"Exthoth's going to be really disappointed, eh?" Lucid gloated, blue light dancing around his body. "We caught the perp on our first try. That just goes to show that mathematical probabilities are not the most important thing in making decisions; it's luck!"
"If the Moons smile on you, anything is possible," Haber replied, before breaking into a huge grin. "Even if there's only a really small chance. Huhuhu!"
The two men cackled madly, prompting anyone nearby to give them a wide berth. Fortunately, the two men either didn't mind or didn't notice, but anyone who had a modicum of intelligence would know that they were mana-users. It would seem that the townspeople would be talking about a bunch of crazy mana-users tomorrow.
Dia rubbed her head. On the bright side, mana-users were already seen as a bunch of crazy and odd people, so this really wasn't going to add much. Besides, compared to how the churches of the Coloured Gods held mass investigations not too long ago, this really didn't seem all that important.
The cloth-covered streets blocked out most of the moonlight. Clearly, the news of the murderer's death hadn't spread yet. Either that, or no one could be bothered to bring down the artificial ceiling. Putting it up in thirty minutes or so since their lives were at stake was one thing; taking it down now that there was no threat was another entirely.
"Is it really a good idea to lord this over your teammate of all people, though?" Dia wondered out loud. "I mean, you guys are a team, so…"
"We do this all the time, so it's just a temporary victory. Sometimes, Exthoth wins. Other times, Lucid does." Haber shrugged. "Sometimes, we gang up on the winner. Sometimes, the winner trashes the combined forces of the other two. It's all fun and games."
"You do know that the phrase goes 'It's all fun and games until something happens', right?" Dia rolled her eyes. "Well, so long as you guys know what you're doing."
"To a certain extent, competition is important for a party's growth," said Risti. "Comparing with team members, improving one's ability to outdo the rest, responding to growths in their strength…all these makes people stronger."
"As long as we keep it friendly," said Haber. "Still, this really isn't a competition of skill, though. It's just pure luck."
"I disagree," said Lucid. "I believed in Risti's ability to seek out the murderer on the first day, which was I agreed to go on the first day. Ability is absolute."
"I'm quite sure someone was talking about luck a few moments ago, though," Dia noted wryly.
"That's a figure of speech, okay? Figure. Of. Speech." Lucid folded his arms. "Alright, let's go play around with Exthoth."
The others laughed, prompting Dia to roll her eyes.
It didn't take long for them to arrive at the inn Hulid was staying in. The first floor was as crowded as usual, with all manner of mercenaries sitting around there. Food and drinks of all kinds filled up the tables there, but unlike the usual lively revelry that Dia was used to, the mercenaries here were sleepless, lethargic.
Dia could guess why. The inn's second floor had been occupied by the Dusk Daggers forcefully; but everyone here wanted to take shelter from the possible threat of falling spears. Even though an artificial ceiling had been erected throughout the main street, no one here wanted to be the victim of bad luck.
Heads tilted up at Dia and the others as they entered the inn, but no one said anything. It was late in the night — almost dawn, to be precise — and more importantly, there was a person standing at the staircase leading upstairs.
A blue-haired fellow, who looked like the two beside them.
Exthoth's eyes widened at that sight, and then waved twice, before approaching them.
"You two alright?" Exthoth asked, his words quiet.
Lucid and Haber looked around at the napping mercenaries and nodded.
"We're fine," Lucid replied quietly. "Come on, let's talk upstairs. We have news for you."
"News?" Extoth echoed that word.
"News alright," said Haber. "Come on, let's go upstairs. Best not to disturb these napping mercenaries."
Once they were safely tucked in Hulid's room, Exthoth folded his arms expectantly. "So? How goes the status of the hunt? Did you guys manage to find traces of the murderer?"
Haber and Lucid laughed, a sinister sound that made Dia's skin crawl. Cackling, the two began to pace back and forth in an evil, creepy manner, their movements so coordinated that they looked like reflections of each other.
"How goes, eh?"
"Traces, huh?"
Dia took a step back from the two blue-haired evil-looking men. "They look like villains or something."
