Charlie King watched from his perch on a nearby building as Freddy Cliff proceeded to completely obliterate the defenses of their raid target in a single move.

He watched the shockwave travel through the first floor, witnessing the windows shatter one after another.

Slowly, the bow he had pulled taut, ready to shoot anyone trying to escape, loosened in his grip. “Jesus Christ…”

“Charlie!” one of the goons beside him shouted. “One of ‘em is runnin’!”

Indeed. Among the defenders, one had leaped through a window, his arm hanging shredded to his side, bleeding profusely as he sprinted away as if chased by the devil himself.

The man who had called his name pulled his slingshot and prepared to shoot the fleeing target down.

“Don’t!” Charlie shouted, grabbing him by the arm.

“But he’s gonna—”

“I said don’t fucking shoot.” His glare made the man look away and reluctantly retract his weapon.

The two men standing beside him eyed him with apparent shock. The other one barked. “Charlie! What’s wrong with you? We’re under explicit command to stop anyone from running away!” The man stepped back, clearly furious. “I’ll tell the brass about this. This is unacceptable.”

“Is that so?” Charlie asked as he nocked an arrow and shot the man right between his eyes.

The other man gaped at the corpse and swallowed.

Charlie looked at him. “Leon. Can I trust you to keep your mouth shut?”

“But…” The man’s breathing was heavy. His eyes moved from the dead body to the killer. “Why?”

“Do you even have to ask at this point?” he said with a good amount of exasperation. He put a palm to his forehead and sighed deeply. “Tell me, are you happy here? Do you feel like your family is safe? Do you feel like your future is in good hands?”

“I…” Leon hesitated.

“Just fucking look at him…” he spat with a sour chuckle, pointing at Freddy. “Do you think that level of power is normal? I’m not naive enough to buy it. I don’t know what kind of devil Thor had sold his soul to, but something about this is clearly wrong. Nothing is going right. For years, we’ve been getting all these promises, but what do we actually have? We aren’t official. People still see us as terrorists. And with fuckers like that, I don’t judge anyone for being afraid.”

Leon remained quiet.

Charlie stepped up to him, pressing a finger to his chest. “We were fired at by their rangers. That’s why he’s dead, and that’s why we missed the man running away. Can I count on you?”

Leon stood frozen for a long moment. Then, he slowly nodded.

***

Freddy approached Thor, who stood to the side, smoking a cigarette and watching as the victims and the perpetrators were slowly taken out of the building.

Thor nodded at him and forced a smile. “Good job.” He handed him a cigarette.

Freddy accepted it and Thor lit it for him. He pulled deep, sucking in a lungful of smoke. He slowly exhaled, watching it twirl in the calm evening air. “What are you going to do with them?” he asked, pointing at the tied up men and women who had run the operation.

“What do you mean?”

“You don’t usually take prisoners. What now?”

“What else?” The man chuckled, shaking his head. “They’ll be handed over to the adjudicator.”

Freddy scowled. “I see.”

“Is that a problem?”

“I’ve always wondered, why doesn’t the adjudicator take care of these operations himself? Could it be that he’s involved somehow?”

“Be careful what you say,” Thor warned. “But that’s a good question. Mostly it just comes down to the fact that this isn’t the adjudicator’s job.”

“Then what the hell is his job?”

“Look. I don’t like the dude, either, but it is objectively true that he’s too busy. His job is to maintain order in the Northern Belt, and that means dealing with the people in charge and keeping them in check. It isn’t his fault that the empire refuses to fund an actual police force.”

Freddy blew another puff of smoke. “But he’ll take these people? I don’t get it. Why don’t you take prisoners more often then?”

Thor smiled sadly. “Because people rarely surrender.” He scoffed, flicking the cigarette ashes off. “To be honest, being shipped to the adjudicator is practically a death sentence. It takes one hell of an alternative for people to willingly surrender themselves.” Thor eyed him with a questioning glance. “Speaking of which—what the hell was that?”

