Chapter 275: Erblim "Lanre!!!" Rhun shouted, his voice echoing through the top of the wall. He was unnecessarily loud. He and Azel were sitting in the same chairs they had occupied the day before, and Azel had to admit... it did smell a lot like alcohol. A young soldier came running in... he was different from yesterday but he had a tray in hand and his posture was nervous. "Captain!" "Monster milk?" Rhun asked with a grin as he took a cup and slid another toward Azel. "It’s fresh from the monster like yesterday." Azel blinked, accepting the drink. "Thanks," he said slowly, though his eyes narrowed as he examined the milky liquid once again. He didn’t even want to imagine what kind of monster they got it from. Still, he took a sip. It was strong... thick, creamy, and oddly sweet, just like last time. Rhun gulped his own cup down in one go and set it aside. Azel leaned back slightly. "So, Captain," he began, "is there any reason you haven’t given me the files showing where the gangs are?" Rhun raised a brow. "Files?" "Yes," Azel said. "Records, reports... anything with names, activity logs, or locations. Surely you’ve been tracking them?" Rhun chuckled dryly. "What would you need that for?" Azel stared at him flatly. "To find them." That shut the captain up for a second. Rhun scratched the back of his head and sighed. "Right. Forgot you’re new around here." He picked up his cup again, swirling the remaining milk as he spoke. "We don’t actually know where these gangs live." Azel frowned. "You don’t know?" "Nope," Rhun said simply. "They come out of nowhere. One moment the streets are clear, the next there’s gunfire and chaos. We’ve never managed to trace them back. And if you catch one, they die pretty quickly. Like those two today." That explained why the city was still half-lawless despite the presence of soldiers. "They’re like shadows," Rhun continued. "You can see them anywhere... sometimes even right here on the walls but they vanish just as quickly. We haven’t found a base, a hideout, or even a consistent route to follow them." Azel drummed his fingers on the table, thinking. "What about the old man who got shot earlier? Naelia said something about him owing money." Rhun nodded. "That’s right. He probably borrowed from one of their lenders." "Then you must have a record of who borrows from gangs, right?" The captain’s face twisted slightly. "You’d think so, wouldn’t you? But that’s the problem. The gangs have mages of their own. Strong ones. I’d say they’re even more advanced than our town’s official ones." He leaned forward, lowering his voice. "If you borrow from them, they bind you with a spell... a death seal. The moment you try to talk about the deal or reveal their location, your heart stops. Instantly." Azel went quiet. "That’s... very inconvenient," he said finally. "You could call it that," Rhun said grimly. Azel thought for a moment, then crossed his arms. "Then why don’t you try baiting them? Have your men disguise themselves as poor citizens looking for loans. It’s risky, but it could work." Rhun snorted. "You think we haven’t tried?" Azel gave him a look. "And?" "They saw right through it," Rhun said, throwing his hands up. "We tried beggars, merchants, even injured soldiers. The gang members spotted the act instantly. And when they do find real borrowers, they silence them with those damned seals." He sighed heavily. "We can’t even interrogate one without the body dropping dead mid-question." "Sounds like a mess," Azel muttered. "That’s putting it mildly," Rhun said, staring into his empty cup. "We’re completely at a loss. Even the town mages can’t break those seals... the spell structure kills the target before the curse can be interrupted. Every path we take leads to a corpse." "What about the Grand Mage?" "I’m not supposed to be disrespectful but that fucker thinks this is beyond him... He doesn’t want to help one bit." There was silence... Rhun glanced up at him. Azel was staring forward, clearly deep in thought. He hesitated, unsure if now was the right time to ask... but curiosity got the better of him. "Azel..." he said cautiously. "Hm?" Rhun leaned forward with an awkward smile. "Would you be interested in meeting my daught—" Before he could even finish, a gust of wind swept past his face. The chair beside him was empty. The only thing left behind was Azel’s cup, perfectly balanced where he’d been sitting. Rhun blinked, dumbfounded. "...He’s gone?" Lanre looked like he had seen a ghost. "Captain?" "Nothing," Rhun said, rubbing his temples. "Just... never mind." He slumped back in his seat and groaned. "What’s so wrong with setting a good man up with your daughter?" ... Azel was already out on the streets, walking along the cobblestone roads of Karan Town. People stared as he passed... mostly at his silver hair, which gleamed under the midday sun. His face wasn’t familiar to them, and his aura was far too composed to belong to a commoner. It seemed that they weren’t familiar with the fact that he was the son of the Sword saint. ’So this is what it means to be out of touch with Empire news,’ he thought dryly. Then sighed. ’I wonder how I’m supposed to solve this case...’ he thought, he didn’t need to.... but he wanted to for two reasons, the first one being that he was bored and the second was solving crime here would make the Emperor owe him... He stopped at a corner near a food stall and leaned against a wall. ’Being bored isn’t good for me.’ "Oh... I have an idea." It was simple but effective. If he couldn’t find the gangs, he’d let the gangs find him. He’d just need one member. He could plant a tracking rune on them and let them lead him straight to their base. ’Easy,’ he thought. ’In theory.’ The only problem? Waiting for one to show up could take hours. He shrugged. "Guess I’ll speed things up." He tilted his head slightly, whispering under his breath. "Come." A soft pulse of mana spread around him, and from the empty air above his shoulder, a shadow swooped down. A sleek black crow landed neatly on his shoulder, ruffling its feathers before letting out a sharp, indignant caw. "Erblim," Azel greeted. "I have to admit, it’s been a while. How are the goddesses treating you?" The bird turned its head, glaring at him with golden eyes. 𝐟𝕣𝕖𝐞𝐰𝕖𝚋𝐧𝗼𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝗰𝐨𝐦 "Hmph! You forgot about us!" "I did not," Azel said, chuckling lightly. "I just couldn’t pull two new people out of nowhere. The house is already full." That wasn’t exactly a lie. Erblim and the others stayed within the plane most of the time, lounging about with Kyone and Nyala... It had been a while since he talked to them, and damn did he miss their voices. Erblim huffed. "Excuses." "Valid excuses," Azel corrected, stroking the crow’s neck. "Besides, I’ve got a mission for you." The crow perked up instantly. "A mission?" "Yes," Azel said with a grin, raising a thumb. "A super important mission."