The wind howled briefly between the rocks, carrying snow across the abandoned path.
Ryn adjusted his stance, blade lowering just enough to signal readiness rather than threat.
Fritz stepped forward, sword half-raised.
"Who are you?"
The man's gaze flicked to him briefly. Dismissive.
Then back to Ryn.
"You already know," he said.
Ryn did.
He'd seen him briefly at the announcement in Raias, half a step behind their Hero Candidate.
This was Kharvos' shadow. His right hand.
The one sent to do all his dirty work.
He didn't answer right away. His mind was already moving, rewinding the whole day and laying them out piece by piece.
Everything had gone according to plan.
He made sure to check everything: routes, timing, procedure, even the amount of time the disposal team could linger without drawing notice.
There were no obvious gaps.
Which meant the problem wasn't execution.
Ryn lifted his gaze back to the man standing in the snow.
