Inside one of the inns of the town of Agrona. Mister Rudwick bowed his head upon seeing the 15 people standing in front of his counter.
“Greetings.”
Captain Callan approached him and bowed his head. “It’s nice to see you again, Mister Rudwick. It’s been a couple of years since we last met.”
Mister Rudwick smiled. “It is. What may be the reason for your return to our humble town?”
Captain Callan looked around the inn. “A lot of things have changed since the last time I was here. What happened?”
“Let’s just say our ruler wants to change this place for the better. What can you say about the new town of Agrona?”
“This place really is becoming better, your ruler really is doing a great job.”
“I am pleased to hear that.”
Captain Callan grabbed the coin purse on his waist. “We’re going to stay here for a day or 2, I hope you have available rooms for all of us.” He handed the coin purse to Mister Rudwick.
However, Mister Rudwick just waved his hand. “I already reserved a room for all of you and you don’t need to pay for it. Our ruler already paid for your stay here, it’s our way of welcoming important visitors from the kingdom with a good relationship with our town. Your rooms are on the 3rd floor.”
Captain Callan paused for a second with his eyes wide open. Even the people behind him were looking at each other with surprise on their faces.
Captain Callan cleared his throat while slowly taking back the coin purse. “I see. So she already set it up all for us.”
Mister Rudwick chuckled while slowly shaking his head. “No. ‘He’ did.” He handed 15 keys to the counter.
Captain Callan looked at him with confusion. “Ha?”
“I’m home!” All of their eyes shifted behind them upon hearing the voice. Emily waved her hand on them with a big smile on her face. “Oh, it’s been a long time, Mister Callan. It’s nice to see you again.”
Captain Callan bowed his head. “I can say the same, Emily.”
Emily walked passed through the crowd of the knights and leaned on the counter. “Ah, I’m hungry, Pops.”
“How was the meeting, Emily?”
“We talked about the job openings and facilities that will open sooner.”
“I see.”
“And oh, Mister Casimir told us about the incoming party and it will take place in Miss Tanya’s mansion’s garden! I’m excited about it!”
Mister Rudwick exhaled. “That’s the only thing you are interested in, Emily?”
“Because it will be interesting, Mister Casimir promised us that he will dance with us! I want to see him dance, it would be fun to watch!” She declared while chuckling.
“While we are at it, how’s Mister Casimir today?”
“He looks better now, unlike last week when he really looked exhausted. Maybe he finally got a good rest now.”
“I see. It’s a good thing.”
“We’re going up to our rooms now, Mister Rudwick, Emily,” Captain Callan announced as he walked towards the staircase.
Emily waved her hand on them. “Aye!”
“Mister Callan, enjoy your stay in the new town of Agrona.”
Captain Callan paused for a second then nodded. “We will.”
Each one of the knights was given a room of their own. As Captain Callan entered his room, he wandered his eyes to the white room with a white bed and red carpet on the floor. He put the key over the red smooth small cabinet beneath the glass window and gazed outside.
His eyes dwelled at the lively marketplace with an abundance of people gathered around. Humans and demi-humans were getting together in one place with smiles on their faces.
He shook his head. “That fairy, she’s telling us that she’s watching over us. The moment we entered the town, most of the scouts watching us suddenly disappeared, however, in return, she’s giving us apparent hints that she’s fully aware that we are here and we are just here because she allowed us to.”
He removed his cloak. He’s not wearing any armor, rather, the only clothes that he’s wearing was a pair of white tunic and brown leggings.
“Dimensional storage.”
Upon saying the word, a black circle appeared beside him, he put his cloak inside and the moment he removed his hand, the black circle instantly disappeared.
He sat on his bed and narrowed his eyes while looking at the sky from the glass window.
“Why did you suddenly decide to change this place, Tanya Latora?”
The morning has arrived. Captain Callan’s group gathered at the road in front of the inn and were no longer wearing their cloaks. Just like Captain Callan, the only things they were wearing were their tunics and leggings.
“We can start by asking the citizens of this town, I would suggest that you go find humans around here because they are more likely to give us answers. However, I insist, don’t do anything that will put us in trouble. We were just allowed to investigate because their ruler allowed us to. I would highly suggest that we should not test her temper. After we are done here and have already gathered enough information for the report, we’re going to leave before we overstay our welcome.”
“We understand.” All the knights said at once.
The group scattered around the area and started their investigation. On the other hand, Captain Callan walked towards the direction of the Spriggan faction. As he reached the very center of the town. He stopped right in front of a building under construction. The only part that had already been built were the outlines and the foundations with steel bars erected in them. However, even with just them, it’s already apparent that the building would become a massive facility located at the very center of the town.
The huge building put Captain Callan in great awe while staring at the people currently working in it. The laughter of the workers could be heard while doing their jobs.
“Mister Callan!”
Captain Callan shifted his gaze towards the person waving her hand on him while running towards him. He immediately approached her and bowed his head. “The Shadow fairy’s right hand, Lady Karoon.”
Karoon stopped and scratched her head. “Ehh? Don’t be that formal with me!”
Captain Callan chuckled. “I see. Pardon me.” He looked behind where Karoon came from. “That’s a huge building you are building there.”
Karoon pointed her hand at the ongoing construction. “We are currently building a municipal hall for this town.”
“Municipal hall? Your ruler really is serious isn’t she?”
“Yes, so serious that he almost killed himself by overworking.”
Captain Callan furrowed his eyebrows. “He?”
“Ah, by the way, Mister Callan, what may be the reason for your coming here?”
“I was sent to investigate the issue of the released slaves. I assume, you already know that we know that those released slaves came from here. After all, we have kept the secret about those shady businesses for years from other human kingdoms. All we want to know is the reason why you release them now. So at least if it causes a huge uproar in the near future, we are aware of the reason for the matter.”
“Hmmm.” Karoon put her hand on her chin. “If you want to know about it, why not ask for the audience with our ruler? He’s very busy right now, but I think he will answer you, especially if it’s an important matter.”
Captain Callan cleared his throat. “Pardon me, but did you just say ‘he’?”
“Yes, ‘he’. Our ruler, Mister Casimir. Why?”
“Casimir? Who is that?”
Karoon tilted her head sideways. “Mister Casimir is our ruler, wait, who’s ruler are you talking about?”
“Ha? Isn’t Tanya the ruler of this town?”
Karoon’s eyes narrowed. “Tan-tan? Ruler of the town of Agrona? Since when?”
“Ha?”
“Lady Karoon!” One of the workers in the ongoing building called for her.
“Aye!” Karoon waved back her hand. “Uhm, Mister Callan, I have to go.” She scratched her head while walking back. “Enjoy your stay in our town.” And ran away.
Leaving Callan behind with his eyes shivering in confusion and wide opened mouth. “The ruler of this town is not Tanya, but a person named Casimir?”
