"This is unbelievable."
Commander Opus said as he slammed the file into a box, and I hummed in agreement as he pointed at the box.
"This box itself incriminates dozens of lords and ladies within our kingdom and countless officials and businessmen. Don't get me started on those beyond our borders."
Tch
He clicked his tongue as I just watched him in silence.
"Let's just get these files to the duke."
Kracko!
Thunder cracked through the sky as the clouds churned.
Ah, a signal from Indrakh, we should make haste and get the files out from under the open sky.
"Yes, Commander!"
I responded, picking up three boxes that contained the files and went up the ladder.
For years, we had a suspicion that the offices in the industrial complex were odd; we knew that Lord Vasqe was the owner of various commercial spaces throughout the city, but we never got too close to them, and even if we sometimes had to, we kept it casual.
It's a good thing that we kept our distance; if we had shaken the bees' nest earlier, we wouldn't have got our hands on these files.
As I transferred the boxes to the carriage, a single thought repeated within my head: how many more stashes does he have?
Guess we will know when he is caught. For now, I should focus on the boxes.
By the time I got to the last box, my back was screaming at me, telling me to stop and take a break as I loaded it inside the carriages.
It was a hefty process, but I somehow made it through and as I stood there, resting my hands on the boxes.
I felt someone pat my back and rub it. When I turned my head to my side, I saw Commander Opus there, smiling with his teeth out. "Ready to go?"
"I am, but what will we do about all this gold and jewels?"
Luckily for me, all the files were stored in the unit, which Commander Opus and I found, while the rest of them were filled with gold and jewels.
"The Special Forces will confiscate them. For now, our task here is done, and we should meet up with The Duke."
Hmmm
I hummed in response and got on the carriage with Commander Opus by my side; the rest of the soldiers and officers stayed back as Commander was sure he could handle anyone who attempted to take these files from us.
And I believed him; he was, after all, an experienced warrior and leader.
The ride over to the next sector was quiet; neither Commander nor I said anything to one another, just us and our thoughts.
Soon, we reached our location, and Lord Galreid was there on the side of the street, surrounded by the officers from Marne.
When they saw us approach, they gave way and let him come to us as we stopped, getting off from the carriage.
"You take the lead."
Commander Opus ordered as I nodded swiftly. "Yes, Sir!"
"Gentlemen, I suppose you have good news for me."
"We do, Lord Galreid. We found files implicating many notable figures, both overseas and in our kingdom. Apart from those, we have his money trail, his money laundering business. All in all, we hit the jackpot."
A smile spread on Lord Galreid's face as it began to rain. He looked up and patted me on the shoulder. "Good job, go inside and see if you can find something similar in this area. This would keep you out of the rain as well. It would be bad if you catch a cold today. I will take a look at these files."
"As you command, Lord Galreid."
I could not go against his orders, so I obeyed and moved inside one of the buildings and began searching in the same way I did before.
First, I began with a sweep of the building exterior, then I moved inside, and there it was, a basic office space, similar to the previous one.
One sweep around the floor, and I knew what I was looking for wasn't here, so I made my way to the upper floors.
I was just checking the window frame, which was when I looked out and saw Raghav out in the street, beside Lord Galreid.
Lord Galreid showed him the files in the carriage, and I could see the troubling expression on his face, while Raghav remained calm.
For the next few moments, I watched the officers excuse themselves to give them privacy, and Raghav went a step further, covering himself and Lord Galreid with a box made of Mana Barrier.
It was the same type of barrier I saw earlier today, when that Mana Blast was headed my way, and so I knew it was Raghav who saved me.
I watched patiently, and soon the barrier vanished, and Raghav began walking away, until he was stopped by Lord Galreid, who asked him something.
A gentle smile found its way on Raghav's face as the rain stopped, with sunlight falling on him.
It was divine, the way he looked and talked, and in the blink of an eye, he was gone, leaving his white horse behind.
"He must have gone to deal with something important. I wanted to talk to him, maybe next time, when the weather is nice."
With that, I moved back to checking the building, and once that was over, I left.
As I was going down the stairs, someone grabbed me from behind, wrapping his arm around my throat.
I was forced into a chokehold as a dagger was placed to the left side of my stomach, meant to rupture my organs.
The blood in my body ran dry as I was filled with a chilling sensation, and my throat froze. "Now, don't scream or call for help. You are going to help me out to that carriage down there, or else!"
I felt a sting on my side as he pressed the tip of the dagger into my skin.
