Inside the police headquarters.
Walter was reading some secret intelligence documents and matched it with what his good friend Richard had provided him. Seeing the huge discrepancy he gave a wry smile as he lamented,
"Alas! It was my dereliction of duty! To think they have already infiltrated to this extent. The coming days won't be peaceful… Hmm?"
A loud booming noise reached his ears. He was too familiar with this sound. Someone is seeking reinforcement.
Whoosh!
He immediately got up and gave an order to the officer waiting outside the room to assemble all the available personnel and quickly head to the location of the distress signal.
Walter then took out a parchment scroll from his hat. This was a magical item that could accurately pinpoint the exact location within this town where a signal flare has been used and also reveal the identity of the police officer who had fired it.
"Huh? How did this kid already get into trouble!?"
He was startled to see Russell's name appear on top of the paper, glaring red.
Walter had no plan joining the reinforcement earlier. It wasn't because he was cruel enough to not even help his subordinates but the protocol states that the headquarters can't be left unattended when any unforeseen situation occurs.
At any given moment, two mages with the highest arcana realm within the local department must be stationed to guard one of the core nodes of the town's field array situated within the headquarters.
Not to mention, there were many important documents, secret reports, classified directives from the higher-ups, and the delivered quota of precious resources in the internal treasury that makes it even more inappropriate to leave his station.
Originally, there were four Valiant Mages assigned to this township's branch from the Coldstone Prefectural City. Because he had to deal with certain matters in the county town he had been absent for over two months.
The other three Valiant Mages though outwardly his subordinates and lower in arcana attainment, actually had strong backings from the prefecture that weren't inferior to his own thus he couldn't really order them around without an irrefutable reason.
Now that he was back in the town another one of them had just left, making the current situation difficult. There were many instances over the years where he was reported by these "subordinates" for making any small mistakes.
If he now also left out of concern then the headquarters would only have the bare minimum officers according to the protocol which would give them another handle.
What if word got out that he wasn't keeping true to his duties as the Chief Constable by not presiding over the headquarters affairs but running around the town instead after being absent for such a long period?
It wouldn't lead to facing serious disciplinary actions but receiving letters of reprimand from the higher-ups is still very annoying.
"I can't leave the headquarters easily during the work hours. But if something were to happen to that kid on the very first day under my wings I don't think I would have the face to visit his grave next year."
Walter thought for a second and decided to take out one of his trump cards. He pulled out a small ape figurine from the hat and clicked the switch behind its neck. The small ape's beady eyes glowed with red light and it quickly jumped down from his hand, frolicking about on the desks and chairs inside his office.
He took out his wand and casted a spell on the ape that made it freeze its movement before rapidly growing in size to his height. Walter casted another spell to link his mind with this magic golem.
He raised his hand and moved his fingers which the ape golem perfectly mirrored. Seeing that the synchronization has been completed he took out a magic scroll and tore it before throwing the scroll towards it.
Ape golem became invisible!
With all the preparation done he operated the golem to leave his office and head towards the exit to advance ahead of the reinforcement group.
Ape golem leaped in the air and actually transformed into a magical light that shot towards the distance at blinding speed.
This ape golem was a Third Rank Peak Stage magical item which was equivalent to his own arcana realm. It can not only provide strong assistance autonomously during combat but it can also be controlled by him to remotely operate and carry out some tasks when he is in an inconvenient situation.
On the other side, behind the barbershop.
Russell was confronting three people who rushed out from the hideout at the fastest.
"Just how many Air Wall scrolls has this guy thrown out? Is it endless!?"
"Keep hitting it! I don't believe he has any more left!!"
"Quick, we need to rendezvous before more of those government dogs arrive!"
A silver luster of a dome about ten feet in height made of solid air blocked three figures from exiting the alley from both ends.
The three of them had animal ears, tails and patches of furs on their skin. One of them had a dog's characteristics, another had rats and the last one had cats.
Russell was furious at such insults, "Shut up, you bunch of scoundrels! And you! A dark mage with dog-like parts in your body!! You should be the last one to denounce others as dogs! Ah, it broke again…"
The Air Wall had cracks all over it and finally it couldn't withstand the unknown numbered claw swipes and headbutts.
It shattered with a bang!
Before the three dark mages could be happy for a second, Russell took out another magic scroll and used it with a practiced hand.
All three of their mentality collapsed!
Their ether reserves have already been depleted from trying to break the previous ones and now they were empty all over.
While the three of them were in despair Russell couldn't help but frown as he picked up two sets of footsteps rapidly approaching from behind the mistfill door.
He had previously casted a perception-type spell on himself called "Whispering Wind" that greatly enhanced his sense of hearing. It was out of caution lest someone creeped up behind him while he was trapping these people at the front.
