With Tryndall being the first among the group to start talking about the course of action they would take in making sure that they would be able to apprehend Merdus, everyone in the group went ahead and listened to what instructions he gave to the reconnaissance group.
According to what he told the reconnaissance group, one of the assassins would have to head towards the location that Lucas had told the three of them earlier to make sure that Merdus' residence was indeed there, confirming that he was present in the residence as well. Then, if that assassin were to find out that the residence was not there, they would search the immediate area of that location to find out where the residence truly was.
After that, he told the group that the remaining assassins would search throughout the city for Merdus' residence, or, in the off-chance Merdus was making his way back to his residence, they would trail them to what building Merdus entered. However, if the first assassin were to find out that the residence was indeed in the location Lucas told them, the other assassins would be tasked with finding the quickest and most efficient route that would lead them to the residence.
Of course, the same applied vice versa. If the other assassins were to find out that his residence was in another part of the city, then the remaining assassins would be tasked to find the quickest and most efficient route that would bring them there.
With that, Douglas, as well as the other assassins that made up the reconnaissance group swiftly disappeared from the sight of the others, reminding everyone else to check the party chat they had created from time to time regarding updates on the whereabouts of Merdus' residence.
After that, Valyr decided to take the initiative on planning out the actions of Braum's group, with Tyrst and Paul recommending that Valyr and Tryndall were to stay in the sidelines, telling them that they did not have the sufficient strength to be able to apprehend someone like Merdus.
In response to that, Valyr and Tryndall brought up the City Quest they had received which had everything to do with the entire incident the group was currently tackling. Aside from that, Valyr brought up the entire reason why the group was helping them out in the first place, though he made sure that he did not mention anything about the Imperial Production Guild or the Four Pillars' Inheritance.
Recalling Valyr's importance in general, as well as the fact that they were informed before they left that he was the missing the guild needed in order for the Four Pillars' Inheritance to explored in its entirety, Paul and Tyrst let out an awkward chuckle as they decided to change topic, proceeding to ask about the identity of Valyr's friend.
Though he was curious why Braum's group had decided to change the topic all of a sudden due to Valyr's words, Tryndall decided to let it be for now, considering that his friend did not know the full extent of his identity within the Adventurer's Guild.
Naturally, after telling the other people in Braum's group of his name, as well as his affiliation, Madeline and the others looked at him with visible shock on their faces, prompting Tryndall to tell them to stay silent about the matter for now before briefly glancing at Valyr beside him.
Realizing what was going on, they respected Tryndall's wishes by remaining silent, nodding in response to his words not long after. On the other hand, Valyr could only bitterly smile at the whole exchange, becoming more and more curious about Tryndall's identity.
But as he was also hiding his candidacy to the Four Pillars' Inheritance from his friend, he decided to let it be for now.
After talking for a bit more as to how they would approach the arrest, Valyr, Tryndall, Braum, and everyone else received a message from the reconnaissance group through the party chat, informing the trio to head to the meet-up spot as Douglas would be there to guide them through the optimal route that would lead to the residence.
With that, the trio parted ways from the other members of Braum's group, with Braum telling them before the three left for good to head to the residence as soon as possible once Madeline was able to obtain the arrest warrant from the kingdom. In response, Madeline would inform Braum and the others about it in the party chat once they did.
Nodding in response, the three made their way to the meet-up spot as quickly as possible, with Braum even using his Intent for a bit to propel the two forward, much to the surprise of the two. Nevertheless, both Valyr and Tryndall appreciated this gesture from Braum as they were able to meet up with Douglas a few minutes earlier than they should have.
Oblivious to what happened to the three on their way to where he was, Douglas then led them through the various dimly lit streets of the city, leading the trio towards the outskirts of the city as he confirmed to them that the information they obtained from Lucas was, in fact, correct.
With that, they continued to make a few turns here and there through the various streets, eventually arriving at a manor that was slightly smaller than Lucas in terms of area. However, unlike Lucas' residence, which had multiple people guarding it, the trio were informed by the reconnaissance group that one guard was the only thing that stopped them from reaching Merdus, which was the guard at the entrance of the manor.
With Valyr rendering the guard unconscious with a single thwack of his spear on the back of the guard's neck, the three silently passed through the entrance as they quickly noticed that only a single room within the manor still had lights on.
Taking note of this information, the three went around the perimeter of the manor's walls, making sure that their steps were as light as possible, as well as suppressing their auras as much as possible so that Merdus wouldn't be alerted by their presence.
Being informed by the reconnaissance group regarding the layout of the manor, which made both Tryndall and Valyr slightly shudder as they wondered where the reconnaissance group got the information, the three eventually made it to the rear entrance of the manor before entering.
Continuing to make sure that they were as silent as possible, they made their way through the manor before eventually arriving at the door that led to the only room that was lit, expecting that Merdus would be on the other side of the door.
Taking in deep breaths as they were nearing the end of this entire incident, Valyr, Tryndall, and Braum looked at each other and nodded before…
Bang!
