Chapter 395

Arthur wished he had a chance to check out the body, but they would get that opportunity later. Right now, since he was the one who had seen the figure - or so he claimed, according to the others - he and his partner were sent to the roof to check on what clues they might find above.

The fact that it was the middle of the night and they were being tailed by another pair to keep them honest was rather off-putting but Arthur figured that was for the best. At least, he'd get a chance to understand his opponents a little further. Eventually, he might even be able to speak to Hameed alone.

"This way," Arthur said, leading them around outside to his window. With it still propped open a little, it was easy enough to spot. All the while, the group was scanning the surroundings, but without knowing what was normal, and lacking a giant sign telling him who the killer was, it was a rather futile effort.

The fact that everyone else was acting the same way had Arthur wondering how seriously the group was taking the idea of finding the killer. Then again, if his assumptions were correct about what was going on, there was a reason for that.

“Up, there,” Arthur said, waving his hand to where he had been struck.

“You said there was a dagger? A throwing knife?” Hameed said.

“Yes.”

“Then we should find it. Not many use them, among our group,” Hameed said.

“Yeah, too easy to get lost. It’s… oh. Right. Evidence,” Arthur cursed himself out quietly, turning his gaze over the surroundings. Mentally charting where the knife should have been. No glimmer of light, not even when one of the other cultivators came by, raising a hand filled with flame to provide additional illumination.

“Nothing.” 

“Agreed.”

“Tak adah lah.”

“He menipu kita, ah?” 

“Hey, I can hear you two.” Arthur glared at the pair of comedians who were chatting with Hameed. “They might have picked up the knife, you know.” 

“And then got to the meeting before you? Not likely.”

“Definitely trying cheat us, ah.” 

Arthur rolled his eyes, then walked away from the trio. He gestured to where he had noticed the figure climbing back up. He frowned at the window right beneath, asking out loud. 

“Whose room is that?”

“Mahia’s,” Hameed said.

“Huh.” None of that made sense, because he was sure the figure attacking him had clothing on. While Mahia might not be super fair skinned, the amount of clothing she was flashing would have been something he’d have noticed. Too pale for the darkness…

“So, up there?” Hameed said.

“Yeah…” Arthur sighed and followed along with Hameed, leaping after the small man who managed to make the jump in one single, impressive leap. Arthur needed his own cloud step to do the same, jumping up and then jumping again to reach the top.

On the roof, he tottered at the edge. Made up of clay and leaves, the structural stability of the parts that weren’t directly resting on the ceiling beams was rather horrendous, so Arthur was being careful not to put his foot in the wrong place. On the other hand, Hameed didn’t seem to care, wandering over the ground as though he weighed nothing.

Considering his leap, maybe he did.

“Nothing.” Hameed said.

“You didn’t expect anything, did you?” Arthur said, edging away from the edge. Down below, the two that had followed him were continuing to look, ignoring the pair.

A shrug. “It would have been convenient.”

“For what? Finding the killer? It’s one of us, isn’t it?” Arthur said. “A warrior?”

“Most likely,” Hameed said. 

“So, this is what? A murder mystery quest?” 

“You could call it that.”

“And what would you call it?”

“Another Tuesday.”

Arthur groaned, shifting forwards and then freezing as the ground groaned. “Seriously. Talk to me. What is going on?”

Hameed sighed, turned to Arthur and spoke simply. “The normal quest is a murder mystery. One – or more – of us are designated by the Tower to be the killers. We play our roles, wait for the Climber to fail or succeed. Those of us not the murderers, if we figure it out without getting killed, we might get a chance to exit.”

“Might?” 

The boy shrugged. “Not as though we get a manual. Or anyone shares what they know.”

“So, why help me?” 

A shrug was his answer, Hameed turning away so that Arthur couldn’t see his face. A part of Arthur grew even more suspicious, but another wanted to believe the boy was just, well, a good hearted kid. Maybe someone who had been dragged along this far, and now, was just trying to do his best.

Hey, he could hope.

“You said the normal quest,” Arthur said. “But none of you seem to care, very much. Other than to throw suspicion on one another.”

“The Tower forgot one thing, when it created the quest.”

“Oh?”

“Humans are lazy,” Hameed said, walking to the top of the pyramid roof. He stood on the edge, swaying a little with the breeze, starlight highlighting his clothing and fluttering the sarong around his legs. Arthur followed along, gingerly, crouched over rather than standing heroically like the other. 

“Sure, but what does…” Arthur sighed, rubbing his face as he began to realise what the man was implying. “They’re going murderhobo, aren’t they?”

“Yes.”

Arthur sighed. He understood their reasoning, he just couldn’t get behind it. After all, while it was easier to just kill everyone and let god sort it out, it didn’t really lend itself to an elegant solution. It also meant that not only was he in danger from the murderer, everyone else was a danger.

At that thought, he glanced over to Hameed who was still standing there, hands behind his back, enjoying the night breeze. One of the advantages of being up so high were the reduction in mosquitos, along with the dark of the night, it made things quite pleasant really.

“Don’t worry. If I wanted you dead, I’d have just kept my mouth shut.” He smiled a little. “You’d be surprised, how many Climbers die on the first night because they weren’t careful enough.”

“Yeah, fair enough.” Arthur crab-walked over along the side, looking along the roof for a little more, before he sighed and stood. “I am not seeing any clues, are you?”

“No. And if there were any, I wouldn’t trust them,” Hameed said. “Most of those here have played this game a few times before.”

“Red herrings,” Arthur acknowledged. “So, this isn’t a murder mystery, then?”

“Not unless you have a skill that you’ve yet to reveal.”

"I wish..." Arthur said with a sigh. He never was one to read much about those. He assumed that was the case for most people invovled - they didn't really have the skill, knowledge or techniques to make figuring out a murder easy. Not as though there were that many places to learn actual detective skills in Malaysia - the homicides that happened were all too often gang related and / or rich people related. Which, of course, led to quite a few coverups as a matter of course. "But don't some of you all learn some proper techniques."

"We can't," Hameed said, glancing at him. "You think there's no penalties for what we do?"

"I...." 

"There are." 

Arthur grunted at the venom in the other man's voice, strong enough that it made him shut his own mouth. He wished he knew what to say to the boy. Man. What do you call an eighteen year old, who'd been stuck in the Tower for who knows how long as a revenant. At times, he seemed his age, young and impressionable. Other times, he looked and felt older.

A prodigy, that somehow stumbled at the last step. Arthur's heart ached for him, a little, but nowhere enough to risk his own trapping. Whatever happened, he had no intention of being a victim of this muder game.