Chapter 56: Involving the Merchant Union

It was morning time. The market was opening up as people arrived and set up their shops.

During this time, a group of men, led by Sir Ashton was walking towards the base of the Silent Death Organization.

They had grave looks over their faces. They also gave off a rather aggressive aura as they scared the people around who glanced at them.

Among Sir Ashton's group, a man with a pointy nose spoke with a serious voice, "It leads inside, Sir Ashton."

The building he was pointing at was the base of the Silent Death Organization.

Sir Ashton clenched his fists as he heard the confirmation. Even though he had been informed of this already, he had personally come and rechecked the entire way. There was truly nothing out of ordinary.

The individual who ransacked their entire storehouse and also stole their elite treasure was in this location.

Naturally, the Silent Death Organization had also become aware that the manager of the Merchant Union was coming over.

They gathered their experts in the bar and were waiting for Sir Ashton to open the door.

Sir Finley was the one who stood in the center. Even now, their head hadn't appeared. It was unknown whether he was choosing not to appear or he was truly unavailable.

Sir Ashton opened the door and soon entered the building swarming with the men from Silent Death Organization.

Not a hint of fear could be felt from him. Whether it was his confidence in his own ability or his confidence in his backer was unknown.

"What brings you here, Sir Ashton?" The manager Finley spoke with a calm voice, intending to find the reason why Sir Ashton had come here.

For some moments, Sir Ashton merely observed everyone's faces. He could read their faces like a book. And he noted emotions like bewilderment, confusion, and some hostility on their faces.

This momentarily stunned him as he asked himself 'Have they done it or not?!'

His face-reading skill was quite good and it was only through this that he had generated a momentous profit in his life.

But still, he couldn't just make his decision by this face-reading skill.

"The entire storehouse of the Merchant Union had been ransacked by some intruders yesterday. In fact, they have even stolen some treasures that were supposed to ship soon from this city."

Sir Finley and the group of experts from the Silent Death Organization quietly heard those words. And they didn't understand how it was related to them.

"You might not be aware of this Sir Finley but on our products, we use a special power that continues to release its aura and a faint fragrance through which we can track it. And only those with unique senses can track it."

Sir Ashton then gestured towards one of his men and spoke, "This is Jan Owen. His bloodline makes him very sensitive towards the smell. While tracking the scent, we have come here."

Sir Finley now fully understood the situation. But he frowned as he realized that the situation was rather unfavorable to him.

"Please calm down, Sir Ashton. There is definitely a misunderstanding here. Maybe someone wants to frame us." Sir Finley solemnly said to Sir Ashton.

Sir Ashton remained unfazed and replied, "Perhaps. But the fact remains that the stolen goods had indeed come here. I will search this building and if we find nothing, we will return peacefully."

His words even drew the ire of Sir Finley and some other elite warriors from the Silent Death Organization.

In the Sinyalian Kingdom, the Silent Death Organization was inferior to the Merchant Union. Because the Merchant Union's true backer was none other than the Royal Family.

The Silent Death Organization had tried to expand its businesses but the presence of Merchant Union harassed them greatly.

And now, the manager of the Merchant Union had come and was even planning on checking their whole building. Moreover, his tone suggested that he wasn't even asking for permission.

But rather telling them that he was definitely going to check this building. If they opposed him then he was prepared.

Naturally, Sir Ashton had spoken in such a tone intentionally. He wanted to inform Sir Finley that he was utterly serious.

If Sir Finley failed to comply then it would result in a war between the two corporations.

"…Very well." Sir Finley clenched his teeth somewhat angrily but gave him permission to check their headquarters and also added, "However, our experts would accompany you in your search. And if you find nothing, you will need to compensate us for this, Sir Ashton."

"Suit yourself." Sir Ashton replied coldly.

It was clear to both parties that the Silent Death organization could hardly trouble the Merchant Union in the Sinyalian kingdom. The most they could do was pressure them and make sure they don't suffer a loss.

Those words from Sir Finley were just for salvaging some bits of respect for the Silent Death Organization ahead of his subordinates.

"Jan. You are sure that all our things are in here, right?" Sir Ashton looked at his tracker who soundlessly nodded.

Soon, Jan Owen began walking. He passed the bar and entered the hallway of the building. He was followed by Sir Ashton and a large group of experts from the Merchant Union.

Meanwhile, Sir Finley spoke out with a serious face, "Gather the experts and keep an eye on this group. They might have a hidden plan against us."

"Yes, Sir!"

All the warriors scattered and gathered their experts who were stationed in different parts of their headquarters.

In just 10 or so minutes, nearly all the strong experts within the Silent Death Organization's headquarters had gathered and were keeping an eye on Sir Ashton's group.

After walking for some time, they finally entered a room.

In the room, they opened some drawers and saw some bottles of red-colored liquid. Clearly, it was an expensive elixir.

"Whose room is this?" Sir Ashton turned and asked Finley.

Before Sir Finley could reply, a man amongst the group behind Sir Finley spoke out, "This is my room."

