Fraction-9

(Location: Santarum City) One month ago

Location: Santarum Junction

Dark, cloudy weather; thunder made a loud, vast noise, and crows roamed around, creating an ominous sound. Some were sitting on a big old tree, and leaves were leaving their shed, heading toward the ground due to the stormy wind. The atmosphere was horrible, with cold vibes slightly taking over the place.

"Lightly, the cover opened." The scenario revealed at its own pace.

Feared faces, curious and enraged eyes, pumped blood in their veins, and sweat dripped from their faces. The scene they witnessed held their attention. The numbers were large, but the commotion was null; shredded leaves were louder than the people's presence. Shortly after, the presence of crows became more noticeable than the people around.

A drop of water from the dark cloud came down, slowed in pace, raged, and rushed down on someone's face—or was it?

The people's gaze was directed toward the center of Santarum City, at the junction. A huge white statue was placed there, with a shield on its left arm, suited in heavily white armor from knees to neck. A cape was placed on its back with a crown on its head, riding on a silver unicorn with wings and a huge horn.

However, the people's eyes were not just looking at the statue alone. Their gaze was fixed on the large spear of that statue, which had pierced through the flesh of someone's body.

Even though the statue was made of white marble, in memory of the first legendary king, Arthur Adalbert, they had placed his favorite shield and spear in it.

The body was located at the top, the tip of the spear piercing through his back. The body leaned on the spear, facing towards the sky, arms, and legs with the head hanging downward. Blood dripped from his abdomen, fingers, and other parts, painting the whole spear red. The white statue was not an exception; blood painted the shining white statue in red gore, making it difficult to identify the body.

People were mumbling to each other, and after a moment, local guards arrived at the spot.

The guards were also shocked, and as they were about to handle the situation, a certain letter, flying through a colorful bird, arrived.

The bird directly went toward the official guards, shocking them due to the royal seal on that letter.

When they disassembled that letter and read its contents, they immediately started to operate. More of a sense, they didn't perform any kind of work because the letter strictly ordered that no one should touch that body until the related subject arrived, making time slip away. After only a few hours, people were about to leave for their usual work. The crowded numbers slowly started to decline, with some still present. The guards did not have such a privilege.

A certain block away:

"Did you hear that a body was thrown over the king's statue?"

"Really! What terrible things are happening nowadays."

Two men were talking to each other at a bookstore.

"Wanna go check it out?"

"Well, why not, sure!"

At the right top center of that bookstore, a man was quietly listening to their chats while wearing a serious face.

A cup of tea was placed in front of that serious face. The man looked toward the person holding that tea.

She was Jessica.

"Ahh! Jessica, what a nice aroma is coming from the tea. From your hand, a cup of tea can make me energetic all day long."

"Just put it right there."

Jessica didn't respond to the order. She was just staring at Charles while holding the tea.

Charles understood the situation but still asked questions.

"Hmm, what's the matter with you?"

Jessica replied but in her symbolic language. "Oh!" He tilted his head, sighed for a moment, and answered, "I am not doing any dangerous things nowadays, you know. I-I'm a retired man, you see." He tried to convince Jessica.

"You know, I was just curious. What are those people trying to say, you know." He laughed unintentionally to convince his acts, but that didn't flatter much.

She was still making her cheeks pout, her big eyes with blonde hair, bangs trimmed. Small face with a small, fully undeveloped body made her look even cuter as she made that kind of face.

"Sigh! Come on, don't make that kind of face. You know, I won't be able to resist."

He said while pinching Jessica's cute, white, fluffy cheeks.

She removed Charles's hand from her cheeks, put tea on his table, and while making that same face, she was heading towards the inner room.

"Wait, Jessica, come on. Just listen to me..."

Tea was starting to ripple slowly, the ground was also moving slightly, displacing objects on the floor. Panic-stricken people started towards the door of that bookstore.

