Late at night, in Vleco, on Jikusuma Street, a simple two-story house stood in an alley rarely used by pedestrians. Even so, the alley was still inhabited, with a population of 116 people.
In front of the door, James Moriarty carried his brown suitcase, his right hand about to knock.
He glanced left and right, as though afraid of being followed.
Nothing seemed unusual; James Moriarty stared straight ahead.
Knock... Knock... Knock...
"Just a moment."
A panicked voice came from inside, followed by footsteps drawing closer with every passing second.
Click.
The door opened, revealing Nuken, a man with thin-framed glasses, a fallen noble from the Monelli family.
"...Mr. Moriarty?" Nuken exclaimed in confusion, opening the door wider.
James Moriarty looked at him, noticing the darkness behind him.
'How did he manage to get here?'
He tried to confirm further.
"...Did the sale go smoothly?"
Nuken hesitated for a moment, then lowered his head slightly and said quietly, "Yes, you could say that."
"Why is it so dark inside? Where are they?" he asked seriously.
"Uh, they... haven't come back yet," Nuken replied, his lips trembling and his breath catching.
James Moriarty blinked and thought.
'Is he hiding something from me? Are they dead, or worse, did they take the money?'
"Alright."
After confirming that much, James Moriarty took the initiative to step inside, but something unexpected greeted him.
Candles were lit one by one, while the chandelier overhead illuminated the living room with its warm glow, driving away the darkness within the house.
"...Welcome back."
A cheerful and relieved voice rang out, clearly feminine.
"Welcome back, sir. I never expected this plan to actually work."
A deep voice sounded from ahead, between the two separate rooms: the living room and the lounge.
"Welcome back."
From the right side, in front of a sofa, a man he recognized greeted him with a broad smile.
"All of you?"
James Moriarty had no idea how to react to this sudden welcome.
The only thing on his mind was how they had managed to do all this without him knowing, and whether they had prepared it beforehand.
'How did they become this close?'
Of course he was confused, because even he himself admitted he wasn't particularly close to Aaron, Mine, and Hana, despite having spent several months with them.
'Ah, I know the answer.'
The role of James Moriarty faded as Zavi smiled and thought,
'Money is the reason they've become like this.'
This unexpected welcome had allowed them to get to know one another and open up.
Luis and Luifis walked over to Zavi and nudged him toward the lounge.
While the others were gathered in the lounge, Evelina approached Nuken, who was still standing by the open door.
For a moment, the night breeze calmed both of them before Nuken closed the door and locked it from the inside.
He turned, looked at Evelina, and said quietly, "It's best not to think about it anymore."
Evelina immediately understood what he meant, watching the others from where she stood.
"Yeah, thinking about dead people makes me sick," she replied without turning around.
"About that..."
Nuken stopped Evelina in her tracks with his words.
He continued, "Was this your idea?"
"No," Evelina replied as she kept walking. "Luis was the one who suggested it after the sale succeeded."
After learning that, Evelina, the only woman there, stood amid the crowd of men gathered before her, holding a small celebration.
Nuken shook his head, not knowing what to make of it. He walked toward the group ahead and joined the small party.
Inside the lounge, several party decorations, such as dark blue and pale white ribbons, formed intricate arrangements hanging overhead beside the lamp.
Meanwhile, fresh flowers, green plants, and foliage were placed on the table, alongside dishes such as roast beef, apple pie, pudding, and other snacks typical of Vleco.
A long table stood in the center of the spacious room as they took their respective seats.
Zavi sat at the head of the table, Luis on his left and Evelina on his right. The others sat wherever they pleased.
Owen sat at the opposite end of the table, while Fatir, Geron, and Aris occupied the seats on the left side.
Meanwhile, Nuken, Wildan, Rapal, Zojan, Azza, and Culha sat on the right side.
They all enjoyed their meals and chatted with one another.
At first, Zavi found it hard to believe, considering he had forced them to work without any real desire on their part.
Now, as he watched them laugh and enjoy their food, a wave of nostalgia crossed his mind.
