Sometime, somewhere…

Athea returns with a blink of golden light, still dressed in her micro bikini. With a sigh, she lifts her blue eyes off the floor, if there is any.

「Eh?-」

Her confused gaze looks at the handful of souls, gathered and waiting. She blinks, and they look back at her with their vague shapes. She glances down at herself, and an expression of mortified terror appears on her face.

《Agh! I forgot!-》

「I'm sorry I'll be right back!」

She rapidly shouts out, and disappears in a beam of light downwards as soon as she gains a hold of her neatly folded robes on the throne…

…

Well into the night, in Ossen…

Two men are carrying a third, blond-haired man on a simple canvas stretcher towards the entrance of the guard barracks. The two guards, posted out the front at the door jump out of their lazy leans against the walls. Even in the night's darkness, they recognize the man in the stretcher with no issue.

「Captain! What happened!?」

One of them shouts as they run up, abandoning their halberds propped up against the wall.

「Take 'im from us already. Make an official note we returned him alive… And get him a healer.」

The man in the front of the stretcher says, turning away a little to let one of the guards gain a hold of it. The two guards hastily take over for the two stretcher carriers.

「What happened!? Were you ambushed!?」

The guard repeats his question, and adds another as he notices the countless bruises, contusions and otherwise injuries on the captain's body, despite most of it being covered by clothes.

「No, we weren't. He got some cursory healing at the capital, but you better find him a healer if you don't want him to end up a cripple. We're heading back.」

One of the men cautions, and bluntly announces their departure. They turn on their heels and begin walking away without delay.

「Wait! What happened!?…」

The guard continues shouting his question, but it remains unanswered. The men don't even bother to turn their heads around, and simply leave towards the carriage street. The guards look at each other, then at the barely-conscious captain of Ossen guard.

「…Quick, let's get him into a bed.」

The guard at the rear nods his head at the one at the front, and they hurry to the barracks door. Another guard opens the door from within, peeking his head out.

「What's with all this shouting?-」

「Out of the fucking way!」

The guard up front shouts at the guard at the door, forcing his way in. The other guard goes stumbling backwards as the stretcher guards rush in. The rest of the city guards within are eating, drinking, talking, or otherwise resting in a tavern-like setting.

The mood shifts, the chatter stops, the tankards are lowered and the spoons freeze in place when the bulk of the guards notice the subject of the commotion. The stretcher carriers stop to return some of the looks nervously. Then, an even larger commotion starts.

「What the fuck happened!?」「Is he alright!?」「What the fuck!?」

The guards all around the room rush in and swarm the stretcher.

「Hey! Get out of the fucking way!」

The guard at the front of the stretcher shouts, but he remains unheard, or outright ignored. The commotion seems to kick the captain's consciousness back into high gear, and his eyes jump from a face to face.

「Captain! Who did this to you!? We'll go get 'em right now and-!」

「You did this to me!!」

The blond-haired captain screams in the guard's face. Stunned, shocked and completely taken aback, he pulls his face away from the captain's in utter confusion. With his teeth clenched and bared, the captain's eyes dart across their faces again.

The guards exchange uneasy looks with each other in the brief silence while the captain is trying to catch his breath after the laborious shout. Their nervous eyes and grimaces return to the captain's face as he swallows his dry throat.

「The lot of you did this to me! All of you!」

He screams again, looking at random guards, though none in particular.

「…I don't understand, captain.」

One of the younger guards dares to say while the captain is once again catching his breath.

「You did this to me! Because you wanted your own rule of law! Your own justice! You wanted to be as harsh, or as lenient as you wanted to! All of you!」

He shouts another furious barrage, and then once again breathes heavily and rapidly to catch his breath. A graveyard silence begins, with the captain's breathing being the only noise.

「You didn't want to execute the law if you didn't agree with it! You didn't want to be severe if you didn't agree with it! You didn't want to be fair if you didn't agree with it!」

The captain shouts more, seemingly at each guard, but at the same time neither of them.

「Am I wrong!?!」

He turns his head to the guard standing a little behind everyone else, the one who lead an infamous thief's arrest. The guard appears to understand the meaning, and he averts his eyes from the captain in resentful shame.

The captain once again attempts to catch his breath after his strenuous shouting. The guard carrying the stretcher from the front starts shoving the others away with his shoulder.

「Out of the fucking way, we need to get him in a bed.」

He says, and the guards slowly start to clear the space ahead of the stretcher.

「If you at all feel vengeful, and that someone deserves to answer to this… Then hold yourself responsible!」

The captain shouts some more, looking almost all of the guards in their eyes.

