Chapter 81: Meeting With An Acquaintance
’This note is really helpful. Instead of using the same elevator, it told me to come to this place that will eventually lead me to the nearby site. As for how near it is, I’ll just do it by basing it on the mission I received.’
Cillian got to witness the lives of the people in the Undercity. It was a mix of a developed yet chaotic atmosphere. On one side, he saw markets and stalls attracting customers. Right beside them, someone was being thrown out by thugs after being beaten up. He also passed by many houses that had been marked with signs indicating they belonged to various gangs.
It had the best scene of being in the Underworld.
Eventually, Cillian reached his destination after an hour of walking around while treading his path using the board signs from the posts once on every street. He knew he was on the right track because of the information he had received from Leo.
It was another abandoned-looking house. The moment he entered, he was able to spot a group of people waiting for an elevator to come down.
Cillian was left with no choice but to wait in line until one of the people greeted him out of nowhere, drawing his attention to it.
"Sparrow?"
Cillian frowned while turning his head.
He recognized this person.
"Dena Fritz?"
Dena Fritz was one of the people he had made a deal with in the Investigative Crew and had freely given the information related to today’s current academy’s theme in hopes of future collaboration. Well, that became nothing when their academy was destroyed by the shepherds.
Dena approached Cillian with a slight smile before she complimented him.
"Nice attire. It looks great on you."
Cillian sized Dena up from head to bottom. She was dressed in a black coat and wore a pair of thick black gloves. The way she present herself spoke of the authority she held in the Undercity, especially with the escorts waiting behind her, looking towards Cillian as if they were ready to tear him apart.
Obviously, Cillian had researched her background thanks to Ethan. The people he invited were either future leaders of famous gangs, after all. Dennis Turner was also another future leader.
"Speechless?"
Dena smiled.
"Not really. It’s just been a while since I last saw you."
"Not for me."
Dena replied before adding.
"The last time I saw you was when you’re flipping your middle finger at that Black Shepherd before the bone maze erupted."
Cillian remembered that time before chuckling. Dena chuckled at the same time, and both of them saw the metallic elevator doors open, seemingly opened by the successful previous cargo.
"Let’s go."
Dena urged Cillian to follow.
Cillian tilted his head.
"You want me to go as well?"
Cillian was surprised to receive an offer from Dena to go together when she had escorts behind her back.
"Duh, so that we can talk privately. I trust my men, but I want to talk to you about something. I was planning on contacting you sooner, but since it’s a busy time, I’ll use this opportunity to talk."
Glancing above her head, that don’t have any flag, Cillian nodded before he followed behind Dena, who advised her men to follow them second.
At first, her men were suspicious of why Dena was doing this and even gave words that Cillian might harm her.
Yet, all she said was this.
"I’m stronger than him."
With that, the elevator ride became one shared by the two of them.
Clicking the buttons for the upper floor to practice how it was done, Cillian watched the doors close before the elevator slowly went up.
"So what do you want to talk about?"
Dena Fritz remained watching the Undercity below as they went up before speaking.
"Are you not aware of what was happening, Cillian Sparrow?"
Cillian also looked forward, not glancing at Dena before answering truthfully.
"Of course, I knew."
After the Academy was attacked, everything in the Viola Territory had turned into chaos. The attack was the main topic being discussed.
Rallies were happening, making the traffic on the roads heavy. One example was when Cillian and Ella were returning home after being consulted by Arthur.
Rallies are the least of Cillian’s problems to worry about regarding the attack on the Academy, which has changed.
The deaths of the instructors and students caused a lot of people to question the academy’s ability to protect the students’ welfare. This became the reason why other academies were also affected by the outcome and had to stop their academy-related activities.
But Dena was not talking about that. It was matters in the above world, after all.
She was talking about the happenings in the Underworld.
"It seems like you don’t."
Dena sighed.
"A little war that the above world might not know is going to happen here. Some young leaders of the gangs had died from the attack, you know? Out of the six people you invited from your club that day, only two of us survived. Dennis Turner is the other person. And you know what they will target?"
Cillian, who can deduce why this attack is happening, couldn’t help but frown and said.
"An attack to the Skull Snake Gang?"
The Skull Snake Gang is where Jack Trade is affiliated with. However, after the attack from the Academy, any traces of this guy are gone, and even his remains are nowhere to be seen.
When Cillian happened to hear this news, he was shocked to the core that he hadn’t been declared dead.
This made him conclude that if Jack Trade were able to escape at the time, then it had something to do with the White Shepherds he saw at the maze.
Cillian didn’t reveal this information at the time he was being interrogated about what happened in his experience during the attack. He also hid some things from his group regarding this matter.
There are many reasons he kept this information to himself, but there’s one reason that was apparent as to why he decided to keep it hidden.
His identity.
Cillian knew that he had kept his identity hidden from those Shepherd bastards because the face he wore at the time belonged to a corpse he had transformed into.
If he were to expose their identity, those things would surely trace the information about who had spread this information, and it would all lead back to him.
And he was right to do it since there is no mention of White Shepherds in any news, only the Black Shepherds.
It’s not like Cillian was dumb enough to keep the information to himself. In fact, he wanted to spread it out as loud and as far as he could.
However, his safety comes first.
But who knows?
Maybe the White Shepherds are already aware of his identity.
Yet still, it was better to be careful if they weren’t.
Dena was quiet for a while before speaking.
"Do you think Jack Trade is being kept by his own gang?"
Cillian shook his head.
"I don’t know about it."
Then, after a while, Cillian and Dena found themselves in the world above. They watched the elevator doors open as Dena stepped outside first, followed by Cillian.
"How are your men going to go up?"
"They’ll have to find another spot."
"I see."
The two walked outside the house they were in, which was filled with people, before Cillian asked.
"About this little war you mentioned, can you give me a heads-up about the results? Especially if Jack Trade was caught?"
Dena Fritz smiled cheekily before saying.
"Is this about our good future together? You know your deal is only applied inside the academy, right?"
Cillian shrugged.
"I still want to maintain a good relationship with the future leader of The Hound Cartel. If you don’t mind, that is."
Dena Fritz then watched Cillian turn, his back walking away, before she said something that made him stop.
"I was lying when I said I was strong, you know."
Cillian remained listening, his head not turning.
"I wasn’t even able to finish one black shepherd without the help of my people there. And..."
She paused.
"And a weak person would’ve definitely not finished off two black shepherds all by himself unless they are a capable person. And you’re not weak, Cillian Sparrow."
Cillian remained quiet for a few seconds before he started walking as he waved goodbye to Dena Fritz.
Then Dena turned around in the opposite direction from Cillian while thinking about something in her head.
’Is he always that good looking?’
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