It was triggered by Evelina's sadness while eating; it reminded him of his two older sisters. And Luis, who ate while remaining considerate of others, reminded him of his past.
But things were different now, and Zavi knew it. He no longer wanted to be trapped by the past, and he intended to pursue his future in his own way.
He placed a hand over his mouth and cleared his throat. The relaxed atmosphere in the dining room, along with the sofas slightly shifted to the left, froze for a moment.
"Excellent work, all of you," Zavi said in a muffled voice as he raised his hand.
Zavi glanced at the suitcase beneath him and thought,
'Come to think of it, what kind of ability does that artifact have?'
After a brief moment of thought, Zavi cleared his throat and asked in the same tone, "How much money did you make from selling the treasure?"
For a moment, they all hesitated before Luis calmly replied, "10,000 Pace, Mr. James Moriarty."
"Good," Zavi said. "Then we'll start dividing it after dinner."
Remembering that, Luifis shook his head and let the matter go. He no longer expected anything from James Moriarty.
Several minutes passed, and each of them had finished eating and were now enjoying dessert.
Luis handed over the suitcase filled with money, and Zavi took it and opened it.
Instead of counting it immediately, he pulled out eight stacks of cash and said, "Please take these."
He handed the stacks to Evelina, totaling 6,500 Pace.
"Thank you," Evelina said with a faint smile.
Zavi took several more stacks of cash and moved them to his left side.
"Thank you, Mr. James Moriarty," Luis said clearly before quickly counting the money.
The total Luis received was 2,800 Pace.
The ten men had not expected anything, nor had Luifis regarding the special reward Zavi had mentioned.
Looking at the money remaining in the suitcase, Zavi stared for a long time at the design and face of King Rerise de Norn.
"It's alright. I already have mine."
"Alright."
Their gazes shifted toward him, trembling slightly, uncertain of what Zavi would do next.
"I'm going to distribute the remaining money. Of course, I'll divide it fairly, but on one condition."
"One condition?"
The eleven men murmured almost simultaneously.
"The condition is simple: answer my questions, and I'll decide how much to give based on how satisfying your answers are."
They hesitated for a moment, but one of them didn't want to miss this opportunity.
Money was something they needed to survive in this unstable world.
"Just ask. I'll answer if I know," Nuken said, adjusting his glasses.
Knowing their friend's personality, the other nine men from the tax collection group weren't surprised by his attitude.
Zavi hesitated briefly, then two seconds later asked, "The killer of Salilfai Lamena, does that person really exist? And where are they now?"
Instead of Nuken, it was Zojan, the bald man with a mustache, who answered, "Lamena from Ninesorals and Vinohoshi? Isn't that just a fairy tale?"
For a moment, Zavi was shocked by that statement.
His body trembled as he remembered what he had done years ago.
'There's no way that's just a fairy tale. Are they pretending to be ignorant, or what?'
Zavi's thoughts were interrupted when one of them, Geron, said, "The Lamena Killer started out as a fairy tale, but they appeared in December and January of last year. Even the traces connected to them and the rumors surrounding them vanished in April."
One fact now shocked Zavi.
'So what Aaron said back then was true, about the killer disappearing in the fourth month.'
"Where was the killer last seen?" he asked in a calm and firm tone, glancing at Evelina merely to test her.
Evelina blinked at his look.
"Uh, I don't know," she answered awkwardly.
'I'm not interested in that at all, and I haven't received any information beyond Havanuheta Province.'
After thinking for a moment, he observed all of them, who appeared to be thinking hard, judging by their expressions and body language.
Meanwhile, Luis quietly observed James Moriarty and thought,
'If I knew, I'd tell you, Mr. James Moriarty.'
Luifis stared at the table for quite some time, lost in thought.
'My job is to be Miss Evelina's bodyguard. How would I know the answer to that question?'
Wildan tapped the table repeatedly and thought,
'If I'm not mistaken, Lamena the killer was a figure from folklore, and the fact that they appeared last year and then vanished so suddenly is definitely suspicious.'
Rather than receiving an answer, Zavi suppressed his curiosity and tried changing the subject.
