'Tobey Foster, huh? Who would imagine that my little brother is one of the greatest detectives in this city! Man, I am feeling somewhat happy and proud. However, it's still bitter, somehow,' Mark thought as he hastily walked through the streets, his mind in a rush.
Mark's heart was beating so fast that, for a while, he thought that he would have a heart attack. He was so excited about finally discovering who his brother was!
He was walking so fast that, in a couple of minutes, he finally arrived at the first place that he wanted to visit: that old bar that he adored to refer to as Dump.
Mark broke in, finally taking off that door that didn't open correctly. The old man was cleaning the balcony and widened his eyes as he saw the demon entering his old bar with his beloved door in his hands.
"Now, I think I finally gave you a reason to change this door, right, old man?"
"Y-Y-Y-Y-You bastaaaard! My wife gave me that door!"
"Yes, and that was probably the only thing that she gave you before betraying you with another bartender, right?"
The old man blushed, starting to clean the balcony again with the same face as someone who just sucked an entire lemon. Mark wasn't pitying him at all. Instead, he found it the most hilarious sight that he witnessed in days.
"I am sorry for my toxicity and for breaking your beloved door, old man, but I am excited! I need to talk with those two, so they can help me with-"
"Those two?" the old man asked with a grim expression.
"Yes, those damn twins that always come here! They are, like, your only clients and, though debtors most of the time, they help to keep this cow-house standing. Do you have Alzheimer's already?"
"Of course not, you fool! Stop trying to make me seem elder than I really am! Also, you better start to read the newspaper or watch a bit of TV!"
"I did it today, okay? That's why I am so excited. I found out the real identity of my brother and-"
"The twins are dead, Mark. They died right after your last reunion. The news says that some bums beat them up, but it's obvious that the paladins only did it to divert the general attention to the gangs of the suburbs who invades the downtown from time to time. This way this time of hesitation due to the previous ruckus won't last any longer."
Mark kept with his mouth opened, the rest of his phrase never spelled. He couldn't utter a sound. It was not just because the old man stopped him, but also due to his lack of voice, for his shock was great.
After several minutes in silence, Mark put the door down on the floor and turned to the exit.
"Don't let this wrath get the better of you, Mark. Do you even know how complicated is this situation? Their deaths are a more complex problem than we can first assume."
"I am not an idiot that only relies on power, I know what their death means: Baltazar is not aware of what is happening among the paladins. He doesn't have any idea about the coup. If what they are planning to do really happens, then they will all get killed," he said with a deep frown.
"You know very well that you can't contact them by conventional means, right? You are a renegade of their clan right now. Enter their territory is a crime, so they will be obliged to chase you, or else they will be complying with a rebel, which is a war crime as well. Going there will do more harm than good.
"Besides, you can't just go to the Sacred Temple and try to talk to the mistress at all, nor fight against them directly to prevent the coup to happen. This way, you would be sacrificing your life in exchange for nothing.
"To sum up and make things more complicated, there is the fact that your brother is in constant danger. I have seen the news, and I bet that you are aware as well that he caught many people today and arrested them. Do you think that he is normally accomplishing his duties as a human detective or fighting back to survive as a demon?"
Mark didn't turn to him as he continued to stare at the exit. He was anxious to get out of that bar as fast as possible.
"What do you think that I have been doing all this while, old man? I didn't slack these days after I discovered about the coup. There is a person called Clementine Welcome. It is known to us that she is different from the other paladins and that she has different ideas from the mass of paladins that blindly kills demons. She truly wants a fair and peaceful world. She is against the start of a new phase of this war.
"This way, I just needed a short battle, a wound in my belly, and some words to convince her to hear me, thus making her work with me to stop this coup, at least. She probably won't really stop it, but rather delay it, but it will give me enough time to do what I need to do.
"For now, I just need to find a way to tell Baltazar about the coup, so he can prepare himself for anything that may happen..."
The old man sighed in relief, a smile appearing on his wrinkled, tanned face. He caressed his bald head as he reasoned for a moment.
"Well, you are Mark Foster, after all... There is no need to worry about you, I guess. Anyway, I bet that you will need help in this matter, and that's why I sheltered these two little ones here. They said that they had something to you..."
The barman left the main room of the bar through a door that was behind him, between the shelves filled with different alcoholic drinks. As far as Mark knew, that room was commonplace, where he took care of his things; like a house built into the bar.
Soon, he came back with two kids.
"You freaking, disgusting bastard...", Mark was already prepared to summon Lamia and rip the honor that the barman had between his legs, then endlessly torture him.
"Wow, wow! Stop right there! I am not a maniac, okay!? These kids were searching for you. They arrived in the morning. They searched for you through the city and couldn't find you, so they came here because they visited the scouts from time to time. That's it."
"Hmm, good. But I have my eyes on you, old man," Mark added with a murderous intent being exuded by his eyes.
"Tsc, as if!"
The little boy with spiky black hair gave a step forward. His eyes had a childish gleam within them, which showed that he surely was a very passionate kid, the type who would get amazed with anything and be very playful.
In contrast, the little girl beside him, who had (for some unknown and probably crazy reason) a pink hair with black ends, was very quiet. She didn't appear to be shy at all. Her eyes just showed that she didn't care much about things around her, they were kind of empty and nonchalant, though the rest of her face did some expressions from time to time.
That couple was known well by their clan. The boy was a little demon, his mother was very close to Baltazar. Now, the girl was just some random friend that he found in the suburbs. Nobody knew whether she was human or demon, but since she didn't talk a single word and didn't let anybody, except the boy, get near her, they couldn't find out the truth.
"It's always soothing for my heart to see you two together here. It's really cute! Anyway, I think that as an adult I should scold you both for coming in paladin territory so...", Mark wasn't really up to scold them, but he felt the need to.
"But, you are in paladin territory, Mark. And, you are here against the orders of the leader, right?" The boy with spiky hair said.
Mark thought about that point for a moment.
'Can I really scold them when I am doing something way worse than they are? I mean, I am killing paladins in their territory; I am trying to hurt a peace treaty that was imposed decades ago and that has been helping my race for a while, though there is way more under this treat than they let us see; and, to finish, I am going against the direct orders of the commander of my squadron...'
"Yeah, touché... Well, I think that, since I don't belong to Ignus Cornus anymore, I don't need to bother being a responsible adult... Anyway just tell me what you want, okay?
"Hmm? We don't want anything, though. Valory wants. She said to me to give this to you," the boy said, taking an amulet from his pocket and giving it to Mark.