Chapter 31: Torrent city [2].

On the streets of a town very far away from Estia, the count and Alvin were riding on a carriage that was headed straight to the blue rose guest house.

Blue rose was the name of a very wide Enterprise based in the guest house industry. They were so large that their branches spread out to a good number of the town's in the entire country of Elentia.

The carriage was one truly befitting of a man of Raymond's status as the entire carriage was designed with very rare and exotic minerals, the stead's that drove it were of a very rare race and the interior was also very remarkable. It was coated with a shiny gold mineral and endowed with the most comfortable seat cushions imaginable.

As they travelled, the civilians were left shocked as most of them couldn't resist the urge to let their jaws drop.

's-such extravagance.' they thought.

The only things protecting the carriage from getting raided were the symbol of the Swordhearth family which was etched into both sides of the carriage as well as the three other escort carriages that rode behind them. All who bore malevolent intent were left to click their tongues in frustration as there was no getting past such tight security.

Inside the carriages, count Raymond sat cross-legged. He was very lax because as an S-rank mage, even if everyone in this town joined forces against him, he'd still win with abject ease.

"Speak." Count Raymond gave the order for Alvin to begin his report.

"Yes sir." Alvin replied and pulled out a stack of white paper from.....thin air?

Of course, that is what it would seem like to a normal observer but in this world, there existed a technology called spatial storage. It made use of very ancient runes to create a pocket dimension of sorts where people could store material items. The runes could be embedded onto various accessories and they could be activated by passing a little amount of Mana into it, depending on it's quality.

  In Alvin's case, it was a silver coated ring of mid grade quality, meaning that it had only slightly less space than Levi's pocket dimension. It was also good to note that Levi could activate his pocket dimension with Aether while an amount of Mana was required for the others.

The stack of paper looked neat as it was properly arranged and organized before stapling. It was natural though as no normal person would wish to appear irresponsible and unprepared in front of the count.

After shuffling the papers once more, Alvin didn't waste any time and began to speak.

"In recent times, reports regarding the existence of an unliscenced underground fight club started popping up frequently. The underground fight club seemed to be a safe haven for numerous dangerous criminals and ruffians alike and it was also reported that gambling was also a part of their activities aside from very unappealing fights."

In those few statements, the criminal group responsible for those heinous actions could be jailed for at least five years, as per the Elentian Constitution.

"I see. Is that all you have to report?" Raymond asked. Even though those were very serious crimes, they weren't very deserving of the presence of the count himself. Such an underground faction could be apprehended by the kingdom's magical knights. There was definitely more to it.

"No sir. After we discovered their actions, they were promptly reported to the local magic knights, but our agents were told to continue their investigation into the matter and that was when we discovered that it had another layer to it." Alvin said with a very eerie tone. 

"Continue." The count said. In truth, he already knew what Alvin was about to say as he had gone through the report before coming here, but he had only skimmed through it and needed to hear the full and more detailed version.

"Yes. It turned out that the underground faction was also involved in drug dealings. Their illegal fight club was just a front to gain customers. We also uncovered possibilities of cooperation with a very shady organization. But that is yet to be confirmed." Alvin said, glancing at the count for a little before returning to what he was reading.

"After making these discoveries, we reported to the magical knights, but they made the blunder of mindlessly assaulting them head on. Their plan leaked and the criminal group escaped, moving their entire business to another unknown location entirely." Alvin reported. He was a very eloquent speaker and his words never lacked any respect and courtesy.

'those fools.....' count Raymond thought.

"If I may ask, what is your current position in the household rankings?" The count asked a question seemingly completely unrelated to the issue at hand.

Alvin was a bit surprised, but leaving the count awaiting one's response was a sign of disrespect so he quickly answered, "I serve the patriarch as a mere squad captain of the personal guards sir."

"I see...." 

".... If I may ask your lordship, why is the count interested in my position?" Alvin asked. The question by itself could have been considered unruly, but between Alvin's courteous tone and his insertion of the count's title, it sounded very polite.

"It's nothing." Count Raymond dismissed the curious servant's questions.

'i should promote him sometime...maybe, assistant head Butler would be appropriate. He's definitely more fitting of it than that ruffian.' Raymond thought, then allowed Alvin to continue with a gesture.

"As I said, the criminal group has now evacuated and we are left with only one lead as to their whereabouts, the criminal whom we captured, but the interrogation process is moving a bit slowly." Alvin said.

"Huh? Why is that?" Raymond asked.

"According to the local magical knights, the suspect whom we captured has been resisting the various forms of interrogation which they used. I personally spoke to the captain, asking him to allow us use our more efficient methods, but was refused due to our methods not being 'appropriate'." Alvin replied.

"I see.....this carriage is headed for the blue rose guest house, correct?" Raymond asked.

"Yes sir." Alvin responded simply.

"Well, change of plans. Take me to the evacuated hideout. Also, tell those wannabe magic knights that they are to bring the victim to the hideout, I'll take care of it there. This is not a normal request, it's an order." Count Raymond said with serious eyes.

The count was a very smart and impulsive man. He was a fast paced person who preferred to have people chasing after hiim. And if one could not keep up with him, then he would seem them useless. He also very much valued young talent.

