"How many children are in there?" Jorgen asked.
"Fifty-two... no, no, fifty-four," the clerk replied.
Jorgen glanced at Joseph by his side, who was using binoculars to observe the situation inside the classroom.
The standoff between them and the invaders had been going on for over an hour. They had led the night watchmen to the mansion, but the invaders had taken three children as hostages, threatening to decapitate them if the night watchmen came any closer. To strategize and guard against potential arrow or firearm attacks, Jorgen, Joseph, and others had gathered in a house with a clear view of the classroom.
Joseph lowered his binoculars and handed them to Jorgen. "Staven is in there too, and he's alive."
Jorgen took them and began to observe. He didn't see Althea anywhere, and he believed Joseph hadn't either, but they couldn't confirm if it was due to obstructions. Staven was crouched in a corner, a pool of blood by his feet, and no one was guarding him. The number of enemies couldn't be determined; there were only five outside the house on guard, but inside, there were likely between fifteen to twenty people. They guarded every window and corridor, leaving no room for resistance. Even though their hostages were fifty-four adult males, there was no hope for them to fight back. While the invaders didn't have a uniform appearance, their expressions and physical condition indicated they were undoubtedly a group accustomed to combat. More importantly, their weapons were highly diverse, mostly non-standard, and carried unique characteristics. Many of them had multiple weapons. At least on the surface, they appeared to be a group of bandits.
Elro paced back and forth behind the two of them, breathing heavily and intensely, raising his right forearm stiffly as if to shield himself from splashing mud. Suddenly, he stepped up to Joseph and said, "There really hasn't been a breach in the town's defenses?"
"No, everything has been normal so far."
"How did they get in then?" Elro's right fist struck his left palm forcefully several times. "You have to give me an explanation, Joseph."
"I can confirm they weren't hiding in the town before. With this number and their weaponry, they couldn't have concentrated in one place. If there were any flaws in the patrol arrangements, it would be the disappearance of the night watchmen patrolling near the mansion about ten minutes before this. However, they couldn't have gathered in such a short time, so it's unlikely they were hiding in the town. Besides, I mentioned earlier that all the night watchmen haven't found anything unusual during their routine patrols since the murder."
"But there has to be..." Elro's left hand wrapped around his right fist, which trembled in front of his abdomen. Unable to get any answers from his usually calm and composed younger brother, he turned to Jorgen. "So, Jorgen," he omitted the formal address for the first time, "do you have any other insights?"
"Just as Joseph mentioned, it's challenging to determine how they appeared here. I can tell you as an external observer that the night watchmen have very strict patrol routes, and it's impossible for an invasion of this scale to occur in an instant," Jorgen said.
"Could they have been hiding in the old Mistrmantle house? It's so large and uninhabited," Elro asked.
"Our people just broke all the locks and searched it, finding no signs of anyone residing there. To hide so many people, providing space alone wouldn't be enough; they would need a significant amount of supplies," Joseph replied.
Elro showed no restraint in expressing his fear and disappointment. If there was anger in him, it was buried beneath his concerns about the current situation, like smothered kindling that had almost burned out, extinguished by the dried leaves of worry. He looked out of the window, and as soon as his gaze fell on the classroom occupied by the criminals, he turned around, exhaling rapidly. Sweat trickled down his forehead.
"Mr. Elro," Jorgen said, "the current issue isn't pondering their origins, but how to respond. They haven't taken any actual hostile actions so far, which suggests either they don't have a complete follow-up plan, or there's internal discord among them. I lean towards the latter. Therefore, what we should do now is observe, wait, and predict their actions rather than rack our brains about how they appeared. I believe Joseph would agree."
"How do you know they haven't acted? How do you know that in places the damn binoculars can't see, in the corners of the rooms, they haven't—" Elro's voice trailed off.
"It's impossible. Just as you saw earlier, they're people who genuinely use hostages; they won't recklessly harm them out of our sight," Jorgen said, with a hint of cruelty in his words. If the other side wanted to harm hostages, they would need an audience to make them tremble and submit, and then derive benefit from it. This plunged Elro into anxiety about what he might witness soon.
"We still have the advantage," Joseph said. "They've appeared in the estate, far from the main road, without alerting the townsfolk. At least, the news hasn't leaked so far. They'll be facing capable night watchmen. With no townsfolk interference, we can devise more efficient strategies. Just as Jorgen said, we must now predict potential scenarios and prepare for each one."
"Joseph, I just need you to tell me this," Elro held onto his younger brother's shoulders. "If—if they intend to harm the children immediately..."
"This situation cannot happen."
"So I said, 'if'! I'm the mayor, and you should let me finish speaking!... If this situation really happened, could you stop them?" Elro looked into his brother's eyes. He was slightly taller than Elro, and since Elro was currently hunching, Jorgen had the advantage of looking down. "No," he replied.
"You—" Elro's hand tightened on his brother's shoulders for a moment before weakly releasing them. He continued to pace back and forth at the back of the room. "You two talk for now, and let me think," he said. He was disappointed, but not just by the answers he received; he was more frustrated with his brother's calmness compared to his own agitation and helplessness in this situation.
