Day 6 - Morning.
Homen, the chief of the city guards, was sitting in the study of his mansion. There was a cup of imported red wine from the Latias Kingdom on the table. He sipped it from time to time while reading reports from his subordinates.
It was about the attack on the adventurers that happened yesterday night. Not that he needed the report to know, Homen was watching the whole thing.
Two days ago, the city went mad. Not only the low-leveled small fries but the big players were moving too. Homen himself went left and right to put out fires, dealing with Pathseekers no less stronger than him. As he watched the banditry, he got an idea. Why not make himself the biggest winner of them all?
Homen put his plan into action yesterday, he caught the most promising of thieves and press-gang them into his service. Using his superior capabilities as a Level 4, catching the thieves was not difficult. However, he didn't bring any of them to jail despite his standing as the chief of the city guards.
He had grander plans for them.
They would be his proxy for taking care of dirty matters without soiling his own hands. His ambition didn't stop at merely being the chief of the guards.
Most of them weren't inclined to work for him but the weak didn't have the luxury of choice. Those that did not bend, Homen broke.
For those who submit, a gentler treatment was necessary for the time being but unbeknownst to the recruited bandits, they already had an invisible leash on their neck.
Homen encouraged them to keep stealing from the adventurers but he would be taking a small cut for himself. The reason was twofold: it would weed out the weaker candidates and let himself obtain potentially good things. The inventory ring for example. He already had spatial items but they were rare. It was quite common for Level 3 Pathseekers to possess but they were not sold like cabbage in the market either. Homen thought it would make a great present for his grandson.
The most promising of them all is the Boogeyman. More than his capabilities, it was his mindset. He would rather destroy the ring than let it fall into others’ hands. But such an act is futile in front of absolute power differences.
Homen glanced at the ring he had taken from the Boogeyman on his desk.
What a lieutenant he will become if I could gain his loyalty, Homen sneered. But if I cannot make him bend, then I’ll personally kill him before he can grow and threaten me.
Homen closed his eyes and felt the soul marks he left on the ten robbers he caught earlier. They were wild dogs that needed to be tamed and Homen already held the leash.
Ring–
“Hmn?”
A magical item let out a repeating sound. It indicated someone was trying to contact him. He frowned when he realized who was contacting him.
Getting a call from a superior in the morning usually meant trouble.
He took a deep breath and cleared his throat before picking up the communication magic item.
***
Inside the Tomb, two groups led by Irkun and Izabella kept going deeper and deeper inside the structure. The Tomb was a maze, designed to keep the thing inside to stay there, intruders were not met with a warm welcome.
Corridors and rooms as if made for giants tens of meters tall, otherworldly plants and bones they’d never seen before. Murals of the forgotten era, cracks on the black stones that made up the whole place. The Tomb radiated nothing but ancientness and solitude.
It was a place filled with death traps and now, hostile beings.
They both had suffered casualties, either by array traps or by creatures that lived in the dimensional cracks.
As Irkun and Izabella unravel the arrays, the space fabric of the Biome continuously got thinner and more frequently these creatures wound up in the Tomb, falling through spatial holes.
These grotesque space monsters heavily impeded the Blood Church's expeditions. Their form varied but there were some traits they all shared; they all possessed tentacles and had poor vision if were not outright blind. The space monsters were very aggressive and very strong.
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To reach their destination, Irkun and Izabella needed to keep breaking the arrays blocking their way. Ironically, the arrays also served as pillars of this space. As they went deeper, the rate of the space monsters spawned rose accordingly.
“...and that concludes the report, Blood Vicar,” Haghen reported to his superior.
“Is there anything else?” The Level 5 asked.
“There’s an issue of fuel, Your Grace. Because of a thieving problem, the number of adventurers going inside the Biome is 50% lower than expected,” Ursula said while holding a smile. Haghen who stood next to her cast her a hostile look.
The Tomb was located inside the same Biome that the adventurers delved in droves but not a single adventurer had reported seeing a massive structure inside. It was because they were located in different dimension layers. Without a special method, the adventurers would never reach the place where the Blood Church conducted their expedition.
