A Fatal Error

In the afternoon, the crowds gradually returned to Booty Bay. Elin Tias, the last group of people to reach the arena in the morning, was also the first group to return. Jorgen sat in his usual spot at the Sailor's Rest and saw Elin walk in wearily and sit across from him, resting his hands flat on the table and continuously rubbing the ball of his left thumb with his right thumb.

Jorgen had naturally heard the result of the game from the surrounding area.

"Lost it all?"

"It was an unwise investment, but I'll get back on my feet. Trust me. But it looks like I can't treat you to shark liver today. "

"Elin, that's a hundred gold coins ..."

"Don't emphasize that number again, Jorgen, stop. You see, I'm in a very stable mood right now, not like that guy over there," Elin gestured to the corner of the inn, where a man was hugging his head and trembling continuously, "I have to stay stable so I can plan my next steps in life. "

"That said, you still look unwilling to accept it."

"Willing? Of course not! This is beyond my control. Who could have imagined the final would turn out like this? It was over before it even started. "

"What do you mean? You guys took a whole day to get back, I thought they fought for hours."

"Not at all, Jorgen. It took a whole day because of the pre-game preparations, like Silversnap's hour-long speech, and another hour introducing the guests. Afterwards it was a mess. How messy was it? It was like an evacuation from a fire and a gang fight coincidentally collided. As for the actual competition? Bang! The referee rang the gong, and then, "Elin's right palm chopped into his left palm," slap, over. "

Yeah, and your hundred gold coins went slap gone just like that. "Were their strengths so mismatched?" he asked.

"Absolutely not. After all, I'm a trained man. If I hadn't seen their previous games and carefully assessed their strengths, I wouldn't have made this investment, would I? That's right, Brego ended the fight with one stroke. But that stroke was strange. "

Jorgen noticed that some guests had also noticed Elin's words and turned to look at them.

Elin looked around and lowered his voice.

"What I mean is, first of all, that stroke was exploratory. I had a telescope and saw it clearly, that wasn't the force Brego used to kill. But Vossuva did not resist. "

"Did not resist? What does that mean?"

"He just stood there, like a dummy, or a dummy about to fall apart, took that stroke and fell down. Silversnap immediately halted the competition and after the doctors entered the arena to examine, announced Vossuva's death. Then, of course, the whole venue exploded. Even stranger, that stroke seemed to have been fatal only after slicing across the neck, but I doubt whether Vossuva's carotid artery was actually severed - because according to my estimate, there wasn't enough bleeding. " Jorgen recalled how confident Silversnap was when talking about making Vossuva the commander of the army. Not to mention Vossuva's already great reputation among adventurers. This kind of reputation that spread among adventurers could only be gained through strength. Elin's observational skills were very detailed, and Jorgen believed his words, but this whole thing was a bit too absurd.

"There must be a conspiracy in this." The guest closest to their position said, then repeated in a louder voice. "This is a conspiracy! It's fraud! Broken Tooth Vossuva couldn't have just ... "

Another table guest said, "Don't cheat yourself, losing is losing, face it. No matter how much money you lost, don't suspect Lord Brego's strength. As for that ogre? I knew all along, he can play tricks and catch bugs, but when he meets a real warrior, he shows his true colors. "

A mug flew from some unseen corner at him. He was hit in the head, cursed, and threw his own mug at the man loudly shouting "fraud". The scene immediately became chaotic, and several goblin guards rushed in. If this scene was magnified thousands of times, Jorgen imagined what a mess the arena must have been at the time.

"Whatever the facts," Jorgen said, "Silversnap is in trouble."

"Who knows, maybe there was fraud. But the guests he invited, including major businessmen from all over Azeroth, did not seem to have any particularly uncontrolled reactions."

"From the tone of your voice, it sounds like you really want to investigate this matter?"

"No, how could that be? The sooner I get away from this, the sooner I can forget the failed investment ... wait a minute," Elin leaned back, "Hey, how come I only thought of this now: Why are you here again, Jorgen? "

"Do you really want me to discuss this here?"

"Bring the drinks up to your room."

At that very moment, the entire room fell silent in a way Jorgen was very familiar with. He looked towards the door and saw Brego Bloodthroat standing outside the door as usual, like a large dark boulder, then hunched over and barely squeezed in. The guests showed a slightly stronger fear than usual, and some wanted to leave their seats but dared not move.

There were exceptions. One very excited guest shouted loudly: "Lord Brego, congratulations on your victory!" Then raised his glass. Brego did not look at him at all, but he still held up his glass, following Brego's figure with wide eyes.

But Brego did not sit down in his usual spot.

"Hey," Elin whispered, "he's coming over. To us both. "

Jorgen looked up and his eyes met Brego's. Although the knife-like corners of the eyes and the deep furrowed eyebrows always made Brego's eyes look so harsh and inhuman, at the moment Jorgen could find urgency and anxiety in them.

"Are you Jorgen?" Brego said, standing next to their table.

"Yes."

"I heard you work for Stormwind and investigate cases."

Since Silversnap already knew he was here, it would not surprise Jorgen if his identity was revealed by anyone in Booty Bay. "You could say that. That's right, I investigate cases." He said.

"I want you to investigate something for me. Do you charge for your services?"

Elin gave Jorgen a "something's very wrong" look. It seemed that the only person not puzzled by the bizarre outcome of the finals was perhaps Vossuva, who had already met with his ancestors' spirits.

"How about this," Jorgen said, "let's discuss it in my room first."

Brego nodded. As Jorgen stood up, Brego pointed at Elin and said, "Who is he? Is he your friend? "

"He's my colleague."

"Then come along too. The more the better."

Elin shrugged, picked up the drinks, and stood up too. Jorgen went upstairs, Elin followed, and Brego walked behind them. The guests downstairs stared blankly at their backs, and began discussing as soon as they disappeared around the corner of the stairs.

