Goldfern stood tall to its name. A city painted with golden color through beech trees that covered every aspect of the city.
It was a mingling of nature and city together and during the autumn season, the city will show its true color as it gets dyed golden.
Which also birthed a custom of worshiping these beech trees, which each household plating another tree so that the prosperity of the city never dies down.
But this was not autumn, it was soon after it. And most of the yellow leaves have fallen from the branches, which were then cleaned by the City officials.
Which started the blandest time of the year for this grand city. And this was when Girium entered the city while driven by the Bear Bastards.
This was the second time he came here. The first one was when he initially arrived in this state while searching for the unawakened God Constructs.
His reasoning was simple. With a city this big, while having a booming tourism industry. There would be many who would come here to sell souvenirs excavated from old sites that were all around this city.
Which meant that his chances of finding the treasure that the whole world sought would be higher.
"Hmm… Smells dirty." Girium said while looking at the street where the cars drove through.
This was the poor part of the city filled with those that were not so lucky during their birth. Half-naked kids and women who worked as cleaning ladies were frequenting this time of the day. With some occasionally drunk men sleeping on the roadside. This was the side of town the City hall wants to hide from the tourists, the part of the city which has been hidden by twisting the roads in a way that a common tourist would never accidentally stumble in this depressing place.
The only time these people lost in their struggle bothered to look up was when these black jeeps drove past them.
Some of these people had fearful eyes, something he had expected from the start. But most of the people on these streets looked at these jeeps with hopeful eyes.
'Interesting.' Girium thought while turning to look at the injured men who had been sitting alongside him, not daring to even face him.
It was not long before the jeep came to stop outside a hospital and offloaded many of the injured. Which also made the jeep in Which Girium sat empty.
From Girium's understanding, it would seem that this hospital was owned by these gangsters. Which would explain the fast set of actions followed by the hospital staff.
There was even a group of people standing outside the hospital. Waiting for the arrival of these men.
'Probably family members.' Girium is summarized by the crying faces of those that didn't see the face they so desired among these men.
Which also meant one thing. The boss of these men should be waiting for him at the HQ.
Something he looked forward to as well.
"Please, we won't take much longer," Teerath Explained while Zig looked after his men and supported them to the hospital.
He had no face to show to Girium anymore. He was defeated by the pressure alone. So he was looking for any excuse to stay far from him.
Which forced Teerath to take command of the situation.
"No worries…" Girium nodded in understanding. Before asking for some food. He had his meal stolen by two of Teerath's men. So he owed that much to Girium at least.
"What would you like?" Teerath asked, surprised by Girium's request.
But when thinking about how Girium has not eaten for a whole day, this request was not that surprising.
"Just some roast fish will do."
*****
An hour before Girium entered the city and five kilometers away from the hospital, on top of a famous restaurant, a man and woman sat all alone in the darkroom waiting for the arrival of someone.
"How many dead?"
The man was one of the commanders of bear bastards and was called Kale. He just arrived in the city after getting the news of what happened in the village along with the ambush that his men faced soon after.
"Around 17 are dead… as for injured. I am not sure." Risa, who was also a commander explained. Her eyes were tired from handling the situation from the day before.
"What of the man you mentioned? Is it true?"
The reason he came here in actuality was the absurd report that was sent to them.
A man capable of destroying a God Construct and now that man was looking for their leader.
For one, Kale didn't believe a single word that was written on that report concerning that man. To him, there are multiple ways to fool the eyes of a mortal.
The woman in front of him was the biggest proof too, she was a mirage specialist and capable of building intrinsic illusions that are hard to break apart.
And that too without the support of any Relic.
"Don't know much. All I know is that he is on his way here. And we should be ready for him." Risa while rubbing her head due to her headaches.
This has been a thing for her since she received bad news, one after the other.
"Does the boss know about this?" Kale asked.
"Seventeen of our men are dead. Of course, she will know."
Hearing this, Kale sighed in a depressive tone. "You should have kept it a secret, at least until we dealt with this man."
