In the headquarters of a dark guild in the border region of Triaria Kingdom, leaning on a chair with a look of disappointment was the boss that leads the criminal syndicate 『Moonlight Owl』.
There was a peculiarity on the ears of the man called Forbach. They were long, pointed ears different from those of a human’s. Yes, Forbach, the boss commanding the 『Moonlight Owls』, is an elf.
From his appearance which looks to be in his prime, it could be surmised that he is far from being 100 years old.
Sighing, he put on the ring that had been placed on the table and his characteristically long ears changed its shape to that of a human’s. For the elf Forbach to lead as the boss of a dark guild in the human supremacist nation Triaria Kingdom, it was necessary for him to falsify his race with an Illusion Ring.
Having been exiled as a criminal in Yggurle Kingdom, Forbach used the Illusion Ring to falsify his race and ran to Triaria Kingdom’s underworld.
And for many months and years after that, he trudged on muddy waters as he steadily climbed to the top.
In the process of rising in the underworld, Forbach had gotten involved with every possible kind of criminal act. Having continued to fight in the forefront for many years, Forbach’s elven-like body was covered in an armor of muscle. In exchange, Forbach lost the voice of the Spirits. He had lost Spirit Magic, which is the elves’ strongest asset.
Spending his long elven life with violence, Forbach had built up the dark guild 『Moonlight Owl』 as the continent’s top organization.
『Moonlight Owl』 gains income through every possible criminal act, but a chief factor of those earnings are drugs. As they handle production to sale, they used it on the assailant that attacked Takumi with the aim of improving on the drug that would increase a body’s capabilities dramatically. Developed over several years through repeated human experimentation, the drug which causes the user to be numb to pain as they continue moving until they self-destruct was a failure. No matter how many disposable people they have, if it was known that consuming that drug causes death, even the tip of the members would run away if they knew they’re disposable.
Hearing a knock on the door, Forbach gave permission to enter the room.
「Boss, about the stop of communication from the bases in Valkyra Kingdom, all members might have been arrested.」
「All of them, ………… you must be kidding. Are you saying that they raided all of the bases? Let’s say that is the case, do you think it is possible for all members to have been arrested?」
The information reported to Forbach was utterly implausible. Valkyra Kingdom has been having several booming fiefs recently, and that went hand in hand with profiting from work behind the scenes. Spending copious amounts of time and money on the bases they use in a country for all of it to be exposed was truly beyond Forbach’s imagination.
「I had some people go there but only five out of thirty men had come back. I was told that the hideouts were being guarded by garrisons of Valkyra Kingdom.」
「And the ones unable to return?」
「The intelligence division of the country have set a net around the bases and all persons moving suspiciously were arrested.」
「Damn it, just how much time and money do you think it took to make that many bases in Valkyra?!」
The usually composed Forbach slammed on his desk in rage. Still, why did Valkyra Kingdom begin cracking down on the dark guild so proactively, to the point that one might say it was all of a sudden? Forbach couldn’t understand.
「…………was it the failure to assassinate that youngster?」
What came to mind was the reversal during the assassination job on a young man in Volton city. Forbach remembered that the client should have been a noble similarly from Valkyra Kingdom. He accepted the job so the assassination could also serve as a test for the drug, but the target was stronger than expected and Valkyra Kingdom ended up securing the corpse of the assailant as well as the sword coated with special poison.
「Are you making progress with that mission?」
「We’re in the middle of reinvestigating the target’s data again, but we’re unable to gather information because the target is elusive and now we’ve also lost the bases…………」
「Continue gathering information on the target even if you have to increase the number of people. Also, find out why this happened to all the bases at this time.」
「Yessir!」
The guardsman left the room.
Forbach leaned on the back of his chair and closed his eyes.
He supposed that the attack on the young man and the recent base crushing incident are not directly related. The assassination attempt on a lone young man who isn’t even a noble wouldn’t have led to the shut down of all their bases in Valkyra Kingdom. The result of the simple investigation on the targeted young man is that he is an excellent magic device craftsman. Those magic devices had drastically improved Valkyra Kingdom’s sanitary circumstance and the economy is booming. Just that wouldn’t have led to the destruction of all the bases.
Forbach descends into thoughts of bewilderment as he couldn’t reach an answer.
There was no way the organization would have ever realized that this series of events was started because of Sophia and the women’s anger towards the organization’s assassination attempt on Takumi.
***