================================
Chapter 350: Man Hunt
================================
“The Guards are coming…” through her tears, a hoarse voice rung from FlowerLord and she patted the ladies who have been crying around her like scared little lambs.
She wiped her tears off and then sniffed, just in time for white armored knights to appear in the same corner they had come from.
“Are you the ones who caused those explosions earlier?” said the Knight Captain. He was holding a device which indicated there had been just a strong clash of Mana in this place just now.
Their company was wearing masks and although they were all women radiating incredible charms and assets just from their postures, the Captain still remained professional contrary to the men on the ranks behind him who stole glances over the women’s side.
FlowerLord stood up and nodded, “Yes. There is an attack here. We were ambushed by Julia.”
“Julia! The fugitive? He’s here?!”
“Yes.” FlowerLord said, “He’d just collected a set of memories from one of your subordinates. I don’t know what he got but I believe it has some connections to the events of the past 24hrs.”
The Guard Captain looked at her as he gave her words a thought and realized something when he recognized the girls’ clothes, calling out behind:
“Corpus!”
“Sir!”
From the ranks behind him, someone came in and he gave a salute to the Guard Captain.
“Where is your buddy?”
“That, sir… errr… I saw him earlier and he said he had lost something very important and that you’d kill him if he doesn’t deliver that item.”
Having heard this, the Guard Captain clicked his tongue as a thought struck him with fear. He then faced the knight and ordered, “Bring that guy to the office right away.”
“Yes sir.” the knight affirmed and with two others more, the trio split off from the group.
The Guard Captain then came back to FlowerLord and her group, his tone a little milder.
“I apologize first, but this incident concerns not just you or Julia but also concerns the National Security of this country. May I invite you in my office to talk about some matters regarding this incident?”
National Security? Things have just turned frosty.
FlowerLord frowned. They were not in any mood or in any liberty to waste time like this. Their plans have changed and the tasks that Volt and Thorn should be undertaking have been put to their shoulders and so instead of just having fun like they have intended to, they were forced to become Siva’s errand runners in the city.
They can’t, in under normal circumstances, make their identities known or else, everything falls.
She may not care about Siva or his mission, but she does care a lot for her best friend.
Everyone in Siva’s entourage had a complicated web of relationship. They have different reasons for being in his company and no one is actually forcing them to stay, not even Siva, but just one of them makes a mistake and everything and even everyone…… is compromised.
This is really making her angry all the more.
Feeling the hostility rising from her, the Guard Captain explained to appease her, “Please don’t worry. I am not going to account you regarding this incident or anything. In fact, I am actually going to tell you something that you ought to know that might both of our sides since I have a feeling that you are connected to that White Knight yesterday.”
Cassiopeia reacted, “You’ve met my master?”
“E-Ehem…” FlowerLord cleared her throat as she gave a side glance at the woman which she got as a signal to shut up. Cassiopeia grudgingly backed off with a pout. “Anyways, what makes you think that we’re connected to a white-armored knight?”
The Guard Captain lightly chuckled, “Just the fact that you answered me this way is one proof. The other is because of her reaction. You might not be connected to the white knight, but perhaps you are connected to the female VIP who was with him because you wore the same clothes as her yesterday. That’s why I knew. No. You may even call it as a Knight’s hunch, and a knight’s hunch I usually correct.”
—this knight was really proud of his hunch.
Anyways, Cassiopeia had basically given away their position so she couldn’t do anything about it but frowned further.
She had been listening to Amanda all night about that incident and so she knew a few things or two about that event yesterday.
She fell silent. Then, after a moment, she stared at the man and nodded, “This is not the place to talk about that.”
The Guard Captain smiled, “Men, these are our esteemed guests from this moment forth. Escort them back to headquarters and show them our great hospitality!”
“Yes sir!”
*****
10:15AM
Draco was sweating.
“Where the hell is that report?!!” on his office, on his chair, cross-armed and agitated, Draco tapped his feet on the floor like a typesetter, the sound of his wooden soles echoing on the walls of his white painted room.
