Silas didn't need to guess - he knew.
This man had killed before… but not often. His hands weren't steady, his cover-up sloppy. Maybe decades of wandering had given him a calm surface, but beneath it, he was cracking.
The bodies in the tunnel had been hacked apart and burned in a rush. Amateur work. In Rusturf's endless maze of stone, maybe he thought no one would find them. But outside? Out in the open? A Jenny would have him in cuffs and chains within days.
Silas tilted his head, voice flat and cutting.
"Uncle… this was your first kill, wasn't it? Didn't you know? Human bones don't burn easily. Fire won't erase them. You don't even have a Pokémon fit to handle a corpse."
The man's face twitched. For a moment, his mask slipped. Then he forced composure back into his features.
"Hmph. I don't know what you're talking about."
Silas's lips curved in a thin, mocking smile.
"You reek of blood. You had Marill spray water to wash it off, didn't you? But it's still there. Even you can't smell it on yourself?"
He raised his lamp and swept it downward, the beam catching on the man's boots.
There it was.
The faint red stain. Smudged, not washed clean.
The man's eyes widened. His chest heaved. Sweat began to bead on his forehead.
When he looked back at Silas, the kindly mask was gone. His face twisted, eyes bloodshot, like a cornered beast.
"You brat!" he roared. "Why did you go in there?!"
His voice cracked with fear, but his hands moved with fury. He jabbed forward.
"You'll die here too! Marill, use Aqua Tail! Grimer, Sludge Bomb!"
The blue mouse Pokémon lunged, its tail surging with water, while the sludge Pokémon oozed forward, belching purple toxins.
Silas didn't flinch.
"Murkrow, Eevee use Protect!"
"Murrr-krow!"
"Veeeee!"
A green barrier flared before them, shattering the incoming strikes. Silas rolled to the side, pulling free a Poké Ball. With a flash, Crawdaunt burst forth, claws snapping with savage force.
"Craaaw-daaaunt!"
The man's face drained of color.
Silas's eyes swept his opponents once, cold and precise. 'Poor training. Sloppy technique. Nothing but mediocrity.'
Only one thing stood out - Marill. Its power carried a strange resonance, a hidden Fairy nature this world had yet to name. But even so, it wasn't enough.
"Is that all?" Silas's voice cut like ice. "Then you'll be buried here… just like your friend."
The man trembled. Fear mixed with rage. He shouted hoarsely:
"Marill, Bubble Beam! Grimer, Sludge Bomb, again!"
"Crawdaunt -use Razor Shell!"
Water surged around Crawdaunt's pincers, forming a sharp crescent of energy. With a brutal sweep, it struck Grimer full-force.
"GRIIIMEERRR!"
The sludge Pokémon shrieked as it was hurled into the wall, toxins spilling uselessly onto the stone. One strike and it was finished.
Silas didn't pause.
"Murkrow, Wing Attack! Eevee, Swift!"
"Murrrkrow!"
"Veeeee!"
Murkrow dove with glowing wings, while Eevee launched a stream of golden stars. Marill staggered under the combined assault, forced on the defensive, unable to aid its fallen partner.
The man's knuckles whitened. His voice cracked.
"Why… why are you all forcing me?!"
But Silas gave him no reprieve. Crawdaunt's claws crashed down again, Murkrow's wings tore the air, and Eevee's stars blazed through the gloom. The man's Pokémon crumpled, overwhelmed.
The battle was over.
The man collapsed to his knees, eyes wild, face pale and streaked with blood. His voice broke into a desperate mutter.
"Why? Why did it come to this? If only I'd… shared… if only I hadn't…"
Silas's gaze was colder than the stone around them.
"Then tell me," he said softly, stepping closer. "Why did you kill him? Was it ore? Treasure? Or just greed?"
But the man could only clutch his head, whispering the same hollow word again and again. "Why? Why? Why?"
Silas's eyes narrowed. Enough.
"Murkrow," he said, voice low and final. "End it."
"Murrr…krow!"
The crow's beak gleamed in the dim light as it struck. Silence followed.
The man slumped lifeless, his blood soaking into the tunnel floor.
Silas exhaled, his dark eyes reflecting no pity, only the cold flame of truth.
"This world has always been like this. To make your Pokémon stronger… to walk further down the trainer's path… you must fight. You must take."
He looked at the corpse, voice sharp as glass.
"Civilians like you never stood a chance. Wasted half your life, gained nothing. That's why you break. That's why the dark organizations keep growing. Because for those without power, corruption is the only way forward."
His words hung in the stagnant air.
In the heart of Rusturf Tunnel, under stone and shadow, another body was left behind and Silas walked on, indifferent.
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(End of chapter)