'Well isn't that obvious? A large part of town has been completely burnt down.'
I wondered if that was what Mr. Carrow was really referring to or maybe it was something else.
All I know is that he would definitely not tell me even if I ask him.
"Amon, you currently don't have a place to stay right?"
"Yes, but I could book a hotel to stay in with my mother for the next few weeks until I find a new place to live."
I frowned slightly at his words.
'Why is he asking me this?'
"In that case you and your mother can stay at my office."
His tone was harsh and commanding.
Even though it sounded like he was offering me, it was more like a demand.
"What why? Does your office even have a place for us to sleep? Wouldn't a hotel be better?"
I questioned back.
"You said that weird things are happening to you right? And now this fire—I don't think they are coincidences. So wouldn't it be better if you were near someone like me who can protect you if needed?"
"But what does that have to do with staying at your office, it is not like you sleep there?"
However, he did not refute my words, which made me realise that he in fact did sleep in his office.
'Of course he does... weird people, weird habits.'
I sighed inwardly as I pondered about his offer.
He does have a good point; with all the weird things happening to me recently it would make sense for me to stay with him. Most of all, my mother would be even more protected...
But I absolutely do not like the idea of being close to a narcissistic guy like him all day, all night.
'I'm almost a hundred percent sure that there is an ulterior motive behind him wanting to protect me, but do I have any other choice?'
My face contorted in disgust.
After putting my personal feelings aside, I eventually came to the conclusion that living with him would be the safest choice.
"Fine. We will live at your office, but only until I find a house and also... I want you to heal all my wounds."
'If I am going to accept his offer, I might as well try to get as much out of him as possible.'
"Ok, but you will still have to pretend to be injured. I can't have your mother finding out about this."
I nodded in agreement, as I too don't want my mother to get further involved in this mess.
Under the guise of bringing me to another hospital, he brought my mother, Litch, and I out of the makeshift treatment zone and onto a real street where he called for a horse carriage.
Along the journey to his office, I explained to my mother what was going to happen next and how we were both going to live there for a while.
As for Litch, Mr. Carrow will contact Bram and the rest later and ask one of them to pick Litch up.
Things were finally looking a little up for me as I thought about using this opportunity to get to know more about Mr. Carrow during the duration of my stay.
But finding a new house is still my top priority.
Somewhere in the outskirts of town.
Two hooded figures were fighting amongst one another.
"See I told you didn't I? Robbing that house was a mistake! We are going to be nationwide criminals at this rate."
"Shut up will you! If only you did not panic and set it on fire we wouldn't be in this mess."
"You!"
They both continued to bicker, eventually turning to a brawl.
Both men were on the ground on top of one another.
Just as one of them got punched in the eye, causing it to turn black, he screamed at the other to stop and think about the situation clearly.
"Stop! If we continue to fight like this we are going to get caught--argh! Hey listen."
He then kicked the man off himself, stumbling as he stood up.
"There ain't any point in us fightin'. Let's just take the horse and go until we reach the next city where we can take a steam engine to the capital. Only then do we settle our differences."
His hair was disheveled and he was clearly livid, but he still tried to regain his composure as he reached out his hand as a sign of neutrality.
"So what'cha think?"
"Tsk. Fine, but don't expect me to go soft on yer when we reach there."
The other man spat on the ground before shaking his hand.
"Now let's hurry and--"
"Hey gentlemen where do you think you are headed?"
The moment they heard that voice, they both froze in place.
"Shit! The police already caught us, let's run!"
Both of them immediately tried to get onto the horses, one of the men drawing a revolver from his holster.
"Wait I am not the police."
From the direction of the voice, a man with jet black hair stepped out from behind a tree.
He had his hands up and his lips were curled into a smile.
"Who are you-- No, I remember now! You're that information broker with the fancy pendant!"
The hooded man with the gun shouted upon seeing him.
However, instead of having a happy expression, his face twisted in anger, turning slightly red.
"He is the guy who told me about the house!"
"So this mess is all his fault huh!"
The other hooded figure chimed in, similarly livid now that he had figured out the situation.
"Woah slow down there. How am I the cause of the situation you are in? It wasn't me who set fire to the house, it was you two."
The man with black hair countered back, his face still wearing a smile.
"As if, we wouldn't have robbed that house if it wasn't for you. So by going with that logic you are to blame!"
"Enough talking, let's just kill him and run."
The man with the revolver lifted it and aimed it at him.
"I guess this works also, since I can't let the both of you live..."
"Bang!"
Without hesitation, the man with the gun pulled the trigger.
Blood splattered everywhere as the head of the man with black hair burst apart, a clear hole right in the middle.
"Looks like he was all bark and no bite! Haha."
"Enough we are leaving."
The man with the gun placed the gun back into his holster and grabbed the reins of his horse.
"Leaving to where?"
"Didn't I say earlier? To the nearest city of course--"
The man instantly turned stiff as he felt that something was wrong.
The voice of his partner sounded strange, in fact it was almost similar to the information broker.
His eyes widened upon this realisation as he turned his head to the left.
His partner, instead of sitting on the horse like he was, was now on the ground dead.
A clear bullet hole was present in his partner's head as grey brain matter still squirmed underneath the crimson blood.
"How..."
He let out a soft mutter in disbelief as he turned back to where the man with black hair originally stood.
His face instantly went pale when he saw him completely fine, still wearing that disgusting smile.
"I told you didn't I. You two will be dying today."
"Damn You!"
He instantly drew his revolver once again, shooting at him in a frenzy, the horse behind him fleeing in fear.
However, the black-haired man weaved between every bullet shot, looking completely unfazed.
The distance between them vanished in an instant and before he could even react, his throat was already slit open.
Blood flowed out from the wound, dyeing his hood red.
"Gurggle."
As he fell to the ground, he seemingly tried to say something but it was inaudible.
"How useless you two were... I at least expected you two to kill Amon or his mother, but even with my help he only got slightly injured."
The man let out an exaggerated sigh while he took out a cloth from his suit and used it to wipe the pocket knife in his hand.
"I guess I have to get a little more involved to kill that cockroach of a person. Well in the worst case I will just personally kill him during Graham's funeral, that is if he even remembers to show up."
"After I am done with this, I can finally go back. With a little more contribution I might even be able to learn the name of the next grade! Ah, I can't wait."
With that, he slowly walked back into the forest, disappearing behind the trees.
The bodies of the two men would never be found.
Their remains were soon eaten by a pack of wolves which coincidentally passed by, bone and all.
Heavy rain also poured down, washing away the scent of blood and terraforming the area.
The perfect murder.