Chapter 803: Stirring The Pot
A few days had passed since Garcia’s escape. Only assassins had been sent after her, along with some scouts who knew the true situation at the tower. Of course, that fact didn’t sit right with the devotees of Fortuna, and thus a meeting was held with only Judge Dealer as the head of the court. On one hand, Mesmerazia’s faithful knew that he wouldn’t be biased; on the other, they feared to a degree that he would drag their schemes into the limelight.
As for the only other worshipper of Lady Luck, Ditsy wasn’t quite recognized, as her work mostly happened in the underground floors of the tower. Only she and a handful of others knew how to upkeep the invisibility barrier that protected the city. Erected long ago by a gathering of folks from the last holy war, the technology was alien to most, and even the sharpest mind couldn’t figure out how the mechanics worked unless they were taught by someone who already knew.
Minds roamed and silence blanketed the meeting room; nobody said anything for quite a while–an especially tough task for Eren and Helm, but for varying reasons. But as the silence was broken by the Justice, their reluctance to speak quickly wore off.
"Any proof that Garcia killed Justice Host?" Turning his head towards Ironheart, Dealer leaned forward on his desk with his fingers entwined with each other. "Besides the cloverleaf dagger, of course."
"What else is needed for proof?!" Slamming his fist against his armrest, the minotaur grunted out loud. "She had reasons to kill him; we found her dagger jammed into his skull, we saw her running out of his room while escaping, and most prominent of all, they’d been fighting during their last two meetings–OF COURSE, IT’S HER!"
"Call me biased, but if I had a cloverleaf dagger sticking out of my head, I would probably tell you that whoever owns it might be the killer..." Shrugging his shoulders, Eren joined the conversation. "Not to mention the fact that she did come off quite strongly against Host last time, and if she doesn’t have anything to hide and didn’t do it, then why run?"
"Exactly my point!" Ironheart punctuated his point with another slam of his massive fist.
"Ughh...Why are we wasting our time and money on this stupid thing? Just find her and get rid of that traitor before the public finds out about the Justice’s death." Yawning to himself, Helm smacked his lips and looked around as everyone’s gaze turned to him. Nobody liked him, not even his own people, and so scorn came as naturally towards him as a glimpse. "What? You know I’m right; just get rid of that girl, and we can at least tell the people that we handled the murderer or else the moment the news gets out, be ready for the chaos between the two factions!"
The fact that he, of all people, was making sense did not sit right with anyone; even so, bringing their attention back to the judge, they questioned themselves about what to do next.
"Any news from your assassins, Ditsy?" Although he hoped nothing had happened to Garcia, Justice Dealer could not be biased in his judgment. "I’ve heard that you’re helping Ironheart with the search as a peacekeeping gesture. Does that mean you believe that Garcia is truly the only suspect in this matter?"
Blankly staring back at him for a good few seconds, Ditsy took a deep breath and sighed. Then, with a forced smile on her face, she added.
"Don’t get me wrong, Dealer, but with Host gone, these guys have every right to suspect us, so I’m just trying to cover my rear." Looking at Ironheart and the others, she squinted her eyes. "Now that doesn’t mean I trust everything they say, but it’s better if the elf is captured or killed than all of us killing each other under the shadow of doubt and betrayal."
"Hmm... Huffing through his nose at her words, Ironheart appeared to affirm with her assessment of the situation. "That seals it then; only Judge Dealer is against killing that elf. Now, if there’s nothing else to say, I’d like to get back to that heretic’s hunt!"
"Oh, wait a second!" Setting her umbrella to the side, the vampiress reached into her black purse and took out a small piece of paper. Looking at it for a minute while everyone else stared at her, she smiled to herself. "I managed to catch a few of those monsters, though. I had to go out myself since nobody else seems to be able to."
’What?’ The question roamed in everyone’s head until the vampiress revealed further.
"Those horrors taking over the people’s minds—that’s who I’m talking about." Flashing the piece of paper with a few names on it, she continued. "I had some of my familiars keep an eye on some sketchy individuals, and it turns out their hunch was right. These guys have been hunting humans during the night, turning them into a hive mind, but from what I can gather, it seems there are multiple of these horrors that are trying the same strategy, which just adds to the chaos since they’re not exactly expanding together."
"What are you talking about?" Still a bit confused by her words, Helm turned his big body in his chair and stared at the tiny vampiress. Just above half the size of a regular human female, Ditsy was easily the weakest-looking of the bunch, even weaker than him. "What hive mind and what chaos are they causing?"
"They’re fighting each other like a pack of wolves with one alpha–unfortunately for us, only the alpha is the real horror, and everyone else is an extension of its will. If we can’t get rid of the alpha no matter how many we kill, the horrors will keep multiplying and keep coming back."
"Wait a minute..." Interrupting the vampiress, Eren raised a question and an eyebrow. "So these captive horrors that you have, is any one of them an alpha? And if so, why the hell haven’t you told us about something so dangerous being right under our feet when it can easily take over people’s minds and mimic being a regular person until it requires otherwise?!"
Finally grasping the gravity of the situation, a gasp left everyone’s lips. Eyes turned at each other, and doubts sprang up in a moment. Any of them could be an imposter, but was there really any way of telling? None that they knew of, at least.
"WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU THINKING, YOU LITTLE RUNT?!" Ironheart screamed once more, but the vampire only had one thing to say to him.
"I have it under control, and it’s all the more reason for us to hurry up with this murderous ordeal..." Scattering into a burst of bats, Ditsy took her leave with a muffled chuckle. Much like Eren, she loved to stir the pot; however, her stirring was a tad bit...more violent, to say the least.