By now, the Seawave Guild looked like a kingdom preparing for collapse.
Not because of me.
Because removing four leaders exposed how rotten the system already was.
Merchants walked quietly.
Officers whispered.
Even the guards held their weapons tighter.
A monster was moving through the guild.
And everyone assumed that monster was me.
They weren't entirely wrong.
But they weren't right either.
I wasn't the monster.
I was the mirror.
And people were horrified by their own reflection.
Risenne's Silence
Risenne walked beside me through the guild halls.
Her steps slower.
Her eyes quieter.
Her breathing controlled — too controlled.
She wasn't avoiding me.
She wasn't approaching me either.
She was… floating in the space between.
I didn't comment on it.
She didn't comment either.
Until she suddenly did.
"Montig," she said quietly, "you're acting like you're not afraid of anything."
"I'm not."
"That's impossible."
"Nothing's impossible."
"You're impossible," she muttered.
But there was no frustration in her tone.
Just…
A whisper of something she hadn't named yet.
She stopped walking.
I stopped too.
She stared forward — not at me, but not away from me.
"Montig," she said softly, "I've never met someone like you."
Her voice cracked on the last word.
Barely.
But enough.
Enough for me to hear the truth hiding under it.
Then she straightened and walked forward again before I could reply.
Her armor was cracking.
Quietly.
Slowly.
Unwillingly.
The Fifth Target — The Shipping Overseer
I'd already broken the Head of Shipping.
But the Shipping Overseer, the man just below him, was still standing.
His name was Harnell.
Harnell was well-liked.
Calm voice.
Patient manner.
Everyone thought he was honest.
That alone made him suspicious.
If a guild is decaying, and one man shines too clean…
He's either a saint or a liar.
I didn't believe in saints.
The Oversight Room
We entered a small room packed with scribbles, maps, long lists of shipping routes, and thousands of numbers.
Harnell looked up with a gentle smile.
"Ah, Observer Montig. Guard Risenne. How can I assist the guild today?"
He was polite enough to irritate me.
Risenne bowed slightly.
"Harnell, we're here to review the shipping anomalies."
"Of course."
He handed over a book.
Neat writing.
Perfect columns.
Balanced accounts.
Too perfect.
I flipped through calmly.
Risenne leaned closer to look.
Too close.
She pulled back half a step — embarrassed.
I smirked internally.
She pretended not to notice I noticed.
Cute.
The First Thread
"Harnell," I said. "Can you explain why your logs never show seasonal loss?"
He blinked.
"Seasonal loss?"
"Yes. Bad weather. Delays. Spilled goods."
"We are efficient," he said.
"Too efficient."
His smile tightened.
Risenne watched me with that look she'd been giving more often now — assessing, worried, drawn in despite herself.
I continued:
"The deadlines in winter are the same as summer."
"Consistency is our pride."
"You're hiding something."
He laughed lightly. "Montig, you accuse very quickly."
I placed four reports on the table.
All different clerks.
All different routes.
All with identical handwriting in notes.
Harnell stopped breathing.
He knew.
And Risenne knew I knew.
The Second Thread
"Harnell, your clerks don't write like this."
"Well—"
"These annotations are yours."
Silence.
Risenne's eyes narrowed the same moment mine did.
"You rewrote their route explanations," I said.
"For clarity," he said quickly.
"For deception," I corrected.
His mask cracked.
Barely.
But enough.
The Final Thread
I slid forward one more document — an inspection report with numbers slightly altered.
"Harnell, you've been adjusting delivery windows."
"Only by minutes—"
"Enough to hide delays."
He swallowed.
Risenne stepped closer — protective again.
She didn't seem to realize she'd done it.
"Harnell," she said softly, "why?"
His shoulders slumped.
"You don't understand," he whispered. "The guildmaster places impossible expectations. If we don't meet them, the entire guild gets punished. I was just smoothing the rough edges—"
"To keep the guild alive?" I asked.
He nodded desperately.
I sighed.
"You fixed the wrong edges."
He looked confused.
So I clarified:
"You fixed the symptoms. Not the disease."
He collapsed back into his chair.
Risenne stared at him — empathy and disappointment mixed.
"Why didn't you tell someone?" she asked.
He laughed bitterly.
"Tell who? Marell? Garlon? Brugo? All corrupt or incompetent. And the guildmaster… he doesn't listen. Not to people like me."
He wasn't wrong.
But he wasn't innocent.
The Guildmaster's Verdict
The guildmaster entered moments later.
His eyes weren't angry.
They were tired.
So tired.
"Harnell," he said quietly. "Is it true?"
Harnell bowed his head.
"I'm sorry."
The guildmaster nodded.
That was it.
One nod.
Judgment passed.
"Harnell will step down."
Five down.
Two left.
The Hallway — A Near Break
Risenne didn't walk beside me this time.
She walked ahead.
Then stopped.
Then walked ahead again.
Then stopped again.
Finally, she turned.
Her eyes trembled.
"Montig."
"Yes?"
"Why does watching you work hurt?"
I blinked.
She continued, voice soft.
"Every leader you expose… I see what they were hiding. What they were struggling with. What the guild ignored."
"And?"
"And you still cut them down."
"I show the truth," I said.
"You show it mercilessly."
A long silence stretched between us.
Then I stepped closer.
"You're not upset because I'm merciless," I said.
She swallowed.
Quiet.
"You're upset because you know I'm right."
Her eyes closed.
Just for a moment.
When she opened them, there was heat there.
Conflict.
Confusion.
Attraction.
She whispered:
"…Why does it have to be you?"
"Because nobody else sees it," I said.
"And you—"
I stepped slightly closer.
"—see me."
Her breath caught.
Visible this time.
She turned away quickly and walked ahead again.
But she didn't recover her calm.
Not this time.