Third person POV
Shortly after, Russell leaves the assembly hall while carrying the iced cadaver of the male hooded member, going back to the scene in the farming fields. There he saw his party and group, including the first squad of town guards, looking around for any more clues about the pestilence culprits. "Oh, it's Russell-kun!" Azalea said to them upon seeing Russell coming. She and John then ran towards him.
Russell stopped and put the iced cadaver down, releasing him from the weight of its heaviness.
"We saw that hooded member is chasing you," John asked him with concern.
"Did she hurt you or something?" Azalea added.
"No, I'm fine," Russell positively replied back, "I managed to defeat two of her henchmen."
Adrian heard that and ran towards him. "Woah, really?"
Russell then looked at him. "Yeah, one Lightning Throw at them, and they're knocked out."
And then, one of the town guards came to him and asked, "Kid, are there any more of those suspicious hooded people?"
"Yes, two of them are at an assembly hall northeast of the town center," Russell replied back.
"Ah, okay, thank you for your cooperation, kid."
Cassius and Taryn then went to Russell and saw the iced cadaver next to him.
"You literally carried that heavy thing around, did you?" Taryn asked Russell.
"Yeah, I did, I have to," Russell responded.
"You're quite strong, aren't you?" Cassius replied back.
"I just used all of my strength to do that."
"I see then…"
Shortly after, Alder, the dragon family, and the second squad of town guards came with the two hooded, would-be arson, members being apprehended by them. "Oh, hey guys," Russell said to them upon seeing them.
"Woah, two more?" Azalea asked them.
As Alder tossed the two criminals in front of Russell and others, Kelly replied back, "Yup, we did. Those two are trying to burn down one of the silos."
Russell, Adrian, Cassius, and John couldn't believe what they had heard from them.
"What?"
"No way…"
"Now that's arson!"
"Yes, but we luckily stopped before they would set fire on any of them," Ria responded back.
"And we did that with our ice magic!" Rai added.
Russell and his party were quite impressed by it.
"So that's their magic as dragons…" Russell thought in his mind.
Then, the captain of the second town guard squad asked them if there are more of the hooded figures in town. "Yes, two more at an assembly hall northeast from the town center," Russell responded back. This prompted the said captain of the said squad to send 3 of his squad members to scour the town's 3 assembly halls for those 2 suspects, in which his three guards did so.
The next morning, at the town's barracks, 5 hooded members were on the ground tied up. The fifth one had to be defrosted from being trapped in ice. Russell and the others, as well as the mayor and some town officials are standing in front of them with different expressions.
"So, they're the ones who wreak havoc in my town?" the mayor asked.
Russell then nodded. "Yes, we saw one of them summoning insects using magic to ruin the next farming fields."
"Magical ability that allows its users to summon insects?"
"Yes, sir," Cassius responded back.
The mayor got it.
Then, one of the town's leading officials said to Russell and the mayor, "We'll do the interrogation from here. We'll inform you of their motive and agenda once it was done."
"Okay, thank you," the mayor replied back politely and briefly.
"Yes, thanks, sir," Russell added.
After that, as the 5 criminals were being interrogated in the town barracks, Russell and his group decided to leave to go and inform the farmers about that. The mayor, meanwhile, went back to the town hall to do some work while waiting for the results of the interrogation. Shortly after, Russell and his group went to the farmers whose a handful of their farming fields were destroyed by the man-made pestilence to inform them about the catching and apprehending of the recent and possible culprits. There both farmers were very surprised to hear that because both of them didn't notice all that chaos last night since they were asleep at that time.
"Really?"
"You guys really caught them?"
"Yes, but we need to confirm that by the results of the interrogation first," Cassius responded back.
The two farmers got it, wanting to know the truth later.
Later, at 8:45 a.m., Russell, his group, and the mayor were called by the town barracks. The two farmers, as well as the head caretaker of the town's food reserve silos, were also called in as well. So, all of them gathered at the barracks' main hall, and the leading official who started the interrogation, alongside the two captains of the assigned town guard squads, came in with the results of their interrogation of the 5 criminals.
It turned out that those 5 hooded and shady individuals are responsible for the pestilence happened in the town's farming fields. The reason for it is clear: they wanted to instigate a rebellion amongst the common folk against the mayor for the famine, food shortage, and not responding to their needs. 2 of the suspects also admitted to attempting to burn one of the town's food reserve silos to speed up the process of creating a rebellion even faster, but that one failed. Russell and the others were shocked, and Russell knew that he was right.
"Yes," said the town official, "and one of them said that there are six of them originally, but that sixth person perhaps left them behind and fled."
That causes Russell to remember Callie from last night as the one who ran away from her fight with him at the assembly hall.
And so, he spoke up, "I remembered her. She's the one who chased for the iced member last night."
Most of those who were present in the hall then looked at him.
"You do?"
"Do you know that person's name?"
"Yes, but I don't know her name yet," Russell replied back.
With that, everyone got it, and the town official continued on his report, "Also, all five of them admitted being from a secret organization called the Square Order of the Squirrels." Russell and the others were stunned to hear such a new and strange name, being new to that and its existence as a secret organization.
"Who are those people?"
"What was that mysterious group?"
But the town official only managed to get some vague information about that group from its 5 members, so that was all he could extract.
When that official shared that series of vague details of the Square Order of the Squirrels to Russell and everyone in the audience, they started to process those bits of information.
And now, Russell analyzed the name of it, connecting its key words to the symbol on the hood he looted from a dead hijacker a couple of days ago.
Then, seeing that they both had a very connection, now he knows a bit about them and their shady and secretive organization.