“30 Megatons more of Cryogenic Elements! You call that ‘nothing much’?! You mothaf —argh! This is driving me nuts! And where the hell is that idiot who caused all of these problems to happen?! My patience is really thinning out with this mess. And my name is also hanging in the line!”
As Grand Knight and a Council Member, Draco is doing his best to protect both his name and his country... from the scourge brought by a cancer that was slowly becoming his own demon.
For his own ambitions, he can’t let go of Zelga.
But that also gave the idiot reasons to wag his tail as if it was made of gold. Now, that idiot brought a bane that was connected to The Temple and as well as an Archmage as his wife.
“God damn it!!!”
He brushed a gloved hand on his face and felt a bit surprised that it got wet from sweat. This only made him more irritated as he thought about that faceless masked guy’s demands of him.
“Fuck… I’m not even sure if he’s going to keep his word after this. Fuck. It’s all that idiot’s fault!”
After a few minutes more of cursing, Draco had it enough and called in his secretary.
“Bring me the Guard Captain’s secretary here.”
The woman on the voice link stuttered, “A-About that, sir…”
“What is it?”
“Well, just now, there is actually a call here from the Office of the Captain of the Guards. Should I connect the call then?”
Draco thought for a moment. If he had a Battle-AI as his personal secretary, calls like that would be filtered directly only to him and not to a secretary on his office. He felt a bad premonition as he put his hand on his face and massaged his brows.
“Put him through.”
“Yes sir.”
A video call connected to Draco.
“Captain Somurai.”
“Grand Knight. I’m sorry for the sudden call but I bring you bad news from the capital.”
That primer was enough to connect the dots of the problems on his earlier premonition. He pulled out a panel and pressed a button. After a moment of a green bar loading up, a red [Call Encrypted] prompt appeared on his vision as he continued to talk to Captain in a hushed tone.
“What’s the issue?”
“I think the secret has been compromised.”
“…!!” Draco held his breath and fell silent. His mind was clearly in turmoil.
Somurai thought this was a prompt so he went on and continued, “Earlier today, International Black List Fugitive ‘Julia’ of the Chthonian Contingents have infiltrated the capital and stole a secret that can be used to threaten our National Security. A group of people happens to have been there to apprehend the suspect but unfortunately, they got caught on a trap and the suspect got away to Dakar, in the Eastern Continent of Espada.”
“Julia?! The Extractor… wait, don’t tell me…”
Captain Somurai heaved a long sigh as he clicked a button on his panel and activated his ReaL@D Rendering Feature.
“As I am talking to you right now sir means that I am still aware of my own memories. But aside from me, the only other person who knew of the events here yesterday was my secretary.”
On the video call, there was the knight that had his hands on his lap, trembling in fear, feeling so confuse as to what he had done wrong.
As on the other side, Draco appears to be seated on his desk, he just glared at the knight and went on to confirm it, “Do you remember what I told you yesterday?”
The knight raised his head but bowed immediately since he saw the scary look on Draco’s face.
If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement.
He can’t even reply.
Draco spoke again, “What about my instructions to you earlier?”
“I-I-I’m sorry sir… I don’t remember meeting you earlier today.”
Something cracked on Draco. He put his elbows on the desk and joined his hands to cover his lips.
“So you don’t remember the message I wanted to get from that place?”
“I’m sorry sir. I really don’t remember anything!”
“Sir,” Somurai cut in, “I’ve already confirmed that he is telling the truth... all his memories apparently are from yesterday and that he has no memory of anything that had happened to him earlier this mothing.”
CRAAAA~~~CK!!!
It was a good thing that no one was on Draco’s office right now or he would have displayed how the colors on his face drained on his face right at this moment. His body might even seem to be on the verge of cracking up into pieces. He was so dried up, in fact, that he looked like a corpse.