Risti nodded. "They are villains right now, actually. Wow. Funny how people have so many faces to them, isn't it? To top it off, Exthoth still doesn't understand why they're so cocky…"
"What's with the two of you?" Exthoth asked. "The way you're behaving…did you two actually find the murderer or something? Come on, the chances of that are absurdly low. Stop trying to pull my leg, yeah?"
"Low, yes," said Haber.
Lucid cackled and completed Haber's sentence. "But even the smallest of possibilities can bear fruit, if luck is smiling down on you. We found the murderer and got rid of him. Our job here is over. Done."
"Wait. No way." Exthoth looked at the two of them, and then at Risti and Dia. "These two punks...ahem. You guys really succeeded? On your first try?"
"Yes." Risti had a faint smile on her face. "As a rule of thumb, when I make plans, the first time has the highest chance of success. It went without saying that therefore, we managed to locate the murderer and take him by surprise."
"…Moons take it." Exthoth crossed his arms. "Looks like you guys win this round."
"Well, to be honest, neither of them played much of a part," said Risti. "I came up with the plans here, while Dia was the one to spot and engage the murderer. Before we could even assist, the murderer had died from blood loss. So…they literally didn't do anything, save for the easiest part."
"Ack!"
"Gah!"
Risti's words dealt critical damage to the two uppity Hulid-lookalikes, forcing them to take a few steps back. Both men's struggle to rebut those words were visible, but after a few moments of opening and closing their mouths in silence, they took a step back each and ceased their disgraceful display.
"She's right," Haber admitted. "As much as I want to say that it was all us, I can't do that in good conscience. We only acted as hired muscle. If they weren't there…"
"True. We didn't really do much, even as an entire party." Lucid sighed. "Right, we should just mention this to the Association. Us Dusk Daggers shouldn't really steal the hard work of other people."
"You two…" Exthoth looked at them. "I mean, I can't really complain, since I literally did nothing."
"Yeah, you can't. I'll explain this to Hulid when he wakes up," said Haber. "But we shouldn't take this credit."
"There's no need to explain to me," a brusque voice cut in, a voice that came from the bed. "Ouch. My head. Tch. Damn my hands. And that snake."
Everyone froze, before turning to look at the bed in one single motion.
"Hulid?"
"What?" Hulid asked grumpily. "Not going to celebrate my awakening?"
"You're…awake?" Lucid asked.
"What does it look like to you? Dumbass." Bones creaked as he tried to move. "How long have I been lying here?"
"Nearly a week," Exthoth replied. "But…how are you awake?"
"Three comedians were performing right in front of me," Hulid replied. "Even the dead would wake up, let alone your boss here. Idiots. You guys couldn't even solve a murder case by yourself?"
"We were worried—"
"Worried my ass! Thanks to you, our reinforcements have solved the case! Even if I faint, you lot should always prioritise the mission first, got it? Gah." Hulid shook his head slowly. "Disappointing. Wait till I can move properly, and I'll teach you how to solve crimes all over again."
He looked at Dia and Risti. "Thank you for helping us in our time of need. Rest assured. You will be given your credit. Hmph. Just know that you were able to finish this request because I was incapacitated and those idiots didn't know how to act without their leader."
Dia didn't quite know what to make of those very prideful words, so she stayed silent.
In response, Risti chuckled. "Yes, of course. That said, if not for your preliminary ground work, we couldn't have done all that this smoothly. We can't take all the credit."
"There's no need to pity us," Hulid replied. "I know full well what kind of information we gathered, and it's worth a tiny bit more than Istrel's underwear colour. Nothing we gathered could have helped you for that."
"But—"
"We're the Dusk Daggers. We don't need charity or help." Hulid paused. "But we owe you one for this. You'll get your credit, and a favour from us. Don't treat us lightly."
"Wait, we aren't—"
"It's late at night. You ladies should go find a room and sleep," Hulid cut Risti off once more. "Don't worry. We'll handle the boring things. Once again, thank you for your help."
The last sentence would have been a polite one, if not for the fact that Hulid added a snort at the end of it.
"Think little of it, then." Risti beckoned to Dia. "Come on. Let's go."
Rolling her eyes, Dia followed Risti out.