"Thank you for saving me!" Yanda bowed when they arrived back at the place they were staying at.

"Don't mention it! It was not a problem, and your father asked us to look for you." Ren shook her head.

"How did you end up as a slave?" Isha asked curiously.

"Well…" He sighed. "It was just after two days I arrived at the Kingdom's territory. Right after leaving the first city, I came across bandits ambushing me. I was hoping they just wanted to rob me, so I gave up the valuables I had on me to avoid further trouble! But then they decided to kill me to leave no witnesses behind. That was when I fought back!"

"I guess you lost?" Isha raised her eyebrow.

"No, I killed them all."

"Oh? Then?" She tilted her head, surprised.

"Just after the battle came to another group waiting for the whole ordeal to end, and then they beat me down after I exhausted myself. Put a collar on me, saying I'll be a fine product. The rest is history! I was brought to a warehouse, cataloged, my mixed heritage inspected, then thrown up at an auction for the wealthy where that bitch bought me."

"Guessing from your reactions, she wasn't a good owner." 01 chuckled.

"No, she wasn't. She is selfish and irate, not to mention a complete pervert."

"That would be a big scandal if the outside world gets a whiff of it!" Isha grinned, "We should spread it."

"Nobody would believe it." Ren rolled her eyes.

"Probably not. Anyway, I just want to get away from here as soon as possible!" Yanda shook his head. "I want to leave it behind as soon as I can!"

"Well, we are still staying, and I can't let you travel alone, not after what happened! You are going to be escorted; I hope you understand! Also, you are talented; you should come to our sect in the future after we take you home!" Ren smiled, explaining to him who they were.

"Yes, I would gladly do so!" He nodded after hearing everything. "But first, I want to meet with my father and apologize for leaving. It was… a stupid to do; I can see it now."

"Sure! 01, 02, escort him back to the Rorik Kingdom; when you are done, return to us!"

"Yes, Master!" Both of them bowed immediately.

After a full meal, Yanda couldn't wait to leave, and soon he was sitting behind 02 as they rode out with their horses, leaving behind Isha, Lacuss, and Ren. They were just leaving when another group arrived near the city, and the first thing they did was visit the villa of Jarkat.

He was in his study, reviewing different documents, ensuring everything seemed perfect if an inspection would come from the Royal family. He never noticed when they arrived, but once he looked up, a group of people looked at him with a smile that made him shiver.

"Who are you? How did you get in here?! Do you-" but a whip lashed beside his head, tearing off his ear, and he could only scream in agony as he held onto his bleeding head.

"Easy there, Ortis!" their leader chuckled. "He has no strength to speak of. If you accidentally kill him, what are we going to do?"

"Sorry, It was by reflex~" He pulled back his whip while Jarkat collapsed on the floor, trembling, holding the cut-off ear of his.

"We are here to talk! I hope you will honestly answer everything we want to know." the bald man smiled, stepping on Jarkat's table, crushing it into pieces so he could look up at his scarred face.

His only reaction was fervent nodding with a trembling mouth.

"Good, good! My name is Gilgan. I hope we can get over this quickly!"

When his questioning started, it was simple and straightforward, cutting straight into his connections, the previous deals with the assaulted base, and everything that could shine light onto what happened. Jarkat, fearing for his life, immediately told everything, even telling him where to find the other ministers, what role they played, and what benefit every one of them got from it. Doing business under the table was lucrative, but even with his reserves, he would find it hard to replace the lost ear! He did not want to lose any more important pieces of his!

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"We don't care about your benefits or money you pocketed!" He shook his head. "We are here to find who put their hands on our people. I heard all I wanted from you, and I thank you for your swift cooperation." He smiled, looking at Ortis. "Your turn!"

"W-what? I-I told you everything!"

"Yes, but we need to be sure. Under torture, it will come out if you lied or not!" He smiled, walking up to a cabinet, taking out a bottle of wine, and sharing it with others while Ortis went on, doing what he did best…

It was evening when they left the villa, and the mutilated, fleshy carcass of Jarkat was withering in the study, still alive but barely recognizable as a human, only as a meaty stump.

"Should we visit the others he mentioned?" Seq asked, the second in command carrying his poleax on his back.