First, Lord Malory got barred by The Temple’s so called “Inquisitors”, now... even his secret exit has caught fire because his agent’s memories got erased from him.
—gods damn it!
And what more, the secrets stolen from the guy wasn’t just any normal flammable secret: the secret had a connection to an Archmage…!!
—shit. If the fact that a King Candidate lusted at a Female Archmage got spread out, who knows just how much riot it would cause to the citizens. To us, the Archmages is a living cultural heritage, the vestiges of a great past... if that is sullied by a King Candidate, much less a Human… then the consequences would be unimaginable!
Literally, shit got out of hand.
There was no reason for the Guard Captain to be lying to him. he knew the guy since he was a valet knight to one of his past Lieutenants.
And that guard element… it was clear that he was not lying as well.
—that means, it’s either a big trap or just a plain coincidence of… hm?
“Captain, who are those people with you?”
“Ah. I was just about to introduce them to you, sir, they are part of Lady Archmage’s entourage. The one in the middle is Lady Eleanor of the Circle of Magi.”
“…!!”
—GOD DAMNED WORLD!!!
—YOU’VE GOT TO BE SHITTING ON ME!!!
—one Archmage is already enough, now you also put something even higher than an Archmage…!!
Only a very select few are aware of the existence of the Circle of Magi. They are a group of people, Highly Skilled Wizards, dedicated to preserving the planet’s peace and prosperity.
From time to time, they issue requests for the countries all around the world to accomplish and in turn, they will bless that country with either a support through the Enchantment Temple, or help them build a new city… a new frontier for the Terran Race to prosper.
It was an open secret that through these said arrangements, the Circle of Magi controls the Enchantment Temple.
If they so wanted to, they could have become the overlord of the entire Terran Race! But they didn’t and that’s why everyone in the world assumed the reason why the Enchantment Temple never made any attempt to become a faction for the throne in The Kingdom.
—perhaps they are here because of the incident.
Cold sweat trickled through his back.
Draco stood up and hurriedly walked over to the front of Eleanor and then made a knight’s bow as he addressed Eleanor.
“Lady Envoy, I sincerely express deep regret for not being able to recognize you at first glance.”
Eleanor, as elegant as ever, and without a mask, gently gestured at him, “Please stand, Sir Knight. I am here in an unofficial business. Though I am not aware of what had happened yesterday, I’ve been informed that you have already taken care of the problem so I will trust that the sinner will be punished in accordance to his sin.”
Draco felt the sweat on his back dampen his shirt.
Now he was cornered. An Envoy from the Circle of Magi is already asking for Zelga to be punished so even if he used all of his authority as a Council Member to prevent this, the rest in the Council will not. Zelga had really disturbed a hornet’s nest this time around.
—shit.
Draco asked the Captain, “Have you reported this to the other Grand Seats?”
“Not yet, sir.” it’s not the Captain wanted to held it a secret, it’s just that he too was going to be at fault to the other two because the whole incident yesterday had been settled with a bribe.
But who would have thought that it wouldn’t just end there? Draco had another grim premonition.
—this is bad… really… really bad!
—no wait… I can also use this!!!
In the dark of the tunnel, hope shines brightest if it appears at the nick of time. An idea struck him.
“Lady Eleanor, would you like me to call on an emergency meeting and gather all of the Council and the Grand Seats of the Knights Orders of the entire Kingdom?”
Eleanor paused and looked at FlowerLord. The reason why she had to expose herself is because of her request.
FlowerLord’s reason is simple. Because they are Siva’s entourage and given his notoriety and his current fame, if the fact got exposed that Scion is the so called Archmage that Zelga had offended, there is a possibility that they will be hunted.
As such, they had to use Eleanor’s status and her influence as a member of the Circle of Magi to be able to control the tempo at which to solve the issue regarding the fugitive, Julia.
It was shooting two birds with one arrow.
She gave her a light nod.
Eleanor faced Draco. “Yes please.”
