The Kingmaker System-Chapter 155 - 154. Something Sinister (4)

Rose wiped the tears that had gathered at the corners of her eyes before her gray orbs met mine.

"Sadly, enough, I couldn’t find anything worthwhile except for the gossip that I heard from the townsfolk."

I leaned ahead steepling my fingers together as I focused on her.

"They were discussing about the gang or some beast who roams the streets at night and takes away the homeless or any person whom it finds on the streets after midnight and that’s how a lot of people had disappeared not only from Hezborn but also from the neighbouring towns. But, since the ones who got kidnapped had no particular strong ties with anyone else and also because the other people were too scared they never reported about this to the authorities."

"But from what we saw today, the culprits are most likely the mercenaries or the people who are hired by someone and those people gather whomever they find out on streets. And once they are discovered they are gotten rid off by a separate team." She concluded and I inhaled and exhaled deeply picking up a few points from her report.

"They have a skilled sniper and also my people." I mumbled.

"If they would have taken me then, they would have brought me to the same place where the others are." She added making me turn my sharp gaze on her.

I saw her shiver before she avoided my eyes, "Please forgive me."

"If I had to send a bait then I have plenty of other people who can take care of that. You are the manager of my information guild so, make sure to do only the job given to you and not step out of your bounds and get yourself in danger. Am I clear?" I spoke coldly making her nod.

"Yes, I understand, Master."

"I’m letting this slide for now if you dared to do such a thing without reporting to me again then," I let my Dragon’s Presence whip around us making her tense up as I added, "I won’t be as forgiving."

"Yes... Master."

"You may leave now."

"Yes," she stood up and bowed to me before she left the room and I released a deep sigh.

Foolish girl. She wasn’t a strong fighter even after being Enora’s daughter so, going off on her own in such a dangerous place. It was as good as suicide.

I couldn’t fathom how I would have faced Enora who had entrusted herself and her daughter to me when she devoted herself to my service.

It was around the time of my last birthday when I had run into the assassin who had come to infiltrate Oasis.

And for a change, it was a woman.

I kept an eye on her as she moved about my town snooping around trying to find clues about me. I had even stopped the townsfolk to not do anything and let her do whatever she wanted meanwhile, I had sent my own spies to dig information about her.

Soon enough, I found that she had a daughter for whom she was doing that work.

Since I had her weakness in my hand, I approached her while she was snooping near my estate.

I recalled every bit of our exchange that day and also her attempt to kill me since I had found out about her and her daughter. She was skilled and ruthless when it came to attacking and extremely cunning while dealing with the person who was way stronger than her.

Still, she ended up losing and I had her join my side since she had to take care of her daughter and make sure that no one else could know or exploit her weakness.

Regardless of me pulling a bad trick on her, she stayed loyal to me, but it was more like acknowledgement of the stronger one which led her to follow me.

Enora was smart and knew how to take calculated risks but I guess Rose wasn’t the same.

"She’s yet to learn when to stop and retreat." I mumbled.

I focused back on the present as I had an issue on my hands, my people were missing and I might just have gotten entangled in someone’s trap.

I should talk with Lord Devil soon, but before that there was something else that I needed to do.

I picked up the second communication device that was connected to one specific place before I called for the name of the person I wished to talk to.

I talked to that person for a while before I gave some instructions and then I disconnected the call.

I was feeling uneasy, it was as if the quiet before the storm and I didn’t even know from where it was going to hit me.

The number of people missing from my side were seven and a couple dozens from other towns. It was a concerning matter which was why I couldn’t just sit back and wait for the things to unfold.

I couldn’t even dispatch my teams out in fear of them getting kidnapped.

I walked out of my mansion and called over the guard which looked after the security of the mansion and the vicinity.

"Yes, Master?"

Around twenty assassins were kneeling in front of me, it was an unprecedented thing so, I guess it was better to give these emergency orders as the temporary measure until I’d taken care of it.

"Spread the word amongst everyone under the Oasis Foundation that none of the guard will stay out at night alone. Don’t, understand any circumstances get involved in any skirmish with any outsider and report immediately if you see someone being dragged away. And I will repeat, don’t engage in any fights even if someone is being taken away in front of you. Retreat immediately. Do you understand?" I asked.

It was disheartening to say it all but for now, the safety of my people was the most important thing for me. If this kind of problem falls only over me then I could easily handle it but if it were these people then it would get a bit touchy for me.

Lyall and Enora weren’t around and the other task forces weren’t as skilled so, I would have to be there myself.

With those thoughts in mind, I was busy scouring the towns at night looking for any suspicious activites around the four towns of Hezborn, Lozar, Borkshire and Crigston. I had going around my own town for being sure that no one was messing around my domain as well.

But regardless, I didn’t sense anything out of place for all the three days and three nights that I had spent looking into these towns and also the ones around them.

It was exhausting and I was getting nowhere with all the field work, even my team was getting nothing from their sources. It was frustrating to say the least.

So, on the fourth day, I ended up at Shadowcliff to meet the man who made me end up in this mess.

"Pardon? Your people are missing too." He gasped pausing as he was about to take a sip of his tea.

"Yes, seven of them." I spoke.

He sighed as he placed the cup down and looked at me with a distressed expression.

"A lot of my own men have disappeared while looking into this matter." He said and I released an exasperated sigh.

"You told me about this, Lord Devil. But, apart from what you know is there anything else that I should know? Anything at all? I’d like to know every minute detail about it, even if it seems trivial." I pressed making him ponder over it for a long minute while I impatiently waited.

I usually wouldn’t jump into any battle without any preparation but here I was already waist deep in someythat I had no idea about and the lives of my people were hanging by the thread or maybe I was already too late.

"Most of my men had disappeared from Lozar and it’s also the town closest to Frosthail and also is close to the border of Esmertia."

"Lozar?" I repeated and he nodded.

"So, I guess I should dig up that town and its surroundings to find my people and also the other kidnapped people."

Lord Devil observed me before he sighed and said, "It’s beyond my reach and there are also a few other issues that I am busy with that’s why I cannot look into it. I’m glad someone like you is around, Lord Dragon or..."

His shoulders slumped and for once, he seemed like an aged old man crushed under the weight of his responsibilities and work.

"Lozar..." I mumbled as I picked up the teacup taking the slow sips letting my brain create a map in my head.

I had combed that areas so much now that I could see the layout clearly in my head, Lozar was the closest to the two territories or rather it was a town located near the cliffs and the gorges that separated the two territories. And if that wasn’t enough then those two territories were Frosthail and Esmertia.

Needless to say, it was an area which was already a landmine zone along with the other three so, my suspicions were bending more towards Esmertia.

But, to kidnap the people randomly was a bit unsettling.

What could they be planning now? Wasn’t sending the kids to the battlefield enough?

I returned back to the Ryujin mansion with the limited information and found Rose in my office waiting for me.

"This better be good." I mumbled as I saw her and she nodded.

"I’m sure you will find it better than the other information." She said and I observed her before she told me something that indeed was the best news that I’d gotten so far.

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