The army in the city of Raind was facing a problem. Their initial blockade and supervision of the selling of ingredients for drugs had worked. The supplies of drugs had decreased momentarily, but it only worked for a few days. The business of Underworld was back, like nothing ever happened. They increased the security and looked for suspicious people, but everything ended up being a waste of time. The distribution of drugs was higher than ever before.
The higher ups of the army were having a reunion to discuss how to proceed as their plan had failed. The city of Raind had a total of 6 Sergeants and 2 Captains stationed. These people were the high command of the city, in charge of all operations, only answering to the Generals in the Capital and, of course, to the Supreme General.
All the high command were reunited in a room inside the base of the army. They were talking about their next move to try to capture Underworld leader. There weren't any ideas. All the people were quiet. The first to speak was Captain Reggie Pasten Alubarde.
"Gentlemen, I want to ask all the sergeants present a question. Why do you think the city of Raind needs so many Sergeants and Captains?" No one answers. "It didn't seem strange to you that a small city so far away from the Capital, right on top of the border with the great forest, needed so many members of our rank."
It was a strange thing. This city was founded only a few months ago. How could it need so many soldiers? One of the sergeants raised his hand and answered.
"Is it because this is an important trade route with the Kingdom?"
"Yes, correct, this city is the primary point of trade with the Kingdom in the north, just beyond the great forest. But there is another reason for our presence, and it is the kingdom itself." The Sergeants were confused until Reggie explained the real reason for their presence. "War gentlemen. War is the true purpose of our mission."
The people were at a loss after hearing those words. Only one person was totally calm after listening to the war prospect. "But Captain, we have a peace treaty with the Kingdom." One of the sergeants spoke.
"Yes, a peace treaty. A piece of paper that our leaders signed along with the King of Axes. Sergeant, were you in service when the peace treaty was signed?" The sergeant who spoke denied it with his head. "Do any of you Sergeants was in service when it was signed?" No one raised their hand.
"I thought so. Only I and Capitan Vince were serving at the time. The peace treaty was signed to end the conflict over the ownership of the great forest. The council of 52 signed because the cost of those battles was too much at the moment. But you know, gentlemen, how many of the people who signed the treaty are still in the council today?"
No one knew the answer. "19 that´s how many are still in the council today. Not even half of them are still serving as leaders today. Can a signed paper that doesn't even have half of the leaders right now be considered valid? The members of the council sure don't think so. That's why they moved us here, to prepare for the war that is eventually going to occur."
The Sergeants were all of them young. Hearing news about a potential war with the Kingdom made them nervous. It was true that the council today was more ambitious and more detached from the cost of war. They were greedy merchants who wanted to grab the resources of the forest. They didn't care for the soldiers who would die or the civilians; they were just looking to fill their pockets and secure their positions in the Council for as long as they could.
Still, the 19 remaining members who signed the treaty were all against war, even today. They were older and knew about the damage war could cause to a nation. It was better to accept the loss of potential resources than lose even more in the war. The calculations of the votes were about 28 to 24 against war. A very delicate balance that could shift in a few months.
"Gentlemen, you must know that war is imminent. The council is making preparations so when we strike, we will be victorious, and the kingdom will not have any other choice but to surrender." Reggie spoke with pride.
"But before all that we must exterminate any crime inside our nation. Syndicates are scum who break the law constantly, for riches or in an attempt to gain power. They infect our nation like a parasite, sucking the fruits of the hard work of good citizens. I refuse to let Underworld keep sucking the wealth of our city! Are you with me, men!"
"YES!" They responded with enthusiasm. THUD... A loud sound was heard. The other Captain in the city, Vince Kasius Monroe, spoke.
"We should declare martial law and start looking in every house. The rats can't hide if we leave them no place!" Vince was an older man. The white of his hair was evidence of his life and the stress he had been put through. Despite his age, only a fool would put his battle abilities in doubt. The man was huge in size, and his muscles were built on the battlefield.
"Captain Vince, we should do that only as our last resort. The common folk would suffer a great deal in martial law. We must consider their safety our top priority. I propose another alternative. We'll stop monitoring the sale of ingredients. In fact, the more they sell, the better for us. We shall track every seller in this city. I want to know the names of every person that touched the money used to buy drugs or other illegal items. We would map the whole city and all the suspicious people. After that, we'll use all the information to find the common link. That's what is going to lead us to the inner members of Underworld"
"Mphf. How long is that going to take!" Vince responded with anger in his voice. "If we declare martial law now, I could find them in a week."
