In an unknown space beneath some unknown place somewhere on the continent, five figures gathered around a gleaming black marble round table. Among the six obsidian black thrones skirting the splendid table, a seat seemed to be vacant.
Seeing the absence of one of its important members, the ones already sitting flashed all sorts of complicated expressions. The atmosphere in the chamber is heavy; any unnecessary movement could be seen clearly by everyone.
Aware that no one would break the silence, the person with the highest position among them, Kolben, the leader of the Five Headed Hydra, spoke on behalf of everyone.
“So… Alt had been discovered and confined, huh.” Kolben then shifted his attention to one of the division heads. “Velfast, can you detail how that happened?” ｎｏｖ𝚕．𝚌ｏｍ
“Yes, sir.” A man with a black mask that covered half of his face and enveloped him in light black clothing responded to Kolben. “The knights raided our sole drug den in Zwergin. They probably found any links that connect to Alt that resulted in his confinement.”
“Then, how on earth did the knights find out the location of the facility?” Right after he said that, Kolben stared straight at the shivering head of the drug dealing division.
“Sir Kolben! I swear, I have truly disciplined my men not to betray our organization! Sir Kolben, please! Spare me! Someone outside must have leaked out information!”
“Are you saying that Alt assisted the knights to be captured afterwards?”
“N-no, sir. I am not saying—”
“That’s enough, Methis.”
With a voice so loud and clear, not only Methis but all four other heads stopped moving a muscle and shut their mouths up. Even the strongest-looking Modred cannot handle Kolben’s staggering presence; he knew very well who’s more powerful between them after all.
His words are filled with overwhelming pressure, cutting off the intensity of the air circulated around the slightly dim chamber. The chamber left silent as if the tension before was nothing but a lie.
Kolben unfolded his arms once the table settled and turned to Velfast once again.
“Elaborate on what happened.”
“Based on what we gathered so far, some anonymous tipster leaked out the exact location of the facility, as well as the involvement of Alt with the organization.”
“Have you identified who these people are?”
“We haven’t, sir. Even the dwarfen authorities are still clueless about the identity of the tipster. The way they deliver the information is still a mystery. Allegedly, it mysteriously dropped exactly on top of the king’s table by itself.”
“Now that’s strange…”
Kolben caressed his beardless jaw in wonder. They knew that the king’s office was enchanted with various types of barriers and enhancements. Although weaker in comparison with their own technologies, the king’s office has walls that are difficult to pass through, even with the ghostly Clairvoyance.
And if someone tried to skillfully conceal and successfully infiltrate the room, the room’s defensive mechanism would react and sound an alarm. So Kolben thought of that someone as an obstacle in their plans.
“Let’s set the unknown aside. Were we able to reach out to Alt?”
“Not quite, sir. He is currently detained in the castle’s underground dungeon and is being interrogated by the kingdom’s most elite inquisitors. The palace was heavily guarded by High Dwarves and we weren’t able to discreetly enter the premises.”
“We won’t be able to silence him that way. Anyway, can anyone share their thoughts?”
“Um…”
The lone female on the board raised a hand. Her bewitching beauty and her gorgeous red dress liven up the solemnity of the chamber.
“You are allowed to speak, Sabrina.”
“Um. How are we able to handle the black market without Alt?”
Now that the head of that division has been captured, no one is currently managing the black market. Some transactions might be delayed or end up being canceled. A headless army blundered along after the death of their general, accomplishing nothing.
“In the meantime, pull off some insignificant and small trades, then prioritize the VIPs first. Sabrina will lead the division some time until we find an appropriate replacement.”
“I will give my all to fulfill my duties. You can leave the market to me.”
“Good, as expected of Sabrina, reliable all the time. Since they already have the name of Five Headed Hydra, now four unfortunately, in their heads, we need to lessen the activities we will create, especially in the Dwarfen Kingdom. It would be bad if we lost another head twice in a row. Anyway, let’s move on.”
After one case settled, another hand touched the air. Kolben bobbed his head and permitted Modred to voice his concern.
“What if those anonymous informants sabotage us again?”
Mordred asked an obvious question. Of course, Kolben had that in mind, too. Kolben nodded gravely before he spoke of the measures he had concluded in his mind.
