Shadows and Demons (5)

The wolf boy's face paled a little at the news, as whilst he was plenty aware of the possibility, it still scared him a little to hear it. The adventurers from Misty Forest had left a deep scar on his mind, one that never healed, and likely never will. But that wasn't the focus for Fenrir, instead his gaze laid on Nia, worried about her stance on things.

"Does anyone else know?"

"Some assassins that attacked us likely found out, but I haven't heard anything yet so I can't be certain."

Nia's question was answered quickly by Mute, his scratchy voice irritating everyone in the room, yet none were going to ask him to remove the mask. Neither Silvo nor Marquis Vanra had seen Mute's face, and the butler intended to keep it that way, as even if the Gallow Family, Zacarias Family and Yolden Company were going to work together even after the events in Zacara, there was still a high likelihood he would need to investigate the other two.

And another risk was them following him, and gaining a lead in regards to the investigation into Nia's parents and their death. The Marquis wasn't fully aware, but both Iris and Silvo were plenty aware that Nia's talents weren't just limited with a spear, but everything revolved around making a legend with a spear.

From information gathering to geopolitical understanding, Nia excelled in many areas most wouldn't expect of the fallen noble. And it was these reasons that made her so fearful, and so desired.

"I see."

Nia's indifferent response eased Fenrir's tense heart, and indirectly washed away the trauma that was resurfacing from the events in Misty Forest. The wolf boy knew full well that should he pose an obstacle for Nia's revenge, she would cast him aside, not caring one bit about the bonds they had forged over the past couple months.

And whilst at first this side of Nia scared Fenrir, and made him feel pained and saddened about the possibility, after learning more about Nia and how she thinks, Fenrir was so quick to blame. The fallen noble had lost everything, and just wanted it back, and whilst her obsession was extreme, it wasn't unjust, at least in Fenrir's eyes.

Although, he could understand why the likes of the Polfer Family or the Academy wanted her back, since she was only 16 and emotionally unstable when she left. 

"Here's the locations of the warehouses you'll be hitting Nia."

The map the Marquis handed Nia was of the mercantile district of Zacara, in particular, it was the common place where most would house their goods and produce. Due to the large presence of merchants in the city, a large region was specifically allocated to warehouses, and was also known to be the most secure region in the city, second only to the Marquis' castle. Even more so, the area was mainly patrolled by bodyguards and adventurers, meaning the local knights and guards actually held little influence within the area.

It would be similar to Operation Eyeless in how mercenaries often got in the way of the knights, but there were two main differences. The first was that the Merchant Guild had more control over bodyguards, meaning that excessive aggression towards bodyguards, even if they were protecting illegal goods, would mean extreme retaliation from the Merchant Guild.

But at the same time, they were much more controlled and respective of the law due to the strict requirements to become a bodyguard, so were more likely to accept the authority of the Crown and the local law. The second part and more dangerous part was the fact that many of the warehouses in the area were owned by people not on the list, as such, unlike Trowan where excessive damage was largely considered a consequence of the adventurers intervention and the blame was shifted, here in Zacara, such excuse simply wouldn't work.

Luckily the city was more modern and had better investment than the likes of Trowan, so the risk of such fires, especially since many merchants often transported flammable goods, was extremely low. It did mean that Nia needed to keep a good control of her spear though, as the flames at the Yolden Villa showed just how powerful the weapon could become.

"What's with this warehouse?"

One thing stood out to Nia on the map, and that was a warehouse notably isolated from the rest of them. It wasn't like there weren't other warehouses in between the target ones, yet the majority of them were clustered together in a specific area of the district.

"An abnormality in our investigations, the reason why so many are clustered is because they were purchased recently, often the remnants of smaller merchant companies who couldn't keep up with the times and prices. The outlier however has been owned for a long time, and before you ask, it isn't owned by the Owen Company."

"Then who owns it?"

Nia responded to Vanra's explanation, wary of the abnormality. Going by his explanation, the older and longer owned the warehouse, the more influential and powerful the company owning it was. And whilst going by the map it was far from the oldest, the fact that it was located so far from the rest meant the owners had kept a hold of the warehouse for more than just decades, but centuries.

What made her even more uneasy was the size, as unlike the others in the area, it was notably smaller than the rest, which meant that it was owned by a shadow company. 

"The Iwi Company, a shadow company, the person or people that truly own it though is unknown to us."

Nia nodded in acceptance, fully expecting Mute's answer. Many nobles and merchants liked using shadow companies in locations they weren't very active in, mainly as a method to secure a channel of trade should the flow of money change. There was also the presence of the Black Market here in Zacara, meaning many people liked to use shadow companies to prepare money in order to make purchases.