"Alright. Then do any of you know what's causing the increase in deaths in Semilir?"
Their mouths shut tight, completely unable to answer a question beyond their reach.
Realizing this, Zavi was forced to look for something else connected to the problems he was facing.
"The tax collector group."
Those words made the ten men shudder and immediately swallow nervously.
"Answer this if you want to stay alive," Zavi continued, his tone unmistakably threatening and frightening.
The ten men remained silent, refusing to meet his gaze.
Evelina glanced at him and thought,
'What exactly are you planning... Moriarty?'
After silence gripped the room, Zavi sighed and asked, "How much money do you usually make in a day from that strange tax?"
"80 Pace, and if we're lucky, 97 Pace in a day," Owen answered immediately, beating the other nine to it.
Naturally, the others hissed after hearing that statement leave his mouth.
"Alright."
For a moment, Zavi ran out of ideas, unwilling to ask something strange like before. He pulled out several banknotes and handed them to Owen through Evelina, who passed the money down the table to where Owen sat.
Owen stared at the money in his hands and smiled.
'It's fine. He kept his promise and paid me.'
Even though the circumstances had been strange, being part of the diversion team tasked with luring the guards away, he was very happy to receive 100 Pace from Zavi.
His friends, completely unaware of how much Owen had received, assumed it was a large amount because the stack looked so thick. The other nine men hoped their turn would come as well.
As Zavi stared at the remaining stack for a long while, he suddenly wanted to ask something.
"About Ardoma Valley, is it true that there's a Chalog-type curse there, and how is it possible that a curse type supposedly found in the Kingdom of Yessaka, far from Norn, ended up in Havanuheta?"
"Isn't that strange?" Zavi asked, merely testing them.
A cry of "Good heavens," contrasted sharply with the confused expressions of the ten men.
Owen relaxed and didn't think much of it, because he already understood the intent behind the question and had already received his money.
After thinking more deeply, he realized that James Moriarty was testing them, or rather, trying to get closer by exchanging information with him and his companions.
Owen could only smile at them, irritating his friends, who continued pondering the answer.
One of them voiced an opinion, though whether it was completely fabricated or not remained another matter.
"Obviously because of the battle seven years ago, in Nitherblack," Aris answered calmly.
'Which Nitherblack is that supposed to be?'
As Zavi knew, his knowledge of this world was extremely limited, and understanding such things depended entirely on whether someone could explain them in detail and on Zavi's own sparse memories.
"Explain briefly," Zavi said calmly.
"Alright."
Aris tried to think of a fitting story.
"Nitherblack is located in Nedce, Nature Province, and as for the Chalog, they were carried away by the powerful currents of the Vesuvius River and somehow settled in Ardoma Valley."
He was truly relying on his creativity as he continued, "Because of that, even though there were victims traveling by train from Minehold to Semilir, the Chalog-type curses remain a mystery. Some say they died, some say they were eaten, and others claim that the hunter-type creatures that previously dominated Ardoma Valley rebelled and wiped out the Chalog-type curses. That's all I know."
Zavi pursed his lips, uncertain whether the man was making things up or not, but he was impressed by the detailed explanation.
"Very well, information accepted."
Satisfied with the answer, he handed over the same amount of money in the same manner.
Aris smiled inwardly, having given such a detailed explanation, even though he himself wasn't sure whether it was true.
The trivial questions continued until each of them had received their share.
The remaining 2,700 Pace was enough for the special reward Luifis received.
"So this is the special reward you meant?"
He felt relieved after that and momentarily guilty for his earlier suspicions.
He thanked him, and the questioning gradually turned into casual conversation as Zavi headed upstairs with the suitcase in hand, intending to examine the artifacts.
Yet late that night, near the market, the captain of the Ghost Skull Syndicate and his subordinates fought desperately against the two Hollow they had hired.
The surrounding buildings were reduced to rubble, though no casualties resulted from the battle.
Meanwhile, the stone road leading in two different directions had been torn upward by the effects of their clash.
The air froze as their gazes locked onto one another, and the battle between three Hollow masters began as each merged with their contracted creature.