"No need. These idiots are clueless and only worry about possible monetary or political fallout that would affect them! Afraid they may lose their position or go to jail… Heh! They wouldn't have the balls or power to act against us." Gilgan replied, lighting a cigarette.

"Still, we should visit them; we can't be sure, and someone needs to leave a message for the others who come after them!" Ortis chuckled happily, still dripping from blood, his arms soaked up to the elbows.

"You just want to have more playtime!" Algat rolled his eyes, the member with the repeating crossbow.

"That's just an added bonus!" Ortis nodded.

"Algat, go with Ortis, but finish before daybreak," Gilgan commanded.

"Me? Why is it me who should accompany this sicko?!"

"Because the Leader said so." Seq looked at him, and Algat just shrugged, looking at the grinning Ortis as shivers ran over his body.

"At least act like a man… you are creeping me out with this girly pose and the other shits you pull all day long!" He grumbled, leaving with him towards the next minister's home.

"Oh, come on. I know you like it! Why be so uptight about it? We could go for a round if you want. I'm not against doing it with a smaller guy; I'm not like the other girls!"

"Because you are not a girl! Fuck! Just… let's move on, okay? With this pace, you wouldn't be able to skin every one of them by morning!"

"Oh, oh, you are right; let's hurry!" He clapped, sucking back up his saliva when hearing his words.

When the two left, Gilgan and Seq aimed at where Lulu lived, quietly flying and descending at her place. When she saw the arriving figures, she was stoic and just sat on her balcony, smoking and drinking wine, clearly already under the influence as dozens of empty bottles lay everywhere.

"What? Is this the new method of greeting and meeting with the daughter of the crown prince? Why the fuck I wasn't notified, huh?" Lulu chugged the wine down again, throwing the empty bottle at the arriving Gilgan, who caught it before it could hit them.

"Mmm,.. pretty strong wine you got there." He smelled it before taking a few sips from the remaining drips.

"And? So what? What is it to you? So? What do you want now, huh?"

"I get it. We are not the first to visit you?" Seq asked.

"No, you are the second group. The first one stole my pet!" She grumbled, almost slurring her words.

"Interesting… We are also here because someone stole ours." Seq added as Lulu looked up at them.

"If you are here because of what happened a few days ago, then I may be able to help you out." Lulu fixed her position.

"We would greatly appreciate that, Miss. We wouldn't want to lay our hands on someone with your kind of backing~" Gilgan chuckled.

"Hmf, at least you recognize it! There were five of them. They flew down like I should look up to them! Pretentious bitches, just like you two!"

"Geez, I am glad we sent Ortis away, Leader… he would be already at her neck," Seq whispered in a humorous voice.

"I see, I see." Gilgan nodded, turning a bit serious at the information that five experts were potential enemies. "What happened next? Can you give us a description of them?"

"Yeah, sure, why not!" She chuckled, not caring about them at all, and recounted everything that happened before and how they took away Yanda, giving vivid descriptions of their looks, especially Ren's.

At the end of her monologue, she was red as a tomato again, seething from rage, standing up, and kicking away the empty bottles.

"I want my Yanda back!"

"Well, Miss," Gilgan spoke with a friendly voice, "We are from the Ironclaws. You purchased our product! Usually, there is no warranty for events like this, but as it seems your robbers are in the same group as the one we are after, if we find them and deal with them, we will bring back your pet."

"Really?" She perked up her ears.

"Promise."

"Good, you can do it how you want; I'll cover for you if you cause a mess! I don't care; I just want my Yanda!" She said, barely able to stand straight from her drunkness.

"We appreciate it. Wait for our return!" They cupped their hands as they left while Lulu just fell back to her chair, looking up at the night sky, slowly a weird smile creeping up on her face, already planning what she would do with Yanda after she got him back.

"Should we search for them now, Leader?" Seq asked with a serious expression.

"No. We wait for the other two, then go for it! We are expecting five Harmony Experts. You heard the drunken whore, no? I don't want to step into shit, so we go together! But by daybreak, we scourge the city! If we find them, we ask no questions! Kill them all, that's it."

"Ortis won't be happy about that." Seq licked his lips.

"He can have fun tonight! The enemy is strong; we won't be able to play around, so prepare for an all-out battle."

"Yes, sir!"

"Good. When the sun comes up, we bask this city in blood."