Chapter 70 - Two Notes

The noble district in the City of Syracuse was quite beautiful and manors lined up the streets, filled with different types of trees. There was a Gazebo right in the middle of the noble district and a great fountain on it, with the image of a magnificent king riding a stallion above the waters.

In one of the most inconspicuous manors there was a young man with his hand currently clenched, with wine all over it, with drop by drop falling on the ground. The servants around the man were a bit afraid, for they knew that the man was quite temperamental, and in a fit of rage he could maybe kill them with hardly any consequence whatsoever. The man had broken his very own glass of wine, and there was a trembling messenger bowing his head, and keeping the position, out of fear of what the man could do.

He was Alistar Dai Monet, the second son of House Monet, one of the houses affiliated to the Vanilla family in the county of Syracuse.

"Everyone out. OUT." yelled the man. All the servants quickly hurried away. "Shit. Those buffoons, idiots, useless. If the Vanillas realize that I have something to do with these kidnappings, I'm done. No… not yet. They need to disappear. Damn, damn, who did this?"

As the man was walking in his room from one side to the other, an arrow suddenly landed in the wall right in front of him, just 5 cm ahead of where his head was. His eyes dilated when he saw the arroy trembling as it embedded itself on the wall, and he gulped noisily. There was a small note attached to the arrow.

His hands were trembling as he took the small piece of paper and read through it. He then clenched his fist, and both the arrow and the paper were immediately turned to dust. Even if he wasn't a genius, he was still a noble, and was a Qi Praetorian nonetheless.

House Monet was a family of merchants that had associated itself with House Vanilla, and was one of the main importer and exporter companies in the County of Syracuse. They were not as wealthy nor famous as House Corena, one of the Five Great Families, but they were very successful in their own right. The head of the house was named Berto Dai Monet, and his heir was his first son Vega Dai Monet, who was an intelligent young man, ambitious yet fair in his deals. His goal was to take his family into even greater heights, and he had recently made a great contract with two of the adjacent counties, further solidifying his standing in the family.

Alistar could have actually lived quite a carefree life, had he chosen to do so, but he just couldn't resign himself to his fate. He believed he was not only smarter, but more able than his big brother would ever be to lead the House, so he tried and tried to defeat him to no avail.

In the end, he was "seduced" into this plan, and he was the one in charge of collecting the "cargo". His gains, should this plan succeed, would not only make him head of the family, but make an immense amount of wealth, and even gain a great deal of power. True power and strength that belonged to him, since he could become a Centurion or even a General in a short notice.

Sometimes, things are just that simple. Greed does not need too many complicated things to completely envelop a human soul.

Alistar quickly went out of the house, and got into his carriage. His next steps would be crucial.

…

When Serena heard that some of the kids had been rescued, and that even several men had been apprehended early in the morning in the City gates, she was both ecstatic and worried at the same time.

She was happy, since her family had been under a lot of pressure due to the kidnapping cases, and some nobles were already starting to complain openly about their administration, especially since they had put a lockdown on caravans and even imposed a curfew. Such quick success would help her and the family to appease some of the populace.

What was worrying her though, was that it was not her men that had caught the kidnappers, nor had saved the children. The kidnappers were even leaving the city in the night under curfew and had it not been for the unknown rescuers, they would have fled under her very own nose. That meant that there was someone among the city guard that had helped them get away even under such strict vigilance.

So, she took it upon herself to be present and participate in the questioning of the witnesses and the robbers. She needed to get to the bottom of this as quickly as possible. She still couldn't understand what exactly was the purpose of the kidnappers. No ransom had been asked, which was weird to say the least, and doing all of this just for creating an environment of terror and anxiety seemed a bit far-fetched.

She was also wondering who was the one who had helped them catch the robbers and for what reason did he help them. Why had he not appeared and made himself known? Was he afraid of repercussions? But then, why bother in the first place? This and other thought kept roaming in Serena's mind.

As she was leaving her manor and was ready to go and do the questioning, she noticed that one of the bricks on the manor entrance had some strange markings that were not there the night prior. She got closer to the mark and was a bit shocked, but did not let it show on her beautiful face. She took out the brick and underneath, there was a note. She took it out, read it and then turned it into ashes. She then put the brick with the previous mark nowhere to be seen. It was as if nothing had happened at all, as she then left on her way to the governor's manor.

…

"Do you know that Army lady?" asked Evelin, feeling a bit curious with her sweet voice.