Draco felt elated. He can use this as an excuse to cover all of his tracks and as well as divert all the building tension towards the true sinner, Zelga.
In fact, if everything went well, he can even put all the blame to Julia and make it look like it was his plan all along.
He didn’t dally a moment further.
Draco pulled out a panel window and then pulled out a golden horn. He injected his Mana into it and blew.
An hour later, throughout the city, all ears heard a resounding echo of its effects.
*****
The horn was an item only owned by a member of the Council of Elders. It signifies their ability to call upon the privileges of their status to enter a few places they couldn’t enter as a Grand Knight or of similar ranks, or just like now, call upon their status to establish an emergency Council Meeting.
A conference was immediately established and it was displayed in a Real@D rendering.
But contrary to their irritation, when they saw the woman whom Draco respectfully was bowing to, they immediately knew this is serious.
The old men’s shadowy cloaks disappeared and they all appeared and bowed respectfully at the Lady even without knowing her identity.
“Council members, let me introduce you to Lady Eleanor, en Envoy from the Circle of Magi.”
Shocked exclaims erupted from the old men as their bows deepened further before they pulled up their heads and looked at her.
“Gentlemen. Lady.” Eleanor greeted the members of the Council of Elders of Jeremiah. Very few is able to have the privilege to see their faces. In that regard, very, very few are more privileged to be in the presence of a member of the Circle of Magi… Terroa’s protectors. “I apologize for being in a hurry to call you all like this.”
Nine old people, except for Draco, eight men and a woman… all in brown cloaks… looked at the lady envoy with facial tattoos in front of them.
The head of the Council, a man with blue hair, put up his warmest smile as he submissively called up a prompt like a servant, “Please, Lady Envoy, the honor is hours to meet you. Might this humble one ask the reason you’ve sought us so that we may be able to save time and fulfill it for you.”
Personally, Eleanor didn’t like the idea of using her status to issue a manhunt. She is an Envoy of the Oracle… the true guardian of Terroa. To use her status to hunt a single person was beneath her but then again, it was also for the sake of the Oracle that she was here with Siva.
They needed Siva’s power to be able to protect the Oracle during her Tribulation. If they can’t protect Siva’s secret identity, they can just forget about all those things that happened in the past.
If he failed this simple task just because of her pride, then she would have failed The Oracle as well who still believed in her… and Siva.
“Very well.” Eleanor smiled softly, “Yesterday, a certain event had transpired in your capital city and in it was an Archmage whom I am personally in a company with. Apparently, within that incident is your King Candidate... whom has already been sanctioned with, as I trust Elder Draco here.”
Draco knew this is his moment. What he’s going to say here will change the tide for him and for Zelga so he had to be careful on his choice of words.
“Fellow council members. I have already dealt the issue yesterday and the King Candidate who had committed the sin has already been punished in a severe manner. Alas, as I have been conducting a secret investigation myself in my power as Grand Knight, I discovered that the incident wasn’t as simple as it seemed to be.”
“What do you mean, Elder Draco?” asked the old woman beside the Head Elder in a gentle speech.
“Though I have yet to conclude my investigation, I sent Knight-Valet Utusan on a secret task that has a connection to the original incident—”
In the middle of his sentence, Draco made sure to eye Eleanor’s group for their reactions. Eleanor remained unperturbed and gently indifferent but a person on her group was intently glaring at him.
Draco knew he had to be careful on that person.
“—but little did I know that while the incident may have been small and can be resolved secretly for the sensitivity and sakes of the parties involved, it wasn’t until earlier that I realized that it was all but a ploy of a certain individual to discover a certain persona’s identity.”
When he spoke, he eloquently gestured it to the Envoy’s party.
Eleanor looked at FlowerLord and then to Draco, making the man sweat and palpitate nervously. He was panicking, he didn’t know if what he said was in accordance to the boundaries of both of their goals. All he felt is, no, it was a hunch, and it was telling him that pinning the blame to Julia was the right thing to do here.
