Proofread by Thomas F
Julian Pierce
Thud!
"The warehouse was empty," informed Farrow. Immediately, I hit my fist hard across the table.
There goes the last lead. I thought I had them, but this bastard is brilliant. He had woven multiple leads to keep us occupied while he moved to the load.
"Anything from Miss Sable?" I asked, and Farrow shook his head.
Now, she is my only hope. We have been able to catch a Lieutenant of Juras; the bastard knows where the load is, but he is not willing to speak.
I had handed him to Rayna Sable. If anyone could make him talk, it would be her.
She is very good. Many of the police interrogators had been trained under her, but her approach was gentle and compassionate. It takes time, but I hope she will be faster this time.
We don't know where the load is; the only thing we know is that it is in the sea mines on the northern side.
The military had cordoned it off, but given the sheer size of the area and the expertise of the gangs. They could easily sneak through many of the hidden entrances.
We have found many of them, but there are still many that are unknown.
The gangs had prepared for years for such a scenario, creating an infrastructure that would enable them to take their load directly out to the sea.
It is why the military is patrolling the northern area with the limited ships they have.
"Sergeant Vargan is here," informed Farrow. I nodded.
A moment later, the door opened, and a tall orc with short hair walked inside. He is expressionless, but I could see the frustration and disappointment in his eyes.
"Commissioner," he greeted before saluting. "The raid didn't go well," I said, and the man sighed.
"It was a decoy made to keep us busy. It only had local gang members who didn't know anything," he replied. "It's likely that he already moved to the load and is preparing to leave with it," he added.
I didn't say anything because it's the truth.
Everything we have found out so far tells us that he plans to move the load tonight. Once he does, he will escape with it; there is no way we will be able to catch him.
It is what is most frustrating about this.
If we had had this city for at least a year, rather than just a little more than a month. We would have had enough time to cultivate the informants across the gangs.
We wouldn't have been grasping for straws as we are right now.
He gave me the report and left, while I contacted people across the city for the tenth time. To find anything relevant.
Seeing that I was spiralling, I stopped and walked out of my office before walking to the roof.
It's a five-story building near the centre of the city; it used to be occupied by the undead, but it will soon be the headquarters of the police in Gailhorn.
We will gain control of it in a few weeks. The Army wants more time, but I will not give it to them.
It is why I have to find Juras and the load. This will give me more leverage, and I will be able to ask Lord Silver to hand the city to the police as soon as possible.
Law enforcement is the domain of the police; the army should have no business in it.
When I was in the army, I used to think the opposite. The changes are not due to me being a commissioner, but because I could see how efficiently it works.
The separation prevents the concentration of power in a single institution.
It also makes it much easier to deal with the corruption and dereliction. Most importantly, we could train our people for the specific duties.
In most cities, the city guards serve as the law enforcement of the city, but they also participate in wars.
The police also do that; I myself participated, but it is an exception.
Once the army has sufficient numbers, our responsibility will be to the city's law enforcement only, which becomes even more critical in times of war.
The criminals become more active, while the guards fight. The underworld moves as well. They steal, they kill, and do many bad things.
This time, it didn't happen in Greltheaven. We didn't let it happen.
All the gangs that operate there operate with the Lord's blessing. They have their territories divided, and each gets permission before selling the restricted things and services.
Many had resisted; we simply eliminated them. It made others fall in line very quickly.
It is not easy to do that, but the intelligence network in Greltheaven is very strong. Ours is good, but nothing compared to that of Velvet Garden.
We also did well in Panar, although not as well as in Greltheaven.
'We will do the same with this city as well.' I thought and looked at the city. It's huge, bigger than the Inner Greltheaven; it will be very challenging.
The port and the city's culture are going to make things very difficult.
That is why I plan to send my best people here, along with a good number of police officers. Gailhorn is very important for the dominion, and the police will aid it in becoming a true part of it.
These thoughts calmed me down, and I watched the city.
The sun had fully come down, covering the city with starless night, but the city is not cloaked in darkness. Instead, it is bright with the lights.
The city was not as well-maintained as it should have been.
One of the first things that the Governor did was to fix the streetlights.
"There is a message from Miss Sable," informed Farrow. A moment later, I was in front of him, surprising the man.
"Did she?" I asked. To that nodded. "She has sent the information, including the location of the entrance and the map leading to the destination.
Hearing that, I wasn't able to react at all for a moment.
I have been under immense pressure, from the Governor, the Lord, and the army. Since I am responsible for hunting the gang leader, many of them would want nothing more than to see me fail.
It's not like they created obstacles; they are not idiots, but they hope I will fail.
So, they would have the city under their control for longer and might even make a case to swallow the police. Many of the high-ranking officers, including some of my friends, had made a case for it.
