The three of them continued watching the inn's entrance in silence.
One hour passed.
Then another.
Before they knew it, they had been waiting for nearly four hours.
"Is that bastard ever going to crawl out of his hole?" Aemilia muttered under her breath, stretching her stiff shoulders. "I'm getting tired of waiting."
Thomas let out a quiet chuckle.
"Well, well. We sincerely apologize for making Lady Aemilia do actual work today."
Aemilia shot him an annoyed glare.
"Oh, please. If you were the one stuck here for two whole days, you'd be complaining even more than I am."
Thomas opened his mouth, ready with another sarcastic reply. But before he could say a word, the door of the inn finally creaked open.
All traces of humor instantly disappeared.
The three of them fixed their eyes on the entrance.
Just as they had expected, their target finally stepped outside.
He appeared to be a man in his thirties, of average height with a lean build.
Long dark hair rested over his shoulders beneath a worn hat, while his plain clothes made him look no different from an ordinary farmer passing through the village.
After stepping onto the street, he paused for a brief moment, calmly scanning his surroundings before continuing forward.
The three quietly followed from a distance, careful not to draw his attention.
Throughout the walk, the man kept one hand firmly gripping the worn shoulder bag he carried. Whatever was inside, he seemed unwilling to let it leave his grasp for even a moment.
After several minutes, he stopped near a narrow alley that led toward the nearby forest.
He stood there for a few seconds, looking ahead as if making sure no one was following him.
Then, without another glance behind him, he suddenly quickened his pace and headed straight toward the forest.
The moment Jack saw that, his expression hardened.
"We split up," he said quietly.
Without waiting for a response, he gave the two of them a brief signal.
"Cut off every possible escape route before he gets out of the village."
They followed him all the way to the village exit, a long, narrow alley that stretched beneath several old buildings. The stone walls on both sides blocked out much of the sunlight, leaving the passage dim and cool despite the warm weather outside. Cracks ran across the aged bricks, and the silence within the alley felt strangely oppressive.
The man hurried forward, almost breaking into a run. Every few steps, he glanced over his shoulder, his movements growing increasingly restless. Whether it was instinct or simple paranoia, he could no longer shake the feeling that someone had been following him since he left the village square.
But he suddenly stopped. His pupils widened, and his entire body froze.
Standing calmly at the exit of the alley was Jack.
He blocked the only way forward, his posture relaxed, yet somehow making it clear that no one would be getting past him.
Without thinking, the man quickly spun around, intending to flee the way he had come.
His heart nearly stopped.
Thomas and the masked Aemilia were already standing behind him.
The three had silently surrounded him.
For several long moments, no one spoke. The only sound echoing through the narrow passage was the gentle whistle of the wind slipping between the old buildings.
Finally, the man swallowed nervously before forcing himself to speak in a calm voice, though the hesitation in his tone was impossible to hide.
"You, who are you people? Why are you following me?"
Thomas immediately stepped forward, his face twisting with anger.
"In fact, we're the ones who should be asking you that. Why did you interfere with us, you bastard? Why did you tell them about him?"
The man frowned in confusion.
"Who the hell are you talking about? Tell who?"
At that moment, Thomas moved even closer. His eyes burned with deep hatred as he stared directly at the man.
"You bastard... and you're still denying it. If you hadn't reported him, then..." His voice trailed off before he could finish.
The sorrow hidden beneath his rage was impossible to conceal.
The man instinctively took a step backward.
"Gentlemen, I truly don't know what you're talking about. Please... just leave me alone."
His expression showed genuine confusion mixed with growing fear.
Thomas's patience finally reached its limit. He drew his weapon without another word.
Almost at the same time, Aemilia reached for hers as well, her cold eyes carrying the same murderous resentment.
The atmosphere instantly turned suffocating.
However, before either of them could move another step, Jack casually raised one hand.
The simple gesture was enough.
Both Thomas and Aemilia immediately stopped where they were.
Jack slowly shifted his attention back to the frightened man. His expression remained as calm as ever.
"Fine. You say you had nothing to do with our companion's death. Then you shouldn't have any problem coming with us so we can investigate the matter properly. That's the better option, isn't it?"
The man's face stiffened.
"W...Why... why on earth would I go with people I've never met to be investigated over something that has nothing to do with me?"
Jack looked at him indifferently.
Without answering immediately, he casually pulled out his dagger and began spinning it between his fingers with practiced ease. The polished blade caught the faint light every time it turned, reflecting brief flashes across the narrow alley.
Only after a few seconds did he finally speak, "Well then, that's the choice you've made. But just so you know... there's always a price to pay for our choices in the end."
Silence returned once again.
No one moved.
The man could only stare at the dagger as beads of sweat slowly rolled down his forehead.
...
The following morning, life in the village continued as usual.
The first rays of sunlight shimmered across the calm surface of the river as villagers carried on with their daily routines.
A group of women and young girls knelt along the riverbank, washing clothes while chatting cheerfully among themselves. Nearby, several elderly men sat patiently with fishing rods in hand, quietly watching the water in hopes of catching something before noon.
Not far from them, a group of little girls played with smooth pebbles they had collected along the shore after accompanying their mothers to the river.
Laughter echoed through the peaceful morning as they competed to see whose stone could skip the farthest across the water.
Then, something drifted onto the river's surface.
One of the girls noticed it first. She pointed toward the floating object before calling out loudly.
"Look! Look over there!"
The nearby women and elderly fishermen turned to look in the direction she was pointing.
At first, the object was too far away to make out clearly.
Was it simply a floating sack?
Perhaps a small piece of broken furniture carried downstream by the current?
The river slowly pushed it closer.
Little by little, its shape became clearer.
The conversations along the riverbank gradually came to a halt.
Several people instinctively stood up.
Then, as the current carried it within full view...The color drained from their faces.
One of the elderly men stumbled backward.
Several women immediately covered their mouths before terrified screams erupted across the riverbank.
It wasn't driftwood.
It wasn't a sack.
The thing floating in the river...was a human corpse.