「This is my fault too! I was too lenient on you! I saw your failings, and I turned a blind eye to them! I didn't hold you to the standards of the special team, because I thought that it's enough if you are just good men trying to keep the peace! This is my failing as a leader!」

He adds, angrily nodding his chin down at his own body in the stretcher.

「Captain, don't say that, that's not true-」

「Shut up!!」

The captain shuts down the young guard meekly trying to improve his mood, and the effort only backfires. The young guard shrinks.

「If you want to get back at someone for this, then get back at yourself and be the exemplary guard! You are not the law! You are its enforcing arm! If the citizens can't hope for just enforcement, then how can they hope for just law!?」

The guards begin carrying him away, but he continues shouting at the mass of guards. Their somber faces and downturned eyes suggest the shouts aren't falling on deaf ears. The captain is cautiously carried away up the barracks stairs, and disappears with the guards beyond a corner.

The remaining guards slowly shuffle back to their seats and return to whatever they were doing, though their motions are now sluggish and deprived of any vigor. The room is completely devoid of its previous loud chatter…

…

A moment later, in the guard captain's room…

Crrreaak…

「There, got it…」

The guard at the front announces, and the two carefully guide the stretcher into the modestly-sized room. They walk up to the bed, and awkwardly lower the stretcher onto it. They then attempt to remove the stretcher from beneath the captain as he's laying on the bed.

「Hrggh…」

He grunts quietly with his teeth clenched as one of them lifts his side up, and the other pulls the stretcher out.

「Sorry, captain…」

The guard apologizes and gently lowers him down onto the bed.

「Get the fucking healer.」

The guard then turns his face to the one with the stretcher.

「But… He'll be asleep at this hour-」

The other guard replies with his brows furrowed, propping the stretcher's long, wooden carrying shafts up against the nearby wall.

「Then kick his fucking door down! Get the fucking healer!」

He shouts at him, pointing his finger to the open door.

This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

「Ah. Alright…」

He nods, backpedaling out of the room, and runs towards the stairs with heavy, armored steps against the wood.

「Is there anything you need, captain? Water, food? How are your injuries? What did they do to you? I thought you went there of your own volition.」

The guard squats down near the bed and asks, looking at the captain with concerned eyes and furrowed brows.

「Get me a pitcher of water… And a mug…」

The captain groans out through his teeth.

「Right away, captain!」

The guard shoots up to his feet and jogs to the door, about to run off.

「…And close the door while you're at it!」

The captain adds, and the guard stops in his tracks just before disappearing behind the corner. He nods his head, and pulls the door shut.

Cla-cluck.

The door swings shut with a loud latch of the mechanism, and a pair of armored feet loudly thud away outside the room towards the stairs.

「Fffffuck… Hrrrrghnnnngh… Hnnnnnnghhhrrrrrgh…」

As soon as the guard leaves, the captain curses through his clenched teeth, grunting and groaning in pain…

…

Somewhere, in a room with a large round table lit by magic…

「Another gathering… Isn't this a little too much?」

A hooded old man grumbles as he makes himself as comfortable as he can in his stone throne at the table.

「I would not gather you here, if not for a troubling development… Ear?」

The salt and pepper-bearded man explains, and turns his gaze to another hooded old man.

「…One of my men is reporting that his contact has been stung. Worse yet, it appears they tortured him for information. We don't know how much knowledge of the operation has leaked.」

Ear says in a quiet voice, nearly whispering.

「What!? You mean they know!?-」

Another old man shouts in outrage, but Ear holds his palm out to halt him.

「Rest assured, an appropriate hygiene of information is maintained at all times. However… This development is worrying. It appears the kingdom is rapidly purging any subversive elements. They created a new guard formation highly resistant to infiltration, and dissolved the old.」

Ear continues quietly explaining with his elbows on the table, and his fingers interlocked. Shadows cover his hooded face.

「They suspect something, then? Do they know?」

Another old man asks, turning his hooded head left and right to his bitter and old colleagues for answers

「It is too early to tell. It may be owed to blind luck… Still, guarding ducks? It does certainly feel like a taunt directed specifically towards me…」

Ear disconnects his hands, and pulls one of them towards his hood's shadow. His arm moves left and right slightly, presumably rubbing his chin in the darkness.

「Could it be a coded message?… Even if we appear an easy target, like sitting ducks, it's you who are in danger?…」

The salt and pepper-bearded man asks, looking directly at Ear. A quiet murmur begins as the old men begin leaning towards each other and discussing something.

