Rick looked at Henry's body and closed his eyes. " Alive, all you had to do is bring him alive..." He took a deep breath before continuing, " So why did you bring me three bodies?"
Reynald coughed as he poked Ferdinand, he was too afraid of Rick to be the one telling the story.
Ferdinand stared at Ryenald and sighed. "There was movement in the street when we arrived there, so we decided to wait, little did we know that those two men were waiting inside his store."
-" Waiting inside the store?" Rick's eyes were full of suspicions as he heard the story. " So? What happened next?"
-" Just like you can imagine, a fight occurred there, and the target, unfortunately, passed away before we could save him." Ferdinand gulped as he finished the story that they had made up.
-" Let's see if I understand this correctly... Two men were waiting inside his house. and for what reason?" Rick was sure that they had messed up and were just making excuses.
-" A Robbery gone wrong..." Reynald blurted out as Rick stared at him.
-" A Robbery that went wrong?" Rick looked at Henry's body and asked another question. " What exactly did they want to rob?"
The entire group shook their heads as they had no idea what was the aim of the other group, they had just listened to the enraged man who kicked their target to death blabbing about his treasures.
-" The man who killed him kept asking for his treasures back..." Reynald began to sweat as Rick's stare grew ever more suspicious.
Rick laughed hysterically as he filled his cup with wine. " A robbery, right? Do you know what I wanted from this man?" Rick sipped his drink and, seeing that no one was responding, he continued to speak. " He had some great treasures in his hand, and he sold them to the Whitelocks, this made Marcius very mad." Rick locked eyes with the group as he finished.
-" So you wanted this treasure he sold?" The entire group was confused, they first thought that this man had some type of secret information that Rick desired, but, they never thought that he would send a group of assassins just because someone decided to sell an item to his rival.
-" Not only his treasures but, information about where he found them." Rick kept paying attention to the group's eyes. " The spatial rings..."
-" The spatial rings?" Ferdinand asked as he bit his lips, it looked like Rick wouldn't let them keep anything.
-" Of course, I wouldn't mind letting the loot with you all if you could at least complete the damn mission!" Rick was sure that the group was trying to hide something. " Or are you all trying to play me as a fool?"
Reynald poked Ferdinand one more time and nodded to him. It was better to give the sword away than to meet Rick's fury,
Ferdinand sighed as he retrieved the sword from his spatial pouch, while Mathias and Reynald passed a ring each to Rick. " This is everything that we found on their bodies."
Rick jolted up in excitement as he saw the sword. " This sword! He had another one!" He finally understood what the robbers wanted.
" Another one?" Ferdinand was confused, but, he soon understood that the treasure that the man had sold was likely another sword like this.
-" So he had more of them?" Reynald closed his eyes as he thought about the situation. "They likely found the swords together, but, our target swindled the rest of his group and sold the swords without telling anyone."
Rick felt that Reynald's theory made sense, he always wondered how a seemingly normal person had so many treasures.
Rick sighed as he observed the sword, it was a pity that there was no way for him to get such a fine weapon, especially now that his prestige with Marcius had dwindled, and even if he wanted to keep the weapon hidden away, for the time being, there was no way that Ferdinand or Reynald would keep quiet as Rick had taken the sword from them.
Rick's face was full of emotions as he took a deep breath and placed the sword on top of his table. " At least you brought me something useful... Marcius will be pleased when he receives this sword." Rick let out a venomous smirk as he looked at the group. " Don't worry about the loot of this mission, I will ask Marcius for a fourth-level treasure for the three of you,"
The group's mood instantly improved as they learned about the rewards, they never expected for Rick to be so generous.
-" You all can go now, but, please take the bodies with you... Throw them far away from the city, I don't want anyone finding them so soon." Rick's smirk widened as the group left the room with the bodies. " Dral'girin..." The candles that lit the room suddenly went out as Rick whispered the name.
Rick's shadow remained even in the dark room, and after a few seconds, it began to wiggle, forming the shape of a strange creature with two pairs of red eyes. " I answer your call, my liege."
-" Go and deal with the group that just departed." Rick's voice had an ethereal feel to it. " We can't have anything go wrong with our plan now."
It was early in the morning when Ketlyn noticed a small crowd in front of Henry's store, and she was surprised to find the entire shop destroyed.
Her body trembled as she peered inside what was left of the store, broken glass and furniture filled the shop, and various pools of dry blood marked the ground. " Henry?" Ketlyn called out as she entered the shop, her face paled in dismay.
