Routine

The plan Arthur had suggested wasn't perfect, but it was feasible if the right preparations were made. Still, Evelyn was ever-doubtful and did not shy away from voicing out her thoughts.

"Master, there are inconsistencies in what you proposed. First, there's no way of telling if the Bloated Murder will actually attack even if Randy is in a 'good spot'. Second, while the Vampires value their reputation and prestige, they might opt to distance themselves from this serial killings murder case and let him go instead of eliminating him. Third, seeing as Randy, whom they saw dead, is living and breathing, they might suspect Necromancy and bring the corpse back with them this time."

Arthur carefully listened to the skeptical maid and, when she was done talking, he nodded once in agreement then proceeded to clarify some of the mentioned 'inconsistencies'.

"It's routine, my dear Evelyn. Routine. I'm not suggesting we accomplish this in a day or two. No, far from it, in fact. While we cannot ascertain for sure that the Bloated Murderer had seen 'Randy' distribute the poster, we can, at least, confirm that, one way or another, he knew his target was alive and that made him lie in wait near the office. We need to show him that Randy has a fixed routine every day. Basically, he would go to a specific spot each morning, distribute the posters, go eat at a nearby restaurant, and always take the same route back home. Reckless as the Bloated Murderer had been, he would not choose to risk it after failing twice. Instead, he would watch and form a plan of his own, and only when he's sure that his target, Randy, would pass by a 'good spot', would he act. He needs certainty and predictability and we will give him just that.

As for Amare and Armen, I noticed that they are particularly bad at stealthily following people, and after their failure, they would continue their own investigation while paying great attention to Randy, who will appear in public quite often in the next couple of days. Indeed, we cannot be sure that they will attack or kill the Bloated Murderer, but, seeing how much they value their deal with Miss Pretta Oro, it wouldn't be surprising to see them eliminate a threat to get their hands on the prize.

Lastly, Randy's body is, simply put, an enticing bait… a decoy. I will have no need for it by the time the Bloated Murderer is dead, and…"

The parasite walked to Randy's body and took out the dirty rat, putting it next to the cockroach. After that, he took out the Little Bunting from his bag and laid it next to the other two.

"With these, I can wander around with a bit of ease."

"What about me?"

"As I said before, I need you to be near the office. Preferably in plain sight so that the Bloated Murderer knows you're not secretly protecting Randy. The only problem is: We don't know if our target is working alone or not but we should go with the assumption that he is."

"And what if he's not?"

"A bit problematic but ultimately manageable. If he has an accomplice, it would be one of two things; An employer or someone so secretive that they refuse to let their existence known. In case of the former, they wouldn't want the Bloated Murderer to show himself so often for the sake of a relatively notorious and inconsequential private investigator, therefore, it could be surmised that Randy, prior to dying, had discovered something and that pushed our target to act alone and go to extreme lengths to kill him. In case of the latter, the unknown accomplice, if he even exists, would most likely be informed of everything that had transpired but wouldn't risk exposing himself and, instead, opt to remain in the shadows and manage things without direct contact with the Bloated Murderer. So, even if our target is in a pinch, he wouldn't have an efficient way to call for help."

"..."

"Still dissatisfied, my dear Evelyn? By now, you must know that no amount of meticulous preparation could help in times of unexpected complications. We could muse over the countless possibilities but it would be a waste of our time. Banal as it may sound, I have to admit that luck will play a part in this."

…

The next, in one of the bustling main plazas of the Commercial District, Randy Ronvorld, was handing out posters and making loud speeches about the brutal murders that happened in the last month.

Although many found his rambling annoying, including the city guards, there wasn't any motive to stop him, especially since a handful of people, specifically the families of the deceased, agreed and encouraged him.

"This is a joke, right?"

Armen, gobsmacked, stared at the energetic man standing near the small fountain while enthusiastically handing a poster to every passerby. The vampire, astounded, turned to look at his companion, who, like him, had the same expression of disbelief all over her face.

"We clearly saw him die."

Armen Na Xivia did not know what to make of this unbelievable situation. However, he neither stupid nor reckless enough to charge at Randy and apprehend him then and there. Many eyes were on him and although Amare had seen him kill Thomas, they didn't have any tangible evidence, only a witness who used a magical ability to see past events and that wouldn't be enough to convince Miss Pretta.

"He tricked us."

Coldly said Amare as her purple eyes focused on Randy Ronvorld, trying to see through his fake smile and the peculiarities surrounding him.

"The similarities are uncanny." She added with a quieter voice, one that not even Armen heard.

"We can wait till he goes to a less crowded place."

"No." Objected Amare as she swept her gaze across the passerby, hoping to find anyone worthy of suspicion.

"Let's tail him for a bit. If we make it obvious, we could be tricked again."

"We don't have much time, though."

"..."

***

"What do you mean more time?!"

Duke Terden Sidus, visibly agitated, banged his clenched fist on the desk and disapprovingly glared at the composed young girl standing a few paces away.

His anger notwithstanding, Amare wasn't perturbed or irritated; She had the same calm and never-changing expression plastered on her face as the Duke vented his warranted frustration.

"Don't push this too far, Amare. You said a couple of days and I did not make a fuss, but now you want more time? What could possibly be delaying you from proceeding with the deal? Don't forget that the longer the shipment stays in the warehouse, the higher the chance it could get discovered."

In response, Amare let out a faint smile while retorting, "I thought that you, Sir, are the ruler of Blackcrest and that its entirety was under your control."

"It fucking is, alright! But I have a meeting with the Consortium and I'm not going to leave until the shipment is sent. There are eyes and ears everywhere, especially when I'm away."