Entering Jorgen's room, Brego's figure made the room look a size smaller.

"I've heard you're capable," Brego said. "I only need people who can really get things done."

"I've been in this line of work for nearly ten years." Jorgen said. It seemed Brego was unaware he was from MI7. But even if he knew, he wouldn't care. What he was looking for was "case investigators".

"Don't worry, we are extremely experienced." Elin advertised in a private detective tone.

"I hope so." Brego said.

"So," Jorgen said, "what do you want me to investigate?"

"I want to know how Vossuva died."

"But ... wasn't he killed by you?" Elin said.

"No. Long before I took that stroke, he was already dead. Perhaps long dead. Yes, it was I who took that stroke, but if he had been alive, he would not have been struck. "

Interesting, Jorgen thought. "Give us more details. That way we can decide how to help you." He said.

As Brego described, his voice was like heavy footsteps echoing on a riverside in the night.

"The first and last time I saw him alive was ten years ago. I was training in Thousand Needles, and broke into an arakkoa nest. I slaughtered all the arakkoa in a cave and fell asleep in the cave, exhausted. "

In Thousand Needles, whether day or night, the canyons were always dim. And the caves were completely dark. The utter darkness, on the contrary, made Brego, who was then covered in the stench of blood, feel very at ease.

"I made a mistake. A big mistake. The ones I slaughtered were only part of the flock, more of them had gone into the canyon that morning to hunt. When they brought back the meat of mountain dogs and centaurs, they found me sleeping in their nest. I woke up in pain to see them pecking at my right arm. "

No one would want to witness such a scene with their own eyes: savage aliens enjoying one's own body. Even someone like Brego Bloodthroat felt fear at the time, crying out in panic.

"I waved my knife with my left hand to drive them away, and snatched back my right arm, which had already been torn off from here," Brego pressed the middle of his right arm, "holding it under my armpit. The wound was smeared with the disgusting feathers of the arakkoa and the little bugs that parasitized those feathers. I fled, the only time I fled as a warrior. Missing an arm, I found it hard to balance, and tumbled down the ravine. "

Brego paused for a moment, slowing his speech as if to pinch the fragments of memory into his words.

"When I woke up, I found my right hand bandaged, and a voice told me not to move, that my hand needed to be medicated for a while longer. I saw the face of the man who treated me, an ogre with a broken tooth full of tattoos. He treated my hand, then left without leaving his name. He saved not just my hand, but my entire life as a warrior. Ten years later, I finally heard his name here: Vossuva. Finding out that he was not only a doctor but also an excellent fighter, I found the best way to repay him: defeat him in the arena and prove that I was now a mature warrior. This was the glory I deserved. If I did not get it, then I was still the weak Brego Bloodthroat who made foolish mistakes in the arakkoa cave. "

Jorgen and Elin exchanged glances. They were no strangers to this kind of orcish view of glory.

"But today's competition ..." Brego's right hand was pressed hard on his knee. "As I said, he appeared as if already dead. I saw no hint of a will to fight in him, and no trace of life in his eyes. It was as if he could not see my blade at all ... he just fell, taking not just his own life but my glory. I cannot accept this outcome. Do you understand what I want to know why this is?"

"This may be the vaguest case request I've ever heard," Jorgen said. "Let's put it this way, there are possible scenarios: one, for some reason he was not in a state; two, he was drugged or otherwise adversely affected in some way; three, he was no longer the Vossuva who once saved you, he had changed. There may be other possibilities. In any case, you want to know the exact reason. Is that right? "

"That's right. Whatever the situation, I want to know. If you can solve this mystery for me," Brego's right hand rested on the large sack hanging at his waist, "this is my championship prize money. I give it to you in full as your reward. These gold coins mean nothing to me. "

"How many in total?" Elin asked.

"Seven hundred. Are you willing to take this job?"

"Let us discuss it." Elin tapped Jorgen on the shoulder and the two went outside the room.

"No matter what you think, I think he's crazy to offer seven hundred gold coins." Elin said.

"That doesn't sound like you."

"I mean, it's worth a try, isn't it? Okay, you know I'm not one to beat around the bush, I want this money to salvage my failed investment. I'll take three, you take four, how about it?"

Jorgen thought for a moment. "It depends on the situation."

"What do you mean?"

Jorgen told Elin about Idoli.

"My, this is a big deal, Jorgen. I thought losing a hundred gold coins was bad enough, and you ..."

"The situation may change, I may find that money."

"After three years without seeing you, it looks like you've finally gotten a bit smarter. The old you would never have come up with this idea. "

"In any case, my task is not just to get five hundred gold coins, but also to capture Idoli alive. The task is already half failed, at least I can make up the other half. And I don't need extra money for myself."

"In other words, if we do this job well for Brego, I have a good chance of getting only two hundred, but also a small chance of getting all seven hundred? Jorgen, you've pushed me into gambling here. That's not fair. "

"Unfair? If I wanted to, you'd have a hundred percent chance of not getting a copper. Remember, Brego wants to entrust this task to me, not you. You've already taken advantage enough. "

When the two returned to the room, Jorgen saw that Brego seemed a bit impatient. "We accept your request." He said. Elin behind him looked helpless.

Jorgen had not expected things to develop this way, but he saw it as an opportunity. This strange final was inextricably linked to Silversnap. If he just sneaked away from Booty Bay after the chaos following the final without giving the goblin merchant some punishment, Jorgen would find it hard to forgive himself. Silversnap had to pay for prying into and trying to trade his past.

And if things went very smoothly, then perhaps - perhaps he could find out through Silversnap where she was. Jorgen knew this was an absurdly optimistic prediction, but he couldn't get this thought out of his mind.