Joseph was just as agitated. Perhaps Elro couldn't see it, but Jorgen could. He saw how Joseph focused his gaze on the distant classroom, as if he had forgotten how to blink, only closing his eyes for a brief moment when they couldn't endure the strain any longer. He also noticed Joseph's hands behind his back, with the left thumb pressed tightly against the right wrist.
Jorgen understood his own agitation as well. The fact that "Althea is among those children" immediately connected to a sense of familial crisis for the Everlock family. But in Jorgen's mind, it was tied to other individuals and matters that couldn't be ignored. If this were Stormwind, it would be much easier to handle because he could immediately call upon MI7 operatives skilled in covert assault. However, relying on the night watchmen, who were experts in defense and vigilance, to do the same was not feasible. In fact, even in a full-scale direct confrontation, he didn't believe that the thirty people he had now could win, let alone protect the hostages.
"Jorgen, what are your thoughts?" Joseph asked. "I have to admit I have no experience in handling such situations. So far, you've been troubled quite a bit, but I still need your input. What actions might they take... for instance, demanding a ransom?"
"They will definitely make some demands; that's the whole point of having hostages. I have to say, if they know Althea is among them, they have even more reason to make demands, and it's likely this is the cause of their internal disagreement, as they haven't decided what to do yet. Of course, this doesn't mean it was a random attack. When planning their operation, they targeted the abduction of children as their primary objective. But when they discovered Althea, they had to change their plans. Asking for a ransom is a possibility; it's a common response. You can't expect a group of bandits to value anything other than gold coins."
Jorgen deliberately kept mentioning Althea throughout the conversation, emphasizing her danger to gauge Joseph's reaction. It wasn't cruel mockery but rather related to assessing the Everlock family's position in this event.
"Darkshire isn't a particularly wealthy place. Since their operation is so well-coordinated, why would they choose to—"
"It's quite simple," Jorgen said, "because raiding Darkshire and successfully escaping afterward would likely not draw the attention of the official Stormwind military. It's mainly a matter for the Night Watch. Don't tell me you've forgotten even this most basic fact. Wasn't it the same a year ago? Of course, I'm saying this assuming that the current invaders are after money."
Joseph looked at Jorgen. "Are you suggesting a connection between them and the bandits from a year ago?"
"I'm not sure. What do you think? You were there, fighting alongside Gondore."
Joseph wanted to say something, but his attention was immediately drawn to the window. "Someone's coming out."
Hearing this, Elro walked to the window as well.
The person coming out was Staven, his face smeared with blood, a chain wound around his neck. It wasn't until he had moved about ten yards away from the house that people noticed the other end of the iron chain held by one of the invaders. He shouted, "Continue walking," and followed suit, while Staven seemed like a dog reluctant to go for a walk, dragging his feet forward. After leaving the house about twenty yards behind, he stopped, took out a small piece of paper from his pocket, unfolded it in front of his eyes, and began to read.
"You, all of you... Everyone..."
Staven seemed to choke on his words, as if his voice had been strangled. The person behind him said, "Start over," and gave the chain a strong tug, causing Staven's entire body to tilt backward. At the same time, he made a muffled, murmuring sound, as if trying to urgently extract a snake that had burrowed deep into his throat.
"Listen carefully, all of you. You must gather all the Darkshire council members and more than a hundred townspeople here within half an hour, and then we will present the conditions for releasing the hostages. For every minute that passes, we will... kill one person. If the number of people gathered is less than what we consider, we will kill as many hostages as is lacking. These words are effective immediately."
As soon as Staven put down the note, the person behind him pulled the chain, making him fall to the ground. He got up, clutching his throat, and walked back.
Jorgen understood that sending Staven to deliver this message served two purposes: to ensure the invaders themselves stayed out of attack range and to display their cruelty. To them, the hostages no longer possessed human attributes; they were things that could be dragged out like wild dogs.
This clearly had an impact on Elro. "Half an hour? Did he say half an hour?" He turned to the secretary. "Quick, go..."
"Wait, you're just going to agree to their demands like that?" Joseph said.
"What else can we do? Joseph, you were the one who said you didn't know where these guys came from, and that we can't protect these children. Do you have some brilliant plan now? If not, then stay put here and don't waste my time."
"I also believe, for the safety of the hostages, we should immediately comply with this demand. Besides, we still have at least half an hour to think of a strategy," Jorgen said.
"Both of you stay here," Elro said. "Delta, come with me."
He left, and Delta followed.
"They... need us to gather witnesses. Perhaps it's not as simple as a ransom," Joseph said. "I need to coordinate with my brother and arrange the repositioning of the Night Watch."
Jorgen watched Joseph leave the room. The invaders' demands took him by surprise and completely shattered the temporary advantage the Night Watch had of not being disturbed by non-combatants. As for the direct purpose of these demands, Jorgen had two speculations in mind, and he believed Joseph could consider them too, even though they weren't spoken aloud. Public declaration or execution, he thought. There's no other possibility.