“That stupid cur!”
It was one thing to witness Camille cut something with her mere gaze, but to see her fury manifest into tangible scarlet blades that launched all over the training hall as she shouted was an entirely different matter. The scarlet blades flew faster than my eyes could track them, leaving deep furrows on the concrete floor and walls where they struck.
Camille began pacing back and forth with a scary look on her face, and even Warner knew not to disturb her.
“What's a Shadow Guild Enclave?” I asked Warner.
“You know how the city has branches of various Guilds at Guild Plaza? You don't see a Shadow Guild Branch there, do you? That's because no one wants to sanction a Guild of murderers-for-hire. So what the Shadow Guild does is establish a hidden branch. Invisible from the public eye, yet known to the real players who could afford their services. We call those hidden branches Enclaves, and I'm sure I don't have to tell you why a base of deadly assassins-for-hire is bad for the city, do I?”
“Oh I know, I got to experience their services first-hand,” I said. “But why is Camille looking that flustered? Couldn't she just march a large army into Carmen's mansion and arrest him for harboring an Enclave?”
“That is the reason why our precious Governor lost her calm. A mess like this necessitates the mobilization of the entire City Guard, and an operation like that attracts unwanted attention to our city,” Warner said. “Campaign Season is coming, and outside agents would swarm like sharks when they hear of our predicament. Hells, they might even sponsor the Shadow Guild Enclave to sow chaos in Shieldhold.”
Right, there was the Campaign Season. Who knew Camille's lessons would be applicable to my job this early on?
Soon enough, Camille got ahold of herself once more. “Warner, how much do you know about the Enclave beneath Carmen's mansion?”
“Not much. The Enclave detected our divinations quickly and set up measures. The only thing our diviners managed to get was their location and layout,” Warner replied. “The Enclave itself is built right below your uncle's mansion. So far, only two possible infiltration points were located: through the mansion itself or the sewers. After our divination, security in the mansion has more than doubled. My men spotted more than two mercenary groups guarding the place, all of them Elites, though we suspect that Carmen is hiding a Master-tier combatant in that fortress of his. The sewers, on the other hand, are booby-trapped down to the last piece of brick. Disarming all that would be impossible in a reasonable time frame, especially while being attacked by the damn assassins guarding the tunnels.”
“So nothing short of an army is capable of sieging the place,” Camille muttered to herself with frustration. “Raiding the place should be our last option. We cannot afford to conduct a massive operation in the middle of the city. Carmen would raise hell if he caught a single whiff of a plot to forcibly oust him.”
Warner shrugged. “What do you propose then, lass?”
“We will have to force them to emerge from their nest,” Camille said. “We will strike Carmen's illegal business interests in the city, force him to deploy his precious assassins, and kill them one by one. Once we weaken his forces, then we give him an ultimatum to surrender.”
“You know your uncle. He's not a man to willingly surrender no matter how much the odds are stacked against him,” Warner said. “Even if you destroy his entire criminal empire in the city, he will not capitulate. He's as unyielding as your father.”
Camille gave the old man a cold gaze. “Do not compare that filth of a human being to my father.”
Despite Camille's threatening stare, Warner was unperturbed. “I'm not gonna bother sparing your feelings, lass. It's true, and if you want to crack the unyielding wall that is your uncle, you're gonna need a better card to play.”
Camille smiled. “I do have the best card to play against him. I have his son. Which do you think Carmen values more, his position of power or his son's life?”
The training hall went quiet as Warner and I stared at the woman. Was she seriously considering killing her nephew to get at her uncle?
“You don't want to go down that path, lass,” Warner said carefully.
“And why not? Carmen has shown time and time again over the years that he would stoop to the lowest level just to get what he wants,” Camille said, her voice starting to get heated. “Or did you forget how he killed my fiancé when I refused to give him the seat of Governor when Father died? Why should I stick to morals when our enemy has none? You have been with me all these years, and you've seen what happens when we fight this battle sticking to the rules while our enemy is allowed to act with impunity. We only stand to lose ground, and I've had enough. The path I am about to go down is dark, but it is one where we win.”
Warner shook his head with a sigh. “And what do you constitute as a win?”
“A future where Carmen's entire bloodline is dead,” Camille said coldly. “You and I both know that their whole branch of the family deserves to die. They've been a thorn in Shieldhold's side for long enough.”
“Not all of Carmen's family is guilty of his crimes, Camille,” Warner responded more seriously. “Will you kill their infant daughter too?”
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Camille stared the old man straight in the eyes. “If I have to.”
The training hall was silent as the two stared at each other, all while I stood awkwardly to the side wishing to be someplace else. It felt just like the time when my two bosses had a disagreement at the site while we workers watched on, wondering which asshole would have his way.
In this case, Warner backed down with a long sigh. “Then do what you want. Just know that when the time finally comes, I will not raise a weapon against those who don't deserve it, so you'll have to do it yourself.”
“I will have it no other way,” Camille said resolutely, but I could see the hesitation in her eyes. And if I could, there's no doubt Warner did as well, but the old man said nothing.
“Then my old bones are yours to command,” Warner said. “What's our next move, Governor?”
“We will begin raiding Carmen's illegal assets in the city. Since our goal is to draw out his assassins and whittle down his strength, we will do this over an extended period. Given that you know of Carmen's operations the best, which do you think is the best one to hit first, Warner?”