“The intelligence unit will be tracking them down to their full extent.”
“Yes, sir.” Velfast responded.
“If we finally identify their identities and such, it will be your turn to fulfill your job.”
“I understand, sir.” Mordred, as if he knew what Kolben wanted to imply, replied with his fist on his chest.
Once the issue had been tackled, Kolben stood up from his glossy throne. His intent wasn’t to finish the discussion. He flicked his fingers, and a bursting sound echoed in the chamber.
Splat.
Crimson was painted on the glass-like black table. A beat later, the headless body of the drug dealing collapsed on the stone furniture like a dead fly.
His real intent is to finish off some incompetent subordinate of his.
The members of the committee only flinched and didn’t move any further. They had indeed witnessed the same scenario.
“After this, make Gadro a replacement for Methis.” Kolben reminded the committee as he walked towards the massive arched double-door after the four uniformly replied, “Yes, sir!”.
“Whoever dares to bare their fangs against us shall taste our wrath.”
◆◇◆◇◆◇
It’s been a few nights since the capture of Minister Furz. Michael and the company observe the nightlife of the Dwarfen Capital, Zwergin, after the incident. They are still in the city since they still have more time before returning to the empire.
Inside their room at the inn they stayed at, the three ladies flatly sat on the mattress of a relatively large bed. A pale translucent rectangular board hovering in front of them, displaying the visuals Lucy’s Clairvoyance perceives.
“Looks like things have settled down within the city.” Gabrielle voiced her thoughts. “Many of the drug pushers have been arrested by the knights. Some fled from the city quietly, and only a few successfully left the country.”
“But we cannot ensure that the organization has completely vanished in the city yet. There must certainly be another business that they illegally manage other than drug trade and smuggling.”
“Lucy is right. This unknown organization is so vast that we cannot comprehend its size or grasp. And this Methis guy must be the leader of the drug dealing; it’s just a presumption, anyway. So that claim could be wrong as well.”
Busting the head of a syndicate doesn’t mean their operations would cease, maybe to a certain point but not permanently. There must be some replacements that will continue the legacy of their predecessors.
The party had a gut feeling that the organization was a lot bigger than they initially thought. Feeling that Alt and Methis, the presumed drug lord, have colleagues that manage all sorts of businesses. It may be impossible to think that they all served an absolute leader.
“The one that transacted with Alt is still on the run.” Lucy said with a worried face. “He transported himself using the transfer circle that only recognizes specific people.”
“Yeah.” The platinum nodded sadly. “Michael personally attempted to teleport himself to the other side of the circle but failed since his magical wavelength wasn’t recognized by it.”
“Good thing there wasn’t something like anti-malware installed on it.” The blonde was greatly relieved.
For them to locate the other secret locations of the organization, Michael perfectly concealed himself and easily sneaked into the drug laboratory before the raid. He used the slum route, by the way.
He cautiously tried to use the transfer circle, but it didn’t bulge, and he discovered it uses a system that identifies mana wavelengths. It brought them to a conclusion that it only recognized specific people to activate.
The transfer circle seemingly doesn’t have the function of reacting to an unknown wavelength. There’s nothing like an alarm warning, a facility’s total lockdown, or transporting the intruder into a deadly place such as a volcano or a room filled with poisonous gas.
But they prepared countermeasures against that in case something like that happened. By the way, Michael is currently roaming around the city.
“Isn’t that kind of technology beyond what dwarves are capable of?”
“This organization is surprisingly resourceful and inventive. Given that they can build a wall better than the dwarf king’s office and the performance of their transfer circle, they can showcase more than they are displaying off.” Lucy elaborately answered Gabrielle’s question before turning off her projection. “Well, let’s leave it for another day.”
As if reading each other’s minds, Lucy and Uriel grasped each of Gabrielle’s wrists and pinned her down deeply on the soft mattress.
“Because it’s already time for our nightly routine.” Said Lucy as she sat atop Gabrielle, undressing her top.
Uriel positioned herself overhead of Gabrielle. She removed all her clothes, other than her black lingeries, before holding Gabrielle’s slender hands.
“Be gentle.”
That was Gabrielle’s last words before Lucy ravished the two.