It was the break of dawn. The citizens of Hazen slowly but surely started to come out and started their daily activities. On one of the Hazen River’s distributaries that flowed through the port city of Hazen— stood a fort, used as the main headquarters of the city guards and the last line of defense if the city ever was besieged. The fort, known as Bastia Hazen, had endured for 200 years and counting. In the past, it was the Hazen family main castle and residence, but as its surroundings grew and nobility housing trends changed, the Hazen family moved their main residence to the outskirts of the city, only using Bastia Hazen during times of war such as War of the Empress.

  Kylan Adria Hazen had been staying in this fort for the last few days. The gang murder case on Elm street had taken all his focus and time. In all honesty, he and the rest of the city guards had lowered their alertness due to lack of evidence and progress. The mages did not find any traces of magic. They found traces of [Aura], but it belonged to the victim, Krieg. Meanwhile, his criminal informants brought no positive news. None of the gangs, criminals, and scums knew who was responsible or related to the case. This was not a case of the underground trying to protect one of their own either. They too did not have any clues and were doing their own investigation that also led nowhere.

  For now, he needed to change gears. He already finished breakfast and gotten dressed; now was the time to do his morning routine. His plan was to drill with the men, do a patrol, then in the evening, tried to look for clues on the case again. With the current rate it was going, he might have to completely gave up on the case. Kylan could only hope that this case was an anomaly and nothing big would ever come out from it.

  Knock Knock

  “Enter.”

  Robert was the one who knocked, Kylan’s trusty lieutenant, former page, and his childhood friend.

  “Sir Kylan, your uncle is looking for you.”

  If his uncle was looking for him this early in the morning, that meant there were urgent matters that needed attention. It seemed he needed to scrap his morning plan.

  “Understood. I’ll meet him immediately. Robert, could you take charge of the morning drill and patrols for me?”

  “Yes sir.” Robert immediately went to do his duty. He might not be the strongest fighter, but he was one of the most responsible people Kylan had the pleasure to work with.

  “Now, let’s see what Uncle’s got for me.”

  **********

  Huff Huff

  Kisara was climbing the sewer walls. Climbing them was not easy, but it was not that hard to reach the top. The problem was jumping towards the hole Regulus made in the ceiling. She already failed twice.

  “Here, we go.” Kisara muttered to herself. She jumped from the wall and reached her hand to grab the hole’s edge. Her fingers managed to latch on but they were not strong enough to support her body weight and the momentum of the jump.

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  She fell butt first— for the third time.

  “Fuck this.” she said as she laid on the ground. Regulus popped his head out of the hole.

  “Kisara no go up?” He was confused why Kisara did not follow him.

  “I can’t jump as high as you Regulus…” the distance between the floor and ceiling was at least four or five meters. It was not possible for Kisara to jump that high without at least mastering mana manipulation of some kind.

  “Got it.” Hearing that, Regulus dropped down. He picked up Kisara, “Eh?”

  He then flung Kisara up, through the hole on the ceiling,

  “EEEEH!?” Kisara flew about five or six meters. She landed face-first on the upper floor. Kisara propped herself up, blood dripping from her nose.

  Whoosh Bum

  Regulus jumped and landed near Kisara. She stared at Regulus— she wanted to be angry at Regulus but she knew he did not mean any harm. So Kisara decided to let it go, after all, there was something else more important…

  “Jackpot.”

  …Confirming the source of bread and vegetables, a warehouse filled with crates. She had not checked the inside yet, but she knew most of them would be filled with food. There was no reason to doubt Regulus.

  A brilliant idea crossed her mind. She should gather a bunch of kids… and Regulus. Then they would all raid the warehouse. Not only would they have enough food to last them a while, there might even be some surplus to sell— heck, if they’re lucky, they might even found some valuables.

  “Hehehehe, Hua hua hua hua.” Kisara could not stop laughing. She felt like an evil genius for thinking of such a clever scheme. Take that John, Cooper. You’re not the only ones capable of keeping the gang afloat. “Hua Hua Hua Hua”.

  Hearing Kisara laughed so maniacally, Regulus was amused. He copied Kisara’s evil laugh.

  “Hua hua hua.”

  Hearing Regulus copying her, Kisara stopped laughing from embarrassment. She cleared her throat while blushing uncontrollably. It was a good thing Regulus was blind, otherwise he would have seen her beet red face.

  “All right, Regulus. Let’s go…”

  Krieeek

  The warehouse door suddenly opened.

  *******

  “Yaaawn,” a guard let out a long yawn.

  “Holy Molly, did you had a busy night?” asked his partner.

  “Yeah. Yesterday I won some money on the table. So I spent it on Lady Rose,” bragged the sleepy guard.

  “Gambling and whore. What a model citizen you are.” teased his partner. He might not be a fan of gambling, but if he had extra money— he would spend it on Lady Rose too.

  The two guards spent the time teasing each other and talking about perverted stuff. They were on guard duty guarding the city’s emergency food warehouse. No one would be so foolish to rob them in broad daylight, let alone pick a fight with official soldiers of Count Hazen just for some food, especially when food prices were not that high. It was an easy shift…

  “Hua Hua Hua” until it was interrupted by a faint laugh.

  “... you heard that?” asked the sleeping guard. He thought he was still half-asleep until his partner nodded, confirming he also heard the same thing.

  “Hua Hua Hua” two overlapping laughs could be heard from inside the warehouse. No doubt about it, someone was inside.

  The two guards nodded at each other. They pulled out their keys and opened the warehouse’s door. The warehouse was dark. Their only light source was the light coming through the opened door. With spears on the ready, they explored the inside of the warehouse, splitting up to cover more ground.

  “You found anything?” shouted the sleepy guard to his partner.

  “Yeah.” Hearing his response, the sleepy guard rushed to his partner, he slowed down when he saw a giant hole on the warehouse floor. He and his partner came to the same conclusion when they saw that hole…

  “Oh… Molrret.”