A short period of time later, an Assassin dashed into Darko's house in Bern.
"Master, Master!" the Assassin called out to Darko. "Suspicious men were spotted heading into the building where the target lives in!"
Darko and Paul quickly left the house, heading for Zadar's residence which was not far away.
"What's the situation, Assassin?" Paul asked a fellow Assassin who was positioned right outside the building.
"Sir," he acknowledged. "Five muscular brutes walked into the apartment building very recently. Their leader had a pistol at his waist."
"All of you, stay outside," Darko ordered. "Paul, come with me."
They found Zadar's apartment door wide open when they arrived. Entering the unit, Darko and Paul found the five men standing around Zadar, who was kneeling and bleeding.
"Remember, no killing," Darko muttered to Paul before rushing towards them.
Grabbing the first brute by the arm, Darko twisted it as hard as he could and kicked him in the small of the back. The second and third brutes, who were the quickest to react, lunged at Darko.
Rolling away from the second goon, Darko saw the third one coming in from above and body-slammed the brute before he could land on Darko. The third brute landed unconscious on the floor.
Seconds earlier, Paul felt his boot connect with the jaw of the fourth goon, sending him sprawling onto the floor. Blocking a strike from the last brute, Paul punched him in the stomach before executing a roundhouse kick to the goon's head.
"Are you alright?" Darko asked as he helped Zadar up.
"Wouldn't have if you two didn't intervene," Zadar said. "Thank you. How did you know I was in trouble, anyway?"
"Your article," Paul simply replied. "It's attracting trouble, particularly by the Templars."
"Then you must be the Assassins, protectors of freedom," Zadar said. "I am Zadar von Trapp, Swiss-German freelance writer."
"We know," Darko said. "Now let's get out of here, before more of those goons come and harass us."
In Darko's house, the three men sat down and chatted.
"Join us," Darko offered. "Maybe not as a full-fledged Assassin, but just as an Assassin ally. In exchange for our protection, you will not expose the existence of this Order to the public and will report to us crucial information."
"Sounds like a fair deal," Zadar agreed to the offer. "I imagine much worse if the Templars were to make the same offer."
"Wise choice, Herr von Trapp," Paul said. "You shall not regret your decision."
Now that Templars and their influence in Bern had been completely crushed for the time being, Darko left the city to eliminate Templar targets across the country.
From the list that Vladimir had given Darko, he learned that there was a Templar cell in the touristy town of Zermatt. It was time for that cell to fall.
Arriving in Zermatt in late February of 1924, Darko found the weather cold, despite wearing a shirt and a thick trench coat along with a scarf. The Templar cell was apparently located in a small, unkempt hotel in town.
Entering the hotel, Darko relished the warmth coming from the heaters in the building. But despite the heat Darko did not remove his scarf, as it was helping to conceal his identity.
Touring around the area, Darko discovered that the hotel was occupied solely by Templars.
"Do you have a room?" Darko asked.
"Sorry, sir. This hotel is full," the receptionist replied.
"I know you're lying," Darko pointed out. "I will pay you seventy-five Swiss francs for a room, much more than you ordinarily receive."
Biting his lip for a few moments, the receptionist finally said, "I suppose we can make some arrangements. Wait a while here, I'll be back very soon."
Making sure he was alone in this rundown hotel lobby, Darko took out a water bottle which was fastened to his waist. It was covered so no one would be able to see what was in it. Removing the cover, Darko poured the contents of it around the lobby, from the dirty carpeted floor to the cockroach-infested sofas. Producing a lighter, Darko produced to light the sofas on fire.
In seconds the entire lobby area was ablaze, the fire having spread like wildfire due to the gasoline. The receptionist hurried back, noticing that smoke was coming from the lobby.
"Holy shit! The lobby's on fire!" the receptionist yelled. "Get a fire extinguisher, someone, quick!"
Entering a room on the highest floor, Darko found several bottles of alcohol in the fridge, since it was considered a 'deluxe room' and cost more to stay in. Emptying the bottles of alcohol around the room, Darko threw his ignited lighter onto a patch of alcohol on the floor, before making his escape through a window.
In minutes the entire building was burning. Darko watched as the hotel was razed to the ground from a safe distance. As he observed, Darko spotted two muscular men lifting an ornate wooden chest out of the burning building.
"Seems like an item of value to them, if not the entire Templar Order," Darko muttered. "I wonder what's inside that chest."
Moving up to them, Darko incapacitated the two goons in as many moves. Just then, a horse-drawn fire engine pulled up and firemen rushed into the building, completely ignoring Darko.
Loading the chest onto the fire engine, Darko hijacked it and rode it away. Abandoning the vehicle and setting free the horses a number of streets away, Darko carried the chest for the remaining distance back to his lodgings in town.
Once he had caught his breath, Darko picked the lock of the chest and opened it. Inside the chest was a large number of old newspapers that were wrapped around a smaller object inside. Removing the newspapers, Darko removed a small leather-bound book from the chest, which was the only object of interest inside it.
"Jesus," Darko could not help but mumble when he flipped open the book to reveal its contents.
The book was actually a document book listing Templar funds that were kept in various Swiss bank accounts owned by various Templars and Templar associates. It was a treasure trove of information, and Darko could see why it was kept under lock-and-key.
But before moving on to the list of Templar men listed in the leather book, Darko decided to finish the list of Templars that Vladimir had given to him, since there was only one Templar left on that list in Switzerland.