Chapter 117: City of Lost Fragments (2)

Perfectly coordinated footsteps echoed through a chapel at the local church, one of many in this large city.

The parishioners, kneeling in prayer to their god, were naturally drawn to this perfectly coordinated sound, so they turned to see what it was.

Seven men were walking through the rows of wooden pews, heading toward the center of the chapel, the altar, or perhaps the back.

The few people present recognized one of them—the woman leading the group—as a priestess.

"It’s Miss Selene..." someone murmured.

"What is she doing in this little chapel?"

Selene was wearing white robes with simple gold trim. Her natural physical beauty really stood out.

Those walking behind her did not have as many gold insignia as she did. However, their robes also set them apart, especially the man closest to her on the right. His robe was distinctive because he was an Executioner.

They greeted the few parishioners present, giving them a blessing, before disappearing behind the main altar.

"They’ve arrived." A man greeted them respectfully. "Miss Selene, Mr. Garrick, gentlemen."

"Priest Gael, you don’t need to act that way around us," Selene said.

"It’s always good to show respect toward others," Priest Gael smiled.

Selene smiled. Garrick simply nodded, before leaning back against one of the walls as usual.

The others did as they pleased.

"Judging by your expressions, I can tell you’ve found something. What is it?"

"A curious little boy who did something he shouldn’t have," Selene replied.

"Wow, it’s really concerning that Miss Selene would say that."

"I don’t think I was the only one who felt that, right?" Selene looked around at the other six.

"Don’t dwell on it, Selene. That guy has that other guy’s token."

Gael was immediately intrigued. "That other guy? As a Priest, I’d like to know what you’re talking about, Miss Selene, Mr. Garrick."

"A few hours ago, one of the criminals we deliberately let go died. We were wondering who had done it, since they were pretty strong, but his token was in the hands of a young boy." Selene filled him in.

"How young?"

"Eighteen?" she asked.

"He really is young," Gael acknowledged. "Any information? Maybe I know who he is."

"I don’t think you’d know—he’s new here. We got word that someone would be sent from the academy..."

"There were three of them." Garrick interrupted Selene.

Selene nodded. "Three were coming. I guess that’s them. Two of them look pretty ordinary. Dark hair, dark eyes—nothing interesting. But the guy carrying the token... Dark hair, light eyes, very handsome, and with a strong aura."

"Seeing him felt strange," Garrick admitted.

"Like what?" Selene frowned.

"I don’t know. It was just strange, but it wasn’t very strong."

Silence filled the room.

The dead man wasn’t important to them. But he had a large group that did their dirty work for them; even though he was expendable, they didn’t like losing men at the hands of some stranger.

Gael broke the silence. "Should we kill him?"

"Not for now."

"Not?"

"Why? Are we just going to let him do whatever he wants?"

Selene sighed and let her gaze sweep over her six companions. "Do you know who he is? You don’t. We don’t know their names either. We don’t know what they’re after either. Do you want to get mixed up in this mess just because they killed some little, disposable idiot?"

They frowned and fell silent.

However, Garrick spoke up. "You mean that if I find out who they are and they turn out not to be dangerous, you’ll let me do whatever I want, right?"

Selene frowned and fixed her gaze on him. "What do you know?"

"They’re a bunch of idiots." Garrick shrugged and headed toward the door of the room.

"I don’t think you’re missing what I’m saying, Garrick."

"I’m sorry, Miss Priest." Garrick glanced at her out of the corner of his eye. "This is my city. It’s the territory we control. Am I going to let myself be walked all over like that? Heh. The Captain will agree with me."

Selene remained silent for a few seconds, then stopped him just as he was about to open the door to leave.

"Don’t do anything without permission."

"I’m not promising anything."

"Garrick."

Garrick stopped and sighed. "All right. I won’t kill them. For now."

Selene frowned. "That wasn’t what I—"

"Then I guess we’re done here."

Without waiting for a reply, Garrick walked out.

Selene didn’t seem satisfied, but she remained silent and didn’t stop him any further. It was true that the foreigners had done something they shouldn’t have.

--

"Is that all?" Zaid asked.

The transportation union employee nodded.

"That’s all for now."

Zaid nodded to Erick and John.

They had just finished explaining what had happened during the trip: the sick horses and their deaths, as well as the location.

The evidence was at the scene and on some items they had brought back that were unique to this company’s horses.

"The association will look into the matter," said the employee. "Those horses should never have been rented or sold. We know that a refund doesn’t make up for the trouble you went through, so we’ll get back to you with an appropriate response soon, and any horse will be available to you whenever you like."

"All right." Zaid nodded and stood up from his chair.

They left the building after receiving their refund and a special card from the guild, which allowed them to obtain items at a low cost or for free—as was the case with the horses.

The noise of the city greeted them. Merchants were everywhere, arriving with their carts after traveling all day.

They carried wealth in their carriages.

Some carried live beasts that they would later sell abroad or even in the city. Others carried parts of the beasts, special stones, or all kinds of materials that could be found inside a dungeon.

The amount of money they made from resources in a single night was enough to astonish even the wealthy.

A dungeon as large and peculiar as this one was not like just any portal.

So it’s common to find several cities in different areas, each exploiting different resources.

On that noisy night, there were fewer merchants and street vendors shouting out their wares than during the day. But there were still far too many of them.

"Let’s find a hotel first," said John.

"From there, we can plan which dungeons we’ll explore," agreed Zaid.