“Bahas, you son of a bitch. How dare you live?”

“Hey, that’s rude!” I exclaimed.

“Master, do you know him?” Kendra asked me while tugging my robes.

“Know him? He tried to kill me!” I replied with an annoyed tone.

The head commissioner coughed then added, “I had very good reasons to kill you back then, and I still do.”

Kendra turned to me and questioned with a raised eyebrow, “Why does he want you dead?”

“It’s because he is the God of Death!” I answered firmly as I pointed at the undead police chief to which Kendra and Lard gasped.

“Was. I was the God of Death. Until you beat me and somehow took over.” The Former God of Death chuckled to himself then stood up from his seat before saying, “I should’ve expected you were coming earlier. You’ve come here to finish the job, right? To end me?”

“No way. I didn’t even know who were the head commissioner here,” I denied.

“Oh…” The Former God of Death muttered with a confused and lost voice. He looked around the room as if he was searching for an escape before repeating, “Oh…”

“Yeah.” I nodded.

“So… why are you here?”

“Heh heh heh,” I chuckled. Pointing upwards with an aura of overwhelming confidence and smugness, I shouted with determination, “I am here to run as the President of the Republic!”

For some reason, Lard also joined me in posing while Kendra rolled her eyes, unamused. The Former God of Death blinked thrice then kneaded his head. “Wait, you’re not even a citizen!” he pointed out.

“I’ve read the electoral rules! I don’t need to be a citizen!” I said.

“No, you don’t get the point. You’re a total nobody in this city. Nobody but me knows who you are. In fact, I can’t even sense your… power?” The Former God of Death slowed down as he finished his sentence. After leaning forward to give me a closer inspection, he asked, “Why can’t I sense your power? Aren’t you an archlich?”

“It’s Archlich to you, Former God of Death!” I pointed out.

“Doesn’t matter, skinny bones! Answer me, why can’t I sense your powers? The hierarchy of the undead will always make sure that undead knows each other’s positions!” The Former God of Death exclaimed.

“I found a-...” I scratched my mask nervously then continued, “a way to suppress my aura. That’s how good I am.”

“It doesn’t work that way!”

“Oh, yeah? Then tell me how the Gravians are able to ignore the hierarchy of the undead?” I inquisited back.

“That’s a state secret.”

“Well, then my way is also a state secret!”

“No, it’s not!”

Out of nowhere, Kendra coughed loudly, garnering our attention. “May I know why the head commissioner let us out of prison?”

The Former God of Death sat back down on his chair then tapped on his table repeatedly. It looked like he was racking his brain carefully before he finally answered, “I wasn’t sure what that thing’s intentions are.”

“Hey, don’t call me a thing! At least call me Boss!” I shook my fist angrily.

“Well, now that you know, will you throw Master back in jail?” Kendra asked.

“I’m not sure what an imprisoned archlich would do, and I doubt the city’s prison could even hold him for too long. Might as well allow him to move around while monitoring from a safe distance,” The Former God of Death explained.

“Hey, you’re going to admit to stalking me?” I said.

“Perhaps. But if you managed to hide your aura, you might be able to catch anyone that tries to monitor-”

“Stalk.”

“Monitor you.” The Former God of Death slid a folder towards us and folded his hands. “Now, I’m going to release you with these paperworks just because of my past history with you. But if you ever get yourself in trouble again, I won’t give you the same leniency.”

I took the folder and inspected its contents. In it were prepared documents which gave us safe passage and freedom to move around within the republic. It wasn’t special as most citizens and visitors would be granted these, along with the fact that this wasn’t an instant grant to citizenship, but it was still better than coming here illegally. “Wait, are you sure?”

“Yes.” The Former God of Death nodded then said, “Listen, I have no idea how you plan to run for election, but don’t cause any trouble.”

“Hmpf. I am a person of high morals and beliefs, you know! If there are laws, I shall absolutely follow them!” I proclaimed.

“Says the guy who broke off from the Cycle,” The Former God of Death said.

“That’s another story, Former God of Death,” I said.

The Former God of Death leaned back in his chair then crossed his arms. “I’d rather you don’t call me with a title which I lost. The name I go by now is the Head Commissioner.”

“You’re not very creative, are you?” I retorted.

“I wasn’t made to create, only take,” the Head Commissioner opined. “Now, before you go, I must warn you that there’s some trouble stirring up in the city.”

“What kind of trouble? Are they troubles that I could beat up?” I said as I punched my palm.

