Noticed 2

Phoenix spoke in a dignified tone and commanded

"Welfare Officer, report"

Kasai took a deep breath and began talking

"The situation inside the city remains peaceful, and the crime rate has not increased in the last 5 years, however, There are concerning reports coming from the Slums.

A specific report about a huge massacre caused by a single individual is suspicious, two of the biggest gangs have disappeared from the Western Sector.

The perpetrator's identity remains unknown, but his alias is known as The Purple Saint"

Phoenix asked in a bored tone

"Was it an isolated case or a part of a series?"

"An isolated case"

"That solves it, it doesn't matter."

Phoenix turned his face to Breena and asked

"Quartermaster, report."

Breena stood up and started talking

"This year's budget was generous, we were able to provide more than 200 new armor for the knights and replace about 50, we were also able to provide a pay increase for 20% of our -"

Phoenix raised his hand and interrupted Breena's lengthy speech

"Officer Breena"

Breena replied in a worried tone

"Yes?"

"I understand that this is your first time joining the meeting since you're recently assigned to this position, but here, we do not discuss what happened during the year, we only discuss issues so we can come up with solutions.

So, Did you face any issues?"

Breena's face became red with embarrassment and she slowly replied

"Uh - Um, No ... No issues"

"You may sit down."

Phoenix turned his face and looked at Cyrus

"Commandant, report"

Cyrus just yawned and replied

"I have nothing to report, move on."

Breena was surprised by his behavior, Kasai was very irritated by his damn-care attitude, and Fiadh on the other hand, didn't care at all.

Phoenix spoke coldly

"You must take out the letters and report the complaints"

"Phoenix, let's cut to the chase.

The sole, ridiculous reason I'm stuck in this mind-numbing meeting is some absurd political decision to represent the military and whatnot.

We don't have any problems, and even if we did, you know as well as I do that this isn't the place to resolve them. Why waste our time?"

Phoenix extended his hand

"Give me the letters"

Cyrus sighed and took a magical pouch out of his pocket, he opened the pouch and 15 envelopes fell on the table.

Phoenix's expression became annoyed

"You didn't even open a single one"

"I don't have to, each one will have the same message. We just type it out of formality"

Phoenix ignored Cyrus and proceeded to open the envelopes one by one and read them.

Most of them indeed had the same message

(No problems were faced this year)

But a single one had a minor complaint

He held it in front of Cyrus and showed it to him

"See? That's why you must check on all the letters!"

Cyrus narrowed his eyes and read the message,

(The number of Soldiers applying for military enrollment this winter has slightly decreased compared to the yearly rate)

After Cyrus read it he spoke in a mocking tone

"This isn't even an issue. That's a very common occurrence"

"Out of context, it isn't an issue, but connecting it to everything else, there might be a pattern. Anyway, let's move on"

Phoenix turned his face and looked at Fiadh

"Scout, report"

Fiadh's tone was very neutral that it seemed apathetic

"Most of the Sectors are in a stalemate, but there's a gang that has grown out of proportions in the Western Sector"

Cyrus audibly sighed

'More reports means more time I have to spend here ....'

Phoenix glared at him then looked at Fiadh and gestured for him to continue.

"The gang has access to a suspicious amount of resources, especially building materials.

It is led by multiple leaders, two of which I've never been able to see."

"How far has it grown?"

"To the size of 4 or 5 big gangs"

When Fiadh said that, Everyone became surprised

Breena gave him a perplexed look, Kasai tilted his head in confusion and for the first time, Cyrus seemed interested.

As for Phoenix, he was baffled.

His first intuition was that Fiadh was wrong, but after thinking about it for a second

'That's Fiadh ... The best Scout in the entire city, It's impossible for him to be wrong'

So he calmed down and asked

"How come we've never heard about such a gang before?"

"It seems to have suddenly emerged in the last couple of months"

"How did they suddenly emerge?"

"It's connected to the massacre Kasai has mentioned, The Purple Saint is one of their key figures"

".... He must be from the City ... Could be a bored Knight or whatever"

"He is from the City, and he's extremely revered in his area"

"Revered? Perhaps the people strongly disliked the gangs he exterminated?"

Fiadh shook his head

"It's more than that, he seems to be aiming towards improving the livelihood of the people. Some sort of a local hero that the entire gang is loyal to.

Strangely enough, I never see him in the area, I only hear about him."

"That's troublesome"

Phoenix looked at the ceiling contemplating his options

Kasai asked

"Should we take care of the gang? If some of the leaders die in unfortunate accidents it will quickly fall apart"

Phoenix shook his head

"It's not the first time something like this has happened.

The best course of action would be to let it collapse on its own.

Usually, the leaders disagree on some trivial matters then each of them splits with his own faction, bringing the situation back to what it was."

"If that's the case then what are you worrying about, Sir?"

"The existence of someone like The Purple Saint is troublesome.

Since he's from the city, we can't easily get rid of him, and if we don't fix the root of the issue it'll never be resolved.

Those who like to play hero are the worst.

If we decide to get rid of the leaders he will just appoint new ones since he's the key figure in the gang, and if we keep killing them then it'd be clear that someone is interfering.

You know that our direct interference is always a last resort."

Phoenix looked at Kasai and ordered

"For now, send someone to monitor the situation.

Try to identify The Purple Saint and let me know who he is.

We can't let them expand any further, if they try to, we will have to neutralize them."

Then he turned to Breena

"Make sure none of our Knights or Elites are playing in the slums"

After Phoenix was done giving orders he asked

"Any questions?"

When no one replied to him he announced the end of the meeting

"All dismissed"