Chapter 71 - Serena's Gamble
Serena was standing before her uncle and her father in the County Governor's manor. They had stern looking faces and their countenance was a bit ugly right now. So far, the investigation on the saved children had proven fruitless.
The children said the person who rescued them was an average looking young man, who was simply passing by when the robbers were taking them away. They simply remembered having seen a powerful shadow stand up to the robbers, and had not looked at the young man carefully, therefore they could not describe his appearance, since it was deep into the night and the young man was moving quite quickly. They failed to mention Evelin, as well as the mysterious bird of hers. Of course this was something that Nerun told the kids to say when asked. He wanted to keep his anonymity, and hide the existence of the young girl.
As for the Robbers, he did not care what they told. If they wanted to talk about a little girl being able to keep them at bay and making them look bad, so be it. As for him, he was sure he was not known in Syracuse or anywhere else for that matter, and that info was actually useless for Serena and her family. They'd probably think he was the scion of a Noble Family or even a disciple of some of the sects of Ansem that was traveling to hone his skills, and happened to cross the kidnapping, helping on the way. Since he did not want to meddle too much, he simply saved the children and tied the men, letting the authorities do their job.
It could hardly be called a perfect plan. But Nerun was not looking for perfection. After all, baiting is an art. It needs certain bread crumbs so the lead can be followed. Nerun was just waiting for a mistake. And if mistakes were not made, he simply had to force one.
"Are you sure Serena? This seems a bit hurried, and we could perfectly go for wool and come home shorn. I feel it's too risky. We should execute them in public and calm the citizens. We could also alleviate some of the restrictions on the caravans, since most of the pressure on us is on this matter. We will keep pressuring the leader of the robbers and try to make him spill his accomplices. I'm sure he will not be able to resist after a couple of days of "sincere reasoning"." said the County Governor Saras. He was desperate to show some results and start the Caravans once more. The County was bleeding money right now, and as an administrator he had to answer to the Royal Family in the Royal Capital.
"Uncle Saras, recovering the kidnapped children is of paramount importance. If we have to wait for several days to uncover the leads known by the kidnappers leader, the children already gone might not come back at all." argued Serena back.
"But they are mostly a bunch of kids from the slum. We can compensate their…"
"Stop right there uncle Salas! I hope I never hear such comments from you again. Even the children from the slums are citizens of this Kingdom. Do they not have the same rights as the rest of us simply because they're poor. I'm afraid that if some of my commanders in the army heard you, they would disavow our entire family, since several of them actually came from humble backgrounds. Perhaps in other Territories, such life loss would be taken for granted. but this is Ansem!" said Serena resolutely.
This is Ansem! This was the proud motto of many young men and women in the Ancestral Kingdom of Ansem. They considered themselves above many of the other territories, and fought hard against injustice and inequality. Actually, the Royal Family itself had established a lot of social policies, gradually improving the citizens' standing, to make sure they felt proud and willing to fight for the Territory. It also had a strict meritocratic model of promotion in several ministries, as well as in the Army. This actually allowed many poor people to gradually leave their pauper status and improve themselves, which also allowed the Kingdom to flourish more and more. In the whole continent, Ansem was quite unique in this aspect. Even though there were still many injustices, and some small level of corruption was unavoidable, for the most part, Ansem was considered one, if not the best governed Territories in the whole world.
It also had the lowest rates of criminals and bandits. Coupled with the resources held by the Kingdom's vast lands, this had allowed Ansem to stand at the top of the 6 Major Territories alongside Lutzomya, which was the largest of them all. The rest of the world however was a different matter altogether. It largely depended on the local tyrants, and there were some territories where literal hell had been brought to life.
Therefore, many young men in the Kingdom were quite idealist. That being said, it's not like there was absolutely no prejudice in Ansem. Especially in the Noble circles, which were used to holding power for many generations, and even with the openmindeness of several of them, still put a lot of hurdles for the lower class to truly ascend to the ruling class. This dichotomy made Ansem a land where even the people from the slums could quickly ascend, but actually reaching the state where their opinions actually mattered in the way their Kingdom was managed was more difficult than ascending the heavens. Many nobles thought that Ansem was already a lot better than most other territories in the World, and did not need to undergo any more reforms, and keeping the status quo was in their best interest. Stability was their motto. The middle and lower classes of society should already be thankful for their magnanimity, since it had given them the hope of a better future.
This was not an unpopular opinion. Even in the most liberal of the Noble families, this was a topic of discussion and disagreement. Saras was clearly a supporter of the latter view, and thought that capturing the robbers was already enough. Then making the mastermind run away would be the best conclusion. He really did not care much for the children of the slums that had disappeared, save for the pressure he had been subjected to lately.
"Dear niece, I know you have quite noble ideals, but we need to keep it real. Saving a bunch of children hardly justifies the losses we are causing to the city's coffers. The fact that we have caught the robbers can not be kept hidden from the nobles and merchants, and they will feel alleviated, and demand we once more open the routes for the Caravans. We'll have few excuses to reject them, and the pressure we'll have to bear will multiply by folds." said Saras feeling a bit wronged about the whole situation. He also had the family's best interest in mind.
