The Results

Going through each person, Xilo got to know each person better and know their names. Their age ranged 15 to 40, with 5 adults and 15 teenagers that Katrin had recruited. In those twenty people 4 of them stood out enough to leave an impression on Xilo. "Yulrin, Vandor, Raran and Keld." Yulrin was probably the strongest out of everyone while Vandor and Keld were equal to him. Keld was a bit younger but seemed like he had a lot potential to grow. Everyone he met and talked with followed a slightly similar pattern to Yulrin like he expected. "All of them were criminals at some point." Now that Xilo had finished up with the last person he was rechecking over some information Aeon gave him about them.

"Some were thieves, assassins for hire, scammers, the list just goes on. I'm honestly kind of surprised that they are all here with similar purposes. Where the hell did Katrin find all of these people. There's no way she just randomly found them. That just doesn't sound reasonably feasible. Talking with them I honestly forgot that one of them could be a spy for Katrin, they were all just so nice and pretty open. I tried to make them feel comfortable but in the end it felt like they were trying to make me less nervous. Ahhh, why Aeon?"

Remembering back to his conversations he tried to recall any kind of weird moments or behaviour that any of them portrayed. "I guess keld asked a few weird questions...Yulrin seemed really nervous." Each person felt like they had one moment that alerted Xilo. "Actually...Vandor didn't." Vandor seemed the most well put together out of all of them and now that he was thinking about it, that was weird. "Is it him then?" Rummaging through his brain Xilo was lost, he was running out of time though. In a few minutes Aeon would be back to ask him about his findings.

*Creeaaakkk*

"Too late."

Whispering under his breath Xilo saw Aeon enter the room alone and sit down.

"Finished a lot faster than I anticipated, how'd it go Xilo, from your perspective?"

Crossing his legs, Aeon waited for Xilo's response.

"I'd say it went alright. They were all pretty easy to talk to and had some interesting stories. After getting to know them better I don't think I found any problems with their personalities. They all seemed like good people honestly, which is why their stories surprised me so much. Usually people who go down that path aren't so genuine or nice."

"Exceptions to everything, maybe it was their circumstances or just what they ended up being talented in. Everyone has a reason for doing something and now they are trying to do something else. I hope you can guide them on the path that they wish to walk. They reached out to you today, so take their hands"

"I know..I do know that, whether I'm ready for that is another question."

"Aren't you and Xelfia supposed to be the king and Queen of brute forcing? I'm sure you'll be fine."

"I'm not...I think."

With almost zero confidence in his voice Xilo was finally realising how right Aeon was.

"Alright, enough teasing. I'm sure you've had some time to think about it Xilo, so which one do you think is the rat? Which person out of those 20 did you think wasn't trustworthy. I'm curious to see if you got it right or not."

Hearing Aeon's soft voice drill into his ears so sternly Xilo felt the pressure, he had to get this right.

"Out of everyone that I chatted with today I don't really know for sure. Since I have to say though, I'd go with Vandor. With him being the most calm of everyone it felt a little off. Talking to him was fine but that air of stillness around him threw me off. Those are the reasons I'm choosing him even if I'm not fully confident in that answer. My brain suspected each person I talked to yet didn't so it was kind of hard."

Quietly listening to Xilo speak, Aeon took a drink of water while he waited for Xilo to finish. "This test was a bit mean." Putting the cap on the bottle he set it down in time with Xilo ending his sentence. Aeon had kinda hoped that Xilo might have passed this test. "It seems like that was to much for him." Making some more mental notes of how to help Xilo he stopped keeping him in suspense. "Next time, he'll do better." That was something Aeon was going to make sure of. The more Aeon talked with Xilo the more he liked him and wanted him to grow further. "Katrin was definitely right about him." With a smile Aeon announced Xilo's failure.

"If Vandor was your final answer then I'm sorry to say you were wrong. He isn't a rat."

"...If it's not Vandor then who is it? No matter how hard I think about it, I can't come to another conclusion."

Pausing, Aeon admitted the truth.

"This test was a bit of a trick that you weren't going to pass. You were right and wrong at the same time since every person there is one. All of them will report to Katrin about you here and there to help her get a better idea of you. She doesn't trust you fully and you don't trust her fully. You're both in a rough position so to speak however they are all good people like you saw. That was them being honest."

"If Katrin doesn't trust me, why did she force me to take this position?"

"She has no powers now so she can't protect Felli or me, so she needs someone else to do it. Who better than the boy Felli has a crush on with a lot of potential, that would even fight against her to try and get Felli back. It's kinda obvious why she would choose you, if you ask me. I know it might be hard to see but Katrin really is a good person who cares a lot about the people who are close to her even if it's a bit hard to notice after recent events. She tends to jump to extremes a lot especially when she's overwhelmed. It's a bad habit of hers that's never been broken. Given time I'm sure she'll give up monitoring you.``

"...This is a lot of power to give someone you don't trust fully, I don't completely understand it but I'll take your word for it and try to give Katrin a fair chance as well for Felli's sake and yours at least. That brings up another question though, where did she find all those people. With how they are there's no way it was simply overnight."

"That right there is another case of katrin trying to do good. For years now she's been the leader of this City's famous criminal Clan. During her years there she's been purging criminals while also trying her best to keep crime under control. In those years these are just some of the people she's found that were forced into that kind of life, now with you here she can finally give them a chance as well and there's even more to come if we make it to the future."

"..."

Staying Silent Xilo didn't really know what to say.

"That is if we make it past tomorrow."