Clan's POV Part 1

Two days after the escape:

18th March, 3026 B.E.

It was early morning. The hues of the world bloom anew as if each were a tiny flower reborn. The birds were chirping and leaving their nests for food. The sun was rising slowly on the horizon and spreading its golden rays all over the place. The night was slowly giving in to a new day.

It was peaceful in Rokas estate. People were slowly waking up to do their chores. Cleaners were brushing the ground and cooks were preparing breakfast. The sparse shops outside the manor were also slowly opening up. People were stepping out of their houses heading towards their daily jobs.

All in all, it was an atmosphere of peace and harmony. But there was unusual activity in the clan manor. Guards were running around here and there and were all over the place.

Suddenly, a roar resounded throughout the area and a slight pressure descended. Immediately after that, a second pressure descended before dying out.

"WHAAAT! YOU ARE INFORMING ME NOW?? NOW!!?? FIND HIM NOW!! ALL OF YOU! DAMN IT!!"

People living in the surroundings of the manor became stupified at the sudden outburst out of nowhere. All of them turned their heads towards a single place. They were all looking in the direction of the clan hall.

In the clan hall, Kai was standing from his seat while breathing heavily. His face was distorted into an expression of anger and he was trying his best to calm down. He was usually a cool-headed serious person. But the thing he had just heard was too shocking and ridiculous that he lost his composure and blew off a fuse.

Two guards were kneeling in front of him while trembling. Those were the same two guards that had let Jacob go two days ago in the morning. Behind them were two more guards that were standing. But their condition was not that good either.

A few minutes ago, Kai was sitting on his little throne sipping on his expensive tea. He was in deep thoughts. Suddenly, two guards came to report to him about a missing person. They entered and gave him the usual salute. After which they knelt and started reporting.

"Master, a child is missing from the clan grounds."

"Who is that child?" Kai asked calmly. These were everyday issues. It was not worse than his soldiers getting ambushed somewhere in the city.

"His name is Jacob, son of late maid Rosa." The guards replied in a trembling voice. They were informed by their children that Jacob was missing a few hours ago. After that, they quickly searched for him in the entire clan and also awoke others to help them.

Kai's lazy sitting posture immediately became attentive. He also put down the teacup. They all knew what was the real identity of Jacob. Only the newer servants were unaware of it. He was his nephew. Kai didn't like where it was going. He also had an uneasy feeling.

"Who is the person that saw him last time?" Kai asked in a strict voice."

"Master, there are two people who saw him the last time at the same time."

"Where are they?"

"They are standing right outside the hall."

"Bring them in." Upon Kai's command, both of them stood up from their kneeling position and exited the hall. They brought two other guards in. They were the same guards who had let Jacob go two days ago. They were sweating profusely.

After the usual salute, they knelt and waited for Kai's questions. The previous two guards did not kneel because they were not talking directly with the clan lord.

"When was the last time you saw him?"

"He left the clan under our watch two days ago. He told us that he was going on a shopping trip and didn't return from it according to our investigations last night."

Both of them were woken up an hour ago by a few guards. Jacob was missing. They didn't think about it much and started searching the manor for him.

Unfortunately, they could not find him. After a short investigation by the guard captain, they were found to be the last people who saw him.

Jacob had apparently not returned after he left the clan grounds under their watch. They knew that they had neglected their duty of informing the batch that was their replacement at the clan entrance about Jacob. Punishment was coming for them.

Kai was dumbfounded after listening to the revelations in front of him. It was too shocking. Jacob had been missing from the clan for the last two days and nobody had noticed it until now.

They were informing him two days later. He immediately blew a fuse and stood up while roaring and fully activating his cultivation. This was the epic of negligence. It could not be tolerated at all.

Rokas was still asleep in a nearby room. He woke up with a start at his son's loud shouts. His old mind quickly registered his son's words and a name came into his mind.

At that, he also unconscious released his cultivation before reining it in. He thought that only someone missing from the family could elicit this kind of response from his son.

He had already seen all his grandsons and granddaughters at the clan dinner in the dining hall yesterday night. So the only person that was left to be accounted for was Jacob.

He quickly got up and put on his clothes. After that, he entered the clan hall and saw his son pacing about near the main seat.