Freddy chuckled. “A ball of fragile metal smacked with a very overloaded punch.” He grinned, pulling out a piece of paper, writing down the current state of the relevant abilities, and handing it to Thor.

Thor eyed it and sighed. “I see. So basically, a supercharged old-world shotgun. Neat.”

“What do you think? Is that gonna shut up the whiners?”

The man sighed. “They’ll shut up about you, at least. Well… they won’t complain that you’re a waste of resources.”

“I don’t get it. Why do you let them act like this? Shouldn’t you be disciplining your subordinates better?”

“Discipline…? Heh. Maybe. I’ve always had a stick and carrot approach to the way I run things.” He flicked away the cigarette butt. “Too bad I ran out of carrots.”

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

“You know, I’ve noticed that the morale at Valhalla has been at a steady decline for a while already.” He looked Thor dead in the eye. “What’s the deal with that? From everything I’ve seen, Valhalla is in the best spot it’s ever been.”

Thor’s fists clenched. “You aren’t wrong. We’ve never been more powerful than this.”

“So what’s up then?”

Thor reached for his pocket, pulling out another cigarette and lighting it. He stared off into the distance for a long moment. “Back when I first founded Valhalla, I made a promise. One day”—he pointed at the sky—”we’ll make a deal with the empire. I really thought they had every reason to agree to our offer. Why wouldn’t they? We never asked for any money.

“All we ever needed from the empire was a badge. A formal declaration that we were official. That’s it. So that the people could trust us. So that the other factions would think twice before targeting us or trying to run crime rings. But after years of begging on my knees, all I ever got from the adjudicator was soul poison and the middle finger.” He chuckled, shaking his head. His eyes became glossy. His jaw trembled, and the cigarette slipped out of his mouth, tumbling to the ground.

He lit another one. “We always kept an optimistic outlook on our future. But honestly, it’s getting hard to keep our chin up Sure, we’re in a good spot right now, but… fuck, man. If the empire doesn’t want to acknowledge us, that kind of implies—”

“That they’re against what you’re doing?”

Thor nodded. “Yeah. Exactly.”

“That doesn’t really surprise me. Outside the Northern Belt, this place has a reputation as a haven for criminals. To the empire, it is like a flytrap that gets the scum out of the mainland. I’m not shocked that they don’t want that reputation to change.”

“I’ve heard similar stories my whole life,” Thor said. “But that doesn’t mean it has to stay like that. The Northern Belt has the potential to be of use for other purposes. The Far North is rich in ether and other resources. Let four-stars stay and give it a century, and it would develop into far more than it is today.”

Freddy laughed at that. “Sounds fun. Maybe they’ll allow it when they finally run out of places to expand to in the south. And places to expand to in the interspace.”

“Hey. You never know.” He laughed. “Imperialism and greed know no limits.”

Freddy remained quiet for a moment, simply smiling at Thor. “You’re a tough dude. I’m sure you’ll figure it out. As for the others, just let me know who’s bullying you and I’ll take care of it, okay?”

Thor chuckled and punched him in the arm. “Shut up, you prick. Why are you even sitting here? Get your ass up and go help.”

“Aight, boss.” He mock saluted and jumped to his feet. “I’m on it.”

***

“Why does he keep ignoring us!?” Tanner shouted as he kicked a table leg, breaking it off.

Gina sighed, taking a sip of her drink which he caught just before the whole table toppled over. “Relax. You know how Father is. I’m sure he’s received our message. He’ll act on it when he thinks it’s necessary.”

“And when will that be!? When another one of us dies!?”

She shot him a sharp, cold glare. “I am as frustrated as you are, but there is no point in throwing tantrums. All we can do for now is wait.”

Tanner growled as he dropped on the couch.

It had been a while since they forwarded the details of their investigation to their father. He hadn’t even acknowledged it. They had accented the importance of their work and even asserted that their very lives were most likely at risk, but he still hadn’t said anything. It was frustrating, to say the least.