One thing stood out to Nia though, and that was the name of the company, however she didn't know why.

She felt like she had heard of it before.

"They were inactive until recently, when signs of illegal goods started appearing in their warehouse around two years ago, and they started making connections with some of the more important and prestigious targets. I can't be certain how involved they are, so just check whether they are holding onto anything illegal and make your judgment after that."

The information Silvo provided wasn't that surprising to Nia, even if it did coincidentally match the timing of her parents death. Many of the targets had increased their activity around the same time anyways, clearly hoping to exploit the chaos of the tragedy to further their own goals. The thoughts of such actions sickened Nia, making her partially regret not coming to Zacara in order to protect her family's pride.

However it was clear whether back then or now that would've been the worst decision she could make. Let alone successfully avoiding attention until she reached the city, these nobles and merchants weren't only in Zacara, but plagued the entire Kingdom, and likely further beyond. They were irrelevant, as the only people who truly mattered were the ones who killed her parents.

"It's likely they'll provide a good lead should another influential figure be involved. How do you want me to handle the illegal goods?"

At first, Nia just intended to burn it down, since it was the quickest way, yet reminded herself of the events in Trowan and how much of a mess things became after the Adventurer Guild was burned down. Also, unlike Trowan which lacked a central figure for the laws to revolve around, here Marquis Vanra held all the power, so Nia had to pay at least minimal respect towards his wishes.

"Burn it, we have enough evidence that no matter how great of damage you deal the cases will be an easy victory. Besides, an example needs to be set."

"And the people?"

Another part of Nia's operation will be arresting the young lords and merchants who will be meeting up the night of the operation. The timing of the operation was specifically chosen to intercept the very time these young lords would be meeting up, which was the hardest information to acquire, and wouldn't have been possible without the abnormal help of Butler Jayla.

The butler in question refused to elaborate how she had acquired the information, yet it matched up with what rumors Mute and the others had been hearing, so they had no choice but to accept it. Jayla did however mention that she had shared the information in order to help Nia and get her out of the city as soon as possible, as whilst the butler wasn't loyal to Adjest or even the Crown itself, it was loyal to the Kingdom.

And Nia Roguepalace was one of four people who could stabilize the Kingdom in the current chaotic times, where instead of one specific group following her, individuals from many would rally behind her. The fallen noble already has support from nobility, merchants, knights, commoners and even beastfolk, putting her in a powerful position to even contest the throne.

What's more, the throne wasn't necessarily against Nia's wishes, yet at the same time, didn't quite align with them. Her goal afterall before her parents died was to become a legend, and every king has their name written down in the history book.

The other three people everyone was already aware of, them in question being the royal siblings Adjest and Derik, and Duke Quinten, where the latter has clear ties with merchants, adventurers and a powerful noble faction. Already most of the Kingdom has aligned themselves with one of the three, with Marquis Vanra being an outlier, and the major merchant companies having enough independence to not need to do so, for now.

"Arrest them if you can, but their lives don't matter."

Vanra's words would've come off cold, if not for his fatigue, his words instead coming off as more indifferent or bored, like how Nia would normally say it. 

"Very well, I'll be meeting with Agatha to discuss the finer details."

Nia spoke as she bowed and made her leave, donning the mask of Blindness as she exited the office. Fenrir was quick to follow, also bowing in a much less gracious manner compared to Nia's, and the speed of which he bowed accidentally revealing his beastly features to everyone present in the room. Both Mute and Silvo were already aware of it, the former having learned in Trowan and the latter in Oshine, yet despite that, none of the three had actually seen the uniquely gray, almost silvery hair of the wolf boy, and his inhuman ears.

Of course, Fenrir was quick to notice the gazes and his blunder, his face a mixture of red and white out of embarrassment and fear, his hands moving quick to once more cover his unique features. It wasn't that he was embarrassed or ashamed of his wolf ears or tail, although he would say he isn't exactly fond of them either, as every memory associated with them could only be considered negative.

It was simply his fear towards humans that made him do such, the judgment and suffering at the hands of the adventurers in Misty Forest scarring the young boy's mind. So he was quick to follow behind Nia, the protection of the fallen noble greater than any other he had ever experienced.

"Are we sure the Iwi Company isn't a trap?"

Silvo commented, this discussion having already been had many times before. They had debated on whether to send Nia to it or not, in the end with Mute and the Marquis supporting the decision with only Silvo opposed.

"Even if it is, what could they do? Nia isn't some pushover."

Vanra responded, fully confident in the fallen nobles' capabilities after having personally dueled her. 

"Besides, she isn't going alone."