Atticus’s Odyssey: Reincarnated Into A Playground

Chapter 1363: Will Guard

There was a moment of silence. And when Atticus was sure he didn’t sense any ill intentions coming from him, he reached out and accepted the box.

He opened it, and the scent of nature burst out, slamming against his face.

“Yep. That’s it alright,” Whisker confirmed.

“Thank you. Here’s your money.” Atticus stretched out his arm but Niacin stopped him.

“Think of this as an apology for this incident.” He said, and just as Atticus was about to speak, he bowed. “Then, until we meet again, Baron Atticus.”

Niacin vanished the next moment, and a voice echoed from the stairs leading to the basement.

“I can sense people down here! Be quick!”

“We have to go.”

Atticus’ will enveloped the group, and as they began to vanish, Whisker suddenly had a realization.

“By the way, since when is your will purple?”

They vanished, just as multiple figures clad in golden armor burst into the room.

…

“Are you angry?” A woman clad in white gold armor asked. She walked alongside a man whose scowl was deeper than anything she’d ever seen before.

The man held a smoke in his mouth which he didn’t hesitate to draw from as his stupid trainee asked him the same question for the umpteenth time.

“You look angry.”

As the man let out his smoke, he snapped his gaze towards his trainee, “Of course I’m fucking angry, trainee. How the hell do you think I’d react finding my woman in bed with another man?”

“I’m sorry about that, Warden.” The trainee glanced downward, twirling her hair. “Will you be fit to handle the operation, or can I take over?”

Unfortunately, she failed to hide the anticipation in her voice. The Warden’s scowl deepened. He shook his head, taking one last draw from his cigarette before throwing it down and snuffing it with his feet.

“That’s against the law.” She said.

The man ignored her and began walking towards the large building ahead. “Fucking arrest me then.”

The trainee frowned. She picked up the cigarette stump from the floor and pocketed it, before quickly catching up with her trainer.

Like all newly accepted Will Guard, the woman was an Initiate. Every initiate was assigned to a Warden upon joining in order to gain on field experience.

Unfortunately, Thora had been assigned the most cynical Warden on the Willess World.

’There’s no choice.’ She had long since accepted it as her fate. The man hated work, and he hated being called in for any missions. How could she possibly advance if she had a trainer that hated all things work?

’How did he even join the Will Guard in the first place?’ Thora always found herself thinking.

The Will Guard was for unyielding zealots. While Thora wasn’t there yet, she was willing to put in the work to reach there. But her Warden was different.

They reached the building and she looked up at the sign.

Written boldly were the words, The Gilded Debt.

’Let’s get this over with.’ She was starting to lose enthusiasm when it came to missions. As expected the Warden would most probably dismiss everything and call it a day, despite her reservations.

She was a Baron ranked god. To be treated in such a way by someone was insane to her.

For as long as she could remember, Thora had always wanted something to believe in. A person, a passion, anything. But nothing moved her, not even becoming a god.

Everything in her life had come easy to her, and her joining the Will Guard was to try and find a cause to believe in.

Unfortunately, she was stuck with a Warden that was ruining the experience for her. As they entered the building, they were met with an expansive hall. Despite his hesitation, the Warden still took charge and began the investigation.

If Thora could recall the report, an illegal auction had been held here, filled with unregistered items.

The Warden followed protocol and conducted his investigation. All employees had been held and the building locked down. Not even teleportation would work anymore.

After questioning the employees, they had been left with nothing. They all denied anything of such happening here.

Even their meeting with the overseer, Niacin, which had stricken Thora as suspicious, turned out useless.

In a haste to finish this pointless investigation, the Warden wandered across the building. Thora was sure it was mostly to settle her worries.

“That’s it. This is pointless.” The Warden said.

“But—”

“But nothing. Close the investigation. We’re heading back.”

He began walking towards the door when Thora caught sight of two figures walking into the building.

They were clad in the same white gold of the Will Guard, but their faces were covered in a faceless mask. And the air around them was… deadly.

’Who are they?’

Thora found her heart racing as she caught up with her trainer, who seemed to have stiffened.

“Sentinels.” The Warden saluted, causing Thora’s eyes to widen and also follow.

’Sentinels?’

As far as she knew, the ranking of the Will Guard was divided into five: Initiate, Warden, Sentinel, Judicator, High Marshal.

Only the first two could be found in the Verge. When Wardens were field soldiers who handled investigations, Sentinels were like veteran enforcers who handled matters deemed a top priority to the Will Guard.

For one to be here, then it meant something serious had occurred.

“We’re taking over this investigation. Report all your findings.”

The Sentinels didn’t return their greetings. They were direct and straight to the point. The Warden listened and narrated everything he’d learned since arriving. And by the time they were done, the Sentinels nodded.

“You may leave now.”

They walked deeper into the building before anyone could respond. Thora found her gaze lingering on their backs. When last did her heart beat so fast?

“Let’s go.” The Warden said, already walking away, wanting to be far away from here as possible.

“I’ll be right back, Warden! I think I forgot something in one of those auction rooms!”

Thora was off before the Warden could stop her. Heart pounding, she retraced her steps to a particular auction room.

’They’re heading downstairs.’ She had noticed it earlier.

And during their wandering, she had come across an auction room with a hole leading to the basement. It was suspicious, but it wasn’t like they could arrest people because of a hole.

As she entered the room, she strained her ears and listened in.

“The energy is stronger here. It has to be here.” One of the Sentinels said.

“How many?”

“Two different signatures. Two marked.”

There was a brief pause.

“We’ve finally found traces of the fragments. What do we do?”

“What we were ordered to do. Kill the source.”

Thora clenched her heart, feeling its pounding.

’I’m… excited?’