Sir Wellington led the group toward a building with shattered windows and a heavy, wooden door that hung loosely on its hinges. The cheerful ticking of the village clocks seemed to fade into a hollow silence as they stood before the entrance.
"The bar," Sir Wellington said, his voice dropping to a somber whisper. "All 30 men, including the workers in the bar that night, got brutally killed."
Quinna stopped dead in her tracks. "Wait, wait, wait! Why are we even doing this when we can pay with gold?"
Sir Wellington turned, his eyes tracking the airship in the distance. "What is your budget?"
"150 gold," the group replied.
Sir Wellington let out a dry, mirthless chuckle. "That is not enough for all the things you bunch need. You require specialized plating, high amounts of fuel, and a doctor who can treat whatever toxin is eating at your friend."
He leaned in. "What do you say? If you all solve this problem, we will give you a 100% discount."
Quinna's eyes narrowed. "And rewards on top of that? This is the biggest problem here, is it not, huh?"
Sir Wellington sighed. "Fine. On top of that, 2,000 gold and a feast."
"Bet," Quinna said.
"What a bargainer," Acheron remarked.
Ash pushed past them, his face pale but his eyes burning with focus. "If 30 men died in one night, this was not a simple brawl. It was a slaughter. Let us see what your top detective missed."
As they stepped into the dim light of the tavern, the sight was even worse than described. Overturned tables and shattered glass covered the floor. As Ash knelt to examine the wood, he noticed something strange. There were no claw marks and no signs of a struggle. Each man seemed to have been taken down with terrifying, silent efficiency.
"Whose the bar owner?" Ash asked, his voice echoing in the empty room.
"Follow me," Sir Wellington replied.
They walked a short distance to a man sitting nearby named Berry. Sir Wellington gestured toward him. "Hey Berry, this young boy will interrogate you, okay?"
"Okay?" Berry muttered, looking bored.
Ash stepped forward. "So, you know what happened to your bar recently, right?"
"Ya dude, get on with it," Berry replied, leaning back.
"Do you have any security footage of the crime scene?" Ash asked.
"No," Berry said.
Ash's eyes narrowed. "Why are you acting like this is something normal? Why are you acting like you don't have any responsibility? Did you do it?"
"No way!" Berry snapped.
"What were you doing that night?" Ash pressed.
"Oh, nothing really, just flirting with some chicks," Berry said with a shrug.
Ash turned to the Mayor. "Sir Wellington, do you have any security footage outside of the bar?"
"I do, actually," the Mayor replied. "But we've checked it and it doesn't show anything at all."
"Lemme see," Ash commanded.
They get there and look at the blurry footage on a flickering monitor. Ash leans in, his eyes darting across the screen as he watches the dark street outside the tavern.
Suddenly, he freezes. Moving through the graininess of the video is a tall figure.
The figure has the exact same slouch and the same stride they had just seen from the man outside.
The group stands in stunned silence as the figure turns slightly toward the camera.
Even through the blur, the face is unmistakable.
It is a figure that looks identical to Berry.