Leo

Leo kept far back from his quarry, walking at an easy pace along the same Safe Road walked by dozens of Adventurers every day. Nothing he was doing was unusual. Nothing he was doing would arouse suspicion. Zack, Anna, and Alan hadn’t once looked back.

Yet it wasn’t long before they all stopped and talked in the middle of the Safe Road.

Leo kept himself from pausing only with practice. He slowed his pace enough that he wouldn’t be seen stalking them, yet Zack soon glanced his way. The man’s brown eyes narrowed.

Leo had long ago unwrapped his mother’s crimson scarf from around his [Steel Spear]—it wouldn’t do to have an easily identifiable weapon unless he wanted to be identified—yet Zack was watching him almost intently now. Did Zack recognize him? Given how much trouble he’d given Zack when they first met in The Mead Beast, it would be hard not to.

Leo kept walking straight down the Safe Road, straight toward his fugitives, without really looking at them. Turning around right now would only rouse more suspicion, and quickening his pace would alarm everyone. He was a man who had no interest in the three people ahead and nothing but a day of hunting Monsters ahead, and he’d act that way. Nothing else he could do now.

After a moment’s conversation, Anna glanced his way as well. Seeing her again from inside his full-face helmet, Leo was absolutely certain her roots were golden blond. He also didn’t fail to notice the way she instinctively covered those roots, and her ear, with one hand. She was cautious about those.

Should he approach and announce himself? They’d simply run away, and Leo saw no benefit to attempting an arrest right now. He only had one pair of [Lawgiver Cuffs], and even with the Law of Consent to protect everyone, he was hesitant to engage three people alone. If he tried to arrest Anna and she resisted, could her Party aid her by breaking the law for her?

Leo actually didn’t know. He did know, however, that when a Blazer chose to arrest somebody, they couldn’t do it with impunity. While a Blazer’s target could not attack them first, since they had no cause to ignore the Law of Consent, once a Blazer did engage, their target could fight back.

Anna looked away. She smiled at Zack as Zack, smiling back, leaned in to kiss her. None of them gave Leo a second glance. Had they decided he wasn’t a threat?

Leo was more than fifty paces away when the three of them split up.

Anna and Alan strode east toward the Dewdrop Hills. Zack sauntered west toward the Deepscorn Woods. After two weeks hunting in this quaint little starter zone, Leo knew Grassea’s terrain as well as one who’d grown up here ... or almost.

The only place he had yet to fully explore the Rustiron Flats. Few hunted there, as literally no one liked dealing with Cliff Spiders or their queen, the only other Elite in Grassea. Even Vulpor, it was rumored, steered well clear of Kallika, the fearsome Cliff Spider queen.

Yet the choice of his quarry to split left Leo with a quick decision he had to make himself. The most obvious course of action was to follow Anna and Alan and reconsider his decision not to arrest them. He might not get a better chance to do it quietly, outside town. Based on the information Jenny had given him, he was four Levels higher than they were, after all.

Without Zack to cause trouble, he might even manage the arrest both Anna and Alan with a minimum of fuss. They might go quietly once he promised they’d receive a fair trial and the protection of the Blazers. Yet that was wishful thinking, and Leo had no luxury for that today.

The other alternative was to follow Zack. If Anna and Alan now suspected Leo of being after them, his choice to follow Zack instead could throw them off the scent. No Blazer hunting two fugitives would ignore them and head after someone else, would they? As he quickened his pace, Leo decided.

He headed west. He headed toward the Deepscorn Woods to go after Zack Silverstone. He knew who Anna and Alan were now—he was now absolutely certain of their identities—and the last thing he needed was the two of them bolting before Jenny could arrive.

If he chased Zack today and claimed to be after recompense for his missing pouch, Zack, Anna, and Alan might all conclude Leopold Argentshade was simply a stubborn ass. Which he could be, when it was necessary to complete his Quest. A Blazer did all they could to complete their Quests.

Leo didn’t look at Anna or Alan as he strode resolutely for the woods. He suspected they were now looking at him, possibly in surprise, yet dared not check. He had to show absolutely no interest in them so that even if they were worried about him, they wouldn’t flee. They obviously had a good deal going here with Zack, lodging in his home, and fugitives wouldn’t give that up.

They wouldn’t abandon such a deal unless they were certain they had no other choice.

Leo slipped into the Deepscorn Woods without difficulty. During his first few days hunting out here he’d found the dense woods both annoying and troublesome, yet it wasn’t long before he found his way and learned to walk them. After all, he slotted both [+Fleet-Footed+] and [+Featherlight+].

Even without the Skirmisher Blessings with granted mobility, Leo had always been a quick study on difficult terrain. He’d spent his childhood walking tight beams above town, and without his heavy armor to slow him down, he was even more nimble. A good Skirmisher remained ever nimble.

Yet how was he to find Zack in all this greenery? The man was a native of Grassea, and moreover, a Shadower. This would take work or, more accurately, good old-fashioned tracking. The exact type they taught Junior Blazers. Leo stopped and knelt where Zack had entered the woods.

He spotted a broken stalk at once, then rose and followed the direction it suggested. A faint footprint came soon after—Zack was light on his feet, but that not that light—followed by more muddy leaves. Leaves that had been turned over by the passage of a boot.

Zack might be a Shadower, but he evidently knew nothing about covering his tracks.

Leo’s Divinity attribute was reasonably high for a non-caster—he’d spent a few Levels fighting with knives to ensure it grew—because he knew Divinity was the hardest attribute to raise and Demons were difficult to see without it. So with his reasonable Divinity and a four Level advantage, he could spot Zack even in [-Shadow Walk-] ... if he got close.

That was the one weakness that often afflicted Shadowers. They relied too much on their Skills to remain hidden while neglecting everything else. Like the subtle tracks they left in fresh mud.

Zack’s trail remained faint but clear. A bent branch. A bent stalk. A turned leaf or faint footprint. Leo was deep in the Deepscorn Woods before he knew it, and as the woods closed in on all sides, cutting deeply into the once bright morning light, he considered for the first time that he might have underestimated his quarry.

What if he was the one who was failing to use all his instincts? What if he was able to track Zack so easily because Zack wanted to be tracked? That would be a fine way to lead him away from Anna Bronzelight and the cousin who’d helped her steal from Frostford’s coffers.

Yet even if Zack was luring him on, this still played right into his hands. Leo enjoyed mind games as much as he enjoyed those on the board—both were battles of strategy and misdirection, not just physical contests—and he found he was truly enjoying this contest, with Zack. His success in finally finding his fugitives had lifted his spirits.

Sure enough, scarcely five minutes later, Zack’s trail came to an abrupt end.

Leo stopped. He considered a moment, then pulled off his helmet to reveal his grimace. He glared at the now missing trail and visibly ground his teeth.

Zack was likely close by, likely in [-Shadow Walk-], and likely cackling to himself about how well his clever ploy to lure that stupid Skirmisher into the woods had worked. Leo was all too happy to let Zack have his victory. His goal—his Quest—was far more important than his pride.

Leo pulled his helmet back on, secured it, and visibly cast about for a few minutes before huffing loudly and turning away. He didn’t want to remain too long. Since Zack was Level 6, his [-Shadow Walk-] would only last six minutes, and Leo didn’t want Zack accidentally giving himself away. He needed Zack to be absolutely certain he’d gotten the best of his angry opponent today.

He’d taken no more than ten steps when a man whistled from behind him.