"Captain Vince I don't have any doubt you could do it. But we need to catch them all together. If their leader, Hades, escapes then, he's going to form a new group and cause trouble in another part of the Republic." Reggie's argument made sense. "If we take only a few more months, then we can make sure to catch them all in a single day."
"Fine Reggie, but if we don't have any news about their base after those few months, then I will declare martial law and I will not leave a single stone unturned."
With a plan set in motion, the reunion was over and the soldiers went back to work.
Thanatos was in his office thinking about the current situation of Underworld. He had managed to make a deal with the tribe on the other side of the mountain. For the last two weeks, they have been collecting ingredients and sending them to the city. Neo was the one in charge of looking for ingredients and, with a few more men, she made sure animals did not attack them on the way back.
With the supplies from the village coming twice per week, Lui could make a bunch of drugs to sell. Some of them were transported to the Capital thanks to Castess and the new members he hired for transportation. The business was going well. The contacts in the Capital were helping them to keep a low profile, so they weren't having trouble with other syndicates.
Since things were going so well, Thanatos was putting his mind to discovering the identity of the slavers. He had promised the Chief protection as part of the deal. He didn't have any clues about when they could appear, so he sent Eric along with Neo to do patrols in the forest. The only thing he could do was wait for them to take the bait.
A knock on the door brought him back. It was Adel. "Excuse the interruption, Master, but the food is ready."
"Time flies when you're busy. Let's go eat." He stood up and went to the dining room. When he arrived, he was greeted by the sight of Lia with a new garment in her hands.
"Ah Thanatos, look, I made you a new suit." It was a dark blue suit of implacable quality. "Do you like it? I thought you would like something darker since I made you a yellow shirt the other day."
"Thank you is very pretty. Although I think I'm running out of space in my closet."
"What? You should tell me sooner. I can buy you a new closet or... we can go together if you want?" She blushed and put the tips of her fingers together.
"Ah, S-Sure. I'll be happy to go with you anywhere really, so... if you want to go buy a closet, I can go with you." He blushed at the same time he grabbed Lia's hand and took her to the table.
Adel wasn't sure what happened in the forest, but it seemed that Thanatos and Lia had told each other their feelings. He couldn't sense any more doubt from Lia, and his master's spirits were back in full. Apparently, they are dating now. Adel didn't know what that was, but in Thanatos's words, it meant they were in a romantic relationship.
Every day they would have lunch together and talk about several things. Sometimes they also hold hands, and both start blushing. It didn't matter; seeing them happy was enough for everyone else.
"How long is going to take you guys to gather a few plants?" Neo was complaining to his colleagues in the middle of the forest.
"Sorry, Neo, we're working as quickly as we can." One man spoke while putting herbs on his back.
There were four guys collecting ingredients, while Neo was acting as a bodyguard. She was getting bored of standing around without doing anything. "Come on, fill those bags so we can go back to eat something" She gave a pat on the back to one of the guys that almost make him fall.
"Eh, stop hitting my boys!" Eric's voice came from behind her. He returned from his patrol.
"I´m not hitting him, just some encouraging pats. Still haven't seen anything out here?"
"No. There's no trace of any other humans around here. When was the last time that you said they attacked?"
"The last attack happened to a tribe of wolf-like demi humans. The survivors told us three months ago. We don't know when those bastards will come back." Neo was pissed if someone tried to take her tribe and use them as slaves. She would never forgive them.
"Eric, Neo I finished filling my bag." One of the men got close to them and announced that he had finished his job. In the next moment, Eric and Neo jump to protect him.
Eric tackled him down, and Neo caught the arrow that almost hit him in the back. It was a black arrow. It had some intricate designs and was completely painted. Everyone looked at the direction of the attack.
A man wearing a long black robe was standing with a crossbow. He had a mask on his face. Around him, other people dressed in the exact same way appeared. Neo knew immediately who they were.
"Finally decide to show up, you bastards!" She was feeling only anger towards them.
"Boys, get back to the point and call for reinforcements. We'll deal with these freaks in the meantime." Eric ordered everyone else to leave.
A figure emerged from the strange men. A man in a pink hat and a suit, humming a song and playing a small lute.
"Mmm, uhm, tu tu tu. Mmm, uhm, uhm tu tu. Well, well today Hunt is going to be interesting."