“Julia… of the Chthonian Contingents planned it all from the beginning.” he finished. “All for the sake of knowing the existence of a certain secret organization connected to the Circle of Magi.”
Eleanor didn’t know about this issue but it didn’t mean she was clueless. Is there really a person in the Terran Race that would want to mess with the Circle of Magi?
She knew about the Chthonian Contingents; it is a Terran Organization operating solely for personal profits… nothing more. The organization is an old fox, in other underground terms, and its eyes are fixated to the black market dominance. It was hard to imagine that they would be scheming against the Circle of Magi.
—no wait… affiliated…
—or perhaps…
As her thoughts ran wild, she had a slight notion that perhaps the Devil Gods had already infiltrated the Chthonian Contingents?
Or on the lighter, more optimistic side, perhaps it is an ‘affiliated’ organization to them alone.
Meaning…
Before she could even speak, the old woman in the Council of Elders asked Draco, “Do you mean to say that after all these years the Chthonian Contingents have not given up going after their revenge on the Enchantment Temple?”
Eleanor’s felt it a bit weird and highly unlikely but it doesn’t mean there wasn’t a base to this.
She prompted to explain to Efel’s group, “Long ago, a High Elder of The Temple was murdered and robbed by the Chthonian Contingents. The newly appointed seat of the Grand Elder Mage at the time ordered for that branch of the Chthonian Contingents to be burned down to the ground in the name of justice and from then on, perhaps, the feud existed.”
“It is not just a baseless rumor anymore.” Draco, in high spirits, said proudly.
“What do you mean?” asked the old woman.
Draco looked at Eleanor, promptly asking if it was alright to speak of it. But it wasn’t Eleanor who spoke up this time and was instead FlowerLord.
“Yesterday, one of your King Candidates lusted at an Archmage and tried to force a blackmail using your Kingdom’s Laws while still in the presence of said Archmage’s lover. Needless to say, the case escalated. Although Blue Draco managed to put water into the fire—” FlowerLord remembered the words spoken by Julia at this moment. Although she wasn’t sure of that thing between Julia’s own group and The Temple having a feud, it was still true that Julia was trying to uncover Siva’s identity and that she made his move last night. “—with the specialty of Julia in regards to data gathering, it was relatively easy for him… no correction, it was relatively easy for HER to get the information she wanted, given her abilities. This issue that should have been resolved since yesterday did in fact have just escalated. No matter what, we have to get that stolen Intel back from Julia because this will not only affect the Archmage’s personal life, but will also affect yours… especially the peace of The Kingdom... as a whole as well.”
—this woman!
Draco wanted to curse but the bridge is already burned before he even got to save it.
Eleanor sighed, FlowerLord really wanted to pin the blame to that King Candidate.
This is a personal matter for her since it included Scion, her best friend in the world. Eleanor had long understood that this girl is an over-protective mother to her innocent youngling.
The council was both shocked and fearful at this moment; angry, for another point; but they were also thankful that Draco had tried to dress things out before it escalated on the wrong direction.
…although it did still escalated, it wasn’t on a way that they couldn’t get out of it devastated.
They now also just understood the meaning in the words that Draco had just said. He had dressed the issue very finely and pinned all of the blame to Julia… serving as their scapegoat.
Still, now that they have heard the story, they just wanted to know of two things from this incident;
1) Who was that blasted King Candidate?
—and—
2) What does Julia want?
Whether Julia is a he or a she is irrelevant. What matters now is how to resolve this issue.
“What do you propose?” asked the Council Head.
Eleanor sighed. She really didn’t want to do this but in order to NOT offend Siva; she had to cover his… no, the two lovers’ tracks.
She spoke dejectedly, “Issue a Man Hunt Mission to the World’s Nations. Bring Julia dead or alive.”
The Council Head bowed, “We shall comply.”
.
.
================================
Everybody is just pawns in this game!!!
================================
.
.
.
.
.
Next Chapter: a girl pushed to her limit will…
.