He displayed his thoughts out in the open.
"This man doesn't feel right to me. He appeared out of nowhere and is capable enough to face a relic and even hide it from the eyes of common men."
"Soon after which our men get ambushed by the Dragon cunts and miraculously saved by this stranger who wanted to meet our boss."
"No matter how you think, this seems a bit too coincidental."
Kale said, his head working up scenarios that Girium would laugh at.
"So you are saying he is a hired muscle, here to kill our boss?"
"I don't think it. I believe it."
"Then we have to eliminate him before he meets her." Risa didn't question Kale's words and why he came to this conclusion.
This was because that's what he was good at. And why he stayed out of the city for so long.
He is the reason for the sharp growth of Bear bastards.
*****
Now back to the present.
Girium candidly accepted the food that Teerath's man handed him.
It was his favorite, roasted fish with garlic and chili marinade.
The best part for him on a fish like this was the fish's skin. Because that's where most of the fat and roasted masala or spice blend was concentrated.
It was the perfect mix of flavors that Girium loved to eat. As for the white flesh beneath it. It was good, but rarely with those white flesh have any other taste besides being fishy.
Hence there was a sauce box in the tiffin he got. A simple lemon-based chili sauce.
"Hmm…" But Girium didn't dip his bland tasting flesh of the fish into the sauce. He just silently closed the lid of the sauce and silently enjoyed the fish.
This time eating some of the skin along with the fish flesh. The way it was meant to be eaten and not the way he usually ate those.
"You are not a simple person." The man that originally handed him the food walked from the side once again and looked at him, his voice changing in the middle to something more effeminate.
"Hmm… Thank you for the food." Girium only replied with this, completely ignoring the threatening glare that came at him.
In a general sense, if this was an attempt at his life. He would have broken that woman's face in retaliation. But as the poison will only cause him mild sleepiness, he didn't think that sort of approach was needed.
These were good people, or so is what he has learned since entering this part of the neighborhood. They were treated like gods here. So harming them here for such a slight offense would be the same as antagonizing this whole area.
And Girium didn't wish to do this.
As there would be many who will come to him in revenge to 'right the wrongs and be a nuisance to him.
WHich he would very much like to avoid.
All he wishes is to destroy the God Constructs. Nothing more than that.
"Are you crazy?" Risa asked, wondering the kind of man she is facing right now.
His reaction to being poisoned was to thank his enemy for the poisoned food.
"I guess I am."
"..." Risa didn't know what to say anymore. The man didn't seem to be in the mood to fight, nor was he a bad person as he had saved her people multiple times.
So killing him was a bit extreme. And from Teerath's recollection of his abilities, killing him with just the two of them would be hard.
This was an existence that only their Boss can fight. Hence they used poison to even the playing field.
"Tell your boss I will be waiting for him," Girum said before dropping his head down and taking the white flesh of fish off its bones carefully and then eating it while savoring as much as he could of the bland-tasting flesh.
"Let's just go… if he wishes to die so much. Let him be." Kale also understood the fact that Girium will be a tough opponent. Hence he didn't wish for a fight to start when they were so close to a hospital with many grieving families surrounding it.
He was not so heartless as to willfully cause collateral damage to the families of his men.
So he chose to back off.
And Girium turned to look at him as well.
He can see who was the higher one in the power dynamic even though both were transcendent beings.
Hierarchy would exist everywhere, even among those that have the same rank on the surface and in the eyes of the public.
"Don't make me wait," Girium said. His eyes shone with deadly glee as he looked at Kale.
He never liked those that used people mentally weaker than them to become the sacrificial lamb.
If this was someone other than Girium, the person to blame would be Risa. And she would be the one to die first as well.
Girium can even imagine a situation where Kale appears while he is making a killing blow and pleading for Risa's life and excusing her as if she made a mistake.
He has seen this happening in a place and time he has never forgotten about.
So his hate for this type of person was also high.
But different places made him act differently.
He will let this one go for a while. Girium planned to enjoy his meal first, a meal that could turn out to be his last.