After many hours of deliberation, he finally found a solution.

It was a brilliant solution to such a problem, Renodet thought. Thus, he began propagating his plan. It would be slow. It had to be slow to remove suspicion from him in the long term. The biggest problem he faced was the Academy, for they would go to any length to protect one of their students and magi were the revengeful type.

That evening, Renodet treated the whole caravan to Tuatara meat, making sure the El received enough to fulfill his hunger. There was plenty of meat for all; at least for a short term. This generosity continued the next day.

On the evening of the second day, Renodet conversed with his men in front of a small fire. El was in deep sleep, unaware of the ongoings around him. This was when the second portion of his plan started.

His men, you see, had begun to notice the extra meat going towards El, and had developed some jealousy. Usually, a good caravan leader would curb that sort of behavior but Renodet, by his silence, encouraged this behavior. This continued on to the third day, by which time the meat had started to run out.

One might think that it wouldn’t run out that fast, especially considering that they would be careful to conserve the little food they had; but Renodet had other plans. When the meat was finally finished, the only source remaining was the food they had brought in the wagons.

At this time, the migration had also stopped, hinting that the adventurers, if alive, would be wrapping things up soon.

To accelerate his plan, Renodet encourage everyone to eat as much food as possible, not limiting their intake, and feeding El as much food as he could possibly get away with. Being as smart as he was, he made sure the everyone was aware of his “generosity” in feeding El, making it seem as if it was a reward for the recipe given to him.

His men, seeing this were getting more hostile towards El, who seemed oblivious to the merchants techniques.

A few words in the right ears while eating, combined with some idle conversation about the lack of food were but some powder sprinkled into an already lit fire.

It all came to fruition when the food stocks were looking more deficient than ever. Their supply of meat had run out, and the supplies in the wagons had seemed bare. The men, having to go somewhat hungry, were outraged at seeing the merchant encouraging El to gorge himself with food.

The merchant, sensing the situation, finally sought an end to the orchestrated drama. To facilitate an accident, the merchant sent out El with one of his men, asking for them to hunt/forage. The man, named jackal, went with El to the forest looking for game.

Jackal was pleasant to start with, as the pair started their search. They travelled a long way from the cave, hoping that some powerless animal had stopped at this location after the call of the dungeon had ended. This was not to be. The pair walked for hours on end, hoping to find something, all for nothing as their search came to an end. Jackal, perhaps due to hunger, started to get aggressive towards El, since he knew that the merchant would feed El with no problem and that he would probably have to go hungry. They continued to search for a few more hours. By this time, the pair were exhausted and starving, and jackal especially so after having not eaten for a few days.

He had seen El eating before they left for the search. As it got near sundown, the pair started to make their way back.

Jackal, who was at his breaking point from both hungry and jealousy, stumbled to the ground as his feet slipped on a root. El was not strong enough to pick up a grown man at his age; but he made an effort.

At this point, Jackal had decided enough was enough. He knew he would go hungry that night; But imagining El eating to his fill was upsetting to him. In his twisted mind, he came to the conclusion that if El was no longer alive, he wouldn’t be able to eat all of their food.

It didn’t take him long to come to that conclusion, and when El bent down to try to pick him up, Jackal’s knife found purchase between El’s ribs.

Luckily for El, it was on his right side, which did not kill him instantly.

Jackal, at this time, fully realized what he had done. He knew that he would not be able to go to Rine; the Academy would not let him live. Since he had already perpetrated the act, he decided that he would make sure that it would not come back to bite him. He checked El’s breathing, and seeing that he was no longer breathing, left him and went towards the cave.

It was dusk when he arrived at the cave. The people inside the cave could not make out the blood on him as he neared due to the absence of light, but as he neared the campfire, all could see the blood on him.

The merchant, seeing Jackal come back alone with blood all over him, knew that his plan had succeeded. However his plan was not yet complete. He needed to make sure that he was in no way connected to El’s death, and he needed to show that he had meted out appropriate punishments.

Acting concerned, Renodet approached Jackal, asking: “Where is El?” “Why are you covered in blood?”

Jackal, knowing lying would not help him in the face of [detect intention], recounted the events to Renodet.

While joyous on the inside, Renodet knew he needed to take actions that would remove any suspicion from him; he asked in a voice seemingly full of rage: “Why did you do this?”

Jackal, having no answer to the question that would placate the merchant, hung his head down, more scared than ashamed.

Renodet already knew what he would do but wanting to be seen as benevolent he addressed his men.

“This fool has ruined us” He said, seeming angry.

“ Everyone is aware of what the academy does to those who har their students” He barked.

All the men around the campfire nodded their head, knowing what result such actions would bring.

“And yet, this dolt has endangered all of our lives just because of a bit of hunger”. Stopping for a second, he faced Jackal and yelled: “Why did you think I fed him so well despite his lack of levels?”

His men, now understanding his actions, started to nod even more, backing the merchant. Renodet continued after a pause to let the message sink in.

“We will have to dole out appropriated punishment before the Academy can decide that we were all involved in this incident”.

His men, following his line of reasoning, agreed. One suggested leaving him alone in the wilderness to his death, but Renodet disagreed. He needed to make sure that he had solved all potential problems before they occurred.

“We can’t do that” He said. “ The Academy likes to punish people themselves. And if they find that we let him go free, we will not be in good standing with them.”

Taking a deep breath and a good look around the camp so as to understand the mood, Renodet finally decided to bring forward his proposition.

“We all know that the punishment for harming, let alone killing a student of the Academy is grounds for death”.

“He is dead anyways, but why implicate ourselves when we can just end it right here. It will show the Academy our position on this matter if we were to Punish him.”

There were a few shocked faces around campfire, and yet no one opposed it outright.

Renodet, not wanting to lose the crowed, asked: “Would anyone be willing to suffer along with him when the Academy decides we are all involved?”

The men could be seen shaking their head, not supporting him.

“What should we do to him?” Renodet asked

The men looked at themselves, knowing what their response would be. They would not be willing to risk their life by lying to the Academy, and they could not afford to feed a dead man for however long their journey would take.

Jackal, seeing the decision they had all reached, knew he would have to run to save himself. He had a higher chance of surviving in the wild than with his so called “friends”. He turned around inconspicuously, hoping to escape their notice while they deliberated on their fate, and edged towards the entrance of the cave, wanting to slip away into the night in a final attempt to survive.