Shinobi From Hell

[This is a bonus chapter for the votes you gave me]

After targeting the Xia group, Klautz and Evelyn had targeted four more groups before it had come to this point…

"We targeted ten of them in total but out of that three of them already had their resources gone missing," KLautz muttered to himself. "Yet none of the three targets seemed to have their guards up nor did they seem like they were reflecting on their past."

Kautz could have believed it, if they told him that they were using some form of low requirement artifact. But three of them being in the same state? It was too suspicious to be true.

The Xia group, the Qi group and finally the Cornett group. Klautz crossed out all of those groups on the map he had laid out on the forest floor with sticks and stones alone.

When a problem presented itself to Klautz it was only understandable that Klautz would want to solve it. He wasn't the one to run away from it when there was a chance that it might prove to be an unknown variable later on. 

Unless a solution presented himself, he couldn't help but have it constantly churning in his mind.

"Interesting…"

Klautz's chin twitched as he felt like he was rather close to the solution, as if all it needed was but a stimulus to come out.

Klautz would have probably concluded it as another thief just like them. But the casual atmosphere around the three groups couldn't help but raise his suspicions high. There was something more to it.

Even though Klautz hated the ninjas to the bone. There was one thing he wholeheartedly agreed with them. No stone must be left unturned and no factor that could disrupt the mission should be allowed to exist!

'And these were the good ones that we encountered.'

Klautz ticked the other seven which really had something to rob while crossing the three suspicious groups.

The ticked ones numbered in seven while the crossed out ones numbered in three.

The only thing that one would notice at first glance upon checking on such an intricate map would be that the ones that were crossed out were quite close to each other, while the ones that were ticked were quite further apart from the others.

"Hmm, but what is that supposed to mean? I had not put much thought into it before, but aren't they a bit too close?"

Klautz recalled that the Xia group was the very first group he had checked up in that area. Since the groups before were all much farther apart from the three the chances of intel travelling to them was rather small unless they had spies. 

But even so, how could these spies move faster than Klautz?

It was common intelligence that in such a competition the farther out you are from the others  the better it was for you. After all, if all the hunters started hunting at the same area, wouldn't that lead to a thinning out of the monsters in their area? 

There would surely be a lot of overemployment in such a scenario.

Klautz couldn't help but be suspicious, causing him to squint his eyes. The twig in his hands danced in the air as he twirled it too and fro lost in thought.

Klautz drew a large circle on the map. A circle that encircled all three of the crosses which represented areas where there were no resources to be looted.

"As long as we don't go inside the circle we should be fine."

Klautz nodded.

Klautz hadn't solved the mystery at all! In fact far from it… all he had found was the frontal face of the matter. But what more could he do?

And did he really need to solve it, to do what he ought to do? 

It was clear that the groups that were acting suspicious were inside the circle and they were planning something unscrupulous together. Klautz just didn't have enough clues yet to figure that out.

And while Klautz could be moving around like a monkey looking for clues to be found he hardly had time for it. The competition won't last forever and he had to gain access to as many horns as possible.

Probably ignoring the pressing suspicion might prove detrimental later. Klautz might regret ignoring it. 

But Klautz would regret it much more if it was but hot air and Klautz wasted his time on it, letting go of his opportunity to win.

After all, the ones outside the circle seemed to have good loot. 

Now the only thing left was to test out his theory.

"Hmmm… Yosh!" he screamed while landing on something interesting.

Klautz got up all of a sudden causing Evelyn to flinch out in fright. 

She readied her weapons suspecting a monster was nearby as her eyes drifted haphazardly in all directions.

But to her horror, it wasn't really a beast but rather her partner's scream.

"Let's go," finally coming back to his senses Klautz pulled Evelyn along with him. 

There was still so much that they could do together.

***

"Miss Yukiho, there is some suspicious activity on the West side. I believe it is one of your peers."

One of the newbies who was trained as a scout reported to Shizu who was sitting under the banner of the Yukiho issuing orders.

"West side? Are you sure?"

"Yes!"

"Go and ask her what he wants."

Shizu replied reluctantly as she clenched onto the opening of a sac. It was but one of the containers where her group was storing the hunted horns and Shizu herself was tasked with protecting it.

"It's a lady!"

The newbie replied, bringing her back to reality.

"Hmm… I wonder if it's someone I know…."

Shizu's sphere of influence was rather small and limited to his sisters. Why would someone come to meet her? She felt something fishy in the air...

***

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