464 Back in Millfall (1)
One of the men in charge of the delicate local situation suggested to his superior in the command room of the army headquarters in Millfall. "Commander, let's shelve the cases of the Staples and Symons families. There are no conclusive leads in either case, and we need to focus on other more important matters now.
Also, the appointment of new nobles and the rise of others could bring some peace to the city and make our mission easier. But that won't happen until we finish our work..."
"How can we finish the case? We have absolutely nothing! His Majesty won't accept that!" One of the men from this group of soldiers from the capital said. "Let's say the two incidents are related. These two families were engaged until recently, so it's plausible to say that the same enemy or problem caused their downfall. Given the timing of all this, it's not impossible to link it to the criminal activities of The Faceless Ones in Ironcrest or even the escape from Long Bay Correctional Facility." Someone said, completely guessing what had happened even though he didn't know he was right and had no proof.
"That can be accepted. It's not a bad idea to blame The Faceless Ones. The Congregation of Revelation is already persecuting its members. We won't suffer any retribution for adding it to that group's list of crimes." Another soldier agreed.
"What about the Mazzanti family? The Captain who was in charge of this post before had a lot of suspicions about him." The squad leader asked.
He had a lot of experience, and when he had a 'feeling' about something, he was usually right, and it would be a mistake to ignore it. Knowing that Nova had such a feeling about the Mazzanti family, he wanted to explore all possibilities before dismissing the case.
"The Mazzanti family doesn't seem to be involved in anything too shady. They've been working hard lately to take advantage of local opportunities. I doubt they have time to get involved in such sensitive matters." The soldier in charge of investigating this family said in a confident tone. "If they are involved in something, they are very good at hiding their movements and also stupid.
In their situation, they don't have to move much to grow. They just continue to do their work locally. And why should the family get involved in overthrowing noble powers? They would get absolutely nothing out of it. In fact, nobles are usually friends with people like Cesar Mazzanti!"
This was indeed true. Nobles and criminals were usually two sides of the same coin, and one could benefit the other greatly.
There could be reasons for such a relationship to go very wrong. Still, it rarely happened because it could be hazardous for both parties to act in such an extreme way.
The group leader agreed and said nothing against the soldier's words. 'Was she wrong?' He looked at the window of this command room, more inclined to do what his men had in mind.
'I'm sorry, Captain Bain. You seem like a fair woman who tries to uphold the king's laws. Unfortunately, justice doesn't always work. Without concrete evidence, we can't do anything against this person, even if he is strange...' He thought to himself.
"Very well..."
...
While that soldier was deciding what to do about the deaths of the nobles' relatives and two nobles, hours passed.
In the late afternoon of that troubled day, a woman with black hair and a mask on her face arrived in town, accompanied by a masked blond man.
After a long journey and escape, traveling at the maximum speed that Mid-level Mages could travel and occasionally stopping to hide, Sarah and Nico reached their destination.
"Sigh... How long has it been since I set foot in a city?" Nico muttered as he saw people going about their business as he and Sarah walked towards the Mazzanti estate.
Sarah heard this and sighed, having heard Nico's whole story over the past few days. It was impossible to travel with other people for days and not hear something of their story. This was especially true for victims, people who had suffered things they shouldn't have and often needed to talk to someone about their tragedies.
Sarah hadn't asked. But Nico had told her his story, gradually revealing how miserable his situation was.
She had heard similar stories before, but it was still heartbreaking.
"This is a new beginning for you. Enjoy it. Many others die without a second chance." She said when they were in front of the Mazzanti family home.
Vicente's men in the area recognized the woman's aura, seeing that she had returned on her own despite everything.
"Woman, where is my master?" Bart opened its eyes and looked at the Mid-level Mage, opening its mouth for the first time in days.
While the surrounding Acolytes could only understand the roar of a beast, Sarah understood the basilisk's words perfectly. "He and I got separated on our journey. I don't know where he is."
"Then what are you doing here?" Bart sensed she wasn't lying, but it wanted to know more. "I promised to bring this person here. I'm keeping my promise to him."
'She smells like my master...' When Sarah answered, Bart noticed that the smell came from something in the woman's womb...
It closed its eyes again, not wanting to interfere in the affairs of these strange humans.
As much as Vice was its master, it couldn't understand the current situation enough to interfere.
'I thought they were enemies... Why did he mate with her?' The beast wondered, a look of doubt on its face.
The other men of the Mazzanti family were surprised by Sarah's return, but after Bart's aura weakened, they didn't make it difficult for her and allowed her to enter.
Even without understanding that beast, it was obvious that it had allowed Sarah to enter!
As soon as she entered the place, she and Nico took off their masks just before Rory stopped in front of them with several questions in his mind.
But when he saw the middle-aged blond man standing beside Sarah, the young redhead couldn't help but put some of his questions aside and exclaim. "Mister Nico Ostell?"
Rory already knew Nico's appearance from Eve, of course.
Nico looked at the young man's face, trying to understand who he was and if he had met him before. "Young man, do you know me from somewhere?"
"Mister Ostell, we don't know each other. But I am a friend of your daughter, Eve. My friend and family leader rescued you in her name. She's part of our group."
Nico's eyes lit up when he heard about Eve, whom he hadn't heard from for years. "Eve?"
"If you want to see her again now, please let me prepare everything. Just make sure you have a good shower and change your clothes. I'll take you to her as soon as you're ready." Rory smiled, feeling great about bringing these two family members together.
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