Supreme Magus

Chapter 3522: Stirring the Pot (Part 1)

”During the conflict, most of the soldiers were sent to the frontlines, leaving only a skeleton crew of city guards to manage the order in the city.” Yerna said.

”That and the rationing of the food due to the famine helped the black market and with it the organized crime to spread their influence without meeting any resistance. Money has little value when you are always hungry.

”The citizens of Kophar were happy to trade what little they had for one more morsel of food, drugs, or those potions tattoos. It made their life easier. Also, don’t forget that our marks don’t deal in extortion or protection fees.

”They break the law to give the people what they want. It’s another of the reasons tracking this organization down has been so hard. No one is willing to talk with the officers.”

”Because it would mean to implicate either themselves or someone they know.” Solus pondered. ”Still, I feel we are missing something. Potions are too expensive for regular people and no one becomes a criminal for charity.

”Now that the famine is over and food is no longer a luxury, how does this organization make money?”

”Good question. I wish I knew the answer.” Yerna shrugged as the stagecoach came to a halt. ”We’ve reached our destination. One moment, please.”

A tap on the badge on her breast pocket shapeshifted her immaculate uniform into cheap, stained commoner clothes that suited her exhausted expression to perfection.

”Please, follow me.” She got off the stagecoach and opened the inconspicuous worn-out wooden door of a musty stone house with a rusted bronze key.

The hallway was clean but poorly decorated, a perfect match with the outer appearance of the old building. The only weird thing about it was how cramped it was, leaving most of the space for the rest of the rooms.

”This is the bathroom.” Yerna opened the door on the immediate right to the entrance, leading to a spacious bathroom with both a shower and a tub.

”This is our center of operations.” Then she opened the door on the other side of the hallway.

It opened into a large office that occupied most of the house, with two desks on either side of the room and another on the opposite wall from the door. Four Constables worked on their amulets, receiving new information and revising the old.

Four members of the Knight Guard sat at every corner of the room with a bored expression on their faces. Their role was to ensure the safety of the Constables during the investigations, but operations had been suspended for a few days now.

The prolonged inactivity had worn down the elite soldiers’ nerves but they had refused to take a break from their duty until Lith’s arrival.

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”Finally!” A stocky man, at least 1.85 meters (6’1”) tall with shoulders as large as the doorframe jumped up from his seat and extended his hand to Lith. ”Ranger Verhen, right? I’ve read a lot about you and Commander Ernas always praises you.

”It’s an honor to meet you, sir.”

”The honor is mine, Captain…” Lith recognized the rank insignia but there was no name tag to protect the anonymity of the Knight Guard’s members.

”Azkel Thaas.” The captain introduced himself. ”These are the members of my unit. Sergeant Miks, Corporal Foram, and Cadet Shern.”

Only the elites from the army could apply to the Knight Guard but that was just the entry barrier. They would then be stripped of their rank, undergo specialized training for Mage Knights, and sent to the field as mere cadets.

During each mission, a unit would host one cadet for evaluation. If they passed, they would be promoted to Corporal and sent to any unit in need of manpower. If the cadet failed, they would be sent back to their original corps with their previous rank.

Corporals would change unit with every mission until they were promoted to the rank of Sergeant and permanently assigned to a newly promoted Captain. There were no soldiers in the Knight Guard.

A Cadet was always someone who in the regular army had the rank of second lieutenant at minimum and had been promoted for meritorious acts during service at least twice. Only those with proven magical talent and impeccable honor were taken into account.

”It’s an honor to serve with you, Ranger Verhen.” Sergeant Miks gave Lith the salute and ignored the others. ”I’ve done my best to break your records at Grimatros’ camp and got nowhere close.

”With all due respect, you were a beast even before becoming one.”

”At ease, Ranger Miks.” Lith returned the salute and recognized the rudeness typical of fellow Rangers.

”Let me guess, you don’t give half of a rat’s ass about civilians, correct?” Menadion asked.

”Correct, ma’am.” Corporal Foram’s icy blue eyes were the only thing visible from the slits of her helm. ”No matter how powerful a mage is, if every once in a while they don’t get their ass out of their labs and make themselves useful, they are worthless. Even Magi.”

”Good! I like you guys already.” After being treated like a celebrity for something she had done over seven hundred years ago, Menadion found being treated like a nobody refreshing.

”So what’s the plan now that we’ve gotten our reinforcements?” Thaas removed his helm, revealing to be a man in his mid-thirties with brown eyes and grizzled black hair.

”We wait...” Lith’s reply made the members of the Knight Guard groan in frustration. ”Until tonight.”

”Why? What happens tonight?” Shern asked.

”Nothing. Earlier we’ve set a trap at the Mage Association and before making our move I want to see if the enemy bites.” Lith replied. ”If someone accesses the Gate Network’s log or rumors about my presence spread, we’ll know there is a mole.

”It would give us another lead to find our marks. Whether it works or not, tonight we’ll visit one of the establishments you have identified as a base of the criminal organization. Your raids have always failed but this time things will be different. Continue your saga on

”It’s time to stir the pot and see what comes to the surface.”

***

Lith and Solus spent the following hours by reading the field reports of the past failed raids while Menadion studied the equipment of the Knight Guard. She hadn’t gotten the opportunity to examine artifacts not made by Lith and Solus since her escape from the World Tree and was very curious about modern Forgemastery.

In the meantime, Yerna and the rest of her Constables kept in touch with their informants to see if word of the arrival of the Supreme Magus in Kophar reached the streets.

It was a big piece of news and if someone brought it to the attention of the cartel, it was unlikely for the small-time crooks among its members to keep their mouths shut. People like that loved to brag and it took but one slip of the tongue for that kind of information to spread like wildfire.

”Still nothing.” Lith checked his communication amulet and no noble of Kophar had requested an audience from him.

”Same here.” Constable Havya said while checking the Gate Network system. ”No access to the logs of your arrival.”