Rumored Gang Fights

"Why did mother had to wake me up so earlier to by ingredients? After staying up all night and got promised for my siblings to do the chores the next day, I still ended up with the work. What a bad day- what in the world? Did someone drink so much that they slept on the alley again? Drunkard bastards."

               A  kid is walking along the opposite side of the alley when he sees a leg sticking out of the corner of the alley to wake up the person that he thought is sleeping when much to his shock, it was he dismembered body of a woman and a man with their genitalia still sticking in with each other.         

               The kid stands there looking in shock and a few moments later screams in terror.

               "WAAAAAHH!"

                The people come rushing in and sees the same scene, some of them vomits at how inhumane the bodies are killed and an old woman could not bare to leave the kid and takes him away from the scene and tries to comfort the child, a few moments later when the people reports the horrific incident to the authorities, Captain Gladius and his men cleared the alley of people and cleans up the bodies.

               "Is it the third time this week? There is one guy from two days ago as well."

               "This is horrifying, this kind of deaths are becoming frequent. When did this even happen?" 

               Captain Gladius had his men take away the bodies and calls for the people that can identify them which was easily done when a single person manage to name the two.

               "So this is Sofia from the brothel and Marcus from a gang huh? Is he the Marcus that is the gang leader or something?"

               The man nod his head and confirms the captain's guess.

               "Yes. He is the one. Though I doubt his gang members knew about his death. I do not want to get involved with anyone of them so I will just have to leave an address. You should ask them yourself about this."       

               The captain respects the decision of the man and lets him off after thanking him for the help.

               "What do we do captain? If that is a gang member's leader then this is nothing but a gang fight. It happens all the time."

               Seeing that his comrade's words is right he agrees with him and tells them to deliver the body to the brothel and inform the master of the brothel before the delivery of the corpse.

                "I don't think this is a simple gang fight. The women from the brothel are revered as important that even the mayor is disturbed when the prostitutes that was sent to the young master was hurt. Certainly, gang members will not go as far as kill a prostitute even if a fight occurred. What in the world happened here?"

               Half of his men are already gone and that only leaves him and he other half with the body of the gang leader.

               "We are off to this address. We are going to see them for ourselves."

               They went to the address and finds that it is inside the bar in the middle of the city and people are coming in and out as if there is a festival or something. The captain finds it suspicious and ask someone to check whether there is record of a problem with the people in the bar to one of his men, seeing that his captain is serious about it, he acts up and follows the captain's orders.

               "What are we going to do for now captain? Are we going to wait?"

               He looks at his subordinates and sees that they are tempted to go to the bar and wait inside for their comrade to come but they are in duty, it may be the lawless city of Thur'na but still, they are the enforcers of law and they should abide by the law during their duty so he dismisses their thoughts of going in and enjoy for a moment by telling them that they are going to look for a place that serves coffee near their current location.

               One of them living near the area knows a shop that serves coffee tells them that there is a certain shop nearby and they can see whether their subordinate arrives.

               "Where is it?"

               The solider points at the side of the streets where people are sitting by and drinks coffee alongside with bread, it was not a shop at the least but the proof that they are serving coffee justifies it.

               "Come on Felton. Are you saying that the captain is going to drink in a place like that? Think of his image for a second, you know the captain's family values their image more than anythi-"    

               The soldier stops talking when he realizes that the captain is listening to him and just stands aside and ask for his forgiveness. The soldier that suggested the shop on the other hands is embarrassed about the fact that he ultimately forgot about that problem of the captain even though they have been in a single squad for a long time and apologizes for his broad thinking as well.

               "I am deeply sorry captain. I forgot about that matter and just said what I had in mind. Please forgive me."

               Captain Gladius thinks nothing of this and tells the two that there is no need to say such things and tells the soldier that it is fine since they are looking for a place to waste time and a spot like that he suggested is a good spot as well considering that they have to look out for their subordinate that have yet to return.

               The other soldier is obviously surprised about this since he knows how cruel and merciless the captain's family towards him can be, so he decided to persuade him to picking another shop but the captain refuse.

               "Captain, the madam and the master will not be please to hear that you stayed in such a place."              

               Gladius just looks at him and shook his head and gave of a reassuring smile. "Don't worry about it, I am working. There is possibly nothing they can do to tell me off when I am doing my job. And besides, there is no shame in drinking coffee on the side of the streets."

