Chapter 40 - To Each His Own

The sun tinged the sky red, half hidden by large billowing clouds that adorned the horizon. A great idyllic landscape could be seen, a great mountainous area, with great winds blowing that seemed to want to threaten the mountain peaks, as if they wanted to knock them down, while creating a natural symphony that adorned the atmosphere. At the foot of the mountain was a great city, with a magnificent wall 90 m high, at the gates of which stood two huge statues, each 100 m high, on which were carved two fearless warriors, dressed in furs, with stern and brave faces. The city was immense, at least 20 times the size of the city of Corona, with millions upon millions of people, like ants within it, moving from place to place. You could see that it was an immensely prosperous city. For about 10 kilometres around there were multiple grazing areas for various animals, as well as some farming fields.

They might seem plentiful, but it was barely enough for the needs of this great city, and for some trade, certainly not for the needs of all the surrounding villages, who were still forced to come to this great city to exchange a great deal of resources for some wheat, seeds and other household necessities.

This was one of the great cities of the Rhodnius Territory, the City of Gallia, the base of the Great Tribe of Sacar, one of the Ten Great Tribes of the Indomitable Prairie of Rhodnius. In the centre of the great city, there was a huge area surrounded by trees, which made one think that they had once again gone out into the open, with lakes, small mountains and paradisiacal areas, in which one could see giant Tents made from the skins of rank 8, and even rank 9, Magical Beasts. Although they were Tents, their appearance did not lack elegance, but added a certain wild, brave atmosphere and naturally emitted an aura capable of making any enemy that entered unable to exert half of their power. This was precisely where the direct members of the Sacar Tribe lived. In the western area of this central zone, near a lake, there was a small wooden house, where a tanned-skinned man, dressed in furs, who looked as if he were middle-aged, with few wrinkles on his face. However, his silver hair and vicissitude-showing eyes clearly reflected his true age.

The man was reading a note, which had arrived by messenger bird at noon. This special birds, were a type of Rank 3 Magical Beast, capable of travelling at supersonic speeds and get messages across the continent in a very short period of time. Behind the man, stood a servant with his head down, awaiting instructions.

"Oh... Roland has found something that appears to be a Fruit of the Mountain God, but he is unsure and is requesting support from the Tribe to obtain the fruit as quickly as possible, before the rest of the Great Tribes learn of its existence. It seems that one of his contacts in Ansem found several "stones" at the bottom of the craters that appeared after the explosion of the Rando Woods... Interesting. Very interesting. If it is indeed a Fruit of the Mountain God, Roland will have made a great contribution to the Tribe," muttered the old man.

" Do you want me to send a garrison of soldiers to support Roland in the pursuit of the Fruit, Sixth Elder? There is a regiment of the Black Tortoise Army near the Border, the commander is a member of our Great Tribe." The servant commented. The old man at the edge of the lake, was precisely Sylas Du Sacar, one of the Elders of the Tribe and one of its most senior and powerful members.

"No. No need. The Black Tortoise Army has members not only from our Tribe but from Adam's and Mandela's Tribes as well. There would be a great risk that they would find out, and we could no longer have the fruit all to ourselves. Besides, even in the Tribe, there are many who still resent Roland. Had it not been for my support, it is possible that the Grand Elder would have sent him to the mines as punishment. But he is the only son my younger sister has left alive, I can't not help him when he needs support. I'll go myself. With my speed, it won't take me long to get there, a little less than a day. Don't let anyone know I'm out, at least not before I return with the Fruit." It would be a lie to say, Sylas was not greatly tempted by the Fruit of the Mountain God himself. This could help him raise his level, which had been stagnant for almost two decades. Besides, with him personally going, there should be no issues whatsoever.

So he decided to creep away, and with great speed he decided to go in the direction of the border to meet his nephew. His speed was subsonic and he kept it leisurely. He had not broken the sound barrier so as not to make any noise that could warn others of his departure, so he wrapped his Qi around his body in order to move stealthily. With Roland's Tribe Soul Brand, it would be quite easy to find him, if he was up to 50 kilometers nearby. Besides

...

Near the entrance to the Rando Woods in the Kingdom of Ansem, multiple tents could be seen, with many soldiers in formation as they performed various types of drills and preparations for the possibility of the Rhodnian Army invading the Territory. There were two huge central tents, of greater luxury and size than the rest. Both were marked by the Eagle and Lion of the Royal House of Ansem. One of them also bore another embroidered crest, Two Crossed Swords with sapphires embedded in their blades. This was the crest of one of the Five Great Families, the Renata Family.

Inside the tent marked with the Renata Family crest was an oak table, 10 feet long and five feet wide, with multiple documents stacked at one end, as well as jars of ink and quills. There was a model of the Frontier at another end of the tent, with various markings indicating the known current position of the regiments and battalions of both Territories. Behind the table sat a serious-looking, middle-aged man with short, black hair, though already showing some grey at the temples. He was wearing a dark blue uniform, with several medals on his chest, neatly pressed and buttoned. The man was seen to be quite stern, and everything on his desk followed a strict order and code of organisation, and was laid out as if it had been measured by a ruler. This man was precisely the Regimental Commander of the Royal Ansem Army Regiment located on the border, Sebastian Dai Renata.

