"Your dinner was ready, Sir." The owner bowed toward Vaterian and greeted him, his toady smile made Vaterian feel uncomfortable. He was grateful about Vaterian chose to spare his life, also afraid that he will take it away from him.
"What we had today? I hope it's enough to satisfy our guest from the north." Vaterian asked the owner about the dishes they would have today, being kidnapped was already disturbing enough for the caravan, having some awful meal afterwards would only make things worst.
"Yes, Sir. I had prepared them an 'Abendbrot', it should be a good local dish to let them experience our culture." Said the owner while rubbing his finger, his looking at the ground to avoid eye contact with Vaterian.
Of course, Vaterian knew that 'Abendbrot' was the most authentic dish you could imagine in this land, but it was also the worst dish to serve to your guest. Nobody wanted to be served with only bread and soup for dinner.
"Oh, I guess you never thought that you need to serve them their dinner, I won't surprised about that, but you better plan for tomorrow breakfast. I wish to say something more appetizing." Vaterian had foreseen this to happen and just let it go. "Keep this" Vaterian gave the owner the ring he found in the basement, it shouldn't stay there forever.
"By the way, take care of those bodies of those guys, I believe you were an expert in this job. Remember don't let the others see the bodies unless you want you to get caught." Vaterian sat down and enjoy his rather cheap dinner. The owner quickly ran upstairs for the clean-up.
"Miseur, what was our dinner for tonight?" Here come the Montferrats followed by their crew, but Igor was nowhere to be seen.
"Finally awaked from those wine? Time to power yourself with some bread and soup, but where's Einhaven gone, He not having his dinner? I thought he should be hungry, he never missed out on his meal even when he was full.
"He said he needs to do something for a while, he will come down later" Viridiana answered Vaterian's question, she didn't comment on their dinner, but her face showed she was not happy about it. Vaterian knit his brows, he knew Igor would find the truth actively, but he not expecting him to act so quickly.
"Fine, kindly told him to find me in the last room on the right side of the second floor." Vaterian put down the bread he was holding and walked upstairs but seems like they didn't need to send the message. Igor was walking down the stairs and as soon as he walked past Vaterian, Vaterian repeat his word to Igor.
Igor stared at Vaterian, he loosened his sword and put it beside the staircase, showing his obey. "You better give me a reason on why you order him to lie to me, I already kind enough to spare his life and not behave according to what you always told me to do." Vaterian looked back at him and went upstairs without answering.
Vaterian entered the room, it had been cleaned perfectly. No one can tell that there has been a murder happening here other than the person who participates in it. Even the hole on the wall was only covered by a cupboard, It won't be able to stop the sound transfer through the room next to it, but at least enough to let the other not notice it.
Vaterian lay on the bed and took out the ring he got from the man earlier, two names were carved in the inner ring. Obviously, it was his and his wife's name. The entire ring was made of silver, it was enough to drain out anyone's pocket, which probably explained why he join the organisation.
"If he knew that's someone will track down his family using this ring, I wonder would him ever carve their name on it." Vaterian laid his comment on the man's choice, he could tell the man was a new member of the Horror Story, keeping anything related to your family is the worst choice for a killer, but normal for a new couple.
"Yet he kept trying to hide all detail of the organisation from me, either he just brave or his senior had control on his family members. I preferred the second conclusion." Vaterian kept back the ring under his cloak, but later he transferred it to his pocket.
He started to check his equipment while waiting for Igor. Dagger hiding at his thigh and hunting knife beside his shoes, long sword hanging at his waist and another dagger beside it, he took his time oiling and sharpening all his weapons. The two bottles beside him were differentiated with different shapes, water and medicine.
After a couple of hours, Vaterian ran out of patience. He has already done with all the tasks, and had even taken some time to play chess with himself and take a shower, he could hear the sound from the Montferrat from the room next to them, the father was asleep his health was not ideal for him to sleep late. Suddenly, the door opened. Igor stood at the doorstep looking at Vaterian.
"Get in, don't stay there doing nothing. You already had a bunch of questions in your mind, isn't it?" It's not weird for Vaterian to knew about his arrival, Igor's footsteps could be heard miles away. He no need to hide from his enemy, so he didn't mind stepping hard on the wooden stairs.
Igor closed the door and threw an arming sword toward Vaterian, it didn't belong to them. They were taught to wield the long sword, not arming sword. Vaterian recalled what happened today, he knew who this sword belongs to.
"I found it at one of the rooms, alongside with some cloth and supplies. Don't look at me like that, there had no valuable information on those things, but they show those guys had been living here for days, and you told me the owner had no relationship with them?" Igor was extremely mad about the lie.
"Nice, you had grown much, the time passed extremely fast right?" "Answer my question, Vaterian!" Igor stopped Vaterian from avoiding his questions, he held his finger together, trying to control himself not to punch Vaterian on his face.
"Seems like you discovered more thing during these couple hours, I hope the owner still had his heart beating, we can't live in comfort without him. And yes, he was one of the outer members of the organization, he gets paid from them and he provide them with some space to stay, but he didn't know much about the society, he was more a part-timer than a true member." Vaterian answered the first question Igor asked, but he knew there was more to come.
"Second questions Vaterian, explain to me what happened to the people in the basement" It seems like Igor had been to the basement, and had witnessed the piles of bones under it.
"People got killed and buried, what do you expect from a wingman for a killer organisation? Kindness and Sympathy?" Vaterian was glad that he picked up the ring in the basement and returned to the owner, otherwise things might get worst.
"Fine, I still got my last question. Where did the ring go?" Igor's question surprised Vaterian.
"What ring?"
"The one from the man! I saw the mark on the man's finger, he has worn a ring before, But I can't find it anywhere. If you dare to use it to trace his family, I will let you know how I survived in the slum!" Igor was furious when he guessed that Vaterian took the ring, he pushed Vaterian to the wall and lifted him.
"You think those killers will bring anything that allowed you to trace them? Don't let your anger overtake your mind." Igor was relieved after hearing that, he was glad that his friend wasn't a monster, just hoping he never knew Vaterian lied to him.
Suddenly, Igor punched Vaterian on his face. Vaterian had not been surprised by it, he looked at Igor waiting for his words.
"This is for Viridiana! You already knew there was someone on the third floor when you saw the pie crust, right? Yet you still let Viridiana go up and find her father! Just to prove your inference."
Vaterian pushed away Igor's hand and give him the answer by staying silent. "Go take your shower and then go to sleep we still had more stuff to do tomorrow."
Vaterian lay on the bed and flipped around, showing his back to Igor.
Igor looked at him for a second and turned away.