"There were more?", Cale asked quietly, hurrying alongside Mamoru. Together, they formed the rear of the four-person group and talked quietly about the events of the past few weeks.
"Three in total, yes. Always different buildings and always at night."
"By the gods", Cale exclaimed, trying to adjust both his behavior and his choice of words.
"Just like with the kidnappings, no one saw or noticed anything."
"Can you imagine that these things are connected?"
"I couldn't for the life of me", Mamoru replied, stopping briefly in front of a dark alley before continuing on his way. "What do children and arsonists have in common?"
"Maybe as a diversion?"
"As a diversion? Doesn't that attract even more attention?"
"Just a thought", Cale muttered thoughtfully. "Do we know how the children are being kidnapped?"
In his eyes, an obvious diversionary tactic wasn't such a bad idea if you wanted to hide something important. After all, that was exactly what he was doing at the moment. He was disguised as someone from Frignez, but claimed to be from Altona. To most, this disguise seemed like a pathetic cover - and that was precisely what made it so effective. No one suspected that he was actually one of them. A Sylver. A child. A survivor of Groka's attack. His entire demeanor was nothing less than a carefully constructed deception.
"In the middle of the street, in front of shops, in dark alleys. Whenever the adults aren't looking or when they're out alone."
"Terrifying", Cale replied, holding his chin thoughtfully. "And the arson, where did they took place?"
"In an apartment building, a restaurant, and an inn. I don't know what's so interesting about that, especially since they were scattered all over town."
"And there weren't any outside?"
"Nothing that I know of."
A rustling sound made Cale prick up his ears for a moment, but since he didn't detect any source of mana, he paid little attention to the noise. It wasn't his first night on patrol, and as was often the case, everything was surprisingly quiet. A group of drunk passersby had caused some excitement earlier, but since then, an almost pleasant silence had settled over the streets.
"Do you know what immediately came to mind?"
"What was that?"
"Why choose places where there are bound to be people? I mean, there are clearly dozens of families living in an apartment building, there were bound to be guests in a restaurant that stays open late, and an inn is always full here in Bellator anyway. You could choose much less conspicuous places, couldn't you?"
"Maybe they were targeting someone who was staying there."
"But they questioned the people, right? Wouldn't that have come up?"
"Probably."
"Do we know how the fire was started?", Cale asked his next question and followed the group up the steps in the eastern part of the city. It was a familiar route that Cale had already memorized.
"Not yet, but the starting point was always the corner of a room."
"The corner? Not a place that can be quickly ignited?", Cale interjected, but Mamoru shrugged. "Didn't they want to kill the people inside? I mean... why would they start such a small fire that would probably be discovered immediately, instead of just setting the hole house on fire?"
"Maybe there was no other way, especially with so many people present", Mamoru began and stopped abruptly.
His colleagues did too, which is why Cale stopped and looked around. He spotted two men walking ahead of them and a young woman who appeared to be on her way home. She seemed to be playing with her long hair, which is why she didn't notice the men staring at her.
Cale immediately guessed why his group had stopped. Silently, he watched as the men approached the woman, exchanged glances, and grinned. Cale watched tensely as only a meter separated them, but when they were right next to each other, nothing happened. The woman continued walking unsuspectingly, while the men turned around and appeared to be looking at her body. One of the men noticed the group of soldiers, so he tapped his friend on the chest to alert him. Before Cale knew it, the two men ran away, as if embarrassed that they had been caught gawking. The woman, on the other hand, approached the group, smiled, and greeted them politely as she passed by.
"Should we follow those gentlemen?", Tiebra asked, turning to Mamoru with a questioning look.
The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.
"That might not be a bad idea. Follow them discreetly, and we'll meet up again at the east gate. Zod and I will take the usual route."
"All right, you guys take care."
The two female soldiers distanced themselves from the group and followed the men, while Cale hurried after Mamoru. They walked along the capital and turned into the first alley to check out the residential area.
"Do you do this often? Split up?", Cale asked quietly, letting his gaze wander over the dark buildings. It was an eerie sight at this late hour.
"Rarely, if ever. Going alone would be too big a risk - it's just not worth it. But now that you're here, it's perfect..."
"I try to help wherever I can", Cale said amusedly. His gaze lingered for a few moments on a dark spot that turned out to be a bird. Without a word, he watched as the animal rose into the sky, while he let his mana flow out to get a better view.
"I heard that you were in Oriann last week... with the king."
"Seems like the rumors are spreading."
"Is it true?"
"Yes, the letter you gave me was an invitation", Cale explained calmly.
"I see. May I ask how it was?"
"Well, I can definitely recommend the concert, that much is certain. Rarely have I heard anything so lovely. I guess I am only accustomed to war. But I suspect you are more interested in my meeting with King Leonhardt."
