Zandor crouched down in front of the guard's corpse and stared into its eyes. Roughly fifteen minutes ago, it'd been alive, standing watch over the nearby Niafi marketplace that had lately been home to Jakonray and Sven, two of the Syndicate's newer initiates. As Zandor understood it, the pair wanted the guard dead, as there had been somewhat of a brewing dispute over whether or not they, as representatives of Ryolek's Syndicate, had exclusive rights to that particular section of the marketplace. Not that there was any objective value in having two low-tier fences controlling one portion of the market - after all, the guard would have allowed them to sell anyway - but Zandor found that these symbolic shows of power often played a stronger role in the minds of insecure youth than even money itself. Therefore, when the guard had appeared distracted, Jakonray found a way to coax him down an alley and then Sven had slit his throat and dragged him behind a mound of refuse left by a lower-class eating establishment; it was at this point that they covered him in garbage and left to find a higher ranking member of the Syndicate to advise them on what to do next. Hence, Zandor's presence at the scene.
"My opinion is that you two are inept, and deserve whatever punishment comes to you," said Zandor, standing up and turning to them. He read their expressions carefully: Sven seemed nervous and on edge, which usually prompted him to be aggressive, but Jakonray was genuinely scared, and tried to hide it by making an overly deliberate, forced attempt at stoicism. They exchanged glances, and then Sven spoke up.
"We are both deeply, deeply sorry sir. We thought it would help the Syndicate. That's the only reason we did it. But please, sir, we need your help."
Jakonray nodded but kept quiet, and Zandor stared at him until he looked down at the sand.
"May I ask why you two thought this particular location would be a good place to conduct your kill? Look around you. Think."
Zandor had to repress a grin while they glanced around the alley. He hoped that their stupidity would be obvious and shaming, for it truly was a pitifully chosen sight. They stood only fifty feet from the market; it was a miracle no one had seen Sven kill the guard, and since refuse was frequently picked over by the local starving and homeless, it wouldn't be more than a day before the body's discovery.
Jakonray spoke up first. "Sir, we thought that by killing him here we wouldn't be discovered immediately, and could finish our work quickly."
"So you thought this was discrete? Taking his life right next to one of the most populace marketplaces in the whole of Essryn?"
"Sir, we realize our mistake, but please, we must do something quickly before another guard arrives!" Sven said.
"Well then, what should we do?" This time Zandor was not completely able to hide a smirk as the pair gawked with terror.
"Aren't you supposed to know?" Asked Jakonray.
"You two brought this on yourself, and I would like to give you the chance to prove that you are not completely brainless before offering my aid. Now, what do you think you should do?"
Jakonray went silent and Sven looked panicked, but managed to squeeze out, "dump him in the sewer?"
"But wouldn't that undermine your plan of sending a message to the Niafi guards?"
"What?"
Zandor sighed. "You killed him to gain control of his turf. So why hide the body? Don't you want the guards to know this place is dangerous?"
The pair exchanged a final glance and remained silent as Zandor sighed again.
"Do I really have to spell this out for you?" He asked.
Sven perked up. "So... you're saying we should do nothing?"
"Correct," replied Zandor, heaping garbage back over the body. "We do nothing. Now leave."
The pair turned around and walked away, casting many sidelong glances at the lingering assassin. Zandor smiled; he had learned to enjoy the incredible stupidity of novice criminals, in much the same way that he enjoyed a poorly wrought play, or the bumbling ineffectiveness of untrained fighters. In truth he did not really care what low-ranking members of the Syndicate did to antagonize the guards. The interplay of their fences versus the city's law enforcement was an unfortunate and petty byproduct of being a criminal organization, and though members like Jakonray and Sven were indeed essential, their lives were cheap and meant almost nothing. So Zandor, the Syndicate's preeminent assassin, enjoyed the inevitable idiocy when he could, and on this particular occasion he elected to hang about the scene for a few minutes longer, in order to ensure that the body was not found too quickly. Also he was bored, and had always found the presence of the dead to be strangely relaxing.