Ball of Nothing

Truen returned late even though the matches at the Dirt Ring was concluded several hours ago. The talk with Desert Lily went well and Truen had more than enough bloodstones after the three arranged matches to pay for lodging, accommodations and a little more.

"Any information about what the third opponent wants?" he asked.

The assassin leader shook her head. "He said that he needed your brother's help but that's about it. Even if he lost the match, I don't think he will be giving up on trying to approach your younger brother. I don't think he has bad intentions but it is rather suspicious."

Truen couldn't help but snarl when he heard that. Still, he restrained himself. There was no need to paint Deadman Town in red just because of one stalker. He didn't know why anybody would have business with Zero but he wouldn't allow it unless he knew their intention. The slave should be taken care of by now and Truen suspected that Zero would have struck a deal with her of sorts in a crafty way to secretly help her reunite with her family. They couldn't do a detour so Zero would most likely bring her along with them to the desert. He did not have the chance to confirm details with Zero yet but that was the most likely outcome.

"What about the information I asked you for? Did you gather anything useful?"

Desert Lily stiffened. Her informants were spread out and working hard but they weren't able to gather anything more than flimsy hearsays that sounded too fake for anyone to believe. Truen felt his heart sink a little. If Desert Lily who had the widest information network in the lawless zone nearest to Derby Desert couldn't get anything useful, their journey would be very arduous.

"Understood," he said. "Keep trying. I can stay for only a few more days and I would need some sort of general direction to travel in. I don't want to spend too much time looking for the gnome city or desert poppy in the desert. If you know any sand dwellers who could help us with that, I will pay for that information as well. Is tomorrow's match scheduled?"

"Yes," the lady nodded. "The Griffin doesn't find you a threat but he'll be in for a surprise tomorrow. Also, could you drag the fight out with him a little? Knocking the three opponents out in one hit today is not exactly good entertainment for the bloodthirsty crowd. You can do anything short of killing them in the Dirt Ring and even if you accidentally killed them, nobody would say anything."

The archer smirked. "Are you asking me to dispose of him?"

Desert Lily raised her hands quickly in surrender. "I'm not telling you to do anything. I just thought that you might find the desire to end him tomorrow in the ring. The Griffin can be quite... difficult to get along with. You're not too familiar with the rules of the ring so that was merely a suggestion from me. Black Mamba doesn't need anyone stealing our rice bowl from us. If we want someone dead, we would assign a proper assassin for the internal job."

Satisfied with her response, Truen smiled. "It was the right choice to look for Black Mamba instead of Green Hawks or Grey Legion. I'll come again after my match tomorrow."

With that, he left and returned to the inn. Zero should be asleep by now but Truen wouldn't be surprised if his friend was still awake. The mole girl's comfort and safety is Zero's first priority as a doctor. He didn't know if Bob was done with dismantling all the bee corpses but it didn't matter. They could always continue tomorrow.

The inn was quiet and Dwayne greeted him sleepily when he returned. Truen boded in greeting and took out the bag of bloodstones he earned from the match., "This should be enough to cover the expenses for the week. How is my brother coping? Is the slave girl's needs taken care of adequately?"

Dwayne nodded. "Your brother is quite scary when he gets into his doctor mode. Don't worry, I've been sworn to secrecy about what I saw. He wanted you to be his assistant but life is precious and we couldn't wait. The girl is safe now and she should be asleep. The helper you sent to help Brutus with dismantling the bees had also gone for the day. I don't think they completed the job because you went overboard with the hunting. It might take a few more days to completely dismantle all the corpses. Your brother said that he was going to talk to the Green Hawks tomorrow. Are you joining him?"

Truen blinked. Zero was going to visit the merchants? "Did he say why he was going to see them?"

Dwayne shook his head and Truen nodded. "I see. Thank you for telling me. I'll retire for the night."

The ex-adventurer waved sleepily and closed the inn once the elf was upstairs. He was working too much recently but Dwayne didn't dislike it. If anything, Deadman Town was starting to get more interesting now that the elven siblings were here. From his secret sources, Desert Lily had fixed a strange opponent for the archer in the final match. Dwayne wanted to know who would be stronger - Truen or Monoman more commonly known as the Mammoth.

Little was known about Monoman who was the leader of another lawless town near Indra Seagloo but Dwayne who ruled Deadman Town knew about him. After all, Dwayne tried to recruit this man to join him in starting Deadman Town. He used to be a wanderer in the wilderness and Dwayne was impressed by his powerful physical attributes that were not commonly found. He was a semi-giant by birth but his strength far surpassed that. Dwayne didn't have the appraisal skill but he had a hunch that The Mammoth was blessed by a god, just like Dorgon his old friend.

The final match in the Dirt Ring was something he didn't want to miss but for tonight, he was going to turn in early. helping Zero with an operation was more tiring than fighting a hundred emperor scythe scorpions.