"You got me."
"It wasn't anything too exciting. He asked about my sword and the life I've lived. But most of the time, we talked about children, as I realized later. I learned a little about the princes, and he got to hear about Ahri."
"You make it sound like you were talking to an old friend, not the king of Sylve."
"He is also just a human, Mamoru. Of course, I was excited and careful about what I said, but after some time it's been easy to talk to him normally. He was quite open with me, which is probably due to Sir Freigoud's influence."
"That's undoubtedly one way to get attention", Mamoru began, but gave him a skeptical look. "It doesn't seem to bother you."
"Should it?"
"I don't know, do you want to be the topic of conversation among nobles at their tea parties?"
"It will blow over as soon as they find a new topic. Even though I don't want too much attention. As it is now, I think it's fine."
Cale gave his advisor a slight smile. The man looked ahead and then back at Cale - and at that moment, Cale's gaze inevitably fell on the scar that ran across his face like a brushstroke. His smile faded. Once again, he wondered if he should try to learn about healing magic in Frignez after all. The thought had occurred to him more than once, and the desire had sprouted just as often. But it was difficult to learn from anyone other than Aletta - but she was not currently alive.
His attention turned forward when he sensed three sources of mana. Without a word, Mamoru and Cale took a few steps until Cale could see that the three men were soldiers. They greeted each other politely and wished each other a peaceful morning before going their separate ways.
"The silence is oppressive, don't you think?", Mamoru spoke up after a few minutes, folding one arm across his chest. He let his other arm, the injured one, hang loosely at his side.
"Ever been out at night in the creature planes?", Cale asked with a mocking undertone as his attention turned to a noise above the rooftops of the city. "That's so much more uncomfortable than an empty city at night."
"I was, but only in the first level. Come to think of it, have you ever been to the fourth level?"
Cale flinched involuntarily at the statement, remembering the city of Thormods. One of the reasons so many adventurers venture into the dangerous region is the resources that can be found there. Magic crystals are among the most sought-after, even though Cale had rarely found any. But since learning the truth, he understood why so many people who ventured into the 4th plain died.
"Yes, I was."
"Tell me about it, I'm curious. The place is so full of myths, at least here in Bellator. I'd really like to see the area with my own eyes, you know. It's supposed to be amazingly beautiful."
"You shouldn't go there, Mamoru."
"Wow, that's quite a statement. You have so little faith in me?"
"It's no place for humans."
"Well, I didn't expect anything else", Mamoru replied, also looking at the roof that Cale had been watching the whole time. Cale had the feeling that something was watching him from up there, even though he couldn't detect any source of mana. "I know that the most dangerous creatures live there, which is why hardly anyone ever returns from the region alive..."
"Mamoru", Cale interrupted him, causing the caregiver to look at him in surprise. "I like you, so I'll say it again. Don't go there. The region is much more dangerous than people realize."
"All right, all right. Don't pull that long face, it's scary. I was just curious."
"Good", Cale replied dismissively, a shiver running down his spine as he concentrated on the road ahead.
His peaceful life in Sylve sometimes made him forget why he was putting himself through all this stress. If someone stumbled upon the Thormods now, what would happen? There were no dragons in the mountains to deter curious humans from going there. In general, all the danger from the mountains had disappeared with Cale's intervention in Groka, which made a significant difference to the general interest.
Cale sighed loudly at the thought. He couldn't change it now, no matter how much it bothered him. It was a good thing that the Eldest war keeping an eye on the region and had tightened the border with Altona.
"What are you thinking so deeply about?", Mamoru replied.
"Oh, nothing really important", Cale evaded giving a specific answer. As he turned around, he noticed that Mamoru had come to a stop and was looking more closely at an alley. "What is it?"
"I just thought there were two people there."
"There are two people there", Cale began, pausing briefly and covering his mouth with his hand. He had also seen the couple in the alley, which is why he felt uncomfortable saying what came next. "But we shouldn't... disturb them."
At the same time, muffled, clearly intimate sounds came from the alley - so quiet that they could easily be overlooked if one did not listen closely. Since the street was known for its rather ambiguous offerings, Mamoru immediately understood what Cale was alluding to.
Whatever was going on there was definitely not something he wanted to deal with at that moment. Without comment, Mamoru turned away from the scene, while Cale recognized the mana in the alley.
Instinctively, Ben's grinning face appeared in Cale's mind's eye. To this day, he had never found out exactly how Ben had gotten his chin scar - and only now did Cale realize that the boy didn't have it at the moment. That meant it would only appear in the coming years. And Cale had no idea what would trigger it... or how dangerous it could be for Ben.