It was a warrior by the name of Luka Barnes. He was a 4 Star Warrior of the Silent Death Organization.

Sir Ashton took a good look at him and then began speaking, "This is the Red Salamander Elixer created to boost the strength of the body. This was supposed to be shipped to Wales. How did it get to your room inside of your drawer?"

Even though it was Sir Ashton who asked the question, he quickly added, "The proof that this is an item from the Merchant Union is very easy to see." Sir Ashton held the glass bottle of the Elixer and rotated it at the right angle.

On the bottom, Sir Finley and his whole group of experts saw a seal of the Merchant Union.

"This is the seal we place on our things stored in the warehouse. Only after we deliver the thing do we remove this seal. Now, do you have something to say in your defense?" Sir Ashton spoke somewhat angrily.

Luka Barnes had also no idea how this thing could get inside his drawers, "Someone might have left it inside my drawer? Maybe someone is framing me."

"Who? And why would they do it?" Sir Ashton spoke while tapping his foot on the floor.

"I have no idea, sir." Luka Barnes truthfully spoke.

But in response, Sir Ashton replied angrily, "Then find out. I don't care whether someone is trying to frame you or not. The hard fact is that I found one of the stolen things in your drawer within your room!"

There was nothing Luka Barnes could say to that.

Meanwhile, Finley had a headache as he understood that there was some truth in Sir Ashton's words that the things from their warehouse had been stolen.

Soon, Sir Ashton began walking to pursue another lead and Finley followed them around.

However, right now, Finley didn't know why but he had a feeling that he had missed something.

~~

During this time, the experts guarding the dungeons where the slaves were held had already returned above the surface. In place of those experts were other warriors, who were just slightly inferior to them in power.

Currently, a man wearing Blue Cloak was going down the stairs rather silently. It was Azaroth who had created this whole situation.

At midnight, he went to the warehouse of the Merchant Union.

Although there were many guards in the area, he killed one of them and quietly took his place.

After that, during the time of patrolling, he quietly used the dark threads and stuck them at the appropriate locations.

He also found out that there was indeed a rare treasure in this warehouse. It was the egg of a special beast.

This egg had been disguised as an egg of an ordinary beast. Perhaps because of this, Sir Ashton had kept it with the batch of similar-looking eggs. But how could such a trick fool Azaroth's Mystic Eyes of Perception?

Just for surety, Azaroth also glanced at the treasure that many experts were guarding in the warehouse, and just after a glance, he was sure that it was a fake.

Quietly, Azaroth stuck one of his dark web on the real egg of a special beast.

After reaching an appropriate place where he would remain unseen, he pulled the dark webs and ransacked the entire warehouse.

It was to such an extent that nearly all the items in the warehouse were flying around.

Azaroth picked up a few of those items and sneaked into the Silent Death Organizations' Headquarters.

It wasn't hard to enter their headquarters since he just had to disguise himself as an old man who was looking for a bar to drink some alcohol.

And when the bartender or the other warriors weren't looking at him, he quietly sneaked inside the building and planted these items at various places so that Sir Ashton would go around and buy him quite some time while gathering these things.

As for Azaroth, he was heading towards the 5th basement floor to free Laura Vajor.

As he was going through the 4th floor, he noted that there were more guards stationed here. It would be virtually impossibly to get to Laura while keeping himself hidden.

And he also couldn't waste too much time since Sir Ashton or Sir Finley might realize his motive any time soon.

He didn't hesitate in changing his plan and began walking without any intention of hiding his identity.

The men here were either 3 Star Warriors or 4 Star Warriors.

The Demonic aura flared up around Azaroth as he used his Heavenly Demon Transformation Technique.

Before the guards could even shout in surprise or sound out the alarm, Azaroth used his Hell Flames and burnt them to ashes.

The prisoners saw him and held their bars as they called out to Azaroth, "Please… Get me out. Please…"

Azaroth ignored their pleas as he moved quickly using the Phantom Step. He had no time to spare right now.

And just when he was about to reach the stairs for the second basement floor, he noticed that very same succubus who was shown to him by Finley.

When he had analyzed this succubus using his Mystic Eyes of Perception, he had realized that even though she was a complete demon, she merely had a trace of her bloodline.

Her only use was to pleasure men using her body. Perhaps that's why the succubi were sold at a high price. But Azaroth wasn't interested in using his money to buy a slut.

However, the situation was different now.

An idea emerged in his head as he swiped his arm and cut open the bars entrapping that succubus.

"Ehh?" The succubus looked surprised when she saw the bars broke.

She felt a strong and dominating demonic aura from the man ahead of her.

'Why has he freed me? Is he already infatuated with me?'

Before she could think ahead, Azaroth spoke with a cold voice, "Follow me."

After speaking those words, he went towards the stairs leading to the very bottom.

The succubus remained frozen for a short period before she quickly ran and followed Azaroth.

She believed that following him would be the best decision for now.

This succubus had seen how those guards were turned to ashes. She clearly didn't want that to happen to her.