“Maybe? Listen, you may not know this, but the city’s starting to see an upsurge of gang fights between the four big criminal groups. Recently, we’ve managed to arrest one of the mob heads, but it only caused the other criminals to get riled up.”

“So?”

The Head Commissioner shrugged and replied, “I think it’s because there’s a new criminal gang in town… well, city. A bunch of newcomers, but they’re much more aggressive and archaic than the other gangs.”

“Oh? Do you know who they are?”

“No. We have no clue. What we do know is that they’re being ruled from the shadows, and whoever is at the top of them all must be a shadow. That guy is basically untraceable!” The Head Commissioner groaned.

“Gang wars, huh. This might impede me in my election campaigns…” I mused. “Thanks for the warning.”

“No, I’m not warning you because of that. I’m warning you because I want you to report any activities to us instead of taking them on by yourself. Who knows what would an Archlich do if they get pissed off by some ruffians and thugs?!”

I coughed with a hint of annoyance and pointed out, “I’ll have you know that if I could make someone else do the work for me, then I’ll make them do the work! Taking care of some gangs is just tiresome!”

The Head Commissioner sighed then waved his hands. “Fine, fine. It’s just a precautionary reminder, that’s all. We’re done here.”

Just as he said that, two death commissioners entered the room to escort us out. I looked at the Head Commissioner one last time and simply gave him a farewell with a nod of my head.

“Ah, by the way, I’d like to have another fishing duel with you someday,” he called out just before the doors closed behind me.

*

*

*

Between the honking and the screeching, I couldn’t tell which one was more annoying. Though the city looked impressive, it was also impressively noisy.

“What should we do now, Master?” Kendra asked.

“First, we should head towards our base of operations. From there, we’ll start planning my election campaign,” I replied.

“You already have a base here? I thought you’ve never been here before?” Kendra questioned.

“I told you that I get others to work for me.”

“Wait, wait!” Lard shouted. “I, Vakasa of the Darkness, don’t want to do much walking, especially because this city reminds me, Vakasa of the Darkness, of my home! Something is seeping the energy from these beautiful Legs of Vakasa!”

“Aren’t you just lazy?” I retorted.

Not a moment later, a large four-wheeled carriage drove by and opened its side windows. Inside, there was a skeleton holding onto what looked like a steering wheel similar to those used by boats, but smaller.

“Boss! Oh, boy! Boss! You’re here!” the skeleton cheered.

“Yes, yes. It’s me.” I waved tiredly.

The side doors of the carriage opened by themselves, and the skeleton driver said, “Get into the carriage, Boss! I’ll take you to the HQ!”

After getting inside, we drove off into the roads. We managed to get glimpses of the city streets filled with different kinds of shops and pedestrians. From giant abominations made from flesh to spectral wraiths flying above the paved ground, there were no shortage of unique-looking mobs.

“How did you find me anyway?” I asked the driver.

“Well, even with tubby there suppressing your aura, we just sort of know where you are approximately,” the driver replied with a shrug as he turned the carriage to the left. “Once we sensed where you were, Temp-Boss sent me to pick you up.”

“Who’s the Temp-Boss in this city?” I asked.

“The same guy who was attacking the entirety of those fools at the Sorcerer City States, Thyros.”

“Ah, the lich with the war cane. How’s the operations here so far?” I asked as I took out my optical orb to take pictures of the street.

“The Skeleton Crew is starting to sink its fangs deep into the Undying City like a thirsty vampire! No offense to Lady Ellysa, of course. There’s been some resistance to us coming here, but those suckers can’t deal with us thousand-year-old veterans!” the skeleton driver boasted.

“I expected no less from my companions. Ah, by the way, I talked to the Head Commissioner…”

“Whoa, whoa. The Head Commissioner, Boss? What did he say?”

“He said there’s some kind of new gang stirring up troubles with the criminal underground here in the Undying City. We should be careful,” I warned.

“Yeesh! Do you have a description of them?” the driver asked.

“According to the Head Commissioner, they’re aggressive and archaic. And whoever is controlling them might actually be some kind of demon lord!” I answered with a serious face, not that it would even show through my metal mask.

“Wow! I better tell Temp-Boss once we head back!” the driver gasped.

“I expect them to be a huge thorn in my back when I start my election campaign, so it’s best we deal with them as soon as possible!” I declared.

“Yes, Boss! No doubt, if we were to deal with them, we better hit the other four gangs first before the mysterious group hits them first!”

“Yeah!” I agreed.

“I can’t believe I’m hearing this…” Kendra sighed while facepalming.