"You hear the news from last night?"
The man in tattered, worn clothes called out, his voice filled with shock. His gaze moved from one table to the next, locking eyes with other men dressed just as poorly as him, locking onto their tensed and concerned expressions.
This was a small tea stall on the outskirts of Stafen Street, where people from the slums and day labourers usually began their day.
The place itself was simple, built from wood and mud, quite a rare sight in this advanced age. But for the locals, it held meaning. This stall had been around for centuries, a small piece of heritage that reminded them of home.
For generations, their families had lived and worked here.
They had even fought to keep this place from being destroyed, standing up to the powers that be to keep it open.
"Yeah, those demihumans dared to launch another attack on Volford lands," one of the men muttered angrily.
"The second time now. Last time, the Twelve Council somehow managed to stop the Volfords from declaring war."
"But this time, I don't think the Volfords will stay quiet."
"No way, there's no stopping it. This is all-out war."
"But we're already short on resources. The human nation is totally dependent on the elven state for supplies. If the Volfords start a war, we'll be the ones paying the price, while the three great families have enough wealth to protect themselves."
"Tsk! If only the Sword God was still in his prime..."
"Hey, but maybe, even if it costs us, those Mosaic bastards deserve to be taught a lesson. They've looked down on us humans for too long. At least the Volfords will put them in their place now."
"The Volfords?" another man scoffed.
"They've never cared about the human nation's interests, only their own. They, and the other two families, are parasites. We'd be better off without them." His voice grew louder as frustration seeped through. "How much longer is the Twelve Council supposed to keep the nation together while these so called—"
Thud!
Before he could finish, a muscular man at the next table slammed his fist down, silencing him instantly.
"Keep quiet, or your whole family will pay if someone hears," the muscular man warned, his eyes narrowing as they fixed on two unusual figures across the room.
Newcomers or even the natives rarely ventured into this grimy spot, usually turned away by the place's stench and shabbiness.
It was an unspoken rule that only locals from the Stafen Street slums hung out here. Yet, here was a well-dressed man smoking a cigarette, seated calmly while the girl he'd brought along sipped her coffee.
The scene was odd enough on its own, but bringing a girl, especially one so delicate and beautiful, to a place like this?
It was something no sensible person would do.
Suspicion etched on his face, the muscular man finally decided to approach them. He wasn't a thug, he just wanted to know what this stranger was up to.
Standing nearby, he asked, "Sir, you don't seem to be from around here."
The man remained unfazed, but the woman beside him reacted instantly, shifting slightly as if on guard.
After a moment's pause, the man replied, "I lost my wallet, so I thought I'd wait here for a while."
"Oh, is that so? Sorry, I didn't mean to bother you then."
The muscular man's suspicions didn't fade, if anything, they deepened. 'That woman doesn't seem as simple as I thought. Could they be from the corporation, are they here to charge us?'
He began to watch them carefully from the corner of his eye.
Finally, the man finished his cigarette, stood up, and, leaving a few coins to pay, walked out of the stall without causing any disturbance.
"They didn't make any trouble?" The muscular man's brows knitted in confusion. But with the start of his shift approaching, he quickly brushed the thought aside.
...
'Seriously, no matter where I go, there are always suspicious eyes on me,' Arthur thought, sighing as he stepped out of the tea stall, his eyes heavy with exhaustion.
He hadn't slept in three days, and finding an affordable place around here was nearly impossible. Stafen Street was one of the most expensive areas in the human nation, making even a night's stay costly.
It wasn't that he couldn't afford it at all. He did have some money from the last bounty hunt, but he had other, more important priorities he had to invest in first.
Like Claire, she was his main fighting force, and to make full use of her skills, she needed a decent sword.
Her sword techniques wouldn't be effective without a proper weapon, and even the lowest-quality swords on Stafen Street cost a small fortune.
He briefly considered Wallen City, where the black market offered cheaper options, but that was out of the question now. After killing those ten men, going back there was just asking for trouble.
No matter which gang they'd belonged to, he knew they'd be hunting for him by now.
'Thanks to those loudmouths, I couldn't even take a quick nap. Looks like I'll be sleepless for a few more days until I finish the next mission.'
He sighed again and glanced over at Claire.
"Let's get you a sword,"
✿✿✿
"What now? Did we really do it?"
The young wolfman's voice trembled, his dimly glowing purple eyes fixed anxiously on the man he considered his general.
The entire group belonged to the Wolfman clan, a branch of the demihumans.
The general took his time responding. His gaze swept across the silent, moonlit field before returning to the seven disciples before him.
"Have all civilians been evacuated?" he asked firmly.
"Yes," answered one of the wolfmen, adjusting his glasses while scanning the data on his tablet. "They've been evacuated, and we left behind some dummy dolls and human captives as planned."
"Good."
The general nodded and resumed his steady march northward.
"Tell me, General, did we really do the right thing?" The young wolfman's eyes were now filled with determination, though his tone still held traces of doubt.
He halted, refusing to move forward until he got an answer.
The general frowned. "What do you mean by that? The Great Empire is backing us. We have nothing to fear. Those filthy humans have harassed us, enslaved us, raped our women, and traded our people like property for generations. Are you saying we should just sit back and keep quiet?"
"No, of course not. But won't this just bring more suffering to our people from the Volfords?" His voice was laced with concern.
He trusted his general, this man had raised him and his six siblings after his parents' death. They all believed in him, but the decision to organize such a terrorist attack, without consulting their community, weighed heavily on him.
"Maybe," the general replied, his voice unwavering, "But that suffering will be temporary. This attack will provoke those arrogant idiot Volfords into retaliation. When they strike back, it will amount to a declaration of war. And this time, the elves won't be able to step in, as the humans will be the ones starting the war. And with the Great Mosaic kingdom backing us, there won't be anything to be scared about, it will end of the human nation,"
He paused, a wide grin spreading across his face. "This time, they'll be our slaves."
"Yes, it's only a matter of time before General Alkhid and everyone else stand in awe of you," one of the others chimed in eagerly.
"What??" But the mood shifted as the usually calm and aloof wolfman holding the tablet rushed toward the general, his face tight with concern and even a hint of shock.
"General, look at this," he said, holding the tablet out urgently.
"What is it?" the general asked, frowning.
"During the mission, we had zero casualties. I found it odd, so I asked the team for a detailed report. This is footage from one of the body cams."
"Let me see," the general ordered, leaning in as the video played.
In the grainy footage, there was a brief glimpse of a man, barely visible. But the general's eyes went wide as he recognized him instantly. It was a face he could never forget, the face that haunted their entire clan.
"Ragnar Volford, the Demonic General?" he whispered, looking at the others with shock.
"What is he doing there? And why didn't he interfere? With his strength, he could have wiped us out without breaking a sweat."
☘︎☘︎☘︎☘︎☘︎☘︎
{A/N}
To cover the important events of the Welheimhim, which though, don't directly affect Arthur at the moment but those events are essential in shaping the course of the story, setting up important characters and of course for world-building. So basically point being, similar to this chapter, a couple of upcoming chapters would be divided in two, following Arthur and others about world events (Not all but only a couple more).
Thanks for reading.
Vote and comment it will boost my motivation, ngl my motivation is going all-time low.