Chapter 284: The Mysteries Continue.

Chapter 284: The Mysteries Continue.

Neville So you were the traitor all along, huh? Shouldve guessed with how you suddenly became competent out of nowhere, only to start acting like an idiot again later. Who the hell bought you out, huh? The Resurrection? The Riverside Syndicate? Or did our old friends order you to kill us all?

After the disaster that was the attack on the Layavete cartels headquarters and its subsequent destruction by some assassins, we managed to rescue any remaining survivors with Asakas and my healing spells. Sadly, the number of people we managed to save could be counted on two hands.

Speaking of the injured, the Layavete cartels leader, Treyenor, had been saved by Asaka after she stopped him from bleeding out, although his right leg was lost forever from the initial explosion. Gael only sustained some minor burn damage, thanks to his Vitality and [Fire Resistance]. Lastly, we had Elrick I heard blood rejuvenated vampires. The poison in his body was expunged after he drank.

Regardless, the situation wasnt ideal to talk about Elrick right now. We had to interrogate our prisoner instead. For that, we took the injured cartel members and their leader to one of their hideouts. Needless to say, the members guarding that place were devastated to hear what just occurred to their faction.

Now, we were inside one of their rooms. Although crippled, Treyenor decided he would lead this interrogation on the fat scum who betrayed his organization.

Tell me, Neville TELL ME! The former stuck a knife into the latters leg out of rage.

Kuraaarrrrrgh!

Gael, take him away. Hanazawa-san, could you do it once again? Miss Saori asked exasperated.

While drinking some of Lady Hestias dragorade to restore her mana and reduce her arcane corruption, Asaka showed a thumbs up. With her thirst quenched, she moved up after Gael took out the knife and Miss Saori brought the enraged Treyenor away. With [Major Heal], the wound our prisoner had disappeared.

Once she was done, Gael used the handle of the knife to tap the fat scums head. Well, three times the charm, they say. Three times this knife was stuck in your leg. A bit problematic coming from a cripple, Treyenor.

Dont patronize me, Gael! Treyenor scoffed. This leg is the least of my problems. My problem is that the Layavete cartel is practically gone now with all my leaders dead. All due to me being blinded with how to rebuild my fathers legacy, unaware of the worm devouring it from the inside. This leg means nothing. I was crippled even before!

Self-guilt. I can sympathize.

Mhmm. Gael gave an understanding nod to Treyenor, leaving him to process what happened to turn back to the interrogation. Well, you heard the man. Speak, Neville. Youll be dying in any case, but if you at least give us the information, well let you die easily.

Fuck you! He shouted. His jaw was healed up but I guess Miss Saori gave him a concussion from her kick.

Haaaa Hierk! Gael turned around for a moment, sighing in the process, only to stab the knife precisely into the gap between his middle fingers nails. It was too fast for the scum to react in time, only for Gael to peel it off the moment he screamed.

KriiiieeeaaAAAAARCKKKK!!!

Oh jeez Asaka turned around and made her way out. Call me when you need me. Ill get some fresh air.

Excuse us. With nobody stopping him, Elrick followed behind Asaka. I guessed Miss Saori could trust he wouldnt run away.

Back to the interrogation, the screams havent stopped. In fact, they became even more intense as Gael used a plier to peel off fingernails as if he was used to it. Still, even after all of this, the fat scum was unwilling to speak. He kept his mouth shut for everything but his shouts.

With his attempt not working out, Gael sighed again before grabbing onto his bleeding fingertips with the tool. With one quick motion, the finger was forced back unnaturally and broke.

Kriiiiahiehkehkehiek! Tears and snot ran down his face. Gurgling could be heard.

You know, the moment you speak, the moment I stop. I really dont like going so far with the torture. Its bad for the ears. However, I can continue and I will break you, Neville. Ive known hardier people break after Im done with them! His eyes told me he was telling the truth.

I cant take this any longer. Tasianna, lets leave with Treyenor. We need information.

Miss Saori grabbed Treyenor around his shoulder and helped him on his feet. She then used [Shadow Armament] on him and created an onyx leg for him. Once hardened, it could act like a replacement.

Thanking Saori, Treyenor then left the room with us. We then went to the office room of the building, where Saori gave him the mana battery from before back. The onnikais around me quivered in rage when they saw that, prompting me to shut them down. A bit risky, since they could revolt against me, but I relied on the spirits following us to calm them down.

[We will find who was responsible for this! Please, trust me,] I told the faefolk.

Treyenor inspected the battery before sitting down and asking Saori for the broken emblem. If you ask me, the people who attacked me today were from the Resurrection.