"Activate the communication blockade. Ask our top powerhouses, including High Mage Veyra, to join us," I ordered.
"This could be yet another decoy," he cautioned. "It could be, but it is the only chance we have. Besides, the army is here to deal with things, if something happens," I replied.
I am only taking my people for it.
Not because I don't want the army's help, but because I have brought people, and with the new High Mage, I will have enough people to deal with Juras and his men.
The Army wanted the High Mage, and even my good friend Hiren asked for her personally.
Of course, I did not give her to him.
It is hard to recruit good talent in the police; they still consider us the city guards. The salaries are also slightly lower, which makes it challenging to attract top talent.
It is why I am more focused on training more. Recruit them young and train them; these people would be more loyal and capable.
A couple of batches have already graduated from the academy, and they are doing very well.
A few minutes later, I was riding through the city with twelve people behind me. Of the twelve, four of them are above Lv. 30, including the new High Mage.
Soon, we reached the city gates and passed through them.
As we did, we increased the speed further; we could not move through the city too fast, even when the roads had been cleared for us.
It didn't take us long to leave the port, and our speed had increased even further.
We moved at that speed for over ten minutes, when Vargan raised his hand. He looked around, and we waited before following him.
He was a tracker for the bandits before he joined the police.
His skills changed as his class changed. This makes him very good at investigating things. It isn't just the skill; the man has talent and is a hard worker.
If not, he wouldn't have risen rapidly through the ranks despite his background.
"This is the entrance," he said finally, and removed vines and shrubs covering it.
"It is very well hidden," said Veyra, our newly recruited high mage. "It's why we didn't find it," I replied, feeling the powerful skill attached to it.
If we didn't know the area to look. We would have never found it at all.
"Let's go," I said and walked into the cave; the entrance is small so that the beast couldn't be moved there. It gets bigger later, but we will have to move forward on foot.
I felt the others activating the skills. I also activated mine, Vigilant Watch.
It sharpens my awareness to detect ambushes, traps, and hidden enemies. Its power increases further when I am doing my job, like, moving to catch the criminal.
I kept my other skills ready. The enemy isn't weak; he is as powerful as I am.
I cannot take any risks in dealing with him.
We moved through the damp which came with water dripping from above. We move briskly, but cautiously, looking for any trap or alarm.
It is why Vargan is ahead. He is very skilled in these areas and has sufficient experience and expertise to detect things accurately.
"There is an alarm here," informed Vargan. Everyone stopped, and I walked toward it.
Soon, I felt the alarm; it's a skill.
"I could deal with it, but it will take time," he stated. "We don't have it," I replied and activated Still The Bell.
It will not deal with it, but suppress it. We must reach the enemy before suppression loses its power.
"Keep moving," I ordered, and we began to move again. We come across many alarms, hiding stealthily, and even traps; thankfully, Vargan dealt with most of them.
Those he could not or couldn't disarm fast. We simply destroyed them.
We may have blocked the communication, and it has bought us some time, but our enemies will soon realise it. Juras is smart; he has planned well.
I refuse to believe that he wouldn't find out about the communication blockade.
Once he does, he might suspect that we are coming for him. Therefore, we must reach him as soon as possible.
…
Ball Jarus
"How much more time will it take?" I said to the enchanter working on the runic circle.
I had asked him this question over ten times. He had been working on it for hours. It took a great effort for me to bring him here and all that gear he needs.
That enchanted circle is essential. It will be a way through which I will move the load above and escape myself.
They have been hunting for me intensely. I nearly got caught many times. I may have escaped, but Karig had been caught yesterday.
He is the only person, other than me, who knows about this place. He will not break.
It isn't the first time he got caught and tortured, but I have to assume the worst and believe. They might find out about this place, or they might already have.
"Half an hour, forty-five minutes or so more." He replied. "It would have been finished if the gang hadn't been so stingy with maintenance," he muttered under his breath.
I am angry, but I couldn't do anything to him even after he was finished.
The old man is quite good at enchantments and has been in the service of the gang for years. Doing something to him will make Gyrge very angry.
Which I cannot afford, until I cross Lv. 40.
I was watching when I felt the gaze and looked back at Jar; she was sitting cross-legged with her eyes closed. Now those eyes had opened.
"They have erected a communication blockage across the city," she informed.
"Fuck!" I cursed loudly.
"Karig might not have spilled anything. They might be reacting to one of our decoys," said Merson.
"Rados, you have fifteen minutes," I stated. The old man looked at me and opened his mouth, but closed it when he saw my expression, and then went back to his work.
The formation is complex, and activating it without the preparations would be dangerous, but there is no choice.
Merson may be correct, and no single one of my alarms had been activated, but my gut is telling me that I should act fast, and it is never wrong.
The load is too precious for the gang. I have to move it, and I will, even if I have to kill everyone who has come to stop me.