The next day—
The Headquarters of the City Guard had returned to its normal rhythm.
After the failed encirclement and the disappearance of Elena, in addition to the loss of the target and a lack of direct orders, the search was eventually called off. The clamor caused by the city guard was naturally questioned, but it wasn't difficult to give a satisfactory answer to those outstanding voices who lived in the slums. This was easily solved by spreading some small rumors, and simply telling the truth was enough to spread to every corner of the slums!
As the chaotic morning was underway…
Inside the captain's office, however, the atmosphere was much quieter!
The guard captain sat behind his desk, another large stack of documents spread out before him, but his attention wasn't on them. His fingers tapped lightly against the wooden desktop as he looked at the two figures standing across from him.
Appal stood straight, his arms folded behind his large back, his expression steady and clear.
Remel leaned slightly to one side, her posture far less disciplined, yet her eyes remained strikingly sharp.
"…So," the captain said slowly, "tell me again, just what happened? To mobilize so many people, I even needed to request permission from the palace. But even after all that, how did she still manage to slip away from the two of you? Hm! Don't tell me you were slacking off! You're both nascent soul level cultivators, and that little girl is only a foundation establishment cultivator!"
His gaze moved between them, his finger never stopping.
For those in the know, they would be able to tell that the three of them never took the whole thing seriously from beginning to end! It was clear that they had an ulterior motive for doing this!
"This Lady Elena… what exactly did she do last night?" The large man behind the desk asked.
Appal was the first to answer.
"Very little," he said honestly. "From what I observed, she seemed very distracted during the search. Not only did she treat the target as a casual goal, but from her macro movements during that period of time, she is likely very familiar with the target, cough-cough, of course, I mean, on a personal level. Not only could she predict that person's movements, but she also seemed to know her habits, allowing her to set a trap in advance. This is likely related to why she disappeared in the end."
The captain raised an eyebrow.
"Hump!"
Remel, from the side, snorted sharply!
"That's the weird part," she added with a prideful tone!
"She walked around a lot, looked at an abnormal number of things, disappeared repeatedly to break away from my line of sight, then secretly guided me through some super annoying psychological methods! From my personal assessment—!" Remel glared at Appal, "At least on a micro level, not only are the target and Elena extremely close, but I also suspect that their relationship is like sisters! Although we know that this is impossible, it should be added to the list of anomalies surrounding the heroes! As for her actual goal in orchestrating this whole facade, I do have a clue. During our search, Elena fell into the basement of an abandoned building in the slums. After climbing down to save her, it was here that I felt an inexplicable power, but after some time looking around, the aura suddenly disappeared. I suspect that she picked up 'something', and this was her true goal!"
The captain leaned back in his chair slightly, considering what a hero would secretly want to collect.
He could think of many things, but he still felt that something was wrong.
His mind was focused on the shard, and nothing else. The Heroes were each stranger than the last, so he wouldn't question their actions, even if they didn't make sense. In fact, the reason many people still weren't sure if Petra was a real hero was because she lacked a crucial quality, and that was a way to predict the future. This was a trait that the other heroes all possessed in one way or another, but because there was not enough information about Petra, it was impossible to determine her situation.
Seeing the captain purse his lips, neither of them spoke.
The encirclement had unfolded and failed, the chaos had erupted and was contained, and the losses had been minimized, but somehow, Elena had played in the center of it all without ever needing to act.
The captain quietly exhaled.
"…No wonder the higher-ups are interested in learning more about this person..."
Remel glanced at him.
"You mean the Royal Palace was involved in this? Didn't you contact them first? Don't tell me…"
Before the captain could answer—
A third voice suddenly spoke up.
"Interested is one way to put it, yes, but in fact, we just want to learn more about these people's uniqueness, and we want to learn about the qualities that define a hero. We don't believe that they are picked at random, but we can't find any unifying factors."
Both Appal and Remel turned towards the oppressive presence to the side.
Seated to their left, as if he had always belonged there, was a fourth man.
He wore a dark black uniform, which was far more refined than the standard attire of the City Guard. Gold-threaded patterns faintly traced the edges of his clothes, making it subtle but unmistakable, allowing one to immediately recognise his identity as one of the twelve royal guards under the emperor.
Mm, these were his casual clothes.
His posture was relaxed, with one leg crossed over the other, and an expression that was calm yet unreadable, containing an unimaginable depth.
His presence alone was enough to shift the atmosphere in the room, but when he didn't speak, people would forget him, unknowingly relaxing. Now that he had opened his mouth, both Remel and Appal felt their bodies stiffen, an unseen pressure weighing down on their souls.
The captain didn't outwardly react, but even he had to force back a tremble.
"We've already explained the situation," he said with a slightly cold tone. "If the palace wants a deeper level of cooperation, they'll have it, but its unlikely we can get the information you want without burning that bridge!"