"I assume that the town has already been locked down?" Raymond asked. 

He was expecting a positive response, but he was handed the exact opposite.

"Actually, no sit. They didn't lock down the town despite my numerous please." Alvin explained and for the first time during this trip, the count's expression changed. He now donned a face which showcased confusion. 

It was expected. Locking the city gates when a criminal syndicate is on the lose is a natural and age old response to these kinds of situation. A head ache started creeping up as there was now a possibility of the criminal group escaping to other towns, but as if Alvin sensed it, he spoke.

"We already took the initiative of stationing a few guards, watchmen if you will, at the city gates. They rotate between shifts and provide detailed reports of their findings. I can assure you that the criminals are yet to have escaped." Alvin said.

"I see....." The count trailed off as yet another possibility formed in his mind. If the criminal group had not yet escaped or tried to escape for some time now, then did that mean that they were aware of the contingency ambush which was set up for them?

If they were, then it could only mean that there was a traitor. But considering the peculiar circumstances of the personal guards, that scenario was highly unlikely so the count all but shoved it aside. 

But if it wasn't that, then why did they still stay? Maybe they escaped sometime earlier, before the watchmen tactic could be implemented. But was it really that easy to move an entire group of people and such amounts of drugs without getting noticed?

There was also a chance that they had made use of the underground tunnels which were built in Torrent during a certain civil war some years back, but that would have eventually led them to either the surface or a dead end.

The situation proved to be a very tricky one, as there was no plausible reason for the criminals group to stay and not move. Raymond decided to leave this aside for later when he would meet the captured suspect and take the most basic but reasonable action at that moment.

"Lock down the city at once. Make it so that no one gets in or out. Those bastards might try to skip town since they've probably caught wind of my knowing about them." Raymond added.

"At once sir." Alvin said and immediately got to work. He told the driver about the change of plans and used a communication device to contact the local order of magic knights informing them of both of the count's orders.

'those bastards are quite smart. Torrent is a place that is moderately advanced and it is also the farthest town from Estia. They must have made this their base of operations knowing that.'

———–

The carriage on which the count rode came to a stop in front a run down restaurant near the city's slums. The building was covered in cracks and moss as the metal pipes leaked out dirty water and most of the windows were either completly destroyed or barricaded with wooden planks.

In all, the place looked very retched and the smell emanating from it was enough to make Raymond wrench his nose in disgust.

"Is this the place?" Raymond asked his escort.

"Yes sir." Alvin said.

The other carriages had arrived some time ago before the count's as they could not keep the count waiting and the other abandoned escorts stood in a uniformly straight line. There were also a number of other men who count Raymond assumed to be either the other members of the strike team or the spy team that was posted here a long time ago.

Raymond kicked the already retched door down easily and walked into the building, the rancid smell that assaulted his nose next was vomit inducing.

"Urgh." The count uttered in disgust.

Even the men who had been specially trained in case such things happened, could not help react to the horrible stench of the area.

"I don't think anyone can run any sort of business in such an environment, illegal or not." Raymond said. He was right.

"Of course not sir. This is just a front to hide their real base. The main thing is underneath this building." Alvin said and guided the count to the storage room.

Raymond unceremoniously kicked down the door again to reveal a flight of stairs which led to the basement. The place wasn't dark as the lights were on. It seemed that someone had arrived before them.

The count and his group walked down the stairs carefully, for fear of it breaking, and when they all arrived at the underground basment, the count and some of the guards who hadn't been there yet couldn't help but grow wide eyed in surprise.

"Wow...." A random guard muttered. The sight before them was very unsettling.

What they saw was a very large basement which was like an underground arena. There was actually a sitting area for the spectators who were going to place bets and in the center of the arena like basement was an eight sided steel cage; an octagon. Like the one used in UFC.

The steel of the cage was covered in something that looked like rust at first, but was actually dried blood. The stench of blood, drugs and dead bodies filled the air. They had abandoned the dead bodies there to rot when they made their escape. 

The place had been totally cleaned out. Appart from the seats, steel cage and some ocassional puddles of dried blood, the space was empty. There was nothing that could implicate them, it would have been a clean escape, but one person managed to get himself apprehended. 

How that even happened, the count hoped to get an explanation soon.

The count kept silent for some time to examine the sight before him. He was a man who had experienced a LOT of Gore and tragedy, so something like this was not new to him. He examined the space with cold and apathetic eyes before opening his mouth.

"The lights were on so someone arrived here before us. Probably the magic knights, where are they?" Raymond asked his escort. 

"Well, they did send me a message of them arriving some time ag-." Alvin spoke, but was cut off by a voice which emenated from behind them.

"Right here your lordship." The voice said, prompting everyone to turn backwards behind them.

There were a total of eight men behind them. Seven out of the eight men wore official magic knights attire while the last person was cuffed, his hands behind his back and his mouth gagged.

"My name is Lark Volden. Youngest brother of the Count Volden and captain of the magic knights squad in this town." The owner of the voice introduced himself.

A/N:

Alright, today is the weekend so expect all the chaps I did not update today. I'm owing you guys a total of three chaps.

Phoo. Let's get to it!