CHAPTER 67: BREAKING NEWS

Hermes almost lost himself to the dazzling lights of the cityscape outside his window, when he noticed the driver slowly descending onto a familiar street.

"We're here."

Hermes thanked the driver with a nod and stepped onto the busy sidewalk. The cab immediately sped off, merging with the mass of vehicles until it finally disappeared from view. Hermes looked around him; the visage of noble men and women elegantly walking along the candle-lit sidewalks enamored him. Across the street, he could see the familiar Mercenary Guild door sign.

After patiently waiting for the traffic to disperse, he swiftly crossed the road and entered through the front entrance. Hermes' goal was to meet up with the information brokers he had previously made a deal with.

Immediately, the smell of alcohol invaded his nostrils and the sounds of cheers from numerous drunks betting on what looked to be a television cage fight grabbed his attention. It was so loud, it made it impossible for the other customers to converse normally. In fact, he couldn't even hear his own voice...

'Sigh, do these people have nothing better to do?...' He decided to ignore them and headed for the bartender. The old man was busy pouring a drink for someone else when Hermes sat on the barstool.

The old man behind the counter immediately recognized him. "What can I get you, sir," he yelled, trying to make sure his voice was heard.

"A bit of juice would be nice."

"I see. I have orange and mango. What do you prefer?"

"A glass of apple juice would be better." Hermes tried his best to suppress the cringe. He still couldn't believe the information broker, Lucky, had decided on such a childish secret code. He did his best to keep a stoic demeanor, but his soul wanted to curl up into a ball and hide in some obscure corner for the rest of his life.

'Sigh... At least I managed to remember it...'

The bartender, who was oblivious to what Hermes was currently going through, immediately nodded his head to a man leaning against the wall out in the distance. Seeing this, the person in question walked over to the counter and sat next to Hermes.

The same features were mirrored in Hermes' eyes. Before him stood a young man in his mid-twenties. His careless air manifested in the casual sway of his drinking, piss-colored beer dribbling down his unkempt beard. It was clear to Hermes that the man was intoxicated, the pungent odor of alcohol tainting each uttered word.

"Hey.... How can I assist you... Hiccup!"

Hermes adjusted his glasses. "Lucky, you look a lot different from last time."

The man squinted and looked at Hermes closely. "... Do I know you?... You better have a solid reason for calling me here. I still wanna talk to that lass over there..." His eyes drifted to a waitress serving beer to a few drunkards.

Veins began to protrude across his forehead. 'This fucker already forgot who I am?...' He took a deep breath to calm himself and addressed his question.

"I am here for the information. You aren't forgetting our deal, are you?" A hint of bloodlust lingered with every syllable. Hermes was not playing around anymore. Time was slowly running out, and he needed to gather as much information as possible, fast. He had already paid an exorbitant amount of Sanctum to Shadow's Hand. If they weren't going to do the job, then he might as well rob his money back from them and go elsewhere.

Lucky gazed at Hermes, his eyes slowly widening. He could feel numerous needles of cosmic force pricking against his skin, all of which were emanating from Hermes' gaze. He almost immediately sobered up.

"Ah, you're Hermes! Haha, I almost didn't recognize you... How can I help you?"

Hermes ignored his fake smile and went straight to the point. "Information. I want an update on everything you have learned. I can assume you weren't just busy drinking this whole time, right?..."

Lucky swiftly nodded. "Of course not! Follow me to the back!" Without hesitation, he jolted up from the barstool, forgetting his beer glass in the process, and stepped to the back of the bar. Hermes followed from behind as they entered the same decrepit storage room.

Hermes gazed around, noticing his colleagues still playing some sort of card game. He found a seat opposite of Lucky on an empty table.

"Alright, spill it all out. I don't have time."

The man nodded and tipped his fedora. "Don't worry, man! We got you covered! From our investigation of the Lysange Family, it seems a fairly big dispute is occurring inside, one that is entirely being fueled by the emergence of the 'Witch of Calamity'. There are two sides, those who believe that the family should align themselves with the church faction and allowing the execution to occur, while another wants to continue protesting her arrest."

