Chapter 471: Schemes
(3rd Person POV)
It had happened fast. Granak lay dead on the ground, his head a few feet from his body, and the slaves in their cages stared at Arthur with wide, frightened eyes.
Keanu and Kaiser, unbothered by the sight in the way that only centuries of existence could make a person, stepped over and looked down at the body. "Now that we’ve killed a pawn of that terrifying organization, what exactly do we do from here?" Kaiser asked. "From what I can tell, this one had a particular position in it. Killing him might draw attention."
Arthur didn’t look especially troubled. "Did you manage to get hold of the second-in-command of this gang before all this? Someone lower down the chain might be easier to work with."
The two exchanged a glance. Keanu said, "There is one. Apparently he’s this guy’s brother." He nudged Granak’s body with his foot as he said it.
"Good. Bring him here." Arthur said simply.
Keanu nodded and headed off.
"Are you sure about cutting down someone connected to that organization?" Kaiser asked, once it was just the two of them.
"Internal power struggles happen in gangs all the time," Arthur said. "Brothers especially. A story where the second-in-command kills his way to the top isn’t going to raise any eyebrows, least of all with an organization like Legion Swords. They’d probably respect it."
"Fair enough." Kaiser conceded. "Though wouldn’t it be cleaner to just get rid of Delly outright?"
"Why would I get rid of him?" Arthur smiled — the kind of smile that looked pleasant from a distance and less so up close. "Conflict is the best fertilizer there is. And Delly is a perfectly good source of it."
"That’s a strange way to look at it," Kaiser said.
"Think about it," Arthur continued, his voice easy, almost conversational. "Delly is backed by Legion Swords, which means every move he makes against us traces directly back to them. He is essentially a window into that organization — one that is already open and pointed in our direction. The moment he disappears, that window closes. Legion Swords sends someone new, someone we know nothing about, someone without a convenient gang of magicless thugs we now control sitting right between us and them."
He paused. "Right now, we know exactly who our enemy is, how he thinks, and what he has at his disposal."
"We let him keep scheming, keep pushing — and every time he does, we learn a little more about the hand Legion Swords is willing to show. And the more we learn, the deeper we can reach into them — their connections, their nobles, their network. We don’t fight an organization like that head on. We swallow it piece by piece, from the inside, until the day comes where pulling the whole thing apart costs them everything and costs us nothing." His smile didn’t waver. "Why would I cut that off?"
"Hm." Kaiser smiled slowly. Even after centuries, Arthur had a way of catching him off guard in moments like this. "Alright. I’m convinced."
By the time they finished talking, Keanu had returned — and behind him came a man built almost identically to Granak. Same height, same broad frame, same axe tattoo. The second-in-command of the Axe Warriors: Gerry.
The moment Gerry’s eyes landed on his brother, the color drained entirely from his face.
"Br-brother—!!!"
When he saw the head lying a short distance from the body, his legs nearly gave out. He grabbed the wall just to stay upright.
Where Granak had been stubborn and resolved to the end, Gerry was a completely different creature.
The man was clearly built for intimidating people who couldn’t fight back — which was a very different skill set from handling a situation like this one.
He folded almost immediately under the pressure, and within a short while had agreed to serve as Arthur’s eyes, ears, and anything else required of him inside the gang, reporting on Delly’s movements whenever anything came up.
"I’ll even report the smells," Gerry added desperately, perhaps thinking it would help his case.
A beat of silence followed.
Then Arthur laughed. Keanu and Kaiser followed, and for a moment the underground chamber — cages, corpse, and all — felt almost absurd.
"This guy seems obedient enough," Keanu said, watching Gerry with a grin.
"He is, but I’d rather not leave it to good faith alone." Arthur approached Gerry, who shrank back instinctively.
Arthur cast the spell without ceremony. Gerry felt it pass through him despite having no magic of his own — a cold, crawling sensation that settled somewhere deep and didn’t leave.
"If you try to betray us — say the wrong words to the wrong people — that spell will trigger," Arthur said pleasantly. "And your body will explode. That way, you can reunite with your brother."
He paused. "The one I just killed."
