“I guess the investment is paying off in some way.” Gladwin adjusted the collars of his coat as he watched Professor Denadis.

The chimera that she had created and had received back from Ethan in a tiny form was still useful for something else. It was now being used as a way to bind the criminals down in its slimy structure.

Though Gladwin Hark complimented her, Denadis was far more shocked by the sight he had produced. The falling spears of light fell like raindrops on a stormy night.

The spears impaled through the masked men running around. Their screams had created a grim orchestra that did not bide well with the beautiful yet deadly sight of Gladwin’s spell.

Despite the seemingly haphazard, chaotic fall, the spears of light did not touch a single civilian. Even the criminals were not killed, they only had their feet or hands stabbed through and pinned to the ground.

“Amazing control…” said Denadis. She had known of Gladwin Hark’s achievements for a long time, but seeing them personally was quite different. “But, maybe put them out of their misery? Is there a need to prolong their suffering?”

Gladwin smirked as his gaze swept over the site. He noticed chimeras, the same ones that had been running rampant in the outskirts, and had managed to do a number on Richard. There were also the masked idiots who had cornered them.

“It is not right to kill the Empire’s citizens, is it?”

Denadis raised a brow.

“There’s a labor shortage after the war,” Gladwin said. “Why waste perfectly useful manpower? They would serve well if they are chained.”

Professor Denadis only nodded. The bright Empire's policies had their own dark shadows. It served one well to stay out of them, and she knew it.

“That said…” Gladwin’s gaze suddenly narrowed. One of the criminals ran straight at him with a knife. Gladwin did not move. The criminal charged at him.

“DIE—”

A spear fell from the sky when he was mere inches away from Gladwin, stabbing through the criminal’s calves.

Gladwin took a step forward, right over the criminal’s head. A crunch resounded as he pressed his foot down.

“Who orchestrated this?” He asked. “Where is that bastard?”

“N-never… I’ll never tell you! You bastard—”

Gladwin silenced the man and took a step back. A sigh left him as he gazed at the town once again.

Stolen novel; please report.

“The biggest rat slipped away… But not for long.”

***

Mrs. Frock walked against the walls as she made her way through the dark city. The fires had started to go out, and the magic circle looming over the city center had pronounced the darkness further.

It was by sheer luck that she had escaped. As soon as her pawns saw Gladwin Hark in the middle of the city, all of them decided to sacrifice themselves to let one person run away.

Mrs. Frock took the chance. How could she not?

If they died, they would serve her well. Those fools were out for revolution, for a change, but her?

“I will get my son back…”

Her steps rang in the darkness.

“There are still more… in the mountains. More people. No matter what, my son will be back…”

Her words were only for her ears. Only for hers.

“Mama’s coming… just hold on… just a little longer…”

The puppeteer of the show disappeared into the darkness.

***

“Good god…” I cursed at the sight of the gruesome corpses. The occasional corpses had increased the higher we climbed on the plateau in the South-East. All the corpses were masked. “It seems the civil servants had a field day here.”

Shirley shook her head at my words. “They must have captured many, but there were quite a number of organizations that had gathered under Mrs. Frock.”

I nodded and we continued moving on.

According to Shirley, Mrs. Frock expected most of her people to die and use them as sacrifices for the chimera. Thankfully, the civil servants were more concerned with capturing than killing. Even though the chaos was great, the fewer the deaths the weaker Mrs. Frock’s Chimera would be.

We continued walking up the streets. Funnily enough, not a single leaf crunched nor a sign of our steps lingered on the mountain path. Both of us were naturally good at the sneaking game.

“What are you going to do next?” I asked Shirley.

“I should be fine… I have a different identity.”

I figured as much from her mention of Glorenstein.

“But I don’t know about my people,” said Shirley.

“I made a promise. I’ll tell them what to do and avoid incrimination, so don’t worry.”

I didn’t let the conversation disappear into silence. There was a lot I needed to know from Shirley and now was as good a time as any. Who said I can’t mingle with someone while climbing up a mountain to stop a city-breaking criminal?

“Do you like cats or dogs?”

“Uh… dogs?”

“Shortcakes or cheesecakes?”

“Cheesecakes.”

“How many languages do you speak?”

“Are you interviewing me, professor?”

“Maybe?

“Four. I speak four languages—”

Our impromptu roadside interview came to a sudden stop. Shirley and I quietened down. We were mere moments away from the lab, this was the worst.

The twigs and leaves around us crunched in all directions. From within the dark trees, all kinds of people in opera masks stepped closer. They smacked weapons in their palms, some clanged their hammers against the ground.

We were surrounded.

A deep sigh left me as I slowly pulled my hand back. There were too many, I could count at least fifteen. This was my mistake, I had been conserving energy because of the wounds and the corpses reassured me that the civil servants must have swept through this place.

“Hostages!” One of them screamed. “Perfect. Just what we needed to bargain our way out of this place. Of course, I didn’t think the hostages would come walking to us on their own…”

The masked men cackled.

Shirley stepped next to me and whispered. “Can you fight?”

“Of course,” I responded. “It’s just a giant hassle.”

“Alright, get them!” The masked man shouted and waved his blade at us. The others all cackled and charged and swung their weapons…

“Ahgh!?”

“The heck!?”

“S-stop why are you hitting me!?”

… At each other?