Chapter 13

  The next morning, a knock sounded from Drakkel's door. “Young Master!”

  Drakkel's eyes shot open.

  He got up from his meditative position on the bed and opened the door.

  A demon spy stood on the other side.

  “A crowd has gathered outside the inn, Young Master.” He said.

  Drakkel straightened his appearance, placed his hands behind his back and calmly walked outside the room without answering.

  As he passed the demon on his way out, he said, “Order all the humans to stay in their rooms and tell the other demons not to follow me.”

  The demon bowed his head and quickly left the area.

  Drakkel unhurriedly made his way to the front doors. When he arrived, he spotted Drion, Shia, and Fargos already waiting there. The doors were closed, yet hushed speaking could be heard from the other side.

  As he drew closer, they all bowed.

  Fargos was about to explain the situation when Drakkel placed his hand up to stop him.

  “Don’t bother. I already know.” He said.

  Drakkel went up to the double doors and pushed them open.

  A large crowd had gathered around his inn. In the middle, stood two Investigation Bureau personnel. One was short and skinny and the other was tall with a large belly but muscular arms. Behind them stood around two dozen men all dressed in the same golden armored red uniform.

  “Who are you?” The shorter man asked.

  “I’m the owner of this establishment, Sylas,” Drakkel answered calmly. “What seems to be the problem?”

  The shorter man continued “We’ve come from the Investigation Bureau to conduct an investigation on kidnapped persons in the area! Please, step aside!”

  Drakkel shook his head. “I’m sure you’ve heard that I'm new here. I don’t yet know all the rules. But what I do know is that it’s up to the Security Office to capture criminals. So, what right do you have to be here?”

  A sliver of uncertainty flitted about the shorter man’s face for a second before he shook it off and continued, raising his voice further, “You’re new here, so you don’t know! The Investigation Bureau can conduct an investigation directly as long as there is concrete proof of a crime committed!”

  “Are you saying, you have proof?” Drakkel shot back. “Why don’t you show it to me?”

  The man again went quiet. Then the taller man spoke. “If you refuse to cooperate, we’ll have to use force!”

  The two dozen men behind him got into an offensive stance as Drakkel’s eyes narrowed.

  The crowd broke out into a discussion, but were soon silenced by the shorter man. “We give you one final warning! Move aside or we’ll have to restrain you!”

  The man attempted to scare him, but Drakkel calmly remained in his position.

  Seeing as the man in front of him not only dared to resist, but actually impeded him from completing the task he was ordered to do, the shorter man had no more patience.

  He yelled, “Att—!”

  “Do not engage! This is an order from the Security Office!”

  Another voice overshadowed his, approaching them from the distance.

  Soon after, the crowd parted to reveal two lines of men.

  The men ran up to the Investigation Bureau force and surrounded them. They were dressed in silver armored black uniforms and numbered in the thirties.

  A man stepped out from behind them, his countenance calm and assuring. His hair was tied up in a top bun and his eyebrows were furrowed. His shoulders were broad and his physique was large and muscular.

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  He was a little older, somewhere in his 40’s, but with his sharp brows and slightly chiseled face, he could still be considered handsome.

  Upon his back was a hammer and shield, made of a mix of sturdy materials and meteoric stone.

  Drakkel smiled.

  Whispers ensued among the crowd.

  “Is that the iron wall, Lior Gaunlet?”

  “What is he doing here?”

  “I thought he didn't personally lead investigations unless they were big cases?”

  “Could this case be larger than it appears?"

  “It is kind of odd that the Investigation Bureau was leading an investigation in the first place.”

  “Yes. Now I'm curious, let's see what happens!”

  Lior Gaunlet was a tall and muscular man who towered over everyone in the area. However, despite his build, he was also known for being quick and agile.

  He walked up to the gold armored men and shouted, “It’s not the Investigation Bureau’s responsibility to handle investigations! We’ll be taking over now!”

  The shorter man from the Investigation Bureau gave a trembling smile.

  With a little laugh, he said, “Ah! Chief Gaunlet! We were just helping you round up a potential suspect. We heard you were busy and were worried they would escape so we took the initiative…”

  “Liti! Under whose orders did you decide that? We were just handling a false alarm at the outskirts of the city!

  So you thought you could go behind our backs and handle an issue?!