"I had seen her once before. Even talked to her for a bit. I think she might even know my Big Brother in the army. She usually stands for justice, and I don't think that her temperament has changed in that regard over the years, especially seeing the changes and efforts in the search for the kidnappers since she came to the City.", said Nerun. With his enhanced memory and wisdom, he quickly remembered the pretty captain that had once helped her over 6 years ago.

"Then, can you tell me what was written on the note?"

"It's a surprise. After all, we can hardly rescue the rest of the kids alone, we need to make some preparations", answered Nerun feeling a bit smugly. "After all, we've just made our move. When the robbers try to make haste, they would be prone to make mistakes, and we might just catch them all by the tail. Then, my reward will be even greater."

"Show off. Who wants to know anything from you. So, have you decided to help all the kids that were kidnapped? Are you related to any of them?" asked Evelin while feeling curious. She herself wanted to help the children after hearing of their plight, and being almost kidnapped herself, but she knew that it would be incredibly hard. Even though she was but a small girl, she knew better than to go meddling in other people's business.

"If I were to tell you that I want to make a quick buck, would you believe me?" said Nerun while looking at Evelin right into her eyes with a serious expression.

Evelin however did not flinch, and staring right back at him said "No. I don't".

Nerun tried to keep his intense stare with the girl, but eventually faltered and said shamelessly, "Man, I can't even fool a little girl anymore. Maybe I'm losing my edge". Evelin couldn't help but giggle at his comments, since she understood he was just messing with her.

"I haven't known you for too much time, but I saw the concern in your eyes for the children, especially for the smaller ones. You also might look quite nonchalant, but I can feel your anger towards the kidnappers. You say it's about money, but you have not made yourself known, even now, even to that army lady who seems trustworthy. Don't ask me how, I just know so. As well as talking to Magical Beasts, I can also, somehow, feel the aura and emotions in the people around me. It's a blessing I guess… Though sometimes it feels more like a curse." The last part in Evelin's speech was said quite low, like the whisper of a mosquito. It was also the first time that her perpetually smiling face showed a different emotion, like a deep sadness hidden within. She quickly recovered, however, and she kept pestering Nerun as if the prior sadness had just been an illusion.

Nerun saw the changes in her expression but kept quiet about it. Everyone has their own secrets and darkness they keep hidden underneath. He was no different after all.

"Truthfully, I know I should not be meddling in this situation. With my strength I have the confidence to get to the destination I want to go, and even now I could just leave everything behind and go on my merry way... But I just can't. I sincerely can't look at the face of such an injustice and simply do nothing about it." said Nerun seriously.

"There are hundreds, if not thousands or even millions of injustices committed everywhere. Will you run all over the place trying to correct them all? First, it's childish, second, you will only waste time, effort, and burn yourself to death" said the girl trying to sound mature, as if she wasn't a small brat as well.

"I know it's impossible to stop every injustice in the world, that would be nothing more than a fancy dream. I also don't consider myself a hero. The thing is that I can understand them. The children, I mean. I can understand their sorrow and plight. The pain of being away from their parents. Their sorrow and fear. I can even feel it as my own. Had I not known about the kidnappings, or had the situation been something else entirely, I would have probably simply watched from the outside.

But now that this monstrosity has appeared in front of me, and I have the actual power to do something about it, would I not be a sinner if I were to simply turn a blind eye to it? Perhaps it was fate. You could say I'm a bolt of lightning from heaven. A natural event even. I just happened, Hehehehe" said Nerun laughing, yet coldness was brimming in his clear and limpid eyes.

For a moment, Evelin thought she truly looked at a bolt of lightning, a true sword of EON descending from the high heavens and executing judgement upon the world, when Nerun said those words, as if they were an omen of things to come. However that image vanished just as quickly as it appeared and Evelin even started to think that maybe it was just a fit of her imagination. She was a bit scared though, for no particular reason. She just wasn't sure what it meant…

She quickly recovered, and thought that she was being a bit foolish. 'What am I thinking, really. This boy is barely twelve years old, and he is strong, sure, I mean for his age and being in a remote part of Ansem. But nothing to call home about, I've met countless other boys that are as talented if not more than him even. Just the young boy, that was next to the Vicar when he came to visit Master, was a hundred times more talented and powerful.'

Nerun's mood also recovered swiftly and they quickly left towards the City gates. As Nerun had said, the bait had just been thrown, and they needed to make some extra plans.