tryndall, Valyr, and the five assassins back at the meet-up spot sometime later, Tryndall went ahead and opened his mouth after making sure that there were no people eavesdropping on their conversation.
“So, it turns out all of the suspects we’ve been tracking so far is presumably the Clossbay Killer.” Tryndall awkwardly chuckled before scratching his head. “Though, just to make sure if that’s indeed the case, let’s have everyone watch through the memory crystal recordings.”
“Of course, everyone recorded it, right?” With this question, Tryndall looked at the group of five, who nodded in response as they retrieved the memory crystals that were given to them, which now contained the memory of their respective suspects being caught in the act of murder.
One by one, everyone in the group watched through all five recordings, showing how the suspect they were tracking cleanly cut their victim into specific body parts, giving everyone the feeling that they were watching someone carve meat instead. After everyone was finished watching through the recordings, a somber air surrounded the entire group, their expressions blatantly showing how clueless they were.
Even Tryndall and Valyr had clueless expressions on their faces, both of them wondering what to do next. In the end, with a long sigh, Tryndall thanked the group of five before allowing them to leave. However, before letting them leave for good, he told them to keep tracking the five suspects for the entirety of the following week.
In response, the five told Tryndall to increase the reward they would get from the task, to which the latter told them to not worry. Only after making the promise did the group of five finally leave, leaving both Valyr and Tryndall on their own as the latter suggested that the two to stroll around the streets as they sorted out their thoughts.
With Valyr nodding in response, the two of them then proceeded to walk, both of them eventually letting out long sighs at some point.
“So, what’s our next plan?” Valyr looked at Tryndall, who looked back at him in silence, a conflicted expression adorning his face.
After a bit more silence, Tryndall shook his head. “I don’t know. I thought this quest would be done once we find out who the true killer is among the five, but to think all of them would be the Clossbay Killer…”
Of course, Valyr could not help but find it suspicious. The fact that five people that did not have any relation to one another would go ahead and murder an innocent person at more or less the same time did not sit well with him. His instincts told him that there was more to this matter, but alas, he did not even know where to begin to make headway.
Aside from that, he had a feeling that Tryndall also felt that there was more to the entire matter. Though, just like him, even though he had the aid of the Adventurer’s Guild through the progression of this quest so far, he was in the same boat as Valyr, with no idea on how to progress from their current situation.
“Should we just forget about the optional requirement and hand it in?” At some point, Valyr posed the question to him. “After all, we’ve already completed the main requirement, plus we’re not even duty bound to this city. We could just forget about everything we’ve witnessed so far and move on with our lives.”
“And let more innocent people die?” Tryndall looked back at Valyr in response with a grim expression, trying his best not to scream due to the sensitive nature of their current topic. “Do you really think your conscience would accept the fact that you chose not to prevent any further deaths, even though you had the option to?”
“Of course not.” Valyr shook his head with a sigh. “But here’s the thing, Tryndall.”
“We’re only in the middle of Rank 1. Do you think this level of strength is enough for us to weather the tides that might come our way?”
Hearing that, Tryndall fell silent, a frown plastered on his face. Though he took a few deep breaths to calm himself down, the frown on his face grew deeper and deeper, eventually reaching his limit as he screamed out a few profanities.
“I know that, Valyr… I truly do… but this situation just doesn’t sit well with me!”
Scratching his head as a slight frown adorned his face, Valyr mulled over what they could do in order to make headway regarding the peculiarities of the quest they took. Though he had accepted this quest from Damian on a whim in the first place, since he had already gotten this far…
He might as well see it to the bitter end.
“Argh! This is infuriating!” Stopping in his tracks, Valyr furiously scratched his head for a brief moment before letting out an annoyed grunt. Then, just as he thought that there was no way for them to progress from their impasse, an idea coincidentally surfaced in his mind at that moment, prompting him to take in a deep breath as he beckoned Tryndall to come closer to him.
Curious, Tryndall did what he was told, only for Valyr to lean closer to him and whisper a few things into the former’s ear. Listening to the words Valyr was whispering to him, a slight frown gradually appeared on his face, then to that of interest, then to that of slight incredulity.𝑶𝑽𝐿xt.𝚌𝞸𝕞
Once Valyr was finished whispering, Tryndall looked back at the former and asked, “Are you sure that’ll work?”
“It’s probably the only thing we can do for now, unless we come across more clues along the way.” Valyr shrugged his shoulders.
After mulling over Valyr’s words for a bit, Tryndall eventually let out a sigh as he shrugged his shoulders soon after. “I guess that’s our only option for now. I just hope it would give us more insight.”
“I hope so as well.”
With that, the two of them talked about where they would meet up the following day, as well as what time. Once the two finally came to an agreement on a time and place which worked with their respective schedules, they eventually returned to their respective places, bringing an end to what was an event-filled night for them.