  You could have kept them here first and waited for our return! But what were you going to do instead?!”

  The short man named Liti answered, “ That is what we were going to do! We just didn't expect you to be back so soon…!”

  He sidestepped the question, drops of sweat beginning to drip from forehead. “Look, We’ll get out of your way. You can proceed however you want!”

  He addressed the men behind him, “Everyone, let's go!”

  The man called Liti walked at the front with the larger men in tow as the two dozen men that followed them went along in a line. Soon, the only ones left at the scene were the Security Office workers and the crowd.

  “There’s nothing to see here!” Lior Gaunlet shouted. “If you all don't carry on, we'll start making arrests!”

  The crowd immediately scattered and Drakkel was left standing face to face with the iron wall, Lior Gaunlet.

  He was going to ask to talk to him, but the man was one-step ahead of him.

  A message shot with sword energy glided into his ears. “Let's talk inside.”

  Drakkel’s mouth widened into a smile.

  He casually approached the middle-aged gentleman. “We appreciate your assistance, kind officer. As thanks, I would like to invite you in for some tea.”

  As he said this, he gestured to the door and Lior Gaunlet nodded pretending as if he wasn't the one who asked to be invited in.

  He had his guards wait outside as he followed Drakkel in.

  During the whole ordeal, Shia, Drion and Fargos were silently waiting behind him, ready to engage just in case.

  Drakkel glanced at them and with this they knew that they should stay outside with the guards as well.

  Drakkel led Lior Gaunlet to a quiet room in the back reserved for the owner. He ordered a demon spy who stood at the front, to make some tea for him and his guest.

  Once they were both seated on the small table in the middle of the room, Lior Gaunlet said, “I won't beat around the bush. You have some witnesses here and would like to make a testimony, correct?”

  Drakkel smiled and nodded.

  “Then let me place them under my jurisdiction. Afterwards, we can take them to court and have it overseen by Ril Lita.”

  “Of the Lita Family?”

  “Yes,” Lior Gaunlet replied.

  Drakkel laughed. “”I’m a foreign merchant. I don't know the capital well. Tell me, why should I believe you?”

  Lior Gaunlet sat up. His eyes narrowed as the corner of one end of his lips turned down. “First, you have no one else to turn to. Second, what kind of foreign merchant has the means to not only capture, but save so many people under the noses of such powerful people? Especially after only arriving in the Capital a little over a week ago?”

  Drakkel's smile fell, his eyes turning stone cold.

  “Relax.” Lior Gaunlet said. “I’m only here to request your help and if you're in the business of looking over other merchants, we would like your assistance with them. Surely, we can come to some kind of agreement. After all, you’re just a visitor here. There’ll be no need to become more acquainted with you if you don't stay for long.”

  Drakkel understood now. Lior Gaunlet was saying that he wouldn't look into his background if he decided to cooperate.

  His smile quickly returned. As incompetent as the Emperor may have seemed, he surrounded himself with capable individuals and already had a working plan in place. It wouldn't be wise not to accept.

  “Of course—”

  Drakkel was interrupted by the sound of the door opening. The demon who was sent to get the tea stepped inside. He poured them each a cup and attempted to leave when Drakkel stopped him.

  “Gather the embroiderers and tell them all to meet at the lobby.”

  “Yes, Young Master.” The demon replied. He bowed his head and swiftly walked out of the room.

  Lior Gaunlet stood up and headed for the door.

  “You won't drink any tea?” Drakkel teasingly asked.

  Lior Gaunlet was silent as he looked at the door.

  “What? Are you afraid that it's been poisoned?”

  Lior Gaunlet didn’t answer, his mouth forming a scowl before he left the room.

  Drakkel was only joking with him. It was said that Lior Gaunlet was once tricked into consuming poison through tea and almost lost his life. But he was saved by Ril Lita who discovered the plot and found a doctor to heal him just in time.

  This was before he became a sword master and while he worked for the security office. At that time, he was a thorn in the side of some powerful people so they had someone target him.

  After what happened, Lior Gaunlet left the capital for a while to cultivate and by the time he returned, he was a Sword Master.

  Since then, he didn't drink anything he didn't make himself.

  Drakkel couldn’t help but think that the man was rather boring as he drank the tea from Lior Gaunlet’s untouched cup after finishing his own.