The library fell silent.
Blood dripped from bookshelves.
Bodies lay scattered between overturned tables and fallen chairs.
The surviving thug stared at the corpses around him.
His friends.
His drinking companions.
Men he had known for years.
Dead.
Almost all of them.
And it had happened so quickly that his mind hadn't fully processed it yet.
"Boss…"
His voice trembled.
The thug leader didn't answer.
His eyes remained fixed on Osric and William.
For the first time since entering the library, the confidence on his face was gone.
"Tsk."
The two adventurers slowly advanced.
William kept his shield raised.
Osric's sword was stained red.
Neither looked particularly exhausted.
That terrified him more than anything.
"We're leaving," the thug leader suddenly said.
The remaining two thugs blinked.
"What?"
"I said we're leaving."
His hand slowly tightened around his weapon.
Every instinct was screaming at him.
This wasn't a fight anymore.
This was suicide.
Across the room, Samuel watched quietly.
'Interesting.'
The Stoneclaw Gang had entered expecting an execution.
Instead, they were desperately searching for a way to escape.
The thug near William slowly backed away toward the leader and the remaining man.
None of the three turned their backs.
They were waiting.
One opening.
One moment where Osric or William looked away.
Then Osric's left hand moved.
A thin knife appeared between his fingers.
"Whoosh!"
"Thk!"
The thug beside the leader froze.
A small blade had buried itself in the middle of his forehead.
His eyes rolled back before his body collapsed.
Nobody moved for a heartbeat.
Even William looked surprised.
Samuel's eyes sharpened.
'A hidden weapon too?'
Osric didn't explain.
He only glanced at William.
William understood.
They moved at the same time.
Osric charged at the thug leader and swung his sword upwards to wound him before he could block or dodge.
His sword cut across the thug's chest, but it wasn't deep enough to be fatal.
"Argh!"
Osric followed up with a stab to his shoulder and disarmed him.
Meanwhile William had already killed the last subordinate.
Osric looked back at William. "You said Garrick captured another one?"
"Yeah."
"Alright then-"
"Shtk!"
Osric's iron sword buried deep into the thug's chest.
"Ugh."
He collapsed with a last gasp.
"Then I don't need to keep him alive."
Osric turned again and looked at the distant observer.
Samuel gulped.
'Why is he looking at me like that?'
"Who are you?" Osric asked.
William was confused but didn't say anything. He was contemplating something else.
'When did killing people become this normal to us?'
He had changed a lot in the span of only a couple of months.
There was no hesitation to his actions anymore. William knew the path he chose to follow Osric was not a pretty one.
'I need to harden my resolve even more. We will probably face a lot worse things than this. Osric is already making enemies. I need to become strong enough to not drag him down.'
Osric approached Samuel, sword still in hand.
"Answer. Who are you?"
"Wh-what do you mean? I just came here to read."
"Whoosh."
Osric's sword suddenly came to Samuel's side of the neck.
Samuel started sweating. "Why are you doing this? I am just an innocent person."
Meanwhile he thought. 'Shit. Does he know something?'
"Why didn't you leave?" Osric asked.
"Any average person would've ran away like everyone else who was here before. And you just so happened to have appeared right before these thugs came?"
"Tell me who you are and why you're here."
'I miscalculated. This guy is way too observant. I shouldn't have underestimated his intelligence just because he's an adventurer and orphan from the slums.'
'Him studying here should've been enough to convince me otherwise.'
Samuel had no choice but to tell the truth. He could sense that one wrong move here would mean his death.
Osric's expression didn't falter once. His stare was ice cold and looked merciless.
"Speak."
"Um. My name is Samuel. I am a retainer for Reginald Greydell."
Both Osric and William didn't expect that answer.
Neither of them knew the connection between House Greydell and the Stoneclaw Gang, since William left the monster forest before Klinger told Garrick about it.
But it wouldn't be a surprise to them, since everyone knew that House Greydell had full control over Ashbrook as their ruler.
"Why would someone like you be here?" Osric asked Samuel.
'I need to be careful here, because if it's true that the group that went after Garrick was defeated, it's highly likely that they know about our connection.'
"We asked the Stoneclaw Gang for information on you, because my lord considers you a man with a bright future. But when I heard those thugs had other plans, I came here to observe what would happen."
This was the safest answer Samuel could give in this situation.
'I can't let him know that Reginald ordered the hit in him, but if he doesn't buy it, I'll have no choice but to abandon him. My life is more important than that idiot third heir.'
Osric didn't say anything for a while.
"Alright."
He turned to William. "What did the others say they would do next?"
"I told Garrick and the others to go find Frankin and report everything. And that he should also ask for help. I hope that's okay."
"Yes. You made the right call. Good job, William."
William smiled.
"Thanks."
Osric's expression turned serious again.
He looked at Samuel.
"Take this guy with us. We need to get out of here before city guards show up. I need to speak to Garrick and Franklin to plan our next step."
"Yes."
—
Right outside the city's eastern gate.
Garrick, Richard and Dustin with Klinger's unconscious body on his back, entered after paying a city guard a small fee to look the other way.
"Pick up the pace. We need to report to Franklin before anything else happens."
"Garrick. Do you think that Osric and William are okay?"
"I don't know, but we can't focus on that right now."
"Osric isn't weak though. He should be able to handle most situations. And if William arrives in time before anything happens, they should he okay."
"William isn't as skilled as Osric, but he's a capable guy from what I've seen in the small amount of time I've spent with him."