Kai quickly became aware of his father's presence. He stepped aside from the main seat while saying, "Father."

Rokas moved towards the main seat and sat in it. "Fully explain the matter, son."

Kai obliged and told his father all the known details about the missing case. Hearing about the shocking negligence by the clan servants, Rokas's face turned red with anger and his expression twisted. But he quickly took control of his emotions.

He was an old hand, much more senior than his son. He had seen the life and death of his loved ones many times over. He had to remain calm. He put his chin on his hand and started thinking about something calmly.

Kai was waiting by the side. He knew that his father was analysing the situation. After a minute or so, Rokas broke the silence.

"Hmmm. There are two possibilities. He has either been kidnapped or has fled from the clan. There is also a possibility of death. The first scenario is most likely the case and we should expect a ransom or some other kind of blackmail soon."

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Rokas calmly analysed the matter using the limited info they had, which was almost none. Kai nodded at that. He found his father's conclusion quite logical.

"But there is also a chance of the second scenario. He has been recently beaten to an inch of his life. Probably he is scared so he ran away. If that is the case then he needs someplace to stay. The third scenario is least likely otherwise the city guard would already have discovered his dead body." After saying that Rokas paused for a few seconds as if he was thinking about something.

"Go out and command the servants to shakedown the inns. Also, check out the slums. Spread his posters all around the city and contact all of the city guards responsible for patrolling the city for the past two days. Also, go to the markets and city gates to investigate if someone had left with a child in the last two days."

Kai also had a plan of action but he was waiting for his father for guidance. His father was his idol. It was upon his footsteps that he was walking. So he would prefer his father's strategy over his. Moreover, his strategy was not that different from his father's except for two or three points.

"Ok, father. Please wait for the news." Kai responded to his father's command. Rokas nodded at that.

After that, Kai exited the clan hall to coordinate the search efforts.

After the initial outburst, the people outside soon noticed the sudden outflux of Rokasian guards out of the manor.

Soon the city streets were flooded by the Rokasian guards and soldiers. The servants of the other two clans could also be seen running around. They were the members of the city guards. They also called for some reinforcements from their clans.

The city guard consisted of the guards from all three clans combined. It was the policy of the ruling clan of the kingdom to hand over the security of the cities to the local clans where it had no influence. So the city security was managed by the three clans combined.

The three clans only had to pay fixed taxes based on the city population to have the entire city under their rulership.

The search parties were combing the entire city. It was a great incident. The grandson of a previous clan lord and nephew of the current clan lord of Clan Rokas was missing. They did not spare any stone unturned.

Every nook and cranny of the city was inspected. Many inns were shaken down. Many suspected crime dens were raided. The entire slums were searched. Even sewers were not spared in case he was killed by someone and thrown into sewers.

The city was not that large but it still took them almost two hours to do all that. Since it was early morning, not many people were out. So it was also a factor that delayed them until they found the first signs of his whereabouts.

The guards were also asking people about Jacob's whereabouts by describing his appearance. After some time, some people claimed that they had seen the kid described by the guards in the market. That led them straight to Algo's shop.

Algo was sitting in his shop while his son was sweeping the ground with a brush. They had just opened the shop. He was also waiting for Jacob to report to him today. He was a bit worried. Jacob did not come yesterday.

Algo became worried due to Jacob's absence. He thought that the kid had no money to buy his food. He was in great need of money.

He thought that maybe Jacob was sick or something like that yesterday and had some food in his home. As a result, he didn't come yesterday. Algo was hoping that he was right in his guess.

He was also observing the unusual clan activity since early morning. This was not that rare but not common either. Many factors were needed to elicit such a response from all the clans combined.

Otherwise, the clan guard was enough to manage almost everything. He even saw some clan soldiers running around and helping the guard in their tasks. He was repeatedly having a single thought, Weren't they for emergencies and clan wars. What are they doing out here?

He kept thinking about that until curiosity got the better of him. He exited the shop and stopped the passerby who was being asked questions by the guards a couple of minutes ago.

The passerby then told him that some important kid had gone missing.

Such privilege. All three clans searching for him. Lucky child. This was Algo's thought as he re-entered his shop and sat back down in his chair. He had not noticed anything strange about the situation.

