Chapter 200 Conundrum

After going their own separate ways to track their respective targets, Tryndall, Valyr, and one of the assassins got acquainted with one another for a bit more as they moved, though it was mostly Valyr and the assassin the two were accompanying that were doing the acquainting.

Finding out the assassin's name was Douglas, the three of them then made their way up to the rooftops, making sure that the steps they took were as silent as possible in order to make sure that the suspect they were about to track did not notice their presence. Fortunately, all of them had an AGI stat high enough in order to pull off this feat.

Considering that even whispering to one another would give their location away to the person they were tracking, Valyr opened up the chat function in his mind as he sent a message to Tryndall on the party chat.

"Now that I think about it, you haven't told me about the specific details regarding the five suspects we're tracking tonight."

Obtaining the message Valyr sent to him, Tryndall looked at Valyr with a bitter smile and sent a message in response before returning his attention to where they were stepping.

"Yeah, that was my bad. Anyways, the suspect that the three of us are currently tracking is a well-known butcher in Clossbay City, famed for the fact that he usually sells premium meats and cuts at slightly lower prices compared to other meat shops in the city."

"As for the other suspects, one's a chef, one's a fishmonger, the other one's a swordsman, and the last one's a hunter."

"Although I do know each of their names, it'll only be important once we narrow down the suspects to just one, so I'll save that for later. For now, let's head to the butcher's shop." Seeing this message from Tryndall, Valyr looked back at him and gave him a nod.

With that, the three of them swiftly made their way to where the butcher's meat shop was located.

…

Due to how their meet-up spot was located close to the center of the city, it took everyone more or less the same amount of time to arrive at their specific locations, with each of the assassins sending a message on the party chat that they had arrived at where the suspect was currently. Of course, Tryndall's group had also arrived near where the butcher was, standing on top of the rooftop opposite the butcher's shop.

Nudging Tryndall on the shoulders to catch his attention, Valyr pointed at the slightly stocky man that was in the process of closing up shop, silently asking his friend if this was the suspect they were planning to track. Obtaining a nod in response to the question, Valyr nodded back before shifting his attention towards the butcher, who surprisingly had all of the blades he used for butchering meat affixed on a belt around his waist.

Nodding in satisfaction after making sure the entrance to the shop was securely locked, the butcher then walked away from the shop, presumably to head back home. Nevertheless, the trio intently kept an eye where the butcher was heading, making sure to remove any trace of their presence as they went about it.

With that, the trio watched as the butcher turned a corner every once in a while, prompting Tryndall to ask Douglas at some point through the party chat if the butcher was on his way home, recalling that the latter found out where he lived. In response, Douglas told him that the butcher was indeed on the path that would take him home, though he also mentioned that it was odd that the butcher was taking a detour.

Feeling a hint of suspicion towards the butcher's decision, the three continued to follow the man through the rooftops, eventually noticing that the butcher seemed to look around his surroundings more often, as if the man had become paranoid.

Wondering if it was due to the fact that the butcher had subconsciously caught onto their traces, or the fact that the road he was on was significantly darker compared to other roads under the veil of the night, the trio did not know. However, just as they thought that the butcher had a cowardly personality of some sort, this action of his eventually stopped when he noticed a passerby moving in his direction, causing all traces of paranoia from the man to swiftly disappear.

"Take out the memory crystal." Getting the feeling that the butcher was about to make a move, Tryndall swiftly sent a message to Douglas through the party chat, prompting the latter to take out a small pale blue crystal as they slightly hastened their steps.

By the time the trio had gotten to a vantage point that gave them a better look at the butcher and the passerby, the butcher had already covered the passerby's mouth, preventing the latter from screaming out as he dragged the man into a nearby alley.

Then, without hesitation, the butcher sent a powerful chop at the back of the passerby's neck, rendering the latter unconscious as the man's body turned limp. Gently placing the now unconscious passerby on the side of the wall, the butcher took out one of the knives around his waist and proceeded to dismember the man into various parts using a method which would have been more apt for other types of meat.

Nevertheless, the clean cuts the butcher made during this process confirmed to the trio that the man they were tailing was none other than the Clossbay Killer, with Douglas activating the memory crystal with a bit of mana to record the entire incident itself.

Of course, thoughts of stopping the butcher from dismembering the passerby altogether flashed in both Valyr and Tryndall's mind. However, they eventually thought that once they told the receiver of the quest regarding the whereabouts and identity of the Clossbay Killer, their words wouldn't be compelling if they didn't have sufficient proof to back it up.

With that, they fought the urge to jump in and let the butcher get a taste of his own medicine, tightly clenching their fists with indignant expressions while they continued to watch the butcher cut the man up into pieces.

Eventually, the butcher was finished with his deed, wiping off any excess blood on the knife he used before placing it back on the belt he wore. Then, taking a few glances to see if the coast was clear, the butcher then left the alley, eventually making his way back to where he lived as if nothing had happened.

Once the butcher was in the privacy of his own home, the trio, who had followed the butcher through the rooftops till the very end, distanced themselves a bit from the butcher's home before letting out a long collective sigh.

"At the very least, people won't have to suffer under the Clossbay Killer's attacks in the future anymore." Consoling himself with this thought, Tryndall sent out a message through the party chat that the suspect they were tracking was the Clossbay Killer, thinking that this whole situation would finally come to an end.

However, the messages the others sent in response instead told him…

It was only about to get worse.

"Chef killed an innocent passerby. We've got the Clossbay Killer."

"Fishmonger killed a passerby. Pretty sure I've got the Clossbay Killer."

"Swordsman killed an innocent woman. The Clossbay Killer's where I'm currently at."

"Hunter cleanly cut a guy into pieces. Clossbay Killer's here."