"Alright, I will escort you out. Just one question, where were you hiding? None of the soldiers or I myself found you."
PHT
He passed a single breath through his closed lips, mocking me in amusement, and the stench of his unclean mouth almost made me barf before he answered.
"Wouldn't you like to know, weather boy."
The tone he said that in was rough and sharp like the dagger he held. I knew that he was not to be messed with, so I think it was for the best that I had not called him stupid for coming out when he had gone unnoticed for so long.
Without wasting any more time, I walked down the stairs with him latched to me.
Surprisingly, no one noticed us, and we made our way to the carriage, and we both sat on it.
It was really embarrassing now; no longer did I feel fear for my life, but a sense of discomfort.
Why?
I mean, the last time I sat in a man's lap was when I was a toddler, and my father was playing with me.
So yeah, I felt embarrassed.
In this moment, I saw something weird: there were three horses in front of the carriage.
Last I remember, there were two brown horses, and right now there is a white horse between the other two.
It turned its head to the side, looking at me, and sort of nodded.
Now, I don't know why, but I strongly felt the urge to just fall to my right side, and so I did just that.
I used all my strength to fall to my right side, and in that moment, the horse lifted its rear legs and kicked the man holding me hostage square in the face.
His face slammed back in the carriage with a loud bang, and his body fell limp.
The others heard the commotion, and Chief Lara was the first to come to my aid, as he helped me up, looking at the man. "Are you alright, Jacob?"
"I am fine, Chief Lara. You should check on that guy; he was holding me hostage."
However, Chief Lara did not let go of me and instead rubbed me on the back. "It's okay, I got you."
Some other soldiers reached for the man and took him into custody when his hood fell off, and I got a clean look at his face.
I shot up, pointing at him as Chief Lara looked with me. "He's Vasqe's son!"
The two of us spoke in unison.
By now, Lord Galreid had arrived by our side and looked at the man with a smile.
He ordered the soldiers to keep the man safe and secure before turning to the white horse and me. "Good job, Jacob and Gati. The two of you have done us great service."
So the horse is named Gati, the Sanskrit word for speed, a good name if you ask me.
"I did nothing, my lord. Still, I am glad that it worked out well."
Lord Galreid nodded and then asked me a question. "Where did you find him, or rather, he found you?"
"I don't know, my lord, when we scanned the top floor and were coming down, he appeared out of nowhere and took me hostage."
"Huh! Where did he pull that from? We had dozens of men searching the place, and yet he went unnoticed."
Chief Yamla said as he approached us, and without thinking, I answered sarcastically. "Out of his ass, I tell you."
"What was that, Jacob?"
Chief Yamla asked once more as I bit my tongue with a hiss. "Nothing, Chief. I was talking to myself."
He nodded, looking at me with narrow eyes. I knew they all heard what I said, and chose to let it pass just this once.
In this world, a clean language was an ideal, while crude languages as what I spoke, were considered a bad trait.
Honestly, at first, I thought it was a bit extensive, but as I settled into this world, I agreed that crude and vulgar language is bad for character. The cleaner the speech, the better the man tends to be.
Thud Thud
Some heavy steps came running towards us as a few soldiers caught their breath and spoke while panting.
"Lord Galreid...Pant...there...Pant...riots...Pant...have broken out in the city, some of the gangs have retaliated, and in other parts of the city, various influential men have coerced the common folk to protest."
I watched as Lord Galreid's face hardened. "MEN!"
He yelled out with confidence and power, getting the attention of everyone present. "THEY THINK BY PLAYING DIRTY AND INVOLVING THE CIVILIANS, THEY WILL GET AWAY. THEY ARE WRONG. IT IS TIME TO FACE THE ENEMY HEAD ON HALF OF THE FORCES WILL GO WITH COMMANDER OPUS AND DEAL WITH THE RIOTERS. THE REST WILL FOLLOW ME TO TALK DOWN THE PROTESTERS."
Before I even knew it, he climbed on top of Gati and pointed towards the western end of the city as his voice roared once more. "RIDE ON!"
Commander Opus grabbed my shoulder and took me back to the carriage. "Take the carriage and secure all of these files safely in the office safe."
Without wasting a second, he pointed towards Chief Yamla and Lara. "You two take as many men as you need to escort these files and Vasqe Jr back to the main office."
"Yes, Commander!"
The two of them immediately sprang into action and gathered a dozen or so men before we departed.
"I WILL BE TAKING THE LEAD."
A brilliant blue glow surrounded Commander Opus as he leapt over the buildings heading east.