Now he was waiting for his son to finish sweeping the floor. After that, the usual shop activities would start. He was also waiting for Jacob to arrive. That kid needed help after all.

But soon, he noticed something strange. A few guards and soldiers belonging to all three clans had stopped just outside of his shop a couple of minutes ago. Their number was also increasing with time and they were all looking at him with seemingly unfriendly eyes.

A sense of unease came over him. I have not done anything wrong. Why are they eyeing me like that? I have not robbed their treasuries or something like that. This is clearly a misunderstanding.

He kept reassuring himself as he stood up and exited his shop to face the inevitable. His face was sporting an expression of fear.

Strangely, nobody said anything to him and they all stood there eyeing him and whispering to each other. It seemed as if they were waiting for something to happen. So Algo kept standing there awkwardly.

His son had also accompanied him as he exited the shop. He did not desert him in troubled times. Algo was very happy with this. But he soon noticed that his son's body was trembling. He was cowering under all the gazes.

That coward. Algo thought and started thinking about his coward son's future in order to distract himself from those gazes. How will he deal with difficult customers in the future?

Soon, a commotion happened some distance away that attracted the attention of all the people present in front of Algo's shop. They all started looking at it.

Clan lord Kai could be seen heading towards them accompanied by his people. The Leo guard captain was also with them. He was being followed by a few guards.

As if on cue, the clan servants standing in front of him took a few steps back and widened the space between them. Clan lord Kai came and stood right in front of Algo. He was sporting a cold face and was radiating a slight pressure.

Algo's back quickly became wet due to sweat. He was awed and cowed by the man standing in front of him at the same time.

Those few seconds were the longest seconds of Algo's life. He was standing face to face with one of the great powers of the city. He could slap him to death in the blink of an eye. Those few seconds were excruciatingly long for him. Fortunately, he did not have to bear with it for much longer.

"Where is Jacob?" The clan lord standing in front of him opened his mouth at last and uttered three words coldly. It was a simple question but Algo's mind went blank.

Algo was stunned after hearing the question. His mind could not process this simple question in time. He could not imagine in his wildest dreams that all this fuss was related to that poor kid from the day before yesterday. He unconsciously uttered a few words.

"Huh? What?"

"Didn't you hear him the first time? Are you deaf? He asked you where is Jacob. And don't you dare lie, otherwise, I will break your jaw." It was not the clan lord who replied this time. It was the Leo guard captain who was standing near them. He was almost shouting in his ears and his eardrums hurt.

Now, Algo's mind correctly processed the questions. So this is a misunderstanding after all. I knew it. Trying to ignore the captain standing near him, he replied,

"Honourable clan lord. I don't know where Jacob is."

Hearing this, Kai's expression worsened and the captain near him was raising his hand to deliver on his threat. Seeing this, Algo realized that another misunderstanding was happening so he quickly added,

"Ah. Please be patient with me, lord. Jacob came to the market the day before yesterday. I will explain everything to you in detail."

Hearing this, Kai's expression softened and the captain lowered his hand.

After that, Algo explained everything to him in excruciating detail so that they may not suspect anything. Kai came to know about everything that happened to his nephew a day before yesterday. He deduced that the money belonged to Rosa, probably her life savings for her son.

After Algo finished, it was the guard captain who asked the question instead of Kai.

"Are you sure that you didn't see him after that?"

"Yes, I am. I promise."

"Guards. Accompany him and search his house. You, cooperate with them and lead them to your house. Otherwise, your end won't be good."

"Of course, honourable sir. I won't dare disobey."

After that, Algo's house was searched thoroughly and Jacob was not found. Kai had also accompanied them while everyone else started searching for Jacob again. Kai was informed that nothing had been found in Algo's house.

Hearing that, Kai headed back to the estate. He remained in deep thoughts as he walked the way leading to the manor accompanied by his people.

From the info he had gathered till now, he could safely deduce that Jacob willingly fled from the clan. But after that, he was kidnapped. If not, he would have come to the shop to work. He also didn't go to any inn to stay at night. Sure, he had no money to stay in the inn but he could also not be found on the city streets.