Two more dark mages of Million Beast Mountain stepped outside the door and came into his view.
Their preliminary information appeared.
[Name: Charlie Sanders]
[Age: 31/64]
[Identity: A Low Ranking Member of Million Beast Mountain's Little Clover Town Branch]
[Name: Freddy Hudson]
[Age: 29/61]
[Identity: A Low Ranking Member of Million Beast Mountain's Little Clover Town Branch]
Seeing the Air Wall dome that enveloped the place both of them frowned and looked towards Russell at the outside of the alley.
"O' wind, hear my call, the mage who assists the spirit of the world…"
Russell quickly started chanting an incantation as he swiftly backed away while warily observing those two's movements.
He already casted a "Ether Insight" spell on them to gauge their arcana attainment and he was horrified to find out that he failed to detect it.
This either meant that both of them had a concealment-type spell casted on them or they were a major realm above him. Combining it with the information he just unraveled it was definitely the latter.
The three idiots he was confronting before were only the peripheral members of Million Beast Mountain, with arcana realm either similar to his or just a bit higher but definitely not exceeding the realm.
These two, however, were actually low ranking members and from the previous knowledge he learned from his late mentor, those infamous dark mage groups wouldn't let their members ascend to a higher position without a leap in their arcana realm.
The first three were just some doorman guarding the door but these two were completely different, the ones holding some power within this town's branch.
He couldn't defeat even one of them let alone two at once!
Freddy, the dark mage with rhino horn on his nose and similar patches of rhino skin on the body, made a fist and punched towards his direction.
Alarm bells rang throughout Russell's mind as he realized that he wouldn't be able to complete the incantation for "Turbulent Agility" to make a run for it.
Bang!
The Air Wall collapsed from the fist-shaped wind at the first touch.
Just as he was about to throw out an expensive magic scroll from the inheritance to save his life, a flash of light descended and a figure stood before him facing the fist wind.
"What the heck!?"
Boom!
With a wave, the terrifying fist wind that was enough to take Russell's life disappeared after being hit with an even more tyrannical force.
Ape golem had arrived at the scene.
Walter took a look at the attacker and was taken aback to find so many dark mages gathered in the same place. It didn't take him much to figure out from the scattered clues about what might have transpired and how this kid got into trouble.
"It's me. Stay clear from this area temporarily. Join up with the reinforcement later to observe how they deal with the aftermath. Learning such things early will greatly broaden your horizons."
He instructed for a few words before heading towards the alley.
"Roger, chief! Tailwind Steps!"
Russell quickly replied and retreated with haste as he casted a movement-type spell on himself. He already knew this ape golem's identity but for obvious reasons he had to feign surprise before him.
Freddy was shocked to see his attack being effortlessly resolved. He couldn't help but feel terrified at the sight of that ape. It seems those government dogs had reacted too quickly this time.
"I already marked down the Patrolman's ether signature. We will retreat first!"
Charlie gave the retreat order without any hesitation.
Freddy followed in his footsteps as they disappeared behind the mistfill door. Clearly he deferred to Charlie's orders despite having the same arcana realm and having equal rank within the group.
A noteworthy detail about Charlie that Russell got to observe was that unlike other members of Million Beast Mountain that he saw today only he remained no different in appearance as a human.
This was quite thought provoking.
Time passed quietly and violent ether fluctuation as well as shouts and curses rang out from that alley. The reinforcement group had arrived long ago but they didn't dare to enter the hideout rashly after listening to the general details of the scene from him.
Chief Constable himself was taking action personally, at his realm they couldn't get involved in the raid lest some police officer gets accidentally injured just from the aftershock.
Instead of butting heads with such uncertainty they took action on a different field which was evacuating the civilians and cordoning off the scene.
Some of them were also checking the nearby manholes and sewage tunnels to see if those gutter rats had truly dug out some underground passage for transportation and evacuation.
If they could capture a few of them then it would be a big merit!
This town of theirs was way too peaceful so there weren't so many chances to accumulate merit and exchange for resources. They could only tearfully get by from monthly wages and "appreciation fees".
Hmm? Was that actually bribery?
Oh, please. With the meager salary how could they ever possibly increase their arcana attainment. They could only rack their brain and come up with all sorts of ways to take a cut from the gray industries.
It was an open secret and even the Chief Constable had to turn a blind eye to it as he himself was a beneficiary. Of course, given his background that hailed from the prefecture he wouldn't go out of his way to personally ask for it from this small town's businessmen.
Instead some astute subordinates in order to curry favor would actively offer a portion they pooled together to satisfy his possible needs. There was no such thing as a saint of public service who dares to dedicate his life for the common people.
What could that do? Earn praises but starve in the corner!
Russell had no opinion about this.
He could only say that I, the successor of Auburn Family, disdain those petty sums.