Returning to the previous night, when Tris was poking around the corpse of the short man to see if there was anything valuable, like a storage ring, the assassin had already arrived.
He stared at Tris for just a brief moment, then immediately turned around and ran without saying a single word.
'??' - Tris was completely confused.
'What the hell? Weren't you supposed to take on a mission to try and kill me? Why are you just running away like that?'
Watching him flee, Tris hesitated slightly over whether he should give chase.
Since the man was also carrying that compass, Tris didn't have to worry about accidentally killing a random passerby.
However, since the man had already chosen to run, Tris wasn't particularly interested in chasing him down.
After all, cornering a desperate enemy could be quite dangerous.
But the most important reason was that assassins were, in the end, just hired hands. Tris didn't have, or at least not yet, any personal grudge against that man.
So in the end, he simply couldn't be bothered to pursue him.
Within less than half a day, Jace had come dangerously close to death twice, yet remained unharmed.
Compared to his partner Noct, he was truly fortunate.
Returning to the corpse, just as Tris expected, there was no storage ring. Worse, there wasn't anything of value left at all.
In truth, the man had originally carried quite a few items, but they had all been destroyed by the earlier attack and the fall from above.
'In the end, not everyone is like those mages in the village.' - Tris sighed in disappointment.
Defeating enemies without loot always felt somewhat incomplete.
Previously, after dealing with those four people, each of them had generously left behind storage rings filled with items.
Now, not even counting other valuables, just in cash alone, Tris already had over ten thousand gold on hand.
Because of that, it was easy to develop the mistaken illusion that every fight would yield good loot. That was why this outcome felt like such a huge contrast.
After cleaning up the corpse, Tris stretched tiredly and let out a long yawn.
He decided to go back to sleep.
* * * * * * * * * *
"Clang!"
The sound of a cup shattering echoed through the room.
'Another failure!' Zyron crushed the cup in his hand in rage.
Just moments ago, everything had seemed to be progressing smoothly.
But suddenly, the image being transmitted by Noct began to show erratic, unstable angles instead of the earlier steady view.
It seemed as though Noct had turned suddenly while holding the recording magic tool for some reason.
Then, without warning, the transmission was completely cut off.
In the final moment before the feed ended, in one corner of the projection, Zyron thought he saw the appearance of magical bullets.
From that, he immediately deduced that something had gone wrong and that his plan to gather information had failed.
Early the next morning, Zyron immediately contacted the contractor to check on the mission.
The result: neither Noct nor Jace had returned.
Worse still, no other assassins within the network he was familiar with were willing to take on the mission anymore.
Both Noct and Jace were known within their guild as individuals who had survived near-certain death missions.
The fact that neither of them had returned this time served as a stark warning to the others.
Despite the enormous reward, no one was willing to gamble their life on such unfavorable odds.
Having already lost Kane, Silas, and now Zarek and Veylor,
Zyron was also losing access to the external support he could hire.
Failure after failure—his situation was only growing worse as his options dwindled.
"Tell your guild master I need a group of your strongest members to accompany me.
If we successfully eliminate the target, I will pay a total of 10,000 gold," Zyron said to the assassin guild's contact.
By increasing the reward tenfold and declaring that he himself would participate, the assassins who heard this were immediately tempted.
The fact that the employer himself was willing to join made it seem like the mission's danger was still within manageable limits.
In the end, Fang—the guild leader—along with two others, agreed to take on the mission.
Fang wore a black mask that completely concealed his face.
On the mask were three long red claw marks, like those of a wild beast.
His voice sounded young, likely only in his early thirties.
Though his body wasn't particularly tall, it gave off a strong and solid presence.
This was Zyron's first time meeting him face-to-face, but from just a single glance, he could tell that this man was not someone to be underestimated.
On the other side, Fang seemed to feel the same, and thus he asked:
"For a powerful mage like yourself to seek assistance from us, just how strong is the target? I hope you can provide any additional information available."
"It's precisely because I lack information that I need to hire support to ensure there are no unexpected variables. Everything I know about the target's strength has already been provided to you."
"You said the target is only eight years old—is that true?" - Fang asked.
"About eight and a half."
"Haha! Then I'm truly curious to see what kind of monster that child is." - A low chuckle sounded from behind the mask.
* * * * * * * * * *
Back on the mountain, Tris continued working tirelessly.
By analyzing the puppet left behind by Veylor, he gained a deeper understanding of the magic used.
Human–puppet fusion—this was truly no ordinary technique.
Through analysis, he deduced that this magic not only improved control flexibility but also significantly increased the efficiency of mana usage.
As a result, a mage could use the puppet to cast powerful spells more quickly and frequently.
In short, it was a technique that enhanced both speed and power.
Moreover, it allowed control of the puppet without using magical threads, unlike the remote-control method Tris had been using.
'This would be perfect for "Berserker".' - Tris thought.
However, within such a short time, simply understanding its advantages was already the best he could do—actually using it was out of the question.
Not to mention, Tris remembered how numerous tentacles had pierced directly into Veylor's body. That likely meant there were serious side effects involved.
Even so, just understanding its benefits already gave Tris a small advantage if he were to face it again.
And he believed he would encounter it again soon.
Because if it were a technique used by Veylor, there was no way Zyron wouldn't know it.
'I wonder if the little traps I set will actually be effective.' - Tris suddenly thought.
...
A day later, through reconnaissance by the "Feathers," Tris learned that his enemy had finally appeared in person—along with his companions.