How are you sure? Miss Saori asked.

Clean up the mess and erase potential enemies. Its what any cartel would do. The Layavete cartel used to be supported by two of the eight Olden Money houses. Should probably not tell you who they are, but our connections were severed already, so whatever. The Plymeirs and Urlandors, those were our patrons, Treyenor exposed them for us, but this information didnt tell us much.

It seemed Miss Saori shared my thoughts. So? I have done some research into the senators, but we dont have anything to do with them yet.

Take it as a snack for now. You might need it, he answered. In any case, the fact we were supported by two Olden Money heads gave the Layavete cartel the power to control a large portion of Gleisvale. The other Olden Money families controlled other aspects, so we were in a sorta stalemate until we were dethroned by a pretty insidious plan.

How so? I asked. Considering how much you are elevating your former position, how did you fall? And what does this have to do with our problem?

Noticing my impatience, Treyenor nodded compliantly. The Resurrection is a newly formed syndicate we havent heard much about. They were like any other newcomers. The problem came from the events that happened right after they began making a name for themselves. My organizations two supporters were assassinated and fake evidence was planted to implicate us.

With the death of two senators, especially ones who belonged to influential houses, there had to be consequences and someone needed to take the blame. Treyenor explained how the relationship between crime syndicates and senators was practically a norm in Estralia, but it was an open secret at best. The houses the Layavete cartel supported knew they were working with them, but none of them wanted to acknowledge it publicly.

And these houses rivals jumped on the opportunity. Labeling them as a public enemy, they hunted and destroyed the Layavete cartel with the goal to cripple the Plymeirs and Urlandors. In a desperate attempt, Treyenor exposed the relationship between his cartel with the two houses, proving to everybody they couldnt have done anything to their former supporters.The roots of this story extend from novell bìn origin.

This action meant his cartel would survive, but it also played right into the plans of the other houses. The Plymeirs and Urlandors lost plenty of influence from this. Although still part of the senate, as is custom, their honor and status was put into question for being shameless enough to work with criminals. This also burned all bridges the Layavete cartel had with their old employers.

After that, the Resurrection began to rise up. Quite a lot, in fact. The power vacuum left behind our defeat? They filled it all. And now they were ready to finish us off. Treyenor threw the emblem back to Saori. In addition, their armor. Elf, you know what that was, right? It might look different, but its the exact same thing.

Yes. I nodded. They might have been made with metal, but I knew after seeing them work that they were Haireti armor.

Haireti armor? Miss Saori questioned. Wait, do you mean the same one Muraina and the elven rangers at the outpost were wearing? But they look nothing alike. Their armors were made with leather and bark.

I agreed with Miss Saori, but that was why they looked foreign to me at first. Normal ranger armor made by the Saelari comprises leather and mana-infused tree bark, weaved together using mana threads. The pieces of bark the Saelari gave Lady Hestia, for example, were examples of this. Unlike the dwarves mountain, the forest of Saelariel have few mining locations for metal. Our tree groves, on the other hand, give us the material for our armor.

I also explained how they could hide runes and enchantments easily, as they combined aspects of the earth and mana. Miss Saori questioned why I hadnt told Grimnir yet, mentioning this would improve our armor. However, considering how a master blacksmith like Grimnir hadnt mentioned it once, I understood he didnt know how to combine mana weaving with armor.

After I was done explaining it to Miss Saori, I turned back to Treyenor, only to see him look at me with squinted eyes. I asked him what was wrong, only for him to say he was trying to make out the spirits around us. I dismissed his idea as absurd, as humans werent naturally able to perceive raw mana without a skill or manatech.

With a sigh, he dropped the matter and continued with his explanation. Ive done some information gathering on the Resurrection once I realized they might have been involved in my downfall. You know, looking into who exactly supported them. What I learned was the part with Davison and that they somehow learned how to make that sorta armor.

Miss Saori frowned. And they are able to make it en masse, considering they were willing to sacrifice 20 of them to try and kill you and your underbosses. I guess our next goal is the Resurrection. Do you have any information on them?

Location of their bases? Sure. Most of their members are normal alchemists, so they arent very good at keeping themselves inconspicuous. If you want to, you can also look into the alchemist guild and their current leader. I bet the guild and the Resurrection have a connection.

And the mana battery? I brought his attention back to the important part to me.

Like I said, I wasnt the one who hunted those fae. Fae hunters are pretty rare, since the job is pretty suicidal and could cause more problems than you can handle. You have to be extremely greedy or dumb to attempt it, he made his stance on the job clear to me. However, if you want to know where I got that battery specifically, it was through one of my spies. He found it inside one of the storage warehouses on the pier. Ill get him to speak with you.