Every drop of color left Gerry’s face. "Y-you..."
"Yes?"
"...Nothing." Gerry swallowed hard and kept the rest of it to himself.
"Good." Arthur straightened up. "Now go and release the slaves."
Gerry blinked. "W-what?"
"Are you against it?"
"It’s not that, it’s just—" Gerry looked genuinely distressed. "If we release them, we lose our income. And when the Legion Swords representative comes around to collect, we’ll have nothing to hand over. They don’t take that lightly."
"If it’s just money, that’s not a problem. I’ll cover it. Make it look like the usual proceeds from a sale." Arthur said.
Gerry stared at him. This man had just threatened to detonate his body like a barrel of black powder — and now he was casually offering to bankroll the freedom of a bunch of magicless slaves he had no reason to care about.
’He’s cruel enough to kill a man without blinking, yet he’s doing this for these useless magicless trash?’ Gerry couldn’t make sense of it.
But he followed the order. They would release the slaves in batches to avoid drawing attention — a sudden mass release would raise questions nobody needed asked.
The slaves had overheard everything. The ones closest to the bars looked at Arthur with something fragile and disbelieving in their eyes. A few of them were mouthing words that didn’t quite make it out.
Arthur had already fed and clothed Elira’s family. He had already set things in motion with Gerry. Arranging for Leonard to take these people in and see them properly looked after was simply the next step. He had gone this far — there was no reason to stop halfway.
---
Two days passed since Arthur had quietly folded the Axe Warriors into his hand.
In the Western Theatre, Master Delly sat alone in his office, working through the latest reports spread across his desk. The numbers from the Eastern Theatre were climbing. Every day, more people. Every day, his own theatres — Western, Northern, Southern — were bleeding attendance in proportion.
His fist came down on the desk hard enough to rattle the inkwells. "This cannot keep happening!"
His butler stood nearby and said nothing.
"I have to get rid of this Arthur!" Master Delly’s voice dropped into something colder and more deliberate. He turned to his butler. "The task I posted at the Underground Guild — has anyone taken it?"
A few days prior, he had quietly placed a job request through the hidden shady street’s Underground Guild — capture or kill Arthur Pendragon, reward set at fifty gold.
"Word just came in," the butler said. "A group has taken the task. They wish to meet with you tomorrow to discuss the details before proceeding."
"Oh?" Master Delly’s eyes sharpened. "They want to meet in person? They must be confident." He drummed his fingers once on the armrest. "From what I’ve gathered, this Arthur is no ordinary man — he appeared out of nowhere, and somehow already has ties to the Merchant Guild Master. Whatever protection he has around him, it won’t be nothing. I cannot afford to send amateurs."
"You need not worry on that account, my lord." The butler’s smile was quietly pleased with itself. "The group that accepted the task is far from ordinary."
Delly studied his butler’s expression for a moment. "You seem very sure of that."
"I am."
He would see for himself soon enough.
---
The next day arrived, and Master Delly found himself staring across the room at the Six of Diamonds.
All six of them. Standing in his office like they belonged there, unhurried, filling the space with the particular ease of people who were accustomed to being the most capable thing in any room they entered.
Aldric stood at the front — tall, broad-shouldered, with the kind of composed authority that came from years of leading the best.
Behind him, Brom crossed his arms with that familiar look of barely contained restlessness. Charlotte stood to the side, composed and sharp-eyed. The blue-haired assassin, Sable, watched the room from the back with the detached patience of someone who was always quietly counting exits. Vera stood beside Brom, and Cael, as usual, said nothing and observed everything.
Master Delly’s mouth had gone slightly open.
"W-what — why would an S-Rank party be here for something like this?" he managed.
"They are the ones who accepted your task, my lord," the butler said.
"Them?" Delly looked between his butler and the party, struggling to reassemble the situation in his head.
The Six of Diamonds were spoken of in the same breath as the kingdom’s Heroes Party candidates. They were not the kind of people who took underground contracts for coin. They were not the kind of people who showed up in a theatre owner’s private office. And yet here they were, and they had come voluntarily.
Master Delly slowly straightened in his chair. "...To what do I owe this honor?"
