Gerhart and Talia hurried through the backstreets of the town, but Talia’s injuries were both slowing them down and leaving a trail of blood for the knights to follow. Gerhart had torn his shirt and wrapped the shallow cuts on Talia’s arms and legs. He had tried to cover the wound on her stomach as well, but there was only so much they could do.

And since they were running around, Talia’s heart kept pumping the blood around and out of her body, no matter how much pressure they put on her injury. So, despite their home-field advantage and experience in the dark alleys and the backstreets of Vestor, the knights were rapidly gaining on Gerhart and Talia.

It also seemed like the townspeople had started looking for the trio behind the assassination of the feudal lord’s son. The knights had probably called for backup as soon as Ritzy, Talia, and Gerhart left the square, so most of the knights in town would be looking for them while securing the town’s exits.

“You’re not leaving me behind. Got that, Gerhart?”

“Damn. Only if you buy me a new bow, though.”

“Hah?”

Talia glared at Gerhart while clutching her blood-soaked abdomen.

“Alright, fine. But you’ll have to patch me up as well.”

“It’s a deal if you can get us out of here.”

“How the fuck am I supposed to do that when the only things getting out of here are my organs?”

“Not my problem.”

“...Right. Go ahead and tell the guards you weren’t involved if you think that’ll work. But when they chop your head off, make sure it falls in my direction so I can say, ‘I told you so.’”

Despite their pessimistic bickering, Gerhart and Talia were still doing their best to evade the knights and their ever-tightening net.

“Dammit! Where is that rat bastard?”

“Oh, maybe he’s summoning something to help us out!”

Gerhart looked at Talia with enough confusion to make him stop walking.

“What do you mean ‘summon’?”

“Don’t stop, stone head. And I meant exactly what I said. As soon as we turned our backs, Ritzy went ahead and started on his journey to becoming a necromancer.”

“Really?!”

“Schh. Fucking idiot, keep your voice down.”

“Yeah. He apparently sucks at it, though. So far, he’s summoned this bone, an unmoving skeleton, and his white hair.”

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Talia slightly waved the bone club she held with one hand to show Gerhart which bone she meant.

“Now that you mention it….”

Gerhart stopped and pulled Talia back with him behind a corner as a pair of knights ran past on the street next to them. They had been so caught up in talking about Ritzy’s necromancy that they missed the tell-tale signs of the clanking metal. Fortunately, the guards didn’t see them.

“Wait, doesn’t that mean Rit won’t be able to save us with his necromancy if he can’t even summon a proper undead?”

“Fuck if I know. Does it look like we have any other options?”

Gerhart sighed, and they continued moving.

“I guess not. Let’s move to the west side of town, then.”

“Hmm. Why?”

“We need to skip town immediately. But since we, and by we, I mean Rit, killed a noble’s son, we’ll be hunted across the country. We can’t just move to the next town over. We need to find a place to lay low for a little while until you stop dragging us down.”

“Fine, but I’m going through first.”

“No way. Do you think I want to crawl in your bloody tracks?”

“So? Do you think I won’t jam a stone up your ass if you insist on waving it in front of me?”

“I’ll crawl backward then. Problem solved.”

“Stop fucking around-”

“FIRE!”

Talia’s words were interrupted by a magically strengthened voice that rang out across town. The voice was soon followed by a blaring alarm that signaled to everyone that a fire had indeed begun spreading. And since the bells had started ringing, it was beyond what a single person could handle, so it was probably a house or something that had caught fire.

“This timing….”

“Yeah. It has to be Ritzy.”

“Fucking lunatic. There’s no way he managed to light a fire that quickly.”

“He could have.”

Gerhart pointed toward the sky.

“Big enough to make that much smoke?”

“Maybe he found a vat of oil or something. The fish dude has his shop close to that place.”

“And what? Carried it with his strong, beefy arms, completely unnoticed? He then emptied it out and found a match or flint or something to light it with since something like that happened to lie close by?”

“Fine! I get it. Ritzy was already prepared to burn down this town. Big deal. Who isn’t?! Let’s just get a move one. There’s no way the knights can ignore the fire just to capture us.”

Talia ignored Gerhart’s questioning and judgemental gaze and pushed him forward toward the town’s western edge.

Although it was still important to catch the three assassins, there was no way the knights, who were mostly residents of Vestor, could just ignore the fire eating away at several buildings. There was also public opinion to worry about. It would be one thing if the knights were incapable of stopping the fire. They were simple knights, barely even that. They couldn’t use magic, and they weren’t trained to deal with fires.

But if they went on a wild goose chase to catch three kids instead of trying to stop the fire, the townspeople would certainly raise a ruckus. It probably wouldn’t lead to much other than a few golds to help rebuild the town, in the end. But the knights would lose their reputation, honor, and, most importantly, their jobs.

As Talia had guessed, most of the knights were drawn away by the growing fire, and it became significantly easier for Talia and Gerhart to move through town unnoticed. It was also partly thanks to the townspeople panicking and running around like headless chickens.

And since people were evacuating, mostly those who couldn’t or didn’t dare help against the fire, the guards had to watch the entrances and exits of the town in case Ritzy, Talia, and Gerhart decided to take advantage of the commotion and escape.