「While that would make a lot of sense… It's dangerous to presume things, one way or another.」

Ear says with a raised voice, causing the murmur to fade to silence.

「We should not assume they know, nor we should assume they do not know. Right now we know for a fact that the queen is tightening her grip on the rule, while pretending to loosen it. The Ministry of Security is a clear sign of this.」

Ear adds, once again quietly.

「The Ministry of Security?」

An old man's voice from the side asks.

「The aforementioned guard formation. They do not appear to be restrained by any laws whatsoever, unlike the city guard. As of now, Draconis has no official guard formation, and yet, the law is being enforced. They an entirely extralegal formation.」

Ear explains, spreading his hands, his elbows still on the table.

「And what of the… Taskmen? The unit from the mercenary war?」

The middle-aged man with salt and pepper beard asks.

「Officially dissolved…」

Ear bluntly replies, and interlocks his fingers again.

「…So they claim. I don't believe it. There is no sign of the criminals, and the military men haven't returned to their posts, and yet they are not charged with desertion.」

He quickly adds, speaking almost in a whisper.

「Returning to the Ministry issue… The Minister of Security has nigh-absolute power as far as matters of arrests, detainment and law go. I would dare to say he rivals the queen's power in this aspect, if not outright outmatches her.」

Ear continues. His eyes just barely glitter in the dark of his hood as they scan across his colleagues. He then turns his face to Scale.

「Scale, I have a question, myself. When will the forged drakes be ready?」

He asks, and Scale crosses his arms, thinking as he taps his arm with his finger.

「Soon. But with these developments, we will have to abandon our plan of draining their strategic resources, and instead focus on delivering them through services and obligations.」

Scale replies, and leans onto the table with his elbows.

「Indeed… The risk by far outweighs the reward right now. We cannot afford to get greedy, and have them find out ahead of schedule.」

Ear nods his hooded head, turning his face forward again. His eyes meet the gaze of the middle-aged man across the table.

「You said the Minister of Security has nigh absolute power… But what about the queen? Did she not sign the laws permitting him all of this?」

He asks, and Ear nods his head.

「Correct. She did.」

Ear bluntly replies, and the table explodes into murmurs again. The middle-aged man raises his hands to quiet the murmur down.

「Colleagues, colleagues… Please.」

He says, and lowers his hands back onto the table. The murmurs silence once more.

「This Minister of Security… The queen trusts him to that degree? He could destroy the kingdom in the blink of an eye… Who is that man?」

He asks, looking at Ear's shadow-cloaked face.

「…Straf. Katastrof. Vindict.」

Ear replies, enunciating each part of the Minister of Security's name. A long silence begins, the old men all look at each other. Ear's eyes dart from hood to hood. Hooded heads turn left and right.

「…Him again!?」

An outraged voice shouts from somewhere at the table…

…

The next morning, in Ossen guard barracks, just outside of the guard captain's room…

The door opens, and a gaunt-faced man with long black hair in white robes exits the room, shutting the door behind him.

「Is he alright now? Did you finish?」

The guard waiting with his arms crossed bounces his back off the wall and walks a few steps closer as he asks.

「No. I'm going back home to rest for today. He's in stable condition, and his life isn't in danger, but…」

The gaunt healer replies, walking past the guard towards the stairs. He abruptly stops in his tracks.

「But?」

The guard asks, looking at the man's long, unkempt black hair. The healer turns around, and walks closer to face him.

「…What exactly happened to him? I've seen mostly-dead adventurers ripped apart by beasts in a better state than he is. The only bones in his body that weren't shattered into tiny pieces, were in his head, neck, chest, and feet…」

He asks, looking the guard in his eyes.

「…And that's probably because it's a bother to reach them while standing.」

The healer looks at the captain's door, before returning his eyes to the guard, bearing a serious expression on his face.

「We don't know. He's refusing to tell us.」

The guard shakes his head in reply, and shrugs his shoulders.

「Well, I'll tell you what I think. He's been tortured. Someone took special care to put him through immense suffering, while minimizing the chance that he'll die. And even then, he would have died without a healer's intervention.」

The healer theorizes, and explains.

「Wha-? It's that bad?」

The armored man asks with a shocked expression.

「It's worse. I'm sparing you the vivid details. I cannot comprehend how he is not screaming in agony. Perhaps he had nerve damage… Or perhaps he's insane and can hold it all in. Who knows. I'm tired, I'm going back to sleep…」

The healer shrugs his shoulders, and turns to head for the stairs, shaking his black head. The guard remains standing frozen with his jaw dropped…