In front of Commander Sebastian, several Captains were lined up, including Serena and Apollo.Standing next to Commander Sebastian was another tall, bespectacled, short, straight brown-haired man in the same dark blue uniform, with a sleek, metal-rimmed waistcoat, with a single medal on the front of the uniform.

"Saul, has the investigation made any progress? I want to know who has the guts to break into my house and kidnap someone inside?" asked Commander Sebastian, in a deep and cold voice that sounded stern and somewhat angry, though without making his voice raised.

"Yes commander. The primary investigation has shown that one of the guards had been bribed to let a man into the servants' quarters, where one of the maids was kidnapped. The girl's name is Eliana, and she had only been working for the Commander's house for a few months, I'm afraid you don't know her. We have made enquiries, as well as spoken to the guard in question. We have finally 'persuaded' him to tell us who the perpetrator was, it seems it was a mercenary, known as Jackal, one of the leaders of the Violent Tigers gang." Commented Sub-Commander Saul, the man standing next to Commander Sebastian.

"Good. Very good. It seems Sagat has grown balls of steel, that he now dares to intrude into my house while I am not present." said Commander Sebastian with a blackened face.

"Sir, it was just a maid, maybe she owed something to the Violent Tigers, or there is some other shady business we don't know about. Besides her, there was no damage to the mansion and nothing is missing. The house steward sent me to make enquiries, but gave me no other instructions about the girl," said Captain Apollo, who had been called in as part of the Army Captains in charge of Corona City security. He was trying to tone it down so that the Commander would stop pursuing the Violent Tigers.

"INSOLENT. Have I given you permission to speak in my presence? Take the Captain away and hit him 10 times with the baton. To speak before a superior when not called to order is insubordination," Commander Sebastian said sternly. In front of him, orders came first and foremost. Apollo turned pale, although he knew the Commander was a man obsessed with rules, he never thought he would be punished in this way. He began to hate Sagat at this moment, for getting him into this predicament.

Besides, just because the girl is poor, does it mean that she has no rights whatsoever? She is a citizen of Ansem like anyone else, and she has all the rights of others. Or is it that in the cities of the Kingdom you can kidnap someone without a second thought? You can attack someone without a second thought? You can kill someone without a second thought? Sagat and his kind think they are above the law. Not to mention that the house they broke into is my house. Should I turn the other cheek when someone slaps me in the face so blatantly? So you're not only impertinent, you're also incompetent," said Commander Sebastian as he looked at Apollo, who was growing paler and paler.

Apollo ended, "This subordinate is indeed incompetent and requests to be punished, Commander." He knew he had to calm the Commander's temper, or his head was in danger.

At that point Serena requested the floor from Sub-Commander Saulo. "Commander, sir, recently Jackal and several of his men were in pursuit of a suspected thief who stole something from Sagat's lair. They subsequently had a skirmish with three other young men whom Jackal mistook for the thief's assistants. It is possible that all this has something to do with that stolen object."

Sub-Commander Saul added: "Serena may have a point. Eliana, the maid, had a younger brother, and they lived in the Slums. They are originally from Karpathia, orphans of the previous Rhodnius invasion. The boy had a reputation as a thief, although he has apparently been without incident for several months. It is possible that Eliana is the young man's sister, and that is why the mercenaries have gone after the sister."

The intelligence of the Ansem Army was some of the best on the continent, and with the skills of the Sub-Commander and his men, in less than a day they had tracked down those involved in Eliana's abduction. With Captain Serena's comment, the whole picture was opening up before their eyes. Sagat never thought that the Commander would be so close to Corona, let alone so fast, that they would have their sights set on them.

"Any information about where the Violent Tigers are at the moment?" the Commander asked again.

"We don't know yet Commander, but we are confident that we will soon find them. Rumour has it that they have a secret lair deep in the Rando Woods. We have sent a few patrols to investigate, but so far we have had no results," Saul replied.

Commander Sebastian frowned, but refrained from commenting. Then he asked another question: "Moving on, the Dragon General has asked for detailed reports. Have we been able to find out what caused the explosion in the Rando Woods and what is at the bottom of the craters?

This time Saul did not reply but looked at Captain Serena. "Commander, sir, so far all of our searches of those who have examined the craters have been unsuccessful. We have been unable to find any relevant treasure, at best, some minerals from the depths of Mount Karol, but nothing that is sufficiently attractive. Now that Sagat has been mentioned, I remembered, that there were rumours in town, that Sagat and several of his men were near the Forest when the explosion occurred, and apparently one of the igneous rocks fell close to where they were. I remember the incident, because two of Sagat's men were later reported dead by their relatives in the city, and it was said that he himself examined several of the craters."

"Sagat. That name keeps coming up again and again. Maybe if we can find him, we can solve part of the mystery of the craters. I want you to redouble your efforts to find the lair of the Violent Tigers. The Dragon General intends to stay in this place, so I expect absolute order in the next few days while the whole situation is being resolved. Very well, the meeting is concluded. Captain Serena, the Dragon General wishes to see you. Report directly at the General's personal quarters. The rest of you are free to leave. Don't forget Captain Apollo's punishment. Dismissed." Commander Sebastian finished.

Night was approaching true to its hour, as the full moon visited the Forest, dressing each of the groups in a pale silver, each with its own plans, each ignorant of the other's circumstances, each expectant of its own yearnings. Tomorrow all would be settled.