"Sir Sidus, there have been complications with Armen's personal matters and we require more time. Until then, we cannot complete the deal."

"Complications? What sort of complications? As long as it quickens the resolutions of your 'personal matter', I will gladly help. Also, I will contact Marjory and tell her to send more professional people to handle the regular deal."

"Do what you must, Sir Sidus."

With both parties having said their piece, Amare excused herself thereafter and retired to her room, where Armen was waiting.

"So, how did it go?"

"How did it think it went?" The girl snorted in annoyance and walked to the window.

"He neither agreed nor objected, but his brooding silence suggested the former. He did, however, tell me that he'll snitch to Mother. Since you started this, you will take all the blame."

"Me? Fine… though, I can escape punishment if we deliver Randy and make him confess in front of Miss Pretta. Mother will be too pleased to see the Blood Crystals and will reward us instead."

…

For the next six days, all Arthur had done was impersonate Randy and, for the majority of the day, stay in one of the plazas in the Commercial District, always handing out posters. As planned, he would always take the same route and diligently eat at the same restaurant.

To avoid suspicions, he would sleep in a room separate from Evelyn and would not even make contact with her. He avoided going to the office and since Addy had not contacted him, he saw no reason to go there.

As expected, Armen and Amare would watch him from afar and would tail him all the way to the inn. They did not take any immediate action and did not seem to be aware that they were awfully conspicuous, especially Amare.

Either she was doing it on purpose or she was an air-head since, one time, she was so focused on Randy that she forgot to stop walking when he paused in front of a stall to buy something.

Her uninterruptible focus almost made her bump into him were it not for Armen, who pulled her just in time and incessantly complained about her lack of awareness in times like that.

On the evening of the seventh day, exactly one week after Arthur had began this facade, the anticipated attempted murder occurred.

The Commercial District was massive and had dozens of intersecting roads, small and big. Arthur picked a relatively empty one to return to the inn and never changed his routine.

As the sky darkened and people were either going to taverns or home, Arthur was calmly walking down the road, passing by one or two people every couple of minutes.

Although he couldn't see them, he knew that Amare and Armen were behind, following him like before.

Just like he had noticed them, the Bloated Murder would have definitely seen them too. However, that did not deter him as a green mist crept from one of the alleys.

Due to the lack of illumination, the green mist almost blinded with the darkness as it got closer to Randy.

When it was close enough to be visible, Randy freaked out and let out a soft cry before sprinting away in a panicked manner.

Unsurprisingly, he sprinted toward Armen, which startled them.

It was supposed to be a clean murder but Randy was unexpectedly fast, thus causing the green mist to chase after him.

Before he could reach the vampires, a scythe-like blade materialized from the mist: It swept horizontally and struck Randy's side, piercing his body.

The man cried in pain as blood gushed out, dripping on the mist-covered scythe as well as on the ground.

The pain was real but Arthur's performance was an exaggeration as not only was he used to inhumane pain, but being a parasite greatly lessened such sensations. Still, he stretched his hands and grabbed the scythe, pulling it closer.

A would like that was undoubtedly fatal, therefore, the Bloated Murderer opted to escape but wasn't able to as Randy held onto the scythe.

The couple of breaths that Arthur managed to buy were enough for the vampires to process what had just happened and take actions.

As he had previously told Evelyn, there was no way to tell if the Vampires would attack the Bloated Murderer or not.

However, as he saw Amare immediately use her magic and Armen rush at the green mist, Arthur was relieved.

The thin purple magical threads appeared out of thin air and swirled around the mist, entrapping it momentarily.

Armen was not a second too late; He had a thorny black sword in hand, which he unhesitantly thrust toward the scythe, shattering it instantly, but it wasn't the end.

The green mist thrashed around as it tried to escape but Amare's mysterious magic rendered any fleeing attempt futile.

There and then, Arthur bore witness to the Vampires' might. He saw Armen, after getting rid of the scythe with ease, swing his black sword upwards then to the side, accurately hitting the unseen man within the mist.

All it took was two simple swings for the mist to dissolve and for the Bloated Murderer to be felled. Just like that.

Even Arthur, who orchestrated this whole thing, was surprised by how efficiently and swiftly Armen and Amare eliminated the Bloated Murderer.

"Hey!"

With the killer dead, Armen edged his free hand closer to Randy's grievous wound. A faint orange light emanated from the vampire's hand, miraculously healing the deep cut.

Still in Randy's body, Arthur felt an unfamiliar energy invade his body and get rid of pain and completely heal his fatal wound. However, he feigned exhaustion and fell on the ground, close to the dead Bloated Murderer.

Amare and Armen did not dare use their magic on him and, instead, made sure he was alive and breathing. Unfortunately for both of them, Randy Ronvorld, like before, lifeless fell on the ground seconds later.

The two weren't shocked, they looked at each other then, after a silent nod, carried both corpses back with them, unaware that a minuscule creature had jumped from Randy to the other man.

"It doesn't matter whether he's dead or not. We'll bring him back and thoroughly examine him. It's definitely a trick!" Said Armen as he clicked his tongue and glanced at the dead Randy.

As to not attract attention, the vampires jumped high-up and landed on one of the nearby roofs. However, unbeknownst to them, the Bloated Murderer's corpse, which was resting on Armen's shoulder, let out a tiny bit of green mist which planted itself on the roof then formed a rune.

A couple of minutes later, when the Vampires reached their temporary residence, located in the Duke's grandiose manor, the unexpected happened.

The Bloated Murderer, which was supposedly dead, twitched then transformed into a green mist. Before the two could react, the mist swirled around then disappeared into thin air.

Back on the roof from before, inside the new body, Arthur chuckled and looked at the rune beneath his feet.

"What a useful skill."