               The soldier is still hesitant and wants to tell the captain off, the other solider also feels worried that the captain will be in trouble for considering his suggestion and starts to tell the captain off as well but since he is stubborn to even listen to their whining, the captain made his first move and sits on the bench and asks for three coffees.

               The people recognize the captain and they served him with the best coffee they have.

               "So? Are you not going to drink? This coffee tastes good despite the shop is just beside the streets. You'll regret not drinking this when it s still hot."

               He said jokingly after taking a sip from the coffee that was served to him. "Seriously. This is incredible. How in the world does this coffee taste this good? It is even better than what we have at home." He thinks to himself as he thinks about the taste that their coffee has.

               The shop owner along with the rest of the people that are drinking coffee at the shop stares at the captain as he assess the taste of the coffee that made the shop owner and his wife pray to the gods that he doesn't kill them for serving bad coffee.

               "Please be good. Please be good."

               Captain Gladius stands up and turns to the owners with a stern look on his face and slowly walk towards them, the wife slowly turns pale as the captain leans forward to them.

               "What is it captain? Is it not to your liking?"

               The costumers could feel the fear growing inside the shop owner as he says those words with his shaky voice but much to their surprise, captain Gladius blurted out words that are the complete opposite of what they are thinking of.

               "Can you tell me how you made this wonderful coffee?"

               "What?"

               The people sitting on the benches as well as the people walking by stops when they heard the captain said those words. The soldiers that are drinking the coffee along with them is surprised as to how they are able to produce such fine coffee and completely agrees with the captain's  opinion.

               "But I would not go as far as asking them how to make this since this is a business after all. The captain is aware of that is he?"

               The soldier looks at one another and realize that they have forgotten about one thing, the captain is a coffee fanatic. Inside their headquarters, he would always drink coffee even during training under the scorching heat of the sun and he doesn't want anyone to make coffee  for him since they tend to end up either being bad or really bad.

               The captain just realized the depth of his question and apologizes for asking something unreasonable and then strikes a deal with the owners.

               "Please forget about what I just said. Can I buy the recipe instead?" there is a discord among the faces of the owners as they heard this from the captain himself.

               "I'm sorry captain but I don't think I understand what you are saying." All the people can see the confusion on the couple's faces as they try to sip their coffee.

               "Ah-eh, I was saying that I want to buy the recipe for the coffee but-"

               The captain then sees his subordinate arriving at the place where they last separated. "I am sorry but can we talk later? There is something that I have to finish first. We are going to excuse ourselves." Gladius gladly takes out a few silver coins and hands it to the owner and then left to meet their subordinate.

               "What in the world just happened? I thought we are going to lose our heads there." One of the costumer mumbled in fear.

               "Is there anything that came up?" the soldier shakes his head and tells the captain that there had been no records about such things.

               "Is that so? Then I guess we are fine."         

               Captain Gladius then walk towards the door where there are two guards standing outside the door.

               "Good day. What brings you here captain? Do you have any business with the boss?" captain Gladius looks at them both and shakes his head. "I heard that the leader of your group had been missing. Have you found him yet?" the two then goes to the defensive and aims their weapons to the captain with remorse.

               "What do you mean by that? Are you involved with the leader's disappearance?" captain Gladius shoves away the weapon from his face and stares at the ones behind him.

               "I don't know anything about being involved but by involved you mean gathered his corpse then I did get involved in that."

               His subordinates walks towards their captain while holding a blanket.

               "How in the world did this happen? Quick, inform the other leaders. Hurry!"

               The guard then lets the captain in but they refused since they do not want to get involved in the problem between groups since they have other things to do.

               "I don't want to get involved with the trouble between our groups so I will just tell you about the things. We saw their bodies inside and alley earlier along with the mutilated body of a prostitute. We thought that it was a fight between groups so this is where we draw the line. If you have any questions you can visit the our headquarters."

               After saying that, the captain and his men left the bar and at the same time the other leaders of the group arrived and after hearing that the news about their boss being one of the victims of the killings but the captain and his men had already left. "Where is the boss?"

               The guards close the bar for the time being, emptying the entire building because of the emergency. "We have already have the place vacated senior. Captain Gladius came here earlier to deliver the boss' body and he added that he is one of the two victims found this morning, the other one being one of the hostess from the brothel."