“...Haghen, all the problems related to the city are under your jurisdiction… Deal with it,” the Blood Vicar ordered with annoyance in his voice.
“I will see to it immediately. Excuse me, Your Grace.”
Haghen returned to his room and took a communication apparatus. When the line connected, Haghen immediately responded.
“HOMEN! Fuckin’ get the city’s in order or I’ll hang you upside down by the balls you lazy idiot!!”
And so Homen’s plan for the thieves went up in flames.
***
Adventurers’ Guild.
If yesterday these people were like refugees after a natural disaster, today they had become refugees after a natural disaster that had lost their relatives.
And although his face was covered, there was one who also had a mood just as bad. The reason Viers was mingling here was that adventurers were chatty people and this was the closest thing he had to the morning news.
The loss of the storage ring yesterday was still hurting him.
Farley and Clarissa tried to cheer him up while Paina was regretting what she said. She thought she jinxed it and Viers would be angry at her. Viers felt her inner turmoil and felt that it was absurd. The fault was on him, he was too weak to contest the Level 4 who introduced himself as Homen and that was that.
While in the middle of his inner conversation, Viers’ ears picked up a few topics worth noting. Although many of the adventures got robbed, many of them still reaped benefits. And then, as days went by, more and more good things were uncovered by the adventurers.
One of them was being told three tables away from Viers. There was an adventurer group telling stories that there was a tree that had wondrous effect on souls that were below it. The tree could strengthen souls and heal an injury to the soul. But there was a monster guarding the tree so they gathered allies. Everyone that contributes could enjoy the benefit.
“Lord Viers...” Farley couldn't stop herself from asking. That was precisely what his little sister, Gwen needed.
Contrary to Farley that would jump right into the godsent opportunity, Viers became warier. He intended to be the one fishing for benefits but if he looked at it from another angle, he might be the fish from an outsider’s point of view.
Right now, a juicy bait was being dangled. Viers was not an unintelligent fish though. The more delicious and tempting the bait was, the more averse he became.
“...I have a bad feeling about this. We’ll sit this one out.”
“But-” Farley wanted to protest.
“My decision is final,” Viers said sternly.
Farley didn't like it but Viers was adamant and she could only follow.
***
Day 6 - Evening.
“AAARGH!”
“Wait, I give up- Hweek!”
“Shit! Run, run, run!”
Unlike the days before, the thieves and bandits were like chickens hunted by wolves. The city guard was out in force, cracking down criminals with an iron fist.
Those that obediently surrendered got to keep their lives and were taken prisoner while those who were not, died in a desperate fight. City guards and vengeful adventurers ripped the caught thieves into pieces.
It was a massacre.
Even the Level 3s on the thieves’ side weren't spared from the fallout. The matter escalated until a couple of Level 4s criminal bosses appeared. But the chief of the city guard, Homen and a couple of the city’s big shots cowed the thieves’ powerhouses before they traded blows.
Homen brought every force at his disposal to impose order and scour the thieves. While the criminals' side were numerous, they were a ragtag bunch without unity. They were more concerned about themselves than the fellows next to them. The strays became easy pickings.
While the purge was reaching its peak, Homen didn't stay still.
What a mess.
For Homen, the protest of the adventurers or even the guild master was of little consequence because they were his ‘lessers’. But because his boss had given him a thorough chewing and mortal threats, Homen acted like his life was on the line.
Because it was.
Since his plan to use the thieves was dead in the water, Homen decided to erase the evidence of his involvement yesterday with his own hand.
Crack.
Homen broke the neck of one of the bandits he recruited yesterday. No matter how adept they were at hiding, the soul marks on them were like torches in a dark night to Homen.
Only the Silent Boogeyman remains. How unfortunate it has come to this, boy.
Homen moved like the wind, befitting of his Level 4 power. The mark was outside of the city. Homen thought the Silent Boogeyman must have had a hideout in that area and he was staying there.
Homen was like a god of death coming to collect his dues. Level 2 Pathseekers would be reduced to dust if he really unleashed his power at them.
“What the...”
When he reached the location of his soul mark, he found not a human but a tree. There was a carving of a face with the tongue out on the tree's trunk.