Rargnes stood frozen for a moment, his surroundings blurring. He stirred his drink and stared blankly as the liquid sloshed from side to side. A cold sensation swept through his body, and he felt the weight of the message. The commander was dead; the power of theft was present—likely the noble or his men. Wasn't he just a street away? He fixed his gaze on Sengrar, who was talking to Jean, and Jean returned the look.
Immediately afterward, they ran toward the entrance, the noise trailing behind them. They grabbed their scepters and maces, while Jean knelt like a squire, adjusting the joints of their armor. They passed through security and raced down the streets behind Jean, who carried the lamp, until they reached the burning makeshift hospital.
"Who the hell set it on fire?" Jean exhaled, stopping just a few meters away. Most of the buildings were wooden; an uncontrolled fire would destroy countless lives and property.
"They must have done it on purpose, so we'd have to deal with it and not search for them..." Sengrar muttered quietly. He stepped closer to the building, closed his eyes, and began to chant, moving his scepter. Seconds later, a gray cloud formed above the burning hospital, and rain poured down on the crackling flames.
Rargnes didn't even have time to ask what to do when Sengrar began running toward the still-burning building. He exchanged a surprised look with Jean, nodded, and they both rushed inside. His heart pounded. The putrid smell grew stronger through the smoke. Just hours earlier, many injured had been inside. Rargnes stopped in the lobby but found only charred corpses. He stood frozen for a few seconds, mouth open, as if he wanted to comfort those he had never truly cared for, but then he turned away, avoiding the sight, and joined the others who stood before the decapitated head of the commander, their expressions filled with disbelief, a half-consumed cigar still in his hand.
A brief silence followed, and tears fell from Sengrar's eyes, one step ahead of the others. He lowered his gaze, knelt beside the body, touched the commander's face, and brought his hand to cover his eyes.
"Rargnes, Jean," Sengrar said in a low, cold voice, in his native tongue, "gather everyone. Make a roll call. Don't let anyone leave this city. No one."
"Do you think it's one of ours?" Jean asked.
"No one else knew. The commander wasn't the type to share that. At most, maybe ten people knew. It won't take long to expose the traitor."
"But I mean... the theft... shouldn't the noble be the one with that power?"
"And who told you that?"
"Heze."
"... Bring him here, and make sure all exits are covered. It could just be a stroke of luck from the last rats hiding out. His cowards might have just attacked the hospital."
Rargnes felt that something was off. If the commander had only died at the announcement of the system, they should have heard the sounds of battle, even from the wounded, and they had left a few guards. How could such a massacre have happened so quickly? The absence of any signs of combat from the commander and his decapitation from behind suggested the treachery of a trusted ally, but such a person, alone, could not have carried out this carnage in such a short time. It would have seemed strange for several armed people to have entered the hospital.
Rargnes and Jean nodded, responded affirmatively, left the building, and split up. Outside, the word had already spread that enemies had attacked, and many allied soldiers could be seen inspecting the streets with lamps. Rargnes himself spent most of the night searching for clues or guarding the city gates, but no one found anything. By the following day's roll call, once the bodies were identified, only four people were missing, including Heze.
In the days that followed, the allies grew increasingly impatient, searching every corner of the city and conducting illegal raids—legal since they were in power. A week passed with no enemy group found, and just as the soldiers' rage had mostly subsided, and they were preparing to return to the military base, the walkie-talkie crackled with a voice:
"Help! East gate! Need reinforcements! Need reinforcements!"
The message was abruptly cut off by a scream. Rargnes turned to his small group, and they sprinted toward the east gate.