Thats our next goal then. Gleisvales pier.

We thanked him for the information. Courtesy was expected.

Miss Saori then asked him for the mana battery, saying she wanted to keep it for the future, which Treyenor agreed with. At the same time, she remembered we also wanted to talk to him about the ambush we experienced when we entered the borders of Estralia. We also explained how we got the broken emblem from one of the slaves, which we learned was probably a member of the potion shop we visited a week ago.

Slaves? Then it has to be one of the syndicates personally owned by one of the Olden Money; theyre used like a private army. Slaves are expensive, even the most useless ones, he answered. If you want to ask me for my opinion, it has to be from the OBlooms.

Dont they own a pastry shop? I commented, remembering how they were our prime competitors to the Sarlenzia companys Olives Garden.

Yeah, and they are the Olden Money who deal mostly with luxury and exotic products. Elven yeast is a luxury. Do you guys know Hamil from Shaturein? The OBlooms head was one of his main customers, since Hamil had Empire connections, I heard.

But the most important part came right after.

Also, you mentioned those slaves turning and morphing around like some messed up monster, right? Well, Davison was the one who experimented with that kinda stuff for some reason, and after he was kicked out from the Resurrection, he went to the OBlooms.

You are not suggesting that?

Yes, I am, Saori. Get the recipe or plans, and then poach or somehow get an alchemist for yourself. OBloom wants the Resurrection to fall, so, if I had to guess, one of the latters supporters has to be an Olden Money.

And Hamil and Davison had some relation with each other, aside from both working with demonkins. This cannot just be a coincidence, right? I mean, is our next target OBloom or should we continue tracking the Resurrection down?

Oh yeah, theres more, Treyenor stated after fishing out a mug and filling it up with some rice wine. While were still on the Davison topic, the pelts your giant wolves were so focused on, I got mine from ambushing one of the caravans Davison was sending here. No idea as to whom, as we killed everybody transporting it before they could answer.

Davison and the alchemists guild in Firwood commissioned a subjugation Quest to kill off the fenrirs and garms inside the Belzac forest about ten years ago. Speculating, I assume Miss Saoris garm mother was involved and a large part of her family were massacred during that event.

The four garms we had now were slain during that event. I heard Miss Saori had asked them before if they were related in any ways, but they couldnt give a precise answer for it, since Miss Saori knew too little about her mother. There were many garm packs, and not all of them saw eye-to-eye.

The leviathan we met in the Belzac forest did mention he had met her mother once, but that was about it. I knew Miss Saori wasnt really invested in all this drama, but her garms were. If I could guess, she was doing this for them. On the other hand, I could sympathize with their need for vengeance and an attempt for closure.

We found a garm pelt in the apartment above the potion shop belonging to the Resurrection. Do you have any idea what that could mean? Miss Saori asked, looking like she was curious how all of this was connected.

But, I guess what stole my attention the most was the fact two mysterious elves had approached Lady Hestia and Asaka today, respectively.

Elsa, did you really have to approach them like this today? An elven woman with red eyes as deep as blood complained to her sister inside a small inns room.

The paler older sister waved her younger siblings concerns away, looking confident in her decision. I didnt break any rules, Vivi. I went about it as discreetly as possible while planting some sort of influence for me to communicate with them in the near future. After all, from the looks of it, I believe I can foretell what will happen.

Do you really believe they will be able to help you?

I know it, dearest sister. After all, Saoris garms will not overlook this nor will Tasianna. I also dont believe our sisters champion would abandon people in need. The question is, how will they deal with the problem?

Hmm, the outcome is something you cannot expect. There are two major roadblocks for the optimal results, and one of them is moving towards the destination.

Yes that sly seducer. Let us see if we have to eliminate it or not

Mhmm. Let us see how Kroza will react to all of this.

And the shadows lurking behind the bright Aurora began to move.

A note from AbyssRaven

Crime syndicate taken over.

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Friday, April 8, 2022 10:21:23 PM Germany [Member of Zard Skwad]

Bio: Hey there, AbyssRaven here. I'm just an avid Light Novel and Fantasy story reader who randomly thought of a story and began writing about it.

I eventually found out that I've been spending a bit too much time with building, planning, and researching for the story, that I've decided to just share it with others.

Writing is mostly a hobby for me, but I would still love any kind of criticism to improve on it.

I'm also german, so please excuse anything that sounds a bit weird...I wouldn't mind you pointing it out though.

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