The man smiled faintly.
"Of course, and in return…"
His fingers tapped lightly against his knee.
"…we simply hope to better understand her, no need to burn any bridges. Hm, I think it would be best to further strengthen your cooperation with her when possible." He nodded to himself, as if affirming something. "Through this, just try to add an unseen event here and there, just to test her and see how she would respond. That should be a reasonable request, right?"
Remel frowned slightly.
She felt as if 'an unseen event' meant something very different between both parties! Although she hoped that he just meant a falling tree or a lost child, why did she feel as if this man wanted them to throw people into burning buildings, or poison a small district?
Tsk! Remel hoped that she was just overthinking things, but she really hated these kind of people!
"…That almost sounds like you're trying to use us as a shield." Appal glared from the side.
The man's smile didn't change.
"'Use' is such a crude word, don't you think?" His eyes didn't turn to Appal, instead, he faced the captain across the desk, almost as if telling him to restrain the big fellow.
"That's enough, Appal," he said, his voice low and strong, carrying a slight wind. It was clear that he held the same worries that Appal did, but for whatever reason, he wouldn't voice them out loud.
Appal's expression darkened, but he shut his mouth.
"…Then what would you call it?"
"An opportunity," the man smoothly replied. "For mutual benefit, mutual benefit between the great guard of the city, and the palace! It's never a bad idea to close the gap, don't you think? Hahaha!"
The captain didn't say anything, he just looked at this strange man.
At least on the surface, he seemed to agree for now…
But just then—
The man paused mid-laugh, and his expression stiffened ever so slightly. His head slowly turned, his brows furrowed, as if looking through the wall, and silence filled the room.
"…What is it?" the captain asked with a strange expression.
The man didn't answer immediately.
His eyes narrowed.
"…Strange, so strange… How is that possible? Who could it be?"
Remel straightened up.
"What happened?" She asked, a face full of curiosity.
There was a brief pause...
Then—
"The special mark I left on that girl," he said calmly, "has disappeared completely. Someone seems to have erased it, but from what I know, there is only a small handful of people who can do it…"
The room froze.
Both Appal and Remel looked confused, but the large man behind the desk narrowed his eyes.
He knew what that mark meant.
From the beginning, after the target's initial outburst, he had already contacted the palace. They put a mark on her, and to remove this mark, one needed the strength of at least a fifth-order existence. From what he knew, even the Heroes didn't possess this kind of power yet—at least, not without alerting the city on a large scale!
After understanding the situation, Remel's eyes widened, then sharpened.
She looked shocked, then snapped a look at the man from the palace, before turning towards the Guard Captain, then looked back at the man from the palace, her eyes trembling in disbelief.
Her mind spun with conspiracy.
"…You marked her before she escaped the prison?"
"From the beginning," the man replied with a lazy indifference. "We were ready even before you knew about her. Didn't you find it strange that your captain could respond to her initial outburst so quickly?"
Remel blinked.
She finally understood that it wasn't a coincidence that the Guard Captain was so close at the time!
They had already predicted her violent reaction!
"…Then why didn't you just catch her?"
The man's gaze drifted slightly.
"We wanted to see what would happen, after all, a warning from a hero is no small matter…"
Silence followed his words.
He shook his head lightly.
"…It doesn't matter."
His expression returned to calm.
"As I said," he smoothly continued, "there's no need to worry, the palace is prepared for these kinds of anomalies, you just need to keep doing your job."
He gave a knowing glance to the captain.
* * *
The scene shifts to a bright and sunny scene outside—
Sunlight gently poured down across the capital, creating a warm and unbothered atmosphere, as if the chaos of the southern district the day before had never happened.
At a quiet roadside stall, two girls sat side by side, sharing a table and eating a pot of steaming noodles.
Elena leaned slightly forward, lazily stirring her bowl and playing with the droplets of oil, while Rotell sat across from her, one leg crossed over the other, enthusiastically eating.
"Mm… this is good, really good! You were right," Rotell muttered, not even trying to hide it.
Elena glanced up at her, then chuckled, before strongly shifting in her seat.
"You say that, but isn't the food in the palace much nicer? How can this compare? Hahaha!"
Rotell smirked.
"Because it's much more real. You have no idea how much trouble it is to eat at home! Not to mention food testers, even the servers and chefs need to be screened! As cultivators, a lot of it is unnecessary, but retaining old traditions is practically drilled into the bones of the royal family."
Rotell shook her head.
"Perhaps, in my life, this is one of the only things that us three sisters can actually agree on."
The two girls fell into a gluttonous silence.
It wasn't awkward, no, it was very comforting, like a refreshing breeze in the faces of those who passed. These two young women shared a special kind of appreciation—the kind that only existed between two people who didn't need to guess the other's actions in advance.
They looked at each other, faces full of oil, and burst out laughing.