Surrounded

Not long had passed since the meeting had been put on hold, within a room in the city lord's mansion, there was a strong smell of herbs and medicine.

Laying in two beds were two dark elves who lay there quietly until one had sat up suddenly in a panic. "Huh?"

He looked around as if searching for someone until his eyes rested upon the person laying on the other bed. "Sister? Sister.. please say something."

His hands and feet were still confined but he was able to move around a little in his bed if he rolled over.

He saw the door open and a person entered slowly revealing their appearance. "Who are you?"

Mallory had entered upon hearing sounds from within and stood opposite the bed. "Do not worry, you both are safe but you need to rest up and recover so do not move around too much. It seems that you are caught up in certain events in this city so as a citizen of Visa City, I apologise for that but I ask that you cooperate until your people take you away. From now on, you will be under strict protection and your meals will be checked before you eat them to prevent further problems like before."

The male dark elf observed Mallory carefully. "You are the one I fought before."

Mallory nodded in response. "Yes.. technically you were trying to kill me but I will forgive you this time since certain circumstances lead to it happening."

The dark elf went silent then asked after thinking over some things. "Is my sister okay?"

Mallory sat down and crossed her arms over her chest. "Her body was slightly weaker from being held as a slave and she has a weaker body than you so the poison had a worse effect on her. Luckily I acted in time so that both of you could be saved.. she should be expected to wake up a little later than you because her body needs more time to rest and recover."

When Mallory defeated the dark elf, his aura was bad like he was destined to die soon so she had asked for some people to check in on the dark elf so that anything did not go wrong.

There would have not been many chances for him to suddenly die so long as he was watched and cared for.

Mallory thought that her duty was done since certain things could be prevented but she did not expect someone to make a move right before the two of them were being turned over to the dark elf representatives.

The food they had been given by the attendant of the city lord had been poisoned and it had been delivered a little before the meeting so that it would work when they had entered the room.

The plan was carefully laid out to work within a short time frame and used someone who had been trusted by the city lord.

What the mastermind never expected was that Mallory would be within the room and that the pawn they had within the city lord's mansion was saved before they could take their own life.

It had been revealed that the assistant had a child who had disappeared and a note was left in its place to carry out a certain task.

It would be arranged for the child to be left with his relatives once the task was completed and he had taken his life as instructed.

The deadline had been quickly approaching so he had no time to continue hesitating and he did not have the power to investigate or find his child.

Even if the child was in danger after he completed his task, he did not know how he could know for sure and if he hesitated then his hesitation would have surely lead to the death of his child.

Since he had been caught and interrogated, he told everything he knew since he knew that there was little hope in getting his child back after his failure to complete the task.

The only way left was to plead for his child to be found before they are killed in exchange for the information.

The city lord was more honourable than the people who took his child so the city lord would at least try to find them if he promised to do so.

The assistant was full of regret that he did not come forward to ask for help right away but his mind was still in a state of panic and he was not able to think clearly due to the little time he had.

Mallory stood up calmly and said. "I will be going. There is still much to do."

As she left, the female dark elf woke up and started moving a little so the male dark elf let out a sigh of relief. "Sister.. you are awake."

In the busy city of Visa City, many were buying things at the stalls and workers were selling their goods on the streets or inside their buildings.

One building stood out among them and it had a large sign which had a glass potion container design on it.

Many alchemists, herbalists and doctors were within as they were each working on their own projects and making many types of concoctions for the customers to buy.

There was a certain air of arrogance which came from them as if they believed themselves to be special and above everyone else.

It was to be expected that people who held the lives of those in the city in their hands would have a certain amount of confidence about them but even the people who worked at the desk seemed to have an inflated ego.

A filthy man walked in and held a small child while begging. "Please.. please save my daughter. She is sick.. please.."

The person at the desk looked at the clothing of the man and instantly judged him as he was someone not worth serving.

They signalled their security staff to move and the man was pulled out of the room crying and holding onto his daughter.

When he was tossed outside, he protected his daughter with his body and he saw a pair of feet in front of him then a hand stretch out to him to help him up.

The hand was very clean so he hesitated to take it but then saw the appearance of a young teenage cat human who was dressed in clothing that resembled the clothing used by priests or people working at an orphanage.

Mallory showed a kind smile and stretched out her hand then pulled him up. "I am sorry you had to suffer like this. This kind of treatment is not right."

A talisman was placed on the child while Mallory spoke in her native tongue. "Cleanse."

The daughter had been detected to be suffering from a disease so the cleansing effect would help to cleanse the disease from the body just as it did the same for poisons.

Some people appeared behind Mallory as a larger crowd had gathered and surrounded the building.

Mallory patted the man's shoulder and warmly said. "Follow this person and he will take you and your daughter to get some food. If she wants to recover properly then taking care of her body is needed."

The man hesitated and then bowed before being lead away. "Th... Thank you for your kindness."

Mallory entered the building while being followed by many people who began to surround and block off the area.

Upon entering and reaching the desk, she had been greeted with the same person who rejected the man.

She observed the aura on him and immediately learned that his aura had been stained with his bad karma.

The man looked impatient and proud as he said. "What is is the customer here to purchase?"

Mallory showed a frown as she stated. "Do you not know how to do your job? You are the face of your organisation and every action reflects upon it. The customer is king.. not the other way round. Seriously how has a place like this continued to stay open?"

She already knew how and why it had continued to stay open and that was because there was little competition.

Small businesses in the same field were either swallowed up or discredited before being driven to poverty or being removed from the city.

There was no trusted place in the city for people to go besides that building if they needed to be treated unless they were brave enough to try visiting a place less approved by the masses.

When peoples health was concerned, they would rather pay more to gain more assurance that they would receive the best care rather than take the risk to visit somewhere cheaper and with a poorer reputation.

The man showed more impatience and then retorted. "So you are another troublemaker. Throw her out."

Mallory saw the people coming towards her who threw out the father and his daughter onto the street so she began to act.

She climbed up onto the desk with a little jump then stood on top of it before shouting. "Everyone, you are surrounded! Drop down and comply with the investigation right away! By the orders of the city lord, if you resist then you will be met with force!"

Mallory had held out a document in front of everyone with the seal of the city lord on it.

Another person entered which was Swaine who had carried over and threw a spear towards Mallory.

Before the security could try to pull her down, Valis had been caught and was quickly pointed in the direction of the hand which reached out towards her. "If I were you.. I would surrender."

The hand was left with a light cut on it and blood spilled onto the ground, Mallory coldly spoke again. "Last chance."

The document was thrown to Swaine who nearby dropped it, more people entered the building behind him. "On your knees!"

The customers trembled in fear and got onto their knees while accepting their fates and so did many of the staff and security once they had seen the armed people entering the building with the armorer that had the cities markings on it.

They realised that the city lord had really sent out an order and that they could be harmed if they resisted.

Even the most arrogant people would have to bow in front of the power of the city lord.

Mallory continued. "Earlier today, an important exchange between the city and the dark elf community had been held to decide the fate of the cities future. In the hopes of regaining their trust and avoiding the bloodshed of the citizens of Visa City, two individuals were to be handed over for to keep the peace.

That plan was sabotaged by them being poisoned and there are very few places that deal with various herbs. For now this business is the prime suspected supply location until it is proven otherwise."