Theo Aldric Merci

Jia's POV

"Oi, where are we headed?" Pef asks me, looking up at me. Currently, we are heading towards the pubs with, Master's 'friend,' Pef.

"Ummm… Master, we're going to the pubs. To check the notice boards." I reply, a little afraid.

"Don't be afraid, kid," he says, nonchalantly, "I'm not scary, really. By the way, I'm not your Master, so you can simply call me Senior. Senior Pef." He says. I nod my head and fasten my pace.

…

Trringg!!

"Pub's not open till evening, Sir." the bartender replies when he saw us entering the pub. True, even if the place was rowdy, no one would want to spend their money in bars right in the morning.

"Ah! No, I'm not here for drinks. I'm not of age." I confess. "Then why are you here, boy?" the bartender asks, his interest piqued. I point at the notice board and reply, "I'm here for the newspaper, Sir. Can I take a look at it?" I smile at him.

"Ah! Sure, sure." He nods his head, sighing, "Two Coppers." He asks, sharply.

Two Coppers for a simple newspaper! Damn! This is outrageous!

But I didn't complain. I frown terribly and pay him two Coppers before going to the notice board. The notice board was filled with missing reports, interesting jobs prospects and whatnot but there was one thing which was pasted largely on the middle of the notice board. Something which made my eyes bulge.

"Senior, I think you wanna see this."

"Uh-huh! I am seeing it." Senior Pef says, looking at the poster and just like me, his eyes widened in shock.

"What. The. F*ck…" he mumbled under his breath.

The poster says –

'Missing.

Young Master Theo Aldric Merci has been kidnapped by the men of Cult of Ice on 29th of month of Month of Stars. Anyone having any knowledge on the whereabouts of Young Master Theo will be rewarded 100 Golds by Matriarch Sapphire personally. Additionally, anyone who can locate and annihilate the base of Cult of Ice, he or shall be rewarded 1000 Golds instantly and Matriarch Lady Sapphire will owe that person one.

Town Hall'

"Senior, is this bad news?"

"Yep! Heap lots! It means that—"

"Hey!!" the bartender barked behind us, interrupting what Senior was going to tell. And that pissed him off.

"Ta-ce! Discedant!" Senior mumbled under his breadth and almost instantly the bartender mouth stitched up with an invisible thread and he was forcefully pushed down, not able to stand up. He looks shocked and baffled but Senior Pef didn't even glance at him again.

"Hmph! Rambunctious!" he mutters and continues what he was telling, "Like I was telling, this is bad news. This means that our little Jed is wanted in this town and if he, by mistake, shows his real face to anyone, there will be hundreds hunting him.

Moreover, there is a fair chance that some moderately high level is searching for him and it might even not be long before someone discovers the little base of the Cult of Ice on the far north. Heck! 100 kms is no biggie for a Foundation Stage expert!"

"What do we do, Senior?" I ask him and he nods him silently.

"First, let me get something from the bartender here. His presence has been pissing me ever since I entered this bar. I want to, let's say, 'play' with him a little bit."

Gulp!

That means torture! That surely means torture! I may not be intelligent or witty but I'm not dumb! Senior is going to torture the bartender.

We walk towards the bartender who was securely gagged in his seat by invisible threads. He looked at us with eyes filled with fear and apprehension but since I have Senior Pef with me, I'm fearless!! Or so, I thought.

"Jia, get out! You're too small to be watching these stuffs which I'm going to do to this man!" he replies while licking his nose, a bit evilly, I guess.

"B-but, Senior, I-I can handle it, I'm sure!!" I reply, strongly. Senior Pef turns towards me and gawks.

"Boy…" he says, "I want you to watch out for me. What the hell do I care whether you're able to handle torture or not, I want you to look out for me. Signal me when there's someone coming, get me?"

"A-ah! I see…" I reply, disappointed.

"Go on, don't dally. And oh! Remember, three knocks on the window means someone's coming. And don't you dare knock if no one's coming! Also, act normal. Don't bring unnecessary trouble. Now, move along!!" Senior says and turns towards the bartender. I nod my head hastily and dash out in fear of angering him! Fue! Senior Pef is really frightening, more so than Master and Senior Moose.

I wait outside, by the window, looking at the traffic around, waiting for Senior to finish. But it took very long. Nearly half an hour of torturous waiting. Thankfully, it was still the morning and no one in this part of the City wanted to get drunk right on the start of the day. There were times when some drunkards nearly entered the bar but at the last minute, they had a change of minds and turned away. Fue!! So much for waiting.

Finally, it was over.

Trrring!

The door of the bar was opened and Senior Pef walked out with the bartender, both smiling broadly.

He came near me and says, "C'mon, boy, lets go! We still need to do some research about Theo."

"Uhh-umm… yes, yes, absolutely!" I reply and pick him up before dashing away from the creepily-smiling bartender. Infact, the bartender looked a little weird, his smile too wide, his small eyes making perfect semicircles, as if Senior Pef didn't torture him but instead bribed him. But Senior Pef doesn't have money. Wait … does he…

"Senior Pef, did you bribe the bartender?" I ask, feeling puzzled.

"Bribe! Hell no! I'm an angelic being! I will never do something like bribe some human! Ewww!!!!"

"Then why was he smiling creepily?"

"Was he?" Senior Pef smiled broadly at me, wickedly.

"… he was…" I reply, a little frightened.

"Hoho! Seems like my illusion skills haven't completely gone dry in the millennia I didn't use them. Hoho!!"

