The Dead of Night

"What do you mean, they were already dead?" asked the corpulent man sitting at the desk, a frown on his face.

It was only dawn. The first few rays of morning light bounced off the extravagant fixtures of the room. One man sat behind a splendid mahogany desk while cupping his forehead into his hand. Worry filled his mind.

In front of him stood two men. The first was middle-aged. His shoulders were broad, and his beard neat. Despite the man in front of him wallowing in anguish, he stood straight, unconcerned. By nature, he was a military man and would simply follow his superiors' orders.

He was the vice leader of the Golden Knights, the first knight order of the Kingdom. The Golden Knights were one of the two pillars of the royal family, the other one being the royal guards. While the royal guards' area of operation was only the Capital, the Golden Knights would usually operate outside of it.

In this case, he was tasked with helping the man before him fulfill his task. The commander had yet to tell him what that man's mission was, and he didn't ask either. He had orders, and he would follow them. As such, unless spoken to, he would usually remain silent.

Next to him stood a young man. If Felix were here, he would recognize him as the knight he had met the night before. He was a new recruit in the order. New recruits were not usually allowed to attend such a meeting, but his circumstances were quite special.

The man sitting at the desk sighed before speaking.

"Any news about the device?"

The vice leader replied without emotion as if it had nothing to do with him.

"The compound is quite extensive, governor. My men are still combing through it. We will inform you once the search is completed."

The man looked up from his desk, his gaze resting on the bearded man.

"I was told that the Golden Knights were the best the Kingdom had to offer, yet they only sent a few kids for this mission."

The young man was offended by the offhand remark. As he tried to voice his objection, the Captain put a hand on his shoulder and said sternly, "Elliot, this is not your place to speak."

Elliot quickly closed his mouth and retreated. 

"While he may be young," the man added, "he is also a talented soldier." 

"I didn't think the famed Golden Knight order would allow commoners into their ranks," the governor said. "How low you've fallen. It seems your losses from the war were high enough to allow just anyone in."

Elliot was fuming but held his tongue. 

"Some commoners are talented. It would be a shame if they don't contribute to the Kingdom."

"Ha! They are nothing more than sheep. Their bloodlines are impure, no better than humans. If it was up to me..."

"It's not. Her Majesty will rule how she wishes. Can we get to the point?"

"Fine. Those thugs are irrelevant, but the device is most important and must be retrieved at all costs. I don't care what you must do, but this takes priority over any other matter. I don't want to have to think of the consequences if you fail in this matter."

A chill spread over the governor's body as he thought of the possibility of failure. He was granted this artifact by the prime minister himself. The artifact's function was quite simple. It was able to locate and seal other artifacts.

As the town was located on a main artery of the Kingdom, the number of travellers passing through was enormous. However, the town's guards were barely enough to ensure the safety of the more upscale part of town. With limited manpower, the governor had a difficult time fulfilling his orders. That is when he had a stroke of genius, or so he thought. He would use the town's underground elements, mainly the gangs and criminals, to do his dirty work for him in return for leniency in their other activities.

The arrangement worked initially, but the situation changed when the Raging Beasts took control. Although they were mostly the same as the previous gangs, they were much more ambitious and, as such, recruited much more personnel, making it difficult for the governor to rein them in. Even now that their leadership was gone, the gang was still wreaking havoc in town, sucking resources away from the search for the artifact.

His plan had backfired splendidly, leaving him with a mess to sort out and the artifact gone. He wanted nothing more than to hide in his bed and never come out again. Fortunately, he could always blame someone else, like the two men before him.

"I read in your report that two strange individuals were sighted within the compound last night..." the governor said, raising an eyebrow.

Elliot took a step forward and reported.

"Indeed, I was the one who sighted the two of them. Despite coming from inside the compound, they didn't seem to be with the bandits as they tried to avoid them. They didn't even try to fight and simply fled. I tried to catch them, but they jumped from one of the walls before I could reach them."

"They jumped?" the governor asked.

"Indeed. Although the wall isn't that high, a fall of this height without a clear landing zone is quite foolhardy. I tried to check on them, but I couldn't locate them when I reached the top of the wall. The next morning, I checked the area and found traces leading into the forest."

"You didn't pursue?"

"Several gang members escaped similarly," the Captain interrupted the report. "We do not know how many are lurking in those woods. I will not risk my man unless we are sufficiently prepared for it."

"That's not up to you! I want that device found. I don't care if you have to search every house in town; it must be retrieved, whatever the cost.

"It will take time."

"Time we don't have!"

"Not my concern."

The governor took a deep breath. Talking with this man never went anywhere.

"Then have them prepared and go catch them. We need that device!" the governor said before dismissing the pair.

Once alone, he leaned back on his chair, hands covering his eyes and sighed. The day had just started, and he wanted it to end already. 

Although the perks are nice, he thought, being governor is such a pain. 

After lamenting his fate for a while longer, he finally went back to work. After a long day of trudging through an endless pile of documents, the governor finally returned to his mansion, where his wife awaited him. Although he was in his late fifties, his wife seemed no older than twenty.

He was ordinary, but his ambition and desire were quite obvious. He wasn't remarkably talented, but through luck and less-than-righteous tactics, he now had power. Like any ordinary man, he used this power to grant his desires, which included his wife. She was his fourth wife, and once he got tired of her, he thought of getting a fifth.

After a meal and a bath, the couple prepared to sleep. Despite being old and out of shape, the governor was still quite energetic in bed. After a torrid night, the man drifted asleep when a voice woke him.

"That was quite the show," the voice said.

In a panic, the governor scanned the room. Unable to find anyone, he turned towards his wife to discover she was gone. As he was about to shout for help, a hand gripped his throat, preventing him from breathing. He struggled to free himself, but a black silhouette whispered in his ear, "Relax. This will be a long night. We have much to talk about."

* * *

The next day, in the same inn as before, Felix had just woken up and was getting ready to depart on his journey. Just as he ensured his gear was in working order, Sofia burst into the room, carrying a stack of paper, looking frantic.

"What happened?" Felix asked.

"Big news," she replied while panting. "The governor's dead. It's all over the paper. His body was found in his mansion last night, and his wife is missing. They think it's revenge for the assault of the Raging Beasts headquarters. By the way, where were you last night?"

Felix ignored her, continuing his preparation as if the news were irrelevant. Sofia was disappointed in his lack of reaction and prodded him further. He simply shrugged. When he was done, he looked out of the window. The inn offered a great view. From here, he could even see the governor's mansion. Quite a few people were frantically running around outside the mansion.

Once he was satisfied, he turned around to face Sofia.

"What's with that look?" she asked.

"Nothing... Just remembering last night," he said, a smile on his face.