Political Show 2

Finally, Arno appeared.

As always, he had a blank expression on his face, a poker face.

When he saw the number of armed men behind Leus, he became puzzled

'What is Leus doing? This many men and he rarely leaves the library?... These aren't friends, that's a militia.'

He walked to Leus' side and asked him in an easygoing tone

"What's going on Leus?"

Leus replied

"Master, long story short, I found this person in my area spying on me and captured him, now"

Leus pointed at Phoenix and continued

"This self-proclaimed Crimson Captain wants to coerce me into giving him back"

When Phoenix heard the words "Self-Proclaimed" his expression contorted in annoyance, but he still didn't say anything

Inwardly, Arno was impressed by what he heard

'Captured? An Elite Knight? interesting.'

Leus was indeed stronger than average Elite Knights, but he had no real-life experience at all. For him to be able to do something like that, it's not an easy feat.

Nevertheless, Arno kept his poker face, he looked at Phoenix and asked in his normal, neutral tone

"What do you want?"

Phoenix quickly replied

"I want my man back"

Arno shook his head

"Not possible, we'll keep him with us until further notice"

"That can't happen"

"Well, I said it can, so it will. Anything else?"

When Kasai heard that he became seriously upset and looked at Phoenix expectantly.

Yet, Phoenix didn't say anything about it and changed the subject.

"Arno, clearly whatever this is has gone out of proportion.

It isn't just a gang anymore, it's a horde, that's against the city's policy"

Arno nodded in understanding.

He grasped Phoenix's perspective. Although Phoenix was essentially affiliated with the Duchy, the Crimson Guards operated primarily under the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Their main responsibility was to ensure that all occurrences within the Kingdom aligned with the Kingdom's Objectives, functioning as a kind of overarching law enforcement agency for the entire Kingdom.

Still, that didn't mean that Arno would do what Phoenix wanted, he merely understood it.

"Phoenix, we can discuss this later"

Phoenix sighed

"You're putting me in a tough situation"

Leus asked Arno

"Master, may I speak?"

"Yes"

Leus looked at Phoenix and asked

"What are the city's policies?"

"Obviously, I can not explain it in detail here, but generally speaking, we can't just let an armed militia control the Slums."

"But you can let many small gangs do that?"

"That's a different thing"

"Why don't you stop acting like you care about what happens here?

Gangs that killed people for fun were living here and you did nothing about it"

"They're natives to the area"

"So if I ask a native to kill your man it's alright?"

"Naturally, it is not, he was just following orders"

Leus realized that Phoenix wasn't making any coherent points

'He's talking in a political way. Whenever I ask something, he gives a twisted answer.'

So he got bored

"You may leave now"

Phoenix ignored what Leus said and pointed at Scar

"This person needs to come with me"

Scar became flustered

"Me?"

Phoenix replied

"Yes, you, you don't belong here"

"What do you mean by that?"

"You will soon evolve and become a Knight, only Mortals and Soldiers are allowed to live in the Slums."

Leus didn't like what he was hearing

"Whose laws are these?"

"The city's policies"

Leus looked at Arno and asked

"Master, how many of these policies do we have to follow?"

Arno replied nonchalantly

"We? None."

A smirk appeared on Leus' face

"I declare all your policies null and void in my current and future territory."

Phoenix was speechless, he looked at Arno, expecting him to fix this

'Someone needs to put some sense into this so-called Young Master's head'

Yet, Arno didn't say anything, his expression remained unchanged

Phoenix clenched his fist

'So he's with him in this ...'

'I can't blame him, this guy is a monster, it won't be surprising if he ascended to become the next Librarian or something of that caliber.'

Phoenix evaluated Leus' aura the moment he felt it in his Domain, before he even saw him

'For someone only at the Third Realm to have such an extreme aura, how strong will he be after he evolves to become Elite?'

In his line of work, Phoenix has seen thousands of Elites and Knights, in his estimation

'This guy is ... unique'

Phoenix was in a dilemma, he couldn't go against Arno, which meant that he couldn't directly go against Leus as well, yet, he needed at least a small victory to save face.

At the same time, he couldn't just leave Kye behind.

'How can I face my men and admit that I can't guarantee their protection if a mission goes south?'

Yet, he also understood Arno's perspective:

'Arno needs to show this so-called Saint that being with him comes with many privileges'

'It's also a good strategy to make talented individuals feel indebted early on.'

Typically, Phoenix would endorse such a stance

'But not at the expense of my men...'

For a while, only silence persisted.

Arno was the first to break it by saying

"Well, if there's nothing else here, we will leave."

The Library's knights immediately turned around and got ready to leave.

When Kasai saw that, he couldn't bear it any longer

"What do you mean leave? No matter who you are, you shouldn't capture a Crimson Guard for doing his job!"

Kasai was very annoyed by his Captain's silence about them keeping Kye, after all, Kye was from his department, and he was the one who issued the orders to track down Leus.

At the same time, when he heard that Saint talking like he owned the entire city he became more annoyed.

Obviously, that purple-haired had no powers whatsoever, the reality of the situation was clear

'The Librarian is attempting to gain favor with whoever that is, even if it comes at the cost of hardworking men!'

He looked at Leus and said

"No one, especially you, has the right to declare policies null or whatever.

The policies are meant to be upheld until it's officially changed!"

The Library's Guards froze in place.

Phoenix looked at Kasai in annoyance and said

"Stop"

Kasai ignored Phenoix's words and stepped forward and spoke to Arno

"Someone in your position should refrain from using such deceptive tactics, like seeking favors by exploiting innocent individuals simply doing their jobs."

Arno's poker face didn't change, he looked at Kasai and asked

"Anything else?"

The question didn't make a lot of sense to Kasai, so he replied

"What does that mean? First, start by releasing the Crimson Guard then -"

The atmosphere suddenly became heavy.

Some felt deep terror.

Some felt fear and difficulty breathing.

Some, including Leus, felt a shiver run down their spine.

Phoenix's anger and annoyance made him numb to anything else.

Arno spoke coldly

"Aqua Blades"

Instantly, six water blades materialized behind Arno, just like wings.

Arno's expression didn't change, he merely pointed his finger at Kasai.

At this moment, Kasai felt impending doom.