(Next Scene After the Tavern Fight)
A few minutes after the… incident, the tavern is oddly peaceful again. Nyxar and Vespera sip their water as if nothing unusual happened, the owners nervously wiping the counter like their lives depend on it, and above everyone…
…four robed men hang from silk like morbid little chandeliers, three of them missing their right arms and ALL of them deeply rethinking their life choices.
The door suddenly opens.
Sebastian, the driver, and Belos return — and right between them is a professional doctor, looking ready to treat what he assumed were two dead bodies.
They step inside.
The doctor freezes.
Sebastian freezes.
Belos freezes.
The driver freezes so hard he might as well be part of the furniture.
All four of them stare at the scene:
— four people wrapped and dangling like piñatas,
— three arm-stumps leaking blood,
— silk everywhere,
— and the "dead" Nyxar and Vespera casually drinking water like it's a spa day.
Sebastian breaks first.
Sebastian: "…What… WHAT is this!?"
Nyxar lifts his glass, totally calm.
Nyxar: "Oh good, you're here. These four were looking for you."
Sebastian: "…What."
Vespera, also relaxed:
Vespera: "Yes. They asked about you."
Sebastian gestures to the dangling bodies like a lunatic conductor attempting to direct chaos.
Sebastian: "So your response was to HANG THEM LIKE CORPSES!?"
Nyxar shrugs.
Nyxar: "No. They attacked first. So we simply… 'retaliated.'"
Sebastian: "RETALIATED!? RETA— You— that—"
He gives up speaking before he gets an aneurysm.
Belos walks past the hysterical butler and over to the two calm murder-children. Without a word he lifts his hands — the bear marks on his palms glow, and two steel mini-bears appear beside him. They're noticeably bigger than last time.
Nyxar perks up.
Nyxar: "You made them bigger."
Belos: "Yup. I can do that without getting exhausted now."
Nyxar nods, impressed.
Nyxar: "Nice. What else?"
Vespera nudges Nyxar.
Vespera: "Summon Mini Jaguar."
Nyxar snaps the grimwar open and summons Mini Bella and the Mini Jaguar.
Instantly, the four mini-beasts all go to war like a tiny kaiju battle:
— Mini Steel Bear #1 tackles Mini Jaguar,
— Mini Jaguar bites Mini Bella's tail,
— Mini Bella suplexes Mini Steel Bear #2,
— All of them tumble around like angry plushies fighting for dominance.
Vespera watches as Belos starts explaining what happened in the past few days.
Sebastian, meanwhile, rubs his temples.
Sebastian: "Alright… alright… Forget the monsters. Why were you four looking for us again?"
One robed man — the only one who still has a right hand — tries to talk but hesitates.
A moment later, he feels Nyxar and Vespera's death glares.
He instantly becomes VERY cooperative.
Robed Man: "W-We were sent to retrieve a butler and a kid! Someone paid us to!"
Sebastian: "By who?"
Robed Man: "We don't know! He wore a brown cloak with golden trim! Voice wasn't recognizable!"
Sebastian grits his teeth.
Sebastian: "Anything else? Anything IMPORTANT?"
The man thinks.
Robed Man: "…He had a scorpion tattoo. On his left hand."
Sebastian goes pale.
Then he starts laughing.
Not normal laughing.
Not even nervous laughing.
More like the "I have seen death and now I embrace madness" laugh.
Driver: "…Sir? Are you okay?"
Sebastian tries to talk between crazy giggles.
Sebastian: "That tattoo— that insignia— it belongs to the Scorpion Mercenary Syndicate."
The room goes cold.
Sebastian: "They complete ANY job. No hesitation. No mistakes. They follow orders EXACTLY as instructed. They are horrifyingly professional!"
Nyxar, still watching Belos demonstrate ability upgrades:
Nyxar: "Right… sooo… if they're that perfect, explain this."
He gestures lazily.
Nyxar: "You were found in a carriage… crashed in a ditch. That's supposed to look 'natural,' right? So that means either:
A) it was natural and totally not an assassination attempt…
or B) someone wanted it to look natural."
Vespera gently pulls Mini Bella, the two Mini Bears, and Mini Jaguar apart before they commit tiny homicide.
Vespera: "And these 'assassins' saw their own secret insignia — which only THEIR group should have. So why hide under robes?"
Nyxar points at the dangling man.
Nyxar: "Did the cloaked figure TELL you which group he was from?"
Robed Man: "N-No! He just paid us!"
Vespera nods sharply.
Vespera: "Exactly. If the real Scorpions are so competent, then two things make no sense:
A sloppy staged accident.
A second sloppy job done by robed idiots who don't even know who hired them."
Sebastian stares.
Sebastian: "…Huh… you're right. Why would they do that?"
Nyxar and Vespera reply together:
Nyxar + Vespera: "What if it WASN'T the same group?"
They continue in perfect sync:
Vespera: "Either it was one group both times impersonating them—"
Nyxar: "—or two groups: one real, one impersonators."
Sebastian stares at them like they're ancient prophets instead of murdery teenagers who drink water casually after amputating three men.
Narrator voice:
Narrator:
"Welp. Turns out logical deduction is strong.
But doing it THAT fast?
I don't trust it.
Not one bit."