Shinead's behavior changed, she was able to collect herself for a short time, but now she began to fall back into apathy.

“Some people know me by that name, yes.”

Shinead immediately bowed with spread arms and fingers locked in the strange positions Prof have already seen.

“My name is Shinead Sidhe, of the blood of Fiona the Fast, a scout for the Gyors Nyílvessző Clan… At least I was, the clan no longer exists.”

“What? We were late?”

“It seems, we were late even when we left the village. If I understood the traces correctly, the attack started around the time when you found me on the bank of the lake. In other words, everything was ready when I was attacked in the forest.”

“Someone destroyed a complete clan?” Foxy interrupted. “That’s unprecedented!”

“Not unprecedented, but very rare.”

“Let's start from the beginning! Tell me everything!”

"I agree with Foxy, her [Investigation] is way higher than ours, and I'm sure she'll find connections that escaped our attention.”

Shinead was either no longer interested in anything or somehow acknowledged Foxy (or even possibly Prof) as her superior, as without further ado she told her everything they had learned since Smallgrovewell.

As it turned out, the clan’s settlement had been destroyed by surprise by a highly trained mercenary company, or an army unit, which did not fit their earlier theory of the Yellows being behind the attack. And according to both girls it was impossible that Elves attacked Elves. To Prof's suggestion that maybe Humans disguised themselves as Elves, he was laughed at. They told him, that camping habits, movement, fighting, damage, and general behaviour are so different that neither species could credibly imitate the other against a more or less knowledgeable tracker.

Moreover, since they apparently did not expect to leave survivors who could later examine the traces, there would have been no reason to disguise themselves - and if there had been a survivor during the attack, it would have been pointless to leave false clues behind.

Shinead spent most of her time burying the dead and saving usable valuables. Although most of the clan's treasures were taken away by the attackers, several hidden places, known only to few, remained, and by chance the girl even found most of the clan's regalia. By the end of the narration, Foxy was already walking up and down, deep in thought. Eventually she started asking questions about the battlefield, the hiding places, the regalia.

“Your conclusions were probably false," she said at last. “The existence of a spy is unproven, and for now I don’t find it probable. If there had been such a spy, most of the hidden treasures would have been taken away by the attackers, and they would not have left without the seemingly not very valuable but important clan regalia."

"In my opinion, you can also learn a lot with magic, and all indications points that at least two, but rather three or four Mages have collaborated with the attackers. I do not see it impossible that the Yellows knew about the attack or covertly supported it, but it is very unlikely that it was commissioned by the ruling circles. It is not customary to involve outsiders in Elven internal affairs, especially not to exterminate a Red Elf clan. Moreover, only disgraced, deported Elves would renounce the law of not attacking other Elves, and no one would talk to such filth anyway.”

“If someone would have contacted and contracted outsiders or filth and it came to light, and I doubt it could be kept a secret, those in charge, their families, and their Clans could say goodbye to power forever. Even if they would be allowed to stay in the Domain. According to your theories, it would have been the goal of the Yellows to retain power, and ordering people to exterminate a Red Clan would be an even greater risk to them than the Red-Green-Blue Alliance to intervene in the South. Yellows are not as inflexible as you think.”

“What you are thinking is that Shinead was probably attacked by a more skilled elf, and that mage would have had to be on site to open the transportation gate, as you can only open a gate safely to places you know personally. This can only be said about an elf. It is theoretically possible to open a gate to a place known only by description, but it requires a person who knows the place very well, knows the exact geographical location of the place, and also needs a highly trained mage."

"I think it is likely that the elf who attacked Shinead knew the place and the mage opened the gate by description, and from not too far away. It is less likely, but possible, that the attacker and the mage are the same person. And the attack would not have been aimed at preventing a possible alliance, but at making money and / or simple revenge.”

“The attack on Shinead in this case could easily have been motivated by revenge, either against Shinead personally, or against the Clan, or even the Reds or the entire Elven Domain. So we are looking for a person who has already been in the clan territory and had reason to exterminate the entire clan, but was not interested in the clan regalia, that is, the survival of the clan. Do you know such a person, little sister?”

"What do you mean by surviving of the Clan? Everyone is dead!” Shinead snapped.

“Everyone, except you. If I’m not mistaken, there is no law or tradition against a single person to carry on a Clan as long as the regalia are there, or even for a single person to start a new one. In theory, you are now the head of the Clan.”

“With only one person, no one will take the clan seriously, no one will give us contracts, and it will be almost hopeless to hire new members! I wouldn’t even be able to contract allies, no one would work for a ridiculous clan! Without contracts, a Clan is not a Clan!”

“Shinead, is there a custom for how much to pay for a contract, or how much does it cost to hire an ally?” Prof got an interesting little idea.

“No, there is no such custom. It is a matter of negotiations.”

“Then I'd like to make a contract with you: I'll give you a silver for the head of the person who planned the attack. And I’m willing to sign up to you as an ally for a year for a copper.”

“Wait!” Foxy interrupted. “The whole loot would go to the Clan! Ask for an equal share!”

“All right, one copper and an equal share of the loot. Do you accept the terms and conditions?”

“Let me clarify: You would pay a silver for something I would do anyway, and you would ask for a copper and an equal share for what you would do anyway, all that while I’m chained to you anyway because I owe it to you?”

“Yes, by and large. So you have a contract and an ally, so your clan is already in a better position.”

“Ezennel elfogadom a kontraktust a vérdíjra a megbeszélt összeegért! Ezennel elfogadom a csatlósi megállapodást a megadott összegért!”

Shinead sealed their contract with some complicated hand gestures. Or sworn vengeance against Prof. Or commented on the weather. Prof was determined to learn some Elven or Elvish as a matter of urgency, he was sure he would miss some very important information otherwise.

“So touching.” Foxy rubbed her nose theatrically. “Now that we are done with this, can we continue to find out who was responsible for the attack? Shinead, do you know of anyone who has been in the clan’s territory and had reason to exterminate the entire clan, but was not interested in the clan’s regalia, that is, the possible survival of the clan?”

“I found most of the clan members, the others were young hunters or scouts, and members of the service staff who wouldn’t be able to defeat me alone. I don’t know if any outsider had a reason to exterminate the clan.”

The conversation then died down pretty slowly as they dozed off one after another.