               The leaders turn to the guards as he leads the way where they lay the corpse of their boss. "How in the world did this happen? The boss is not someone that will be easily taken down for all I know. They must have been the culprit form the very beginning."

               The guard shows his disagreement to the one of the leader's voice and tells them that their leader is probably making love with the hostess during the time he was murdered.

               "I have already gathered information about the incident and people said that they saw the bodies still connected to each other. There were other witnesses that were close to the boss and tells us about the truth about how the people have seen their bodies and they confirm that it is the truth."

               The leader stare at him in awe and surprise that he had already gathered that much information in just a short time. While they are amaze by this, they also remembered that the head of the guards is close to their boss and they know that the two are good friends outside work.

                The group stops in front of their boss' favorite room, a place where he usually hangs out after a really tiresome day or when he wants to have a fresh air since the wind blows exactly at the window of the room. There, in the middle of the room lays his remains and the other guards have put their effort in sewing his limbs and head back.

               Seeing how their leader was killed, the group is devastated. With no one to lead the business after his passing, the first question that the leaders have in mind is who will take over their boss' place and continue his legacy.

               The leader's pay their respects and leaves the room after a few moments of staring at his corpse, some of them have already prepared for his burial and some of them went to the bar to drink their sorrows.

               "Forlin, we should catch the one responsible for the leader's death. Put in a bounty on the one that killed the boss but bring the culprit back alive. I want to have a nice talk with him. Do this as soon as possible." One of the leaders ordered to the one standing next to him.

               "Boss, I don't want to say this but that is not an easy task. I don't think there will be someone that will take on that bounty. Even for veteran hunters, it will take them a miracle to look for the culprit since there are no evidence left on the scene. I think it would be a wise thing to investigate the other groups instead."

               The leader realize the point of what his subordinate wants to say and knows that it will be a hard thing to do even for him as well but his anger and the will to punish the one that is responsible weighs heavier than his priorities as of the moment.            

               "Just do it. I don't want to hear anything else. I want it done today. Do that and I will also send someone to investigate the other groups if they are involved in this as well. I just can't let them off after what they have done to the boss." He can feel the wrath welling up on his leader's voice and decides to leave, he apologizes for being so pessimistic a few moments before and just leaves.

               "What an idiot! Why in the world did you say those words? Do you want to die?" he harshly slaps himself after stepping on the nerve of his leader even after knowing that his leader is highly indebted to their boss for saving him countless times and that did not even pop up inside his mind when he was saying those words earlier.

               "I just hope that the boss does not chew me up for that- wait. I think I am forgetting something." He thinks about it for a moment and then realize that he didn't asked about the value of the bounty on the culprit's head.

               "What do I do? Should I turn back? The boss will not kill me will he?"

               The fear of stepping back inside the building stops him from walking forward but then all of the sudden, the door of the building opens and he sees his leader walking out and seems to be relieved to have seen him. "What is it leader?"

               His leader just stares at him blankly and tells him the value of the bounty before he can even ask him that.

               "You just left all of the sudden and I was not able to tell you about the value of the bounty. 4 gold coins. No- make it 10. That is the value of the culprit, capture it alive."

               He stares in nothingness after hearing that amount of money that his leader is willing to pay for the one that will be able to take care of their problem, just thinking about what that amount of money can do makes him a bit confused and disoriented for a moment since it is a money that he is not able to hold in his entire life.

               "As you wish leader." Before leaving, his leader pat his back and tells him that he will not spare any amount of money just to catch their boss' murderer which only justify his leader's drive to catch the culprit.

               "I owe the boss the life that I have right now. That is why even if the other leaders do not care about catching the culprit, I will have to do it by myself if I have to, I cannot just let the ones  that killed the boss who changed my life go unpunished. I'm sure you are fully aware of the fact that's why if you failed to do it today, I might vent my anger towards you. So get your ass off there and put the bounty before I hoist your head on the city walls."

               His men run towards the direction of the guild in an instant and disappears from his line of sight in just a few moments.

               BAM!

               "Who in the world is responsible for this?" he grit his teeth and turns to the corner where his other men, the ones that he orders to extract information in his businesses are standing. "You heard what happened right? Therefore I don't need to explain what must be done."            His cold hearted tone does not seem to bother them and just nod their heads and left after getting the order from their leader.

               "I will make sure to let the one that killed the boss suffer a thousand times. I will make them pay."