"Uncle Saras, I know you disagree with me, but I ask you to trust me on this one. Put all of the pressure on me, I'll use my authority as the Lieutenant of the Grand Army of Ansem to do this operation. I'm not asking right now, I'm commanding! If EON wills it, maybe by tonight we'll have some results. I'm sure we can hold the curfew and the Caravans for one more day without big repercussions." Serena was being quite adamant, which made Saras a bit displeased in his heart. After all, he was the County Governor, as well as one of the most trusted elders in the Family.
"It's ok, Saras. Our Family's foundation isn't so weak that it can't stand just this little bit of pressure. I'm also quite interested to see if this bait will work as well, and this could actually bolster our House even further up. Serena, we'll do as you will. I only hope that you understand what's on stake here, and the consequences of your failure as well." Oliver was quite stern when he said this. He was more in agreement with Saras, but he knew better than anyone of the stubbornness of his daughter.
"Don't worry father. I know what's proper. I have confidence. I have my own sources, and they are quite reliable. I'll bring you results soon enough. In the meanwhile, please do as I asked, and keep watch on the Gang's leader. We can't let him get away nor die easily." reminded Serena.
Serena then stormed off from the office. She was also undertaking some risks with this choice. However, she trusted what she read on the note, so without further dilation, she prepared for the plan. She would try to catch them all in a clean sweep.
…
As the day went by, as expected, many merchants and nobles were glad with the capture of the kidnappers and were waiting for the restart of the Caravans. However, their hopes were in vain, when it was announced that many of the criminals could be still at large, and that the Government was still looking for many of the kidnapped children.
Protests were not long in coming, and soon the Governor's manor was flooded with many visitors demanding for the restart of the economic routes. Even the families supportive of House Vanilla were a bit disgruntled by the facts, however Serena proved to be a force to reckon with, and did not give in to the outside pressure. She even used her authority and the Army Squadron that came with her to impose her will, so most of the protesters could only return empty handed. However they threatened to raise the issue with Serena's direct superiors and other army officers they had good relationships with.
The army canvassed the slums in search of more information about the kidnappers, but to no avail. In itself, none of the kidnappers knew the purpose of the abducted children, and their mission was to take them to an intermediate point, where they would be picked up. The point was constantly changing, and they did not know the person who would then take them away. So even with the questioning there was not much gain, safe for the previous place where the children had been kept, but the place was already empty of any useful leads.
The leader of the kidnappers was jailed in the deepest cell in the Governor's manor dungeon. He had been left alone for now, and the interrogators had not gone to see him yet, instead working on his men, and letting him hear them during the questioning. This was a way to affect him psychologically, so he would be more susceptible to answering with the truth later. Even if he was a strong-willed man, and wanted to remain quiet, listening to the future coming for him would erode his mental defenses little by little.
When night came by, the leader was already on tenterhooks, after hearing the screams coming from the interrogator room, as well as the people coming and going, some of them with blood on their vests. To say he was not scared would be a lie. Eventually everyone seemed to be gone and he was left alone for several minutes. The silence reigning in the air actually made the environment in the cell even creepier.
All of a sudden, a City guard came for him and silently and without even looking at him, took him out of the cell, and into a room deep in the cell area.
"Who are you? Where are you taking me? This is all a mistake I tell you, let me talk to Lieutenant Serena. I'm sure I can prove my innocence." said the man, almost screaming. His power had been sealed and he could hardly do anything at all. Since he was being taken with no possibility of resistance, he was getting more and more desperate.
"Please, I beg you… Don't… I'll… I'll talk. I'll say everything I know. Please don't do anything to me."
In the end he was quite lighthearted when it came to torture. The man taking him deeper saw him with a deadpan expression, and smacked him right on the jaw to silence him. After silencing him, he kept going forward and arrived at an inconspicuous area, where there was a simple wooden door that seemed to blend with the wall. The kidnappers' leader was already scared out of his wits, however before he could talk again the guard taking him made some knocking sounds on the door in a rhythmic way, sometimes strong, sometimes soft, with a combination of fast and slow knocks.
After a short while there was some kind of response outside, so the man opened the door and quickly sent the kidnapper away. The leader wanted to scream once again, when he felt the cold wind of the night in his face. The soldier used a sword to release him of his bindings and quickly closed the door. He then realized he had somehow left the Governor's manor. He couldn't believe it. He was free. Truly free. He then quickly connected the dots, and understood that his boss had somehow arranged for a City Guard to release him, taking advantage of his spies inside the County Governor's manor, and that his captors wanted to first weaken his mind.
He then laughed boisterously, and wasting no time, he swiftly left the premises using all the speed he could muster while trying to make sure he wasn't being followed. However, he still failed to notice that there were several people watching his every move from afar.