The next moment, the rest of his platoon followed, before they were gone, Chief Yamla and Lara picked me up like I was a child and placed me on the carriage.
"No time to lose."
They said as we started making our way to the main office of the City Watch.
The ride there was rather short, only taking around two minutes, but it felt longer as I pondered on these instances.
We knew that protests and riots were a possibility because the nation was going to war. This was a moment for the criminals to use and manipulate the public.
Which they were certainly doing, we knew some powerful men who would be working with these criminals, and we knew they had people who looked up to those; these people would be easy to manipulate and talked into being willing hostages.
This was just the beginning; this would only escalate from here on.
To prove me right, the universe placed a little challenge right outside our office, as there was a horde of criminals storming it, with the City Watch soldiers falling back.
The carriage came to a skidding stop, and the reins were handed to me. "Take the carriage and run away, do not let them take the file or Vasqe Jr. Don't look back."
With that order, they jumped off and rushed forward with the rest of the soldiers, and I was left alone.
So I did as I was asked and turned the carriage around, bolting across the city.
I took a few quick turns at high speed to lose anyone who may have been following me.
My plan right now is to just run around until I can find a dumping ground for these files.
That was when it clicked. Father's shop in the market would be the ideal place to hide these items.
With that single thought, I went to the back alley behind my father's shop and took the carriage and the horses inside the loading room and warehouse.
Once we were inside, I closed the gates and locked them from the inside.
I then checked Vasqe Jr's condition and noticed he was still unconscious and lying on the boxes in a fetal position with his hands tied to his feet behind his back using anti-Mana handcuffs.
Sigh
Letting out a deep breath, I walked over to the chair in the warehouse and sat on it.
Exhausted, I was utterly exhausted, so I did not know when sleep took over, and I blacked out.
AAAAAGGGGGHHHH!!!!
I jolted up, standing instantly, looking around before I had to grab something for support as my vision blurred.
"Shit, I got up too fast!"
I closed them and waited to feel normal. The first thing I did after that was check up on Vasqe Jr.
And he was still unconscious, so it was not his scream that woke me up then what could it be?
AAAGGHHH!!!
I heard the noise once more, and this time I could tell it came from the market side, so I moved forward to check it out.
It wasn't possible to see the outside from the front door, so I had no choice but to step out, and I slowly did.
Closing the door behind me, I looked out at the market plaza and saw a fight happening between the City Watch and the criminals.
The fountain stood in the centre as they fought in rings around it, some ever falling in the water.
I just hid behind a few crates, hoping not to be noticed. I felt like going back inside, but I could not risk anyone noticing me and following me, as it would lead them to the files and our captive.
A few stray attacks came in my direction; however, none landed.
As much as I would not like to admit, luck seems to be on my side.
I jinxed myself as I was brought out of my thoughts by a thug slamming into the wall to my left.
UGH
He groaned as he looked at me with squinted eyes. Soon, he gritted his teeth and pulled out a knife from his thigh, ready to throw it at me.
"Now, hold on, we can talk."
However, he was not in the mood to talk as he wound his hand back. I froze up because this was the third time I was about to be killed, and luckily, this time, a giant wolf came at him, grabbing his arm and flinging him across the market plaza.
Then somehow, someway, the wolf spoke. "Are you alright?"
I had so many questions, so many words racing to reach my mouth as I looked back between the man and the wolf, completely dumbfounded.
"What?"
Before the wolf could respond, a voice cut him off.
"Wassup homie, long way from the hood."
Did this guy really just say that? I looked up at the Asian man perched on top of the crates, looking down at me, and I will admit I lost my nerve for a moment.
"What did you just say, rice man?"
Now, I was not proud of what I said, but he kinda deserved it.
"What you heard, chicken boy."
So he could clap back, noted.
"What are you two talking about?"
The wolf finally questioned, looking at the two of us with raised eyebrows, tilting his head.
"Nothing, just the good ol' racism, from Earth."
This guy said it so plainly with a grin on his face, and for the next few moments, silence loomed over us before I laughed, kicking the crates.
"Get down, fool. You are going to draw more attention to us."
The man swayed along the crates unbothered as he pointed over his shoulder. "Aw, come on, you are basically invisible if you just stay in the dark."
Before I could clap back, he gestured behind himself.
"Besides, you no longer have anything to fear. The Band of Heroes is here."
This guy? A member of the Band? However, listening to his words tempted me to look as I leaned to the left, and I looked out from the side of the crates and came to a brilliant sight.
Oh My God.