With the matches over for the day, night came by swiftly. While Sola and Co enjoyed a nice dinner in the warmth of their home, the rest of Minar was lively. Even further from the city lights, Edgar Walker was lurking within the darkness of the allies and corners. He had on a large dark trenchcoat and wore a baseball cap, a pair of sunglasses and a black face mask to hide his face. This was not a part of town someone of his standing should be seen.
He continued onward until he was close to the city walls. Waiting for him there were five people wearing hoodies. Their hoods were large enough to cover their faces but Edgar still knew who they were. He had personally ensured three of them would be participants in the tournament. On the back of their hoodies was the image of a fish with long whiskers surrounded by clouds. The colour of the image was different for all four. As he drew closer, it became clear that the two of them seemed to be in a dispute.
"I thought I told you not to wear that stupid pendant tonight?!" The one with a white fish on his back yelled as low as he could.
"I can't take it off for anything!" The one with a green fish retorted. "That's what the high priest said at least,"
"You're lucky I'm not taking your head off for this! Just tuck that shit under your shirt, and if I ever see it again, I'll-"
The white fish was cut short when he noticed Edgar's approach. The Walker pulled off his disguise and gave the group a toothy smile. The group was not as excited to see him, especially the white fish. In what seemed like an instant, he grabbed Edgar by the throat and pinned him against a wall.
"You have a lot of nerve coming here so late! Especially after all the shit you've put us through today!"
"That's one way to greet the man who is giving you this opportunity you have right now," Edgar smiled. He gripped the white fish's wrist and twisted it back, removing his grip on his neck. The white fish pulled his hand away and shoved Edgar's shoulders.
"What a hell of an opportunity!" He spat. "One of my guys has already been knocked out of the tournament and the two of them have to fight your brother's lackeys! How the hell are they even in the fucking tournament?! I thought you guys weren't allowed to have anyone participate on your behalf?!"
"We aren't, but that does not stop people who work for us from participating on behalf of themselves," The yellow-eyed man explained. "But them being in the tournament is Eron's doing, as well as the tournament arrangement. He has likely caught on to what we are trying to do, but cannot do anything about it directly, which is why he's manipulating the table to have you fight the strongest fighters, like that spotted hair girl, and his people,"
"You should have let us put more people in the tournament," The white fish growled.
"And I already explained to you if we filled 8 out of 16 slots of the tournament with your people, it would be more suspicious than it already is,"
"What do you want us to do now then?!"
Edgar reached into his trenchcoat and pulled out a small white box tied with a black ribbon. He tossed the box to the white fish.
"There is little you can do about Adira and the other contestant your people will have to face, but you can do something about Daniel," He said.
"That fucking monster?" The white fish scoffed.
"It is the fact that he is such a monster that there is something you can exploit," Edgar smiled. "Make sure you do not open it before the match. I will pull a few strings to let you get it in,"
The white fish threw the box to the blue fish.
"What about the other two?"
"Like I said, you will not be able to do anything about Adira-" Edgar began.
"Yeah right," One of the hoodie-wearing men scoffed. He had a violet fish on his back. "He'll be no issue for me,"
"-I can get you some dirt you can use on the other contestant you can use to manipulate them," He continued, his yellow eyes glaring at the violet fish.
"Alright," The white fish grunted. "But if you even think of screwing us over, you'll live to regret it,"
"Come on," Edgar smiled. "I would never wish to screw over the Cloud Catfish, especially when I stand to gain more by working with you. I will do my best to be of service as long as you don't forget your side of the bargain,"
What kind of expression the white fish wore underneath his hood was invisible to Edgar. He turned around and beckoned for the other fish to follow. With their dealings done, Edgar put on his disguise and made his way back home.
He was not the only Walker who was having dealings in the night. Eron stood aghast at the sight before him. Laying on the ground behind a series of police tapes and a chalk outline was a skinless mass of flesh and bone laid out messily in a pool of blood. Had he not known better, he would not have believed that was once a person. This was the second corpse he had seen today in such a state and it was not easier to look at the second time. One of the security officers of the stadium made his way to the white-haired man to give his report.
"Sir, we've checked all the camera footage from today but we weren't able to find out when this happened or who did this," He stated.
"It seems we're going to have to call off the tournament," A detective said. He had a grizzly stubble on his chin and messy dark brown hair. His brown eyes had heavy bags underneath them from all the work he had been doing. He tried his best to wash them away with his coffee but it only seemed to make them worse; much to his surprise.
"I am sorry Detective Chance, but that is not something I can let happen," Eron said.
"You aren't serious, are you?" Chance asked. "This is probably the most gruesome murder I have ever witnessed and you want to have this maniac roam free here with so many people?"
"If this person was able to get through all our security and do this without getting caught, it does not matter where the people are or how many people are there. If we call off the tournament now, it will put the people in a state of distress and it will be even harder to catch the murderer. We have to keep tensions as low as possible by keeping the tournament going for as long as we can,"
"And if more people die because of your decision?"
"Then I'm willing to take the blame for my actions,"
Detective Chance sighed in frustration. He understood Eron's perspective but to him, it just meant more work.
"Expect to see me and my officers a lot the next 4 days," He said as he walked away.
Eron gave a small bow to the detective as he took his leave. He turned his attention back to the corpse on the ground. He was going to make whoever did this pay.