A scream came from behind us, and two figures appeared before us. The first was a limping man, Mr. Romano, and the second was a tall, toned young lady whom I didn't know, wearing the uniform of a lieutenant.

—Things got a bit complicated, but I'm glad you caught the remaining man —said a familiar voice—. Let me introduce you to the two responsible for the murders wrongly associated with the Aventus guild.

Roben seemed to recognize them but immediately swallowed the anger that had surfaced on his face.

Before us arrived my master, dressed as always, with his dark imperial nolet and leather armor, carrying a bound man in one arm whom he threw alongside the other at Roben's feet. Everyone focused on the mysterious fallen men, but I kept my gaze on my master. There was something different about him; it wasn't his attire, body, or hair. It was his eyes. They were now hazel. He smiled kindly at me, then dug two fingers into his eyes while pretending to itch, pulling out two crystals that he hid in his pocket. He then took the opportunity to stow behind his cloak the metal box he had used to disperse the smoke.

—They're Dilan and Oriel. They were once members of the guild —said Mr. Romano after glancing at them.

—That is until their fierce personalities began to tarnish the reputation of their fellow members —said my master—. They endured it, talked to them, and tried to guide them, being more patient than necessary, until they finally dared to steal from one of their clients. That's when you expelled them definitively, but not before reporting them. They were imprisoned for a good while, but eventually, they served their sentence. Both brothers were free, jobless, and resentful just during the dates of the murders. Since I took a look at the guild's history, it wasn't hard to imagine that they could be behind the events.

—The Aventus guild doesn't have a very short history of disgraceful expulsions —said the lieutenant—. How did you know it was them?

My master then explained his line of thought, attributing the conclusion to a mere process of elimination. To begin with, the second murder —the one of the teacher couple— had to be executed simultaneously since both bodies were in the same room, a considerable distance from each other. He was reading a book while she wrote a letter to her superiors. A lone assassin couldn't have killed one of them without the other noticing and alerting the guards outside. Judging by the positions in which they fell, only the woman seemed to have realized what had happened, as she fell looking in the direction of her husband, but the attack must have been so swift as to prevent her from screaming. That's how my master knew there had to be at least two killers. Furthermore, he said, Miss Isela was key to drawing attention to that particular pair of men. She was an Orkarus, that type of usshyer with skills for stealth and covert hunting. This meant that she would be the only one on the team capable of sensing their presence, which is why they had distanced themselves from her, leaving no evidence to incriminate her.

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The two criminals followed the guild members, identified the wealthiest prey, waited for them to be alone, and then murdered them. This allowed them to achieve two things: tarnish the reputation of the guild that had expelled them and take away a good loot.

—What about the weapon? —asked the lieutenant.

—You can check for yourself —said my master, pointing to the sword one of the criminals had in hand—. They used weapons with transformation seals. That's how they simulated killing each victim with the weapon of the person who had hired them.

When reviewing the list of possible enemies of the guild, those two criminals stood out like a beacon, violent Orkarus brothers. It was clear from the beginning that they wanted to defame the guild, so my master exploited that hatred against them. That's why he asked Mr. Romano to post a reward for the culprits so that they would be tempted to go further. When my master knew their identities and investigated their abilities, he prepared an ideal scenario to catch them.

Given the lack of clients for the guild, it was easy to assume that a professor exploring hostile areas outside the city would be an ideal target. That's why my master asked for help from his old friend: Professor Cosmo, who had managed to escape through an alternative exit before the ambush. He briefly looked at me with complicity while explaining that part.

Later, he traveled to seal a room in that ancient place —which was nothing more than a passage to the other side of this structure— to create the right setting.

He asked for my help to create the opportune moment for the attack and called the lieutenant and Mr. Romano to follow us from afar and witness what happened.

—That's how everything happened —said my master—. This time Lieutenant Roldus shone for his poor management of the problem. I wouldn't want to say it was a serious mistake on his part... because I prefer to tell him in person. Where is he?

—He couldn't come —said the lieutenant—. He was busy, but here's the reward he asked for

—It's a very fortunate coincidence for him, but I wouldn't dare to think he fled from my victory.

The lieutenant handed the reward to my master, signaled outside, and a march began to play. Four soldiers appeared in a corridor at the back, following the trail of energy left by the lieutenant. A simple hand gesture was enough for them to understand that they had to apprehend the two ruffians on the ground.

—Thank you very much, L'Asmodeus —said Mr. Romano visibly more relaxed.

—It's not necessary —said my master—. The satisfaction of delivering justice is the second-best feeling I've had today.

—What's the first? —I asked.

My master gently patted the bag of dorials he had earned, producing a tinkling sound that drew a slight smile on his face. He walked towards the exit and I followed him to demand my share.