“Since you want to lure out his assassins, the best place to hit first would be his most lucrative and illegal asset,” Warner said. “The Siren's Call, the largest high-end brothel in the red-light district frequented by rich clientele. On the surface, they operate just like any other brothel, but for the more valuable patrons, we recently learned that they can avail ‘special services’ from slave children.”
“Then that will be our first target,” Camille said before turning to me. “Since our goal here is to lure out the assassins, you will be at the forefront of the raid, Constable.”
“Normally, I'd offer a complaint or two. But since we're going against pedophiles, I'm all too happy to lead the charge,” I said. “So, how do we do this raid?”
Camille explained the plan, and though I bristled at the huge risks I'd be going through for this mission, I found myself looking forward to it. God knows I have no mercy for child abusers.
“We will conduct the operation tomorrow night during the brothel's peak hours,” Camille said as she concluded the planning session. “Since Warner will be busy with the reconnaissance of the brothel, you are not allowed to leave the City Hall until the mission starts, Bob. I don't have men to spare to keep watch over you.”
It was funny how Warner turned out to have been watching over me all this time, yet I felt none of that ‘protection’ at all. I bet the old bastard was just too lazy to give a lending hand when I was busy getting my ass handed over to me by assassins.
With our planning session done, Camille bid us farewell and left the training hall, leaving me alone with Warner. I was about to leave too, but the old man stopped me.
“Bob,” Warner called out. “Come here for a second.”
“Dammit, you better not ask me for anything that goes against Camille's orders,” I said right from the outset. “I know you have your differences, but leave me out of it.”
“I'm not going to ask you to turn traitor, you big oaf. All I'm asking is for you to remember that your job here is just contractual. You are not sworn to Camille's service.”
“And? What's that got to do with anything?”
“I don't like the path that Camille chose,” Warner said with tired eyes. “There may come a time when she will ask you to do something unreasonable. When that happens, I want you to remember that the repercussions for a breach of contract are relatively light depending on the stipulations. A fine, maybe imprisonment for a month or two.”
“You mean if she asks me to kill Carmen's children?” I asked. “You don't have to worry about that, old man. I may be an asshole, but I don't condone killing children.”
“Good, good. I suppose the only one left to worry about is the kid.”
“Lance? I'm sure he won't follow orders to kill children.”
“Then you don't know him well,” Warner said as he started walking away. “His loyalty to Camille is that of a dog. He will do anything to please his master.”
With those ominous last words, Warner left me alone.
“Dammit,” I muttered as I looked at the blood-soaked ring where we trained. “They really left me behind to clean up all this shit, didn't they?”
Given that the training hall was going to be my living space for the foreseeable future, I began the dirty task of cleaning up all the blood and bits of organs I left behind. Huh, now that I thought about it, couldn't I sell my organs in the black market to make a tidy profit? Now that right there is a very good business prospect.
As I made half-baked plans about my future organ-selling enterprise, I went to the City Hall's maintenance facilities to get a mop and a bucket. What's interesting about this world's cleaning implements is their magically enchanted equipment. The mops were self-sterilizing, and the buckets had an automated vortex feature that functionally made it a miniature washing machine. It made cleaning a thousand times more convenient and a million times more enjoyable.
As I walked the employee-only area of the City Hall, I was jumped by a little girl carrying cleaning equipment herself. Seriously, I would never get used to this world's treatment of children. The kid looked barely ten years old and she was already working her ass off.
“Mishter Hero! Mishter Hero, it'sh me!” the girl exclaimed as she dropped her stuff and ran up to hug my leg. “Do you remember me? You shaved me!”
If not for her distinctive lisp, I wouldn't have recognized the little girl. No longer was she a dirty little runt wearing torn rags with tear stains running down her cheeks. The child before me was now clean, with long brown hair, fair skin, and a cute grin. She looked severely malnourished, but aside from that, she seemed to be doing good.
“I don't remember shaving no midget,” I said as I picked the girl up and placed her atop my shoulders. She giggled crazily. “What in the hells are you even doing here, kid?”
“Mish Camille gave ush easy jobs!” the girl replied happily. “Mish Camille ish sho shweet and kind! She inshishted that I resht, but I don't wanna lie in bed all day. Do you work for her too, Mishter Hero?”
“First off, my name's Bob. Second, yeah, Camille's my boss. Now what's your name, you little rascal? So I could report you for being lazy on the job.”
“Liar! Besshi ish never lazy! I'll tell Mish Camille that you dishturbed me from my job, Mishter Hero.”
“Now who's the liar now, eh?” I picked up Bessi's cleaning supplies, which simply consisted of a bunch of rags and a feather duster, and continued on my way to the maintenance room with the little girl on my shoulders. She didn't complain. “So why are you working here? Don't you have parents looking for you?”
“My parentsh are gone,” Bessi replied sadly. “Our village wash raided by banditsh. Mommy and Daddy fought back, and the evil banditsh killed them.”
“Bandits, eh? Well, I promise you this, Bessi. If I ever meet those bandits that killed your parents, I'll bash their heads in.” I was never good at comforting kids, but what I was good at was beating people up, so that's what I would promise.
“Mishter Hero ish sho aweshome!”
“In exchange, you're gonna help me clean the training hall.”
“Mishter Hero ish a shcammer.”