"Somebody snuck past the sentry around the Duke's towers and tried to free the parasite who's still locked up there, at the foot of the towers," Simm reported eagerly as soon as she got back from her summon. Ken was in the middle of a small war with his children in an attempt to feed them enough breakfast. Simm's return turned the battle further against him as the kids all ran to hug her legs, screaming at the top of their voice gleefully.
"Give me the bowl," she said authoritatively. Ken handed the entire breakfast tray to her while flashing a demented smile at the kids who were oblivious to the fact that their mother wasn't about to rescue them.
Husband and wife cooperated seamlessly to force-feed each child as much as their tummy could handle. With how quickly their body was growing, they needed a near-constant flow of rich nutrition.
"What clues have you discovered so far?" Ken asked.
"Not much. All I've been told is that somebody among the officers let them in. The way they snuck in is so hard to track that whoever helped them must have a ton of influence inside the core city, especially over the guards. We've been told to look for evidence of unusual behavior among the patrolling teams and sentry squads. The result of the investigation hasn't been encouraging so far."
"Don't you have a guess who it could be?"
Simm sighed. "I'm not familiar with the politics here. How could I guess that? The only guess I can make is about the identity of the invaders. It's probably a team of parasites."
.
Ken nodded in agreement. "I think so too. The imprisoned parasite might have succeeded in sending out the crucial information out of the Duke's grasp. But his clan has yet to make a move, from what I've gleaned. Last night was probably just an attempt to see how seriously the Duke is taking them as a threat and whether the hostage can be freed for a bit of extra leverage."
.
"Can YOU guess who let them in, then?" Simm asked in a provocative tone.
"...If I had to guess, I'd point my finger at the influential clans controlling the core city. Even any high ranking officer did help the invaders, that person has to be a member of one of these big families. And unless their own family harbors ill intentions toward the Duke or his clan, I can't see why someone from those clans would betray their own city like that."
Simm gasped. Ken's conclusion was like a bright light blooming behind the veil of mystery covering the fiasco. It connected the invisible dots in her mind, perfectly integrating itself with her own perspective of the scenario.
"I knew I'd missed something. No wonder I had the urge to come back home and have a chat with you," She muttered. Ken laughed, feeling a little smug upon being praised by his wife.
In high spirits, he left the kids in her custody, promising to be back within a couple of hours so that she could resume her investigation.
Today, Ken was supposed to attend the archery training for rookie sentries at dawn. He had missed the whole session, unfortunately. By now, even the other training sessions were probably over. He just didn't want to miss out on the day's Exp gain. If nobody raised a fuss, he would enter the training ground, shoot arrows for a couple of hours, and leave silently.
However, Ken's perfect plan was thwarted off its trajectory when he reached the outer building preceding the training grounds. The other rookies had still not left, for some reason. Seated on the ground, divided into several circles and cliques, they were chatting animatedly when Ken walked in. The noise in the small hall stopped immediately as eyes fell on him one after another. An uncomfortable silence shrouded Ken as he interpreted the emotions in their gazes.
Pity, schadenfreude, and eagerness, but no surprise. These guys were waiting for a good show.
.
"Recruit Ken!" A loud, harsh voice rang out from the other side of the hall. A group of unfamiliar goblins followed one of the trainers into the hall. Ken could guess by their lavish clothing that these goblins didn't belong to the training hall. These were guests.
Ken performed the standard salute and waited for the confrontation to escalate. The trainer walked right into him, face inches away from Ken's as he chewed on his words.
"Recruit Ken! Was it your duty or not to appear in the training hall four hours ago?"
"It was, sir!" Ken replied honestly. That seemed to further fuel the Goblin's anger.
"Then do we agree that you've failed on the very first duty you had as a trainee sentry?"
"It was an honest mistake, sir. It won't happen again!" Ken said, sidestepping the urge to give an excuse. Even the most valid excuse needed a proper time and execution to take effect. This situation did not admit such opportunities.
"Last night we've come to learn that there are quite large gaps in the training of our sentries," the trainer said furiously, almost too loud. His words seemed to be directed at the other rookies alongside Ken. "So we have decided to put a little more discipline into the new generation! The next time you make a mistake like that, you do not need to appear here again!"
Ken's gaze shifted between him and the guests he was leading. Some of those guests looked a little too interested in Ken's ordeal.
"Understood, sir!" Ken performed another salute. The trainer nodded after a brief moment and turned to leave, only to be called out from behind.
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It was one of the guest goblins. Nose upturned in disdain, the young noble shouted, "Captain Ceruki, I heard that among the new recruits, someone used their connections to get in forcibly? This someone is also said to have little to no skills in combat. Could it be this rookie right here? His appearance and conduct matches the descriptions!"
The trainer faced the young goblin noble with a stony expression. "Master Furlo, are you accusing the selection committee of nepotism?"
The young goblin sneered. "Accusations are hard to avoid when the whole city sees you commit a wrong. Since you appear unconvinced, why don't we put the accusation to test?"
Ken sighed, feeling a little helpless. This was the problem with joining powerful factions and large organizations. It was hard to make progress while minding his own business. Even if he didn't seek out trouble, trouble would come knock on his door.