The most insulting part was that they had heard that he was doing his own independent investigation into the same matter. He was digging into the same sources. Best case scenario, he was trying to confirm that their information was legitimate. Worst case scenario, he had yet again dismissed their report as the meddling of children.

This was how it always was with them for anything. The leader of the Gem family was well over a hundred years old. And it seemed to have messed with his understanding of what an adult was.

Even though they were almost middle-aged by mortal standards, they were treated like they were prepubescent children at times.

But then, finally, after much waiting, their phones rang and he invited them into his office.

They practically ran there.

The Gem & Faller headquarters was a tall building located on the outskirts of Repentawa. Most of the floors were dedicated for office space for the great number of different businesses they were running. And the top floor, the entirety of it, was their father’s office.

With its rustic decor and wide, open space, it felt more like a legal court than an office.

They rushed through the lobby, and before long, found themselves standing before the entrance. They paused, steeling themselves for the meeting. And then, they opened the door.

But nobody was there. The two of them slowly made their way forward.

Suddenly, the sound of flushing came from a room in the corner of the office, and a bulky man walked out.

By all means, he appeared no older than they were. But he had an ageless aura about him, a posture that betrayed his life experience. His lush beard and faint scars gave him a rugged look, and his thick black hair was trimmed short and neat.

For a long moment, he kept up the hard look. But as soon as he noticed his children standing there, he visibly melted, and skipped over to them. “Tanner. Gina. My darlings,” he said as he pulled both of them in a tight hug. “How have you been? Oh, you must have been worried sick with all these killings and whatnot. Did the guards I sent disturb your sleep?

“I hope you haven’t been sleeping at night when the killings usually happen. Oh, you must have been so scared. Come. I bought some sweets for you. For you Gina, I even got some premium dark chocolate. Your favorite.”

“Father… that was my favorite candy when I was 7.”

“What?” He visibly deflated. “Do you not like it anymore?”

“I…” She sighed. “Whatever. Sure. I’ll have some.”

“Can I have some whiskey?” Tanner asked.

“What?” His father blinked. Then he chuckled. “You’ve always been so funny, Tanner. Come, I got orange juice.” The man turned and headed for a fridge in the corner.

“Father, I…” Gina called.

He paused, slowly turning around. “Hmm? Is everything okay?”

Tanner growled. “Did you even read the report we sent you?”

“What?” He appeared puzzled for a long moment. “Oh, yes, I have. By the way, excellent work you two! Look, I even put a copy of it on my fridge!” He hesitated for a moment. “What’s with those looks? Are you embarrassed? I’ll take it down if that’s the case.”

“Father… Just when are you going to start taking us seriously?” Tanner asked, clenching his fists and tightening his jaw.

“I do take you seriously.” He walked over to the fridge, opening it and looking inside.

“Father…” Gina cut in. “I share Tanner’s sentiment. You treat us like children.”

“What!?” He stopped pouring the orange juice into a glass and slowly put the bottle down. “That’s nonsense. Anyway, I invited you two to finally share some good news!”

They glanced at each other. “Good news?”

“We’ll get into that in a moment.” The man suddenly turned and pressed one of many buttons on the table. “Jean, darling, can you please send our guest into the main office? Thank you.”

The two of them raised eyebrows as they walked forward and took a seat at the large office desk.

Tanner sipped on the orange juice and Gina took a bite of the dark chocolate.

They had to stop themselves from audibly groaning in displeasure. Both the juice and the chocolate were damn good.

Their father, for his part, just smiled at them lovingly and patiently waited for whoever he’d invited to arrive.

Before long, the doors to the office finally cracked open, and a woman took a peek inside. It was their father’s assistant, and she briefly bowed before guiding another woman in.

As soon as Tanner spotted who it was, he rushed to his feet. “You…”

“Hey…” she greeted awkwardly. “I haven’t seen you guys in a long time…”

It was Hellen Black.