Antonio moved through the hall once again, his eyes scanning every masked figure he came across.
Silver owl mask.
Black glove on the left hand.
Rings on every finger of the right hand.
Those were the only details he had to work with.
But finding one among a hundred was still not an easy task.
Antonio slowly walked past several groups, pretending to be interested in their conversations while carefully observing their masks and hands.
One table after another.
One masked guest after another.
'Did he even attend the gathering today?'
Antonio stopped near one of the tables and picked up a glass, using the opportunity to observe the people around him.
His gaze moved across the hall once more.
Then—
He noticed someone standing in a dark corner, talking with another man wearing a lion mask.
The rings on his right hand reflected enough light to almost illuminate the dark corner he stood in.
Antonio moved a bit to the side to get a better look.
'Found you.'
Antonio placed the glass back on the table and began slowly walking towards him.
But as he got closer, Antonio suddenly slowed down.
'Wait.'
His eyes remained fixed on the man wearing the silver owl mask.
'What am I even going to talk about with him?'
Antonio stopped for a moment.
He had spent all this time looking for Grey Watcher, but now that he had actually found him, he had no idea what he was supposed to ask.
'I can't just walk up to him and ask if he is Grey Watcher.'
Antonio briefly glanced towards the man wearing the lion mask.
The two seemed to be finishing their conversation.
'I need information first. Walking up to Grey Watcher without knowing anything about him could make him suspicious.'
The lion-mask man finally stepped away from Grey Watcher and began making his way through the crowd.
Antonio was now in a pinch.
He didn't know which one to follow.
Suddenly, a tap on the shoulder brought him back to reality.
"What are you staring at?" Austin asked with a confused look.
In an instant, Antonio grabbed Austin's shoulder.
"I don't have time to explain. Can you just follow that man wearing a silver owl mask?" Antonio said in a hurry.
"Yeah, I can. But what is this about?" Austin asked in confusion.
"I'll tell you later. Just do what I say for now," Antonio said as he hurriedly followed the man in the lion mask.
Antonio hurriedly followed the man through the crowd, keeping enough distance between them to avoid making his intentions obvious.
The lion-mask man walked past several tables before turning towards one of the corridors leading away from the main hall.
'Where is he going?'
Antonio quickened his pace while keeping his steps as silent as possible.
One corridor after another.
Antonio followed as they moved to a much more isolated place.
Suddenly, the man stopped at the back door of Velmora Hall.
The guard stepped forward towards the man.
Antonio slowly closed the distance and hid behind one of the pillars in order to eavesdrop.
"Are the preparations complete?" asked the man in the lion mask.
'That voice… I've heard it somewhere before.'
"Of course. It is only a matter of time before the Second Prince's army arrives," the guard answered.
'Second Prince's army?'
"Honestly, that man is willing to sacrifice this whole organisation that he built from scratch just because someone is chasing him down? Now that is one terrifying man," said the man in the lion mask.
'What? Wait—Second Prince's army is coming to raid this place? What the hell? How does Grey Watcher already know that someone is searching for him?'
"How long until the forces arrive?"
"About half an hour."
'So, I have half an hour…'
"Fine. Keep a lookout and keep as many guests as possible from leaving."
"Yes, sir."
The man in the lion mask began making his way back to the hall.
Antonio instantly took cover behind one of the pillars, keeping his eyes fixed on the man.
'I need to get out of here now. No, I need to find Austin first… as well as Victor.'
'Ah, dammit. What do I do now?'
Without wasting another moment, Antonio quickly rushed back inside the hall in search of Austin.
His eyes immediately began scanning through the crowd.
Masks.
Tables.
Servants.
Nothing.
'Shit! Where the hell did he go while following Grey Watcher?'
Antonio moved deeper into the hall, pushing past several guests without paying much attention to their annoyed looks.
His pace grew faster as each minute passed.
Before long, Antonio hadn't even realised that he was now running through the hall while most of the crowd was looking at him with confused expressions.
Until—
He saw a familiar figure standing near the terrace door.
Antonio immediately called out.
"Aus—Green Baker!"
Austin turned in an instant to see Antonio running towards him.
"What happened? Why are you in such a hurry?" Austin questioned with a confused expression.
"Just follow me. I'll explain," Antonio answered while catching his breath.
The two of them started moving around the hall.
"So, what is this about?" Austin questioned as he hurriedly followed behind Antonio.
Antonio explained everything to Austin, from the moment he spotted Grey Watcher to when he overheard the conversation between the man in the lion mask and the guard.
"Wait—so, that guy in the silver owl mask was Grey Watcher?"
"Yes. So, what happened when you followed him?"
"I was about to tell you about it before you came to me in such a hurry."
"Then, tell me about it now."
"I lost him near the terrace where I found you."
"What?"
"I don't know myself either. I saw him entering the terrace, but when I followed behind and went onto the terrace as well, there was no one there. I think he might have found out that I was tailing him and escaped."
"Dammit! Did you see anyone else there?"
"No. There was no one else."
Antonio and Austin made their way to the exit, but as they were about to leave, Austin grabbed Antonio's shoulder tightly.
"Wait—we can't just leave like this."
"What do you mean?" Antonio asked with a confused expression.
"Come with me."
The two of them walked to an empty space.
"Okay, now explain. We don't have much time remaining."
"We can't just leave like this. We need to somehow get most of the people out of here as well."
"Why? How does that matter to us? I mean, if we take Victor Holmes into account, then sure. But why the others?"
"Because that's what Grey Watcher wants. I mean, if we look at all the information we have gathered, we can conclude that Grey Watcher is probably a merchant himself or is associated with one. And if all the people in this gathering are caught, the market will take a massive hit, as the Second Prince would be claiming a good chunk of it from these merchants. That may also make it easier to narrow down the possible candidates for who Grey Watcher could be. But that's what Grey Watcher wants."
"And if he's prepared to let the market take a hit, it must mean that he also has a plan for what comes after it. So, he could possibly have a plan to conceal his identity even after this."
"Exactly. So, making his plan fail here is the best bet we have. But we have to get these people out of here."
"Well, then we just have to do something that'll make these people leave by themselves."
"Do you have something in mind?" Austin asked with a confused look.
"Austin, have you ever committed arson before?"