Chapter 94

‘How could they be under demon influence? Gregor didn’t seem that bad,’ I thought to myself.

Sure, he’d kicked Koise from the guild and questioned Eve, but wasn’t it natural to be wary of strangers?

‘Well, the Second System warned me against joining them… Could it have been because demons were involved?’ I couldn’t just leap to conclusions.

Koise had failed the guild as well, after all. Still, he seemed to share my thoughts.

“How could you possibly know that?” he asked, frowning.

“It’s…” Eve hesitated, glancing to the side for a moment as she lowered her arm. “It’s a demon hunter thing.”

“Can you show us your System Window?” I asked.

Such a thing was usually kept private, but I’d shown mine to Alikr at one point, and we couldn’t exactly just take her word for it that the leader of one of the largest human guilds was under demon influence.

She sighed, a faint wind tugging at her hood. “I’m sorry. I can’t.”

Koise threw his hands up in exasperation. “You come to us out of nowhere, walk into the largest human guild in the area with us, and then want us to believe you when you claim their leader is working with demons?

She looked him directly in the eyes and boldly declared, “Yes.”

“Forget about it for now. Even if what you say is true, there’s nothing we can do without evidence.”

I shook my head. We might’ve worked together to take down a mini-dungeon, but she was asking for too much.

She paused to consider my words for a second before giving a slight nod in response. “I understand. Where are you headed next, then?”

‘’You’?’ I thought. ‘Does she not plan on coming with us?’

“We’d like to visit the market before reporting to the caravan company and telling them the roads are safe again,” I said. “After that? Maybe rest here for the night and head back tomorrow at sunrise.”

As much as I would’ve liked to explore the city, people were waiting for urgent supplies back in Karfana. A day wouldn’t hurt, but I would feel guilty about staying any longer.

“Then I’ll meet you at the front gates tomorrow morning. Leave without me if I’m not there.”

I wondered, for a moment, why she was still accompanying us when she’d accomplished her original goal of seeing Karfana. I didn’t think she was about to try to settle there.

Giving her a slight grin, I reached out my hand. “Well, if I don’t see you tomorrow, then it was a pleasure to work with you. What are you planning to do in the meantime?”

She hesitated for only a moment before clasping my hand in turn. “I just want to take a look around.”

The city was already doomed. That much she could tell from intuition. The largest guild’s leader was working with the demons, so what other conclusion could she make?

‘I never expected them to believe me anyway.’

The moment she parted from Koise and Aizen, who left for the markets while chatting about how much gold they expected to bring back, she walked off into the city.

It didn’t take long for her to spot her pursuer.

‘Of course he wouldn’t just let an elf walk around his guild.’

Luckily, it seemed to be only a single person. Was Gregor trying to keep it a secret?

‘At least I don’t have to hold back.’

If they were just following her, it would’ve made more sense to send more than a single person after her. No, whatever they intended, they wanted to keep it as hidden as possible.

She didn’t run. Rather, she kept herself at a steady pace and kept track of the man through the heat he gave off.

Even with the sun overhead and the crowds around her, it wasn’t hard for her to single him out by sight, mentally remember where he was, and follow that mental marker of condensed heat.

Luckily for her, the man also tried to keep fairly close to her in the crowd, only fifteen or so meters away.

She wasn’t too worried while walking through the crowd.

‘If they’re being this discreet, they won’t make their move in front of everyone like this.’

Sure enough, the man was content to follow her.

Pulling heat from the people bumping by around her and the waves of warmth rising from the cobblestone street was like trying to sip water while submerged in a lake—the difficulty was in not taking in too much.

Sweat beaded on her brow.

Next came the difficult part.

‘There’s no telling what sort of Awakener he is. Probably not the brute force type, given his smaller build and the need for them to keep things quiet.’

She’d likely be dealing with an Agility-focused Awakener then.

She grimaced. ‘They’re always the most difficult to handle.’

Since she couldn’t react to an Agility-focused Awakener’s movements faster than they could move, she would have to anticipate them instead.

Taking in a deep breath, she headed toward an alleyway that could have logically been a shortcut into the next street over.

‘Here goes nothing.’

As she expected, the man hesitated just outside the alley entrance and waited.

She’d specifically chosen an alleyway with a Z-shaped turn through it, the street not visible on the other side with a mere glance.

Just as the would-be assassin valued keeping things in the dark, so did she.

Shadows fell over her, the overhead sun obscured by the buildings rising on either side.

Trash littered the alleyway—various piles of clothes, garbage, and waste. Like almost any human city she’d visited, they only seemed to care about outward appearances while the innards were left to rot.

Her boots thudded through the otherwise silent alley, and she maintained the same pace as she took the first turn to the right.

The middle section was only around 30 meters long, and the next turn would bring her into sight of another street.

A grin played along her lips. Though the alley behind her remained as silent as ever, her chaser was betrayed by the telltale heat signature he gave off as he rushed down the alley to catch up.

‘So he wants to get the job done before we’re in view of the street again.’

For a moment, she wondered what he would have done if she never took an isolated shortcut.

‘That’s why it’s better to make your enemy play their cards early.’

It was especially good if they thought they had the winning hand.

She waited, ready to unleash her fire.

The pursuer didn’t keep her waiting.

Turning the corner, a hint of surprise registered on his face. He already had his daggers in hand, at the ready.

‘Now.’

In that brief moment of surprise, she unleashed her heat in a blast of fire. Unfocused, it wasn’t enough to incinerate him on the spot, but it burned the surface layer of his skin and caused his clothes to catch fire.

It was a good thing, too—he’d already been dodging to the side. The narrow alley funneled the fire straight into him though.

He’d had nowhere to go but up, and even then, she’d been holding back in case he was more prepared than she imagined.

All this, just so he could end up rolling on the ground, screaming in pain.

Before the screaming could attract too much attention or the main could use some sort of life-saving skill, she beamed a bolt of fire through his head.

‘Now to clean up.’

The nice thing about fire was that it was easy to erase the evidence. She hated to think about how much more difficult things would be if she’d been cursed with something like water instead.

A moment later, the man was nothing but dust on the ground.

Heading back out of the alleyway the way she’d entered, Eve stopped by a ramshackle stall selling cloaks of dubious origin.

From the dried flecks of various liquids on them, she could guess the previous owners hadn’t met the best fates.

With her new cloak in hand—a large, spackled blue stretch of cloth that looked more like a tablecloth than a cloak—she ducked into an alley and emerged a few minutes later with her previous cloak wrapped around her waist beneath the new one.

It would’ve been unbearably hot, if not for the way she Pushed the heat from herself in a uniform area.

Maybe those around would feel slightly warmer, but it was otherwise an efficient method of cooling.

She walked back through the crowd, keeping her eyes open for any other signs of pursuit. Just because she’d taken one down didn’t mean that was it.

Maybe it was because they’d underestimated her, but no such signs appeared.

Eventually, she made it all the way back to the guild district and found a nice spot situated not too far and within eyesight of the Lion Guild entrance.

A small alcove beneath the boarded-up wooden doors of one of the currently vacated neighboring buildings served as a relatively comfortable lookout post.

‘And now we wait…’

She was nothing if not patient, and she knew it was only a matter of time before her mark made a move.

It was a lucky thing that demons were even more arrogant than humans. If she’d been dealing with fellow elves, she could’ve been waiting for weeks.

As it was, only a few hours passed before a group walked toward the guild building.

She smiled.

‘There you are.’