After walking through the streets of Clossbay for a while, Tryndall and Valyr eventually arrived in front of a two story building, which spanned about five houses in width and depth. Taking note that most of the people that entered and exited the building wore clothes that exuded authority and professionalism, the two looked each other for a bit and nodded before entering.
While making their way through the various corridors and halls in the building, the two of them stopped a few people along the way and asked them for directions, with the general response to their questions being that of annoyance. Nevertheless, a few people still helped them out, allowing them to eventually arrive in front of what appeared to be a help desk sometime later.
“Excuse me. Where can we find the mayor?” Noticing that the woman behind the help desk was waiting for either one of them to open their mouths, Tryndall apologetically smiled before posing the question to her.
Hiding the faint annoyance she felt from their arrival, the woman let out a faint sigh before remembering that she was told to be as cordial as possible to whoever came up to her. “He’s currently busy at the moment with a meeting. If you could tell me your reasons as to why you’re looking for him, I could inform him and possibly have him see you about half an hour from now.”
Nodding in response to the woman’s words, Valyr took the initiative to answer. Though, recalling their purpose as to why they came here, he leaned in closer to the woman before talking in a soft voice. “We’re here to inform him regarding the Clossbay Killer’s whereabouts.”
As a citizen of Clossbay City herself, the woman’s eyes could not help but widen after hearing the words that came out of Valyr’s mouth. After all, the Clossbay Killer was an issue that the city had been having for quite sometime now.
Fortunately, it did not take too long for her to recall a certain memory, her expression turning solemn before nodding. “Since your reason is due to the Clossbay Killer, I’ll make an exception and tell him to come meet with you two as soon as possible.”
“Speaking of which, the name is Samantha. I’m the mayor’s secretary,” she said soon after.
“Thank you for helping us out,” said Tryndall in response, prompting Samantha to respond back that they were doing the city a greater favor than she was.
After telling the two of them that they were the only ones who had the courage to accept the mayor’s request at this moment, Samantha left the help desk and headed to where the mayor was, leaving the two alone at the front of the help desk in their own thoughts.
Unsurprisingly, once they heard from Samantha that they were the only people to have accepted the request, Tryndall and Valyr could not help but look at each other, the feeling they were getting from the whole matter being more than what it really was becoming greater by the second.
“It feels weird that we’re the only ones to accept the quest,” Valyr could not help but say, to which Tryndall nodded in agreement.
“I’m getting the feeling that there’s a greater conspiracy happening behind all of this,” the latter muttered not long after, prompting Valyr to shrug his shoulders in response. After all, even though that was the feeling they got, they had no evidence that it was indeed the case.
After talking a bit more about the peculiarity of the quest, Samantha eventually returned to the help desk with a smile that expressed relief on her face. Looking at the two, she then told them to head towards a certain room through the corridor beside her desk, informing them that the mayor would meet up with them shortly.
Thanking Samantha for her help once more, the two of them headed towards the room the former told them to enter, slightly surprised once they realized that they were led directly to what appeared like the mayor’s office.𝑶𝑽𝐿xt.𝚌𝞸𝕞
After getting over their initial shock, the two of them sat beside each other on nearby chairs before becoming silent, waiting for the person that would come meet them at some point.
Fortunately, after ten minutes or so of waiting, the door to the room opened, revealing a tall, stocky man to the two that wore slightly casual clothing. Nevertheless, the air of authority and grandeur radiating from him instantly revealed to them that this man was none other than the person they were hoping to talk to.
“I apologize for making you two wait for quite sometime,” said the tall man as he gave the two an apologetic smile. After that, he made his way to the desk located at the end of the room and sat on the chair behind it before beckoning the two to come closer.
As the two moved closer to him, the man looked through some of the documents that were scattered on the desk, eventually finding the one he wanted to look at as Valyr and Tryndall took their seats on the opposite side of the desk.
“Just to make sure, you two are the ones who accepted my request to find the whereabouts of the Clossbay Killer, right?” The tall man looked at them, prompting them to nod in response to the question.
“Tryndall Valtherin and Valyr Zeihardt…” Reading the names that were written on the document, the man looked at Tryndall for a bit before focusing his gaze on Valyr for a while, the latter making him narrow his eyes for a bit.
“To think I’d inadvertently enlist the help of a noble.” After a while, he shrugged his shoulders before placing the document down. “Before I ask you two regarding the quest, since you two are not from here, let me introduce myself.”
“The name’s Merdus Clossbay, current heir for the position of patriarch within the Clossbay clan, as well as the 18th and current mayor of Clossbay City.”
“With that out of the way… considering that the two of you are here, I presume you two have made progress?” Merdus looked at them with a slightly curious expression, to which the two nodded.
“Indeed, er…” Taking the initiative to answer his question, Valyr opened his mouth, only to have an awkward smile hanging on his face.
“You can choose to call me whatever you want, I won’t mind.” Merdus waved his hand in slight nonchalance before returning the topic of their conversation to what it was earlier. “So? What kind of progress did the two of you make so far?”
“Here’s the thing, Sir Merdus.” Valyr took in a deep breath to calm himself down. “We’ve already figured out who the Clossbay Killer is, as well as their whereabouts.”
“Is that so? How splendid!” In response, Merdus let out a carefree chortle, thankful that their city’s problem would finally come to an end after being at an impasse for a few months. Though, just as he was about to ask the two regarding the Clossbay Killer’s whereabouts, he noticed the bitter smiles on their faces, prompting him to realize that Valyr was not finished.
Seeing that Merdus had become silent, seemingly waiting for him to continue, Valyr looked at Tryndall for a bit, then at Merdus before opening his mouth once more. “We’ve figured out who the Clossbay Killer is, as well as their whereabouts. However, there’s just one problem.”
“And that would be?” Merdus raised his eyebrow in curiosity.
“The Clossbay Killer isn’t alone, Sir Merdus.” Valyr looked back at him with a solemn expression.
“There’s five of them.”