Hermes nodded. He had already understood the basics of this situation from their previous conversation. Not to mention the fact that Lucien himself had already confirmed that they were organizing tonight's mission alongside the Lysange family.

But what he truly wanted to know was something else. If there was infighting occurring inside the family, could he realistically trust the Lysange family? What if the group that wants to align with the church faction uses the intel of Elizabeth's rescue operation as an opportunity to leak it, effectively shutting down the entire mission before it even begins? Or worst yet, lead everyone participating into a trap.

He needed to understand the underlying politics of the family first. Who runs each side of this domestic conflict, which side is more powerful, how much intel does each group know about each other... And so he began probing Lucky for all that he knew.

According to the intel he has gathered so far, the side supporting Elizabeth's rescue is being headed by Diodorus Lysange, the lord of the family. This came as a shock to Hermes, as that name was one that he was familiar with. He had read his memoir previously, back in Sanctuary City. It made sense to him, however, since the dates lined up perfectly with the current historic projection he was in.

A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

The one leading the group against Elizabeth's rescue and demanding that the Lysange family leave the noble faction to join with the church was a man named Edward Lysange. According to the intel Lucky had collected, Edward holds many connections to the church.

'I can assume that whatever church elites he knows are putting him up to this job. I can't say it's not a smart decision. Why fight your enemy when you can simply corrode them from the inside?'

According to Lucien, the Lysange family holds many grudges from the previous era. The ones that are especially serious are tied to the Rochefort Family, the Duvalier Family, and the Blanc Family. But most recently, they have also come on bad terms with the Marcia Family due to Elizabeth's actions.

Many of the other families belonging to the noble faction are staying silent and simply trying to analyze the political landscape before making a choice about whom to side with. So although the Lysange family's actions were mostly spurred by the entirety of the faction pressuring them to do so, many of the same families that voted for Elizabeth to do what she did were choosing to act ignorant.

When he first heard of this, Hermes tried his best to not punch a wall. Even with Lucien's apologies, he was still extremely dissatisfied at how the events played out. But he knew that there was no way to change the past. And although not everyone in the noble faction agreed on trying to rescue her, some still did.

Their current operation included the Valencourt Family, Lysange Family, Césaire Family and, most importantly, the Saint-Clair family. This noble house, according the Lucien, would become the key to their operation's success or failure.

And so, the conversation with Lucky continued. From what Hermes had understood, although the faction supporting Elizabeth was supposedly stronger in terms of Celestial manpower, Edward had his hands wrapped around the majority of the family's finances; without his approval, funding anything became a massive headache. Due to this balance, neither side had the upper hand, creating a stalemate that had lasted since this entire feud first began.

It honestly surprised him that Lucky and his fellow members were able to discover so much in under a day. But he did pay 2 million for their services, so it made since that they would do everything in their power to complete their mission.

Hermes stroked his chin and looked back up at Lucky, who was eager to go back to drinking. "Say, I am fairly impressed by what you have gathered so far, but I'm curious... Did the Lysange family ever spot you snooping around?"

Lucky's lips curled up into a smirk. "Haha, it was fairly easy. Their security was extremely lax, for some reason. Though, I did feel like we were being shadowed... It could just be me though," he shrugged.

Hermes smiled. "I am not stupid, you know. I am sure they probably let you gather your information peacefully, and you know it, too."

He frowned. "Damn, I guess I got busted... You are right, they for some reason let me gather my intel peacefully. Though, I did later get approached by them..."

'And probably sold my information too...' He decided not to say it. It was already fairly obvious that Hermes was onto them.

Looking into Lucky's eyes, Hermes sighed. "Alright, I guess that's good enough for today. I may or may not show up tomorrow, so I will pay the rest of the bill now." He swiped his badge against the reader.

Lucky tried to escort him out, but Hermes refused. He confidently strode out the back of the tavern, returning to the bar area. Seeing that Hermes had left, Lucky leaned back against his chair and exhaled a heavy sigh.

"What a scary guy..."

His colleague approached him. "Boss, you are also a Gold-rank mercenary. How can you be afraid of him?"

Lucky placed his fedora over his eyes and propped his feet up on the table. "Henry, my expertise lies in reconnaissance, not combat. Despite his apparent lack of experience, his cosmic force control makes him an undeniable force in battle. If I were to face him head-on, chances are I'd lose nine times out of ten."