Charles was observing from the back while standing. When he threw his eyes out of the window, he saw swiftness pass through his shop within a blink of an eye. It was impossible to notice by normal eyes, but he caught a glimpse. When he saw that, his expression changed, and he looked toward Jessica.

"Get back, go to (.... ) Place. When you get there, tell him that I have sent you."

He rushed toward outside. 'Watch for a slight moment into the sky.' What the hell happened? While making a serious face, he rushed at a quick pace toward King's statue.

At the center of Santarum City, a group of hovering vehicles arrived in swiftness. The vehicles were dark purple, hovering by releasing out bluish hot air at the bottom of them. Curved in front, the top and doors were made of designed glass. At least four of them suddenly stopped at the crowd; the glasses' windows opened while slipping backward. Men in black came out from the vehicles.

They were Brock men, the Royal Guard. Brock also came out while watching that awful scenario.

"Sigh! What the..." He disclosed his words and began to question local guards.

"Hey you! What's your name?" He directed his words toward a middle-aged man, broad-chested, experienced muscles, and a black beard covering his whole face. Suited in his blue uniform, he stood front. "It's Assistant Officer Ivan Conrad of Santarum City."

"Ah! Conrad. Listen up. We were going to get that body down now. So, put some strips around, make a way. Get the people out from here. Prepare some light; it's getting dark here. Put some men on board; prepare some place to lay the body down. I will also put my men so there won't be any problem. Ralf, come over here."

A man from Brock's soldiers came. "Provide some help, will ya?"

"Yes, sir." And you, "Get your men ready. Do you understand?"

"Yes, sir." He expressed his devotion toward his duty very formally, but the query on his face was clear.

Brock noticed his face. "Conrad, what's up? Didn't you get what I just said?"

Ivan Conrad stood with a questioning face toward Brock while pleasing the situation. "Sir, may I dare to ask you why, above all others, the Royal Guards are here in this petty matter?"

The question was obvious because Royal Guards were meant to protect the royalties; such a matter shouldn't be much of a bother to them. These queries were also engraved in people's minds, but none dared to ask.

Brock looked toward Conrad with a scary face. "It wouldn't have been a concern if it wasn't about the king's statue. Besides, if you have been doing your job sincerely, we shouldn't have even seen what is in front of our eyes. So, let's us at least do our job." He said in a very grumpy, scary voice, causing Conrad to sweat in fear.

"Go, prepare your men. And get that shit down from there. It's making the situation worse."

The guards were surprised by his words, but it didn't reflect on their faces. People were amazed by the situation, but when he said such a thing toward the dead man, they had ominous thoughts in their hearts. While most of them were unable to express their urged questions, still, some did manage.

"Why are you still standing here? Get your ass moving!"

"Yes, sir."

Conrad rushed toward the back.

"I can't believe it. What's the Royal Guard lieutenant saying? Such disrespect toward a dead man. Tsk." They were gossiping among themselves, but Brock didn't pay any attention to them.

While the local guards were doing their best to get that body out from that spear, because for some reason, magic or magical items didn't work near the statue.

Charles was rushing toward them through the roof at a pace where he could have been pushing himself as fast as he could. He had this tense face with seriousness in it.

"Haaa! Even if I were to use some magical equipment, I still can't get there quickly. This is such an embarrassment to those brawn who have fought countless wars. I can't believe such a state has occurred in my life, which is a shame on my life. I don't exactly know what happened there, but if they are here, that means something really bad is going to happen. Shit. Shit."

Charles was cursing his helplessness and the situation, hoping for something not to have gone wrong.

"Come on, almost there. Yahhh," he shouted while expressing his rage.

Slight rain was starting to pour, making big loud grump thunder on its back.

Jessica arrived at some street filled with a crowd. People were rushing toward their way while ignoring people in front. The crowd was on one side, but Jessica's way on another. She was staring at a certain building in front.

"Well, about time. Who thought that this day could even arrive? Even if we did everything so that this day won't come in any conditions. Sigh! Nothing can be done here."

She questioned herself while regretting about something.