In any case, Halian’s market didn’t see any more strange activities.
“Back to square one.”
Zig guessed that this was the best an amateur could do. He scratched his head, disappointed that he wasn’t as good as Cossack. There was nothing left to do.
“Then again, maybe it isn’t a group, at all. Maybe someone is targeting the guild, not to mess with their operations but out of a personal grudge…”
Antagonizing the guild in the name of personal gain came with a huge risk. It was the only other motive, an angle Zig’s investigation had left out until now.
He took out the list of suspects and put a hand on his chin. Continuing to read it, he turned a corner.
“Hrm.”
Well, obviously.
The Forestfangs, the adventurers he talked to yesterday, seemed the most suspicious. Kirk had said that the list was ordered in terms of the guild’s ratings. That meant the odds of the Forestfangs being the culprit were extremely low given their behavior. However, their conduct was only how the guild rated them. There could have been other reasons why the demi-humans might have turned resentful.
“Revenge on the humans for their poor treatment…that’s the first thing that comes to mind.”
Going by how Seb reacted to him, the young demi-human certainly harbored ill feelings toward humans.
Not everyone was as patient as Urbas and Balto. Perhaps a demi-human failed that test and allowed his emotions to get the better of him. At least, that was what Zig initially thought when he started this investigation.
“That’s how wars break out.”
He had seen many wars where the oppressed and religious groups finally decided to fight back.
He still thought it was the most likely motive for the incident, but he had no real evidence and only had a psychological profile at his disposal. Really, it was just his imagination.
Zig was only acting the role of an information broker. He knew that he had probably overlooked something and that his guesses were wildly off the mark. He turned another corner.
He pondered on strengths and weaknesses, as well as the right person for the right case. Information brokers and mercenaries each had their realms of aptitude. If he didn’t distinguish between the two, he would get in trouble.
The sphere of the information broker was looking and following threads of information to get results.
So, what was the mercenary’s realm?
To force a result at any cost.
“That went faster than expected,” Zig muttered, stopping in a cramped alley that wasn’t illuminated by the glow of the streetlights.
It was a dark street away from the hustle and bustle of the crowd.
Zig sighed as he cast his eyes toward the darkness. “I thought I was in over my head with this investigation. It’s a good thing you decided to come to me!”
He grunted that last word as the air around him whistled. Zig reacted, turning and guarding his face with his right hand.
There came the light clang of two metallic objects. A knife clattered onto the pavement. The knife, which had been going for his neck, was painted a matte black.
Two men stepped out from the darkness from which it came—a tall man stepped before Zig, and a short man came up behind him.
With frazzled, unkempt hair and tattered rags concealing an emaciated frame, they looked like any other homeless people. The only difference were their eyes, which gleamed as sharp as a blade.
“You don’t look like an ordinary thug,” Zig said.
He cautiously scanned the area as he grabbed the handle of his twinblade. He was caught in between them as they drew daggers, their eyes emotionless. Zig silently kept his hand on his weapon but didn’t draw it, continuing to observe the situation.
They were in a cramped alley, only wide enough to fit two people. The buildings around them would obstruct longer weapons, which also applied to Zig’s twinblade.
All the exits were blocked off. Zig’s opponents had the positional advantage, and he couldn’t make up for it using the reach of his weapon. The fact that they waited until the odds were tipped in their favor showed that they weren’t amateurs.
“Who sent you?”
They remained silent.
Not the talkative type, I see.
The man in front of Zig pointed his dagger at him. Meanwhile, the man behind stepped closer to him.
Shrrkk.
Zig’s attention was drawn to the sound of crunching pebbles.
Exploiting the opening, the tall man threw knives at him, three blades aimed at his chest and shoulders. The man didn’t grunt or make a sound—a sign of his proficiency.
As the knives flew, the short man behind Zig closed in on him. He was moving fast; the earlier step having been a distraction. Accelerating himself with wind magic, he instantly crossed the distance between him and Zig. His body was so low to the ground that he seemed to be crawling, and he slashed at Zig’s legs to try to take him down. It was a perfectly timed pincer attack.
Zig’s response…was to advance.
“Hmph!”
Zig lowered his body and stomped his foot. He avoided the trajectory of the two knives coming for his shoulders and avoided the swipe coming from behind.
However, he wasn’t out of the woods yet. As the knife going for Zig’s head whizzed by him, the tall man rushed toward him. Meanwhile, the short man readjusted his tanto and tried to go for a second attack.
Even if Zig managed to survive the knife attacks, he still wouldn’t be able to escape his enemies’ pincer formation.
Another knife came at his head, right for his eyes. Zig grabbed the blade out of the air and threw it back to the tall man.
“Huh?!”
Zig’s stomp and the knife’s speed combined was shocking. Deflecting it was one thing, but Zig had managed to snatch it as it was flying toward him. His enemies had expected him to block the knife with his gauntlets.
For the first time, unease flickered in his attacker’s eyes.
“Urk!”
The man couldn’t do Zig’s knife snatch and stopped to block the incoming knife. Zig’s assailant was pretty skilled, considering he was able to deal with a surprise throwing knife.