"...They’re already here."
The room fell into silence again as I finished my words.
Or they were powerful enough to do that. My senses were telling me that a skilled Mystic was involved in it.
One with a shadow affinity.
I thought as I remembered the guard’s shadow moving even after knocking him out earlier, when I stole his identity for a bit. Thankfully, I managed to implant the scenes I witnessed as ’him’ before waking him up. Although I wasted Glacia Sinfonia, it was all worth it.
I was unable to save this guy’s life.
Just like the assassins, I was fooled as well, believing this black pill was the real threat to their lives. That I could save him and the others, who had likely been threatened with their families to do the job. Heck, I was certain that most of them weren’t even real assassins. I even used a Character Insight to test it. And I turned out to be right.
But it had been nothing more than an elaborate misdirection, a theatrical prop in a deadly performance where the true killing method was already embedded within the guard, and likely in the others as well.
Could the method be related to the shadow too?
It was at this moment that the door opened and the old man Avir entered, his expression a bit sleepy.
"What’s so important at this hou-!"
His eyes widened as he took in the scene before him, all the drowsiness instantly vanishing from his weathered face. The blood, the corpse, the grim expression of everyone present - it painted a clear picture of something terrible having transpired.
I quickly explained everything to him, watching as his face grew disturbed.
Then, he knelt beside the body and started his examination. It took longer than expected, his frown deepening with each passing moment.
"It seems like he died from poison," he announced while standing up, his tone suggesting there was more to it. "But... There’s something very strange about this. There’s far too much poison in his system; he should have died long ago from this amount. Yet somehow, he was walking around, talking, functioning normally." He paused, stroking his beard. "It feels like he’s been taking this poison regularly, in controlled doses."
Everyone exchanged confused glances. The baron was the first to voice what everyone was thinking.
"Regularly? You mean he was poisoning himself?"
While others tried to make sense of this revelation, my mind raced through the possibilities.
I’d drunk that poison myself. And old man’s words were probably correct. Although it wouldn’t hurt in small amounts(at least not me), it would surely cause painful death if the dose were bigger. So what exactly was it?
Think... What kind of scenarios involve regular poison consumption, and are close to this case?
Maybe it was really a dependency mechanism, where the body becomes so accustomed to the point that stopping its intake would cause withdrawal symptoms severe enough to kill. Or it could have been an antidote in the form of poison as well.
...This... might be true.
I had drunk his share of poison after all. Then...
Did he die... because of me?
The weight of that realization hit me like a physical blow. When I’d stolen his identity and consumed the poison meant for him, I might have unknowingly sentenced him to death. The very act I thought would help me gather information could have disrupted whatever delicate balance was keeping him alive.
...If so, please forgive me.
The guild clawed at my conscience, but as I was drowning in self-recrimination, another possibility struck me - one far more sinister than simple dependency.
My expression twisted for a moment as the pieces fell into place.
What if he had a parasitic worm/monster or some kind of curse planted inside him that needed the constant supply of poison to be kept dormant or controlled? The poison wasn’t killing slowly - it was the only thing preventing something far worse from awakening within his body.
...A shadow... parasite perhaps?
The thought made my blood run cold.
Avir’s sharp voice jolted me out of my thoughts. The old healer was staring at me with concern, having noticed my increasingly dark expression.
"Did you... realize something, my boy?"
I hesitated, my mind racing. I didn’t know if such concepts existed in this world, or if mentioning them would raise uncomfortable questions about how I possessed such knowledge. But looking at the corpse, the gruesome sight, the other ’assassins’, I knew I had to speak.
I could always use my traveler identity as an excuse if needed.
"I... I have two theories." I began studying their face carefully. "First..."
Avir nodded as I explained the first theory. "That would explain the regular consumption..."
I nodded and explained the second one.
Everyone had shocked expressions at the parasite theory, as I anticipated.
Avir’s face paled, while Captain Draven instinctively stepped away from the corpse.
Avir then stared at me with a mixture of horror and newfound respect. "In all my years of healing, I’ve never heard of such a twisted practice. Where did you learn about such things?"
I met his gaze steadily. "I’ve heard rumors about it when I was traveling."
He nodded, as if recalling my real ’identity’ as a traveler.
"You didn’t find anything else, right?" The baron asked, glancing at the body. "If so, let’s not make it suffer any longer. Whatever he was forced to become, he deserves at least that much dignity in death."
Avir nodded solemnly. "Yes, you should do it. There’s nothing more I can learn from examining him further, and leaving him ..." He shook his head sadly. "It’s not right."
The baron turned to Captain Draven, who immediately understood the unspoken command and nodded. "I’ll have my men prepare for burial," Draven said, then stepped toward the door. "Guards! Prepare the body for burial rites. Handle it with respect."
The baron then looked back at our group. "Let’s go. We need to change our plans now. This changes everything we thought we knew about our enemy."
He turned to the old healer with a concerned expression. "Master Avir, I think it would be best if you returned home and forget about what you’ve seen here for now. The less people know about these... the safer everyone will be."
Avir nodded gravely, understanding the implicant warning. "I’ve seen enough for one night. But if you need my services again, you can always look for me."
Baron nodded, and we left the inn in the middle of the night.