After selling the magical beast materials, Tris went to a place hidden from other people's eyes and pulled a cloak over himself, covering him completely from head to toe.
He also put on a mask that concealed his face and swapped to a pair of heeled shoes.
Once fully disguised, he began searching for another shop to sell weapons, armor, and some miscellaneous items taken from the previous thieves.
Heading toward the shadowed corner of the town, he came across a scene completely different from the bustling main streets.
Here, the area was filled with dilapidated, crumbling houses.
The people walking about wore tattered, filthy clothes and appeared malnourished.
Scoundrels with hostile eyes watched strangers entering their territory like hungry wolves stalking prey.
Tris approached the figure he judged to be the strongest in sight.
As he drew near, he could immediately sense the man's alertness and caution.
His hands were hidden behind his back, where Tris could easily guess a weapon was concealed—most likely a dagger or short sword.
Tris tossed two silver coins toward him and directly asked:
"Is there a shop around here that buys second-hand goods?"
Of course, his voice had been modified using a special technique, a combination of combat techniques and Space magic, making it impossible for the listener to discern his gender or age.
He called this skill "Echo".
In reality, "Echo" wasn't limited to changing the voice; it had many variants with different effects, and could even be used in combat.
Seeing the money and hearing the question, the man didn't ask anything unnecessary but directed Tris to a specific shop.
Living here, he knew that unnecessary curiosity could easily lead to danger—especially when the person in front of him looked suspicious, wearing a black mask and cloak, with a voice that carried unnaturally.
Satisfied with the information, Tris departed.
The shop turned out to be old, with walls covered in darkened moss.
If it weren't for the sign reading "General Store" outside, it would have been hard to imagine this place was still in business.
Upon entering, Tris saw an elderly man with shabby, untrimmed hair and a beard.
From his keen observations, Tris discerned that beneath the exterior lay a body honed through training and hardened by battle.
He was fairly certain that, despite the man's age, he could easily defeat the thug Tris had asked about earlier.
It wasn't surprising.
Without some skill, one couldn't do this kind of work.
Officially called "second-hand trading," but sometimes it was more like dealing in seized goods.
As a result, Tris earned another 32 gold coins.
The buying price was low compared to the real value, but he didn't mind—it was essentially black-market trading.
In the end, Tris's total wealth was:
236 gold coins previously earned (from transactions handled via his father in the village)
+7 gold coins picked up from the thieves' bag
+100 gold coins for spending money from his father
+110 gold coins from selling magical beast materials today
+32 gold coins from selling leftover items from the thieves
= 485 gold coins.
With this much money, he could finally complete the unfinished magical puppet No. 4.
Having completed his financial collection, he turned his attention to purchasing the necessary materials.
Tris wandered the town again, no longer wearing his disguise. The difference from that morning was that his spatial bag was now full of shining gold coins.
The freedom to spend without restraint was exhilarating.
…
By late afternoon, as the sun began to set, Tris had completed his shopping.
He still had 186 gold coins left, more than he had planned.
Most of the money went into buying Riva wood, the primary material he used to craft his puppets.
Riva wood was well-suited to Space magic, flexible yet durable, and thus usually expensive.
However, demand here seemed low, allowing Tris to purchase a large amount at below-market prices.
Having finished his errands in Dorn, Tris strolled, thinking about dinner.
His father still hadn't returned, leaving Tris uncertain whether to eat first.
'Has work taken this long?' - He wondered, noticing his father hadn't come back despite the late hour.
Tris knew the reason: he had sent one of his "Feathers" to follow his father from that morning.
Through its senses, he knew Arven had gone to a building on the outskirts of town earlier in the afternoon and had not yet emerged.
Curious about his father's work, Tris decided to approach the building.
…
The building had three floors, quite large, situated not far from the main road.
From its design, it seemed it had once served as lodging for travelers who arrived too late to enter the town before closing. For some reason, it no longer appeared in use.
'I wonder what this building is used for now?' Tris thought as he secretly approached and used Space magic to observe inside.
The spell he used was "Eye From Nothingness". It allowed him to observe a space without relying on his eyes or ambient light.
The observation scanned the area and sent a three-dimensional image back to the user.
Tris had used this spell before in the Puppet Show competition against Zarek a year ago, enabling him to see all the movements on the battlefield even when shrouded in smoke.
Peering into every corner of the building, Tris quickly located his father.
Then came a long, quiet pause.
"Hahaha…hahhh…haaaa!"
Tris suddenly burst into uncontrollable laughter—a long, resonant roar laced with rage, as though he wished to set the world ablaze around him.
The sound interwove with spiritual energy, causing the surrounding space to tremble. Trees and grass bent as if bearing a violent storm.
As the last light of day faded and the scene sank into darkness, Tris stood motionless outside the building, small and solitary.
He stopped laughing, and his face showed agony, tears streaming down both cheeks.
Wiping his face with his sleeve, he immediately reverted to the usual expressionless mask, making one suspect the earlier emotional outburst was an illusion.
However, what was different this time was that his eyes no longer shone with their usual lively spark but radiated coldness, a chill that would send shivers down anyone's spine.
What Tris saw inside the building was his father lying quietly on the floor, a large pool of blood beneath him flowing from his chest.
The wound came from a stab from behind, piercing through his heart and chest.
There was no breath, no pulse—no sign of life remained.
His father, Arven, had been killed here.
The murderers—one immediately behind a wall, the other hiding behind a tree about 20 meters away—were now covertly aiming at Tris.