Gulp…

I didn't question him anymore. After the episode in the bar, we headed towards the town notice board and there too, we found the large poster of Theo Aldric Merci, my Master, being pasted grandly. Then to the Adventure Guild, Mercenaries Guild, Merchant Guild and so on. We even spoke with the people in the downtrodden district of the City and … I saw my family….

I didn't speak of it to Senior Pef because I knew he wouldn't be interested. He is an angelic being, he doesn't and can't care about the well beings of a Mortal family.

…

Jed's POV

"Fue! It became night before we knew it!" Moose says, gazing at the sky but I ignore him because there was a book infront of me. "Don't ignore me, dude!!"

We made our way back to the inn with Moose leading me by the noose, or that's it looked like. The inn was already closed because it was past curfew but we had a back entrance.

Moving to our room, we were greeted by an unexpected sight, Pef was waiting for us with three bowls of cold noodles. He looks at us with a pissed-off gaze and says, "Having a nightout, eh?!"

"We just went to the library, bro!" Moose replies nonchalantly and immediately dug into the bowl of noodle. He tastes the soup and immediately makes a disgusting face, "Dude! What the hell! It's has gone beyond expiry date!!"

"Its just cold." I reply from the side and even though he ignores my remark, he still eats the noodles. I didn't even touch the noodle bowl and drop on the bed with the book I was reading. Pef turns to me and asks, "What about you? You also think that it is bad?"

I glance at him and reply, "Dude, you forgot. I'm an undead. Food tastes bland to me."

"Hah… guess so… so much for good work." He mumbles a short spell and like a gale, the three bowls dash out of the window, snatching Moose's when he was eating.

"Hey! I was eating!!!" Moose yells at Pef but he turns a blind eye to it. Angry, Moose pouts and plops down heavily on the floor.

"Okay, enough with this. Listen to me, for I have grave news. About Theo." Pef announces. The moment the name Theo came up, I look up, alarmed. I place the borrowed book down and turn towards Pef gravely.

"What did you find?" I ask.

"A lot too much, I guess." He starts, "First and foremost, you need to know about the local powerhouses. The City of Valshade is a pretty big City with 4 powerhouses and countless smaller factors. The most powerful of all, is the Merci family, your family. The Merci family is also the governing body of the City with a total backing of 5 sects which are located around the City. It contains 2 Nascent Soul expert, a dozen or so Foundation Stage experts and countless Qi Condensation Stage minions. They control most of the official business in the City and the Matriarch of the house is also the member of the Parliament of Arzehlig Empire, the empire where we are currently at.

The next in the power is the Feng clan. Originated from the Hundred Swords Sect, they control most of unofficial businessin the City. Starting from hospitals to medicine shops to weapons dealer and everything which one needs to live, is controlled by this family. Just like the Merci family, the Feng family also has 2 Nascent Soul experts but, here's a twist. The husband of the Matriarch of the Merci family is Feng Zhan."

"And?" I ask, coldly.

"Well, technically they have 3 Nascent Soul experts. And the twist doesn't stop there. Apparently, the Feng family, in order to gain control of the City have tried various tactics, like bringing in external help, currying the local Arzehlig authorities and others to transfer the crown of the Valshade City to Feng clan and even the apparent 'romance' of the now-Matriarch with Feng Zhan was a long, formulated plan. And considering everything, I bet they are the most dangerous adversaries here. For us."

"Hmm… what about the others?" I ask.

"Other than the Merci Family and the Feng clan, there are two other powerhouses, the Three Blossoms Sect and the Stormswords organization. Both of them have a Nascent Soul expert each and both are medium grade players in the City. The Three Blossoms Sect is the only third grade sect in the City with a few herbal medicine shops in the City and some weapon shops. They don't show themselves much but they surely have a big role in the decision-making of the City. They are also a close partner to the Merci family and have helped them for centuries. Most of the Merci family elders and Foundation Stage members have been honorary elders in the sect and there have been many bilateral exchanges between the two powerhouses. Even, Theo, our hero, was an honorary Foundation Stage elder of the sect, until he went missing.

The Stormswords, on the otherhand, is the most sketchy group among the four. They control most of the underground businesses of Valshade City. Rumor is that, no one enters Valshade without the Stormswords notice, is a famous paraphrase here. From slave-operations to drugs smuggling, petty thieveries to organized heists, everything is done by them. If you want a Princess-turned-slut, you go to them, you want elixirs for Foundation or higher stage experts, you go to them and everything from a to z is found there."

"Seems trouble." Remarks Moose.

"Indeed. But, here's the deal of the century. Apparently, right before the kidnapping of Theo, the Stormswords and the Feng clan had come to an agreement of sorts. I don't know what that agreement was but because of it, dozens if not more, Mages and those sorts of people were able to enter the Valshade City. Cult of Ice is one of them.

Additionally, rumor is that kidnapping of Theo wasn't just a random deed of some bad guys wanting to make quick money. Many people believe that it is a ploy of Feng Zhan, Theo's father, to overthrow the rule of the Merci family.

You see, Theo wasn't a small character in his family. He was the third son of Feng Zhan and Matriarch Sapphire and was also one of the most talented. Moreover, my investigation says that he was the darling of the mother, along with his younger twin sisters, Kyle and Sylphia. The Matriarch loved you and your twin younger sisters the most and it is believed that she was going to pass the position of head to you when you grew up. This is a very valid reason for your, or Theo's, apparent kidnapping because Feng Zhan wanted his two eldest sons, Feng Shi and Feng Huan, who take to him more and supports the Feng clan more than the Merci family. I bet, this must be the reason why Theo was abducted, tortured and then killed."

"Hmmm… this does escalate the difficulty of the game, doesn't it?!" I reply, thinking to myself.

...