Henry ran a hand through his hair. "And that one time out of ten?"

Lucky grinned, "I'd make a successful escape."

...

Hermes said his goodbyes to the bartender and was about to leave when suddenly, the boisterous cheers from the drunks were replaced by angry shouts. Hermes turned his neck to face the commotion.

Other than the Television screen showing a different channel from before, nothing seemed out of the ordinary.

"DAMN IT! WE WERE JUST ABOUT TO GET TO THE GOOD PART!"

Another drunk threw his beer glass to the floor, shattering it into a hundred pieces. "Fuck! I bet 300 Sanctum on that blue fighter! Why the hell did they change channels!?"

Hermes was curious. He squinted his eyes and began to observe the television more closely. He was able to gleam that the screen was displaying a news station. The crowd noticed the peculiarity and began to hush everyone up so they could listen properly.

"Breaking News. Just last night, a group of unknown assassins were found dead in the upper districts. According to their autopsies, they had all died from severe intracranial hemorrhage. The Guardian Knights have not yet answered our questions as to who these rogues were or what their motives are. In total, 25 of them were found in the alleyway where a local pedestrian had discovered them."

The camera then shifted to another news anchor. "Indeed, Haley. What makes this story so bizarre is that almost all of them were Stage 4 to 6 Celestials, all of which were Martial Masters. The criminal organization behind them has to be fairly large if they are able to cultivate this many fighters. So far, no group or entity has claimed responsibility for this atrocious attack. Joining us now is detective Lawrence, who was present on the scene. Sir Lawrence, what can you say about this attack?"

A window popped up, showing a videoconference with a man holding a pipe in his hand. The news anchors continued to ask him random questions, which he promptly answered. Though, to the drunks, none of this ever mattered.

"Sigh, they really close all the channels just so we can hear this bullshit? Who gives a flying fuck what happened to some random assassins? Shit, I can probably take on twice as many."

Another drunk burst out laughing. "Roger, I know you aren't talking! Didn't you run away from that mutant yesterday?! You damn coward!"

"What did you say?!" The two men stood up and began exchanging glares. Hermes ignored their antics and focused more on the story.

"Mr. Lawrence, who do you think is behind this attack, and why? There is heavy speculation that the assassins were targeting the Valencourt family, since their home was very close to the crime scene. Do you have any comments on that?"

Lawrence shook his head. "No, I do not believe that the Valencourt family has anything to do with this. Lord Lucien is a righteous person who values the sanctity of life. I do, however, have a lot of evidence pointing me toward this being done by the Angel of Repose."

Suddenly, the entire bar became silent. Not even the sound of water could be heard as all eyes shifted toward the television screen. Even the news anchors themselves had forgotten what their next line was going to be.

'The Angel of Repose? Who is that?..'

Realizing the awkwardness, Haley, the news anchor, coughed. "I see... Could you explain why exactly you came to this conclusion?"

Lawrence nodded his head. "The reason is fairly simple. The way they died is something only the Angel of Repose could accomplish." He began to explain the process of how the killings were done. Hermes could see the new anchors turning paler as the explanation went on.

Hermes stood there in silence, absorbing it all. He couldn't believe that such a combat method existed. 'How terrifying,' he thought. Would he be able to counter such an invisible attack if he were one of those assassins? Even with [Augmented-Comprehension], he couldn't figure out any method or strategy to deal with it.

After the story had concluded, the news anchors moved on to the next topic on schedule.

"Moving on, our next story will be about the 'Witch of Calamity.' According to a statement from the Church of Wisdom, the heretic in question will be executed in Astrum Minor, Concilium Plaza. Those who wish to view the holy event in person must first visit their local church for a baptizing ritual."

Hearing this, Hermes clenched his fists. The Mercenary Guild was filled with banter regarding the stories. He closed his eyes and walked out of the building. His next destination was the Ironclad Mercenary HQ. It was finally time to meet back up with Mason and his crew.

'Elizabeth... Just hold on for a bit longer. There is no way in hell I am going to allow them to celebrate your death...'

End of Chapter