Ketlyn's heart dropped as she didn't get any answer and turned to face the crowd. " What happened here? Where is the owner of the store?"
The perplexed crowd looked at Ketlyn with sadness in their eyes.
-" Did you know little henry?" An old woman came out of the crowd and held Ketlyn hand's.
-" I knew his sister.." Ketlyn was confused by the woman's reaction. " What happened here? Where is Henry?"
-" Oh dear... A fight broke out last night, we didn't know what was happening, but, we saw three men enter his shop." The old woman's voice was full of sadness as he retold the story. " We only noticed something wrong after wearing the sound of things breaking. Poor Henry, he had such a difficult life..."
-" A fight?" Ketlyn's body shook as she looked around the store once more. " Is Henry dead?"
Tears began to fall down the old woman's eyes as she remembered the scene last night. " I saw the group that invaded his store dragging his body, his face was all bruised, and his arm dangled around like a broken twig." The old woman sobbed as she spoke. " I wanted to call the guards, but, I was too afraid to leave my house."
Ketlyn shook the woman's hand and sprinted upstairs, she was still in disbelief at what had happened, after all, they were together at the festival just a day ago.
-" Marcos!" Ketlyn could only think about one person who had the motivation to do something like this to Henry.
She knew Marcos very well as they had participated in various expeditions, and she was sure that he wouldn't take losing to Henry well, especially after putting so much on the line.
Ketlyn saw that, unlike the shop, the second floor was completely intact. " Did he kidnap Henry?" Ketlyn was confused as to why Marcos hadn't even searched Henry's house for anything else.
She returned to the first floor and was about to go look for Marcos when a carriage with the Whitelock sigil stopped by. Abel, Alden, and Jonathan all had pale faces as they exited the carriage.
-" Good Lord! What happened here?" Abel was surprised by the state of Henry's shop.
-" It looks like they Henry with them." Jonathan was silent as he observed the destruction. " It must be Rick! He saw Henry's sword!" Jonathan's intuition kept pointing him to Rick, after all, he knew that the news about the swords must have reached Marcius.
-" Rick? How is this possible?" At first, Alden also thought about the man who Henry had made the bet with.
-" When I meet Henry the first time, I asked him to show me the items he wanted to sell outside the store." Jonathan bit his lips, he felt guilty as it was likely that he had brought doom over the young man.
-" YOU DID WHAT?" Abel was flabbergasted, he couldn't even imagine why Jonathan would do something like this.
-" I was on my way out, and he had just been kicked from Rick's store, so I wasn't sure if he was telling the truth or not." Jonathan lowered his head in shame.
-" Dammed Erwyns! Do they want to provoke us?" Abel was furious, not only at the Erwyns but, with Jonathan too. " After we go back we will talk about what you have done."
-" Alden! Alden!" Ketlyn rushed the WHitelocks and grabbed Alden's shoulders." It was Marcos! I'm sure of it."
-" Marcos? The man from the bet?" Alden remembered the woman as she was with Henry on the day of the festival.
-" Yes! I know Marcos! He would never accept losing to Henry."
-" Young lady, how can you be sure of it?" Abel looked confusedly at Jonathan, a confirmation was needed if he wanted to pursue this matter against the Erwyns.
-" I'm almost sure... Marcos never liked Henry, and losing to him was quite a blow." Ketlyn was confident in her suspicions.
-" Mobilize the entire forces of our family, even the guild." Abel shared the blame that Jonathan felt as Henry's demise was likely to have happened thanks to the deal he had made with his family. " Search the entire city for this man."
Before long, hundreds of members of the Whitelock family had gone to the streets, they had a good understanding of Marcos and his affiliations thanks to Ketlyn and now could only wait for answers.
-" Sigh... I can't imagine how devasted Makayla will be." Ketlyn couldn't take Henry's younger sister out of her mind. " Her last living family member had such a tragic death."
-" Are you close with them? It's best if she learns this from one of us." Alden closed his eyes as he imagined how devasted the girl would be.
-" I don't know them that well, but, my sister is quite close with Makayla."
The entire room had a somber mood, they were all in disbelief at Henry's passing.
-" Fate is a cruel thing..." Abel shook his head as he got up. " The only thing we could do is at least find his body and give him a proper burial. " Give Henry's sister all the support she needs from now on."
The day had only begun, and everyone had matters to attend to, so little by little everyone had gone to their ways, Abel to deal with his obligations as the Leader of the Whitelock family, Alden to his duty as the city guard, Jonathan needed to manage his store, and Ketlyn decided to prepare herself as she was the one tasked with breaking the news to Makayla.