The bleeding stump that had barely healed by the innumerable times the healing arts cast, was pressed down hard by Mehr. Screaming loudly, the Official Grayson looked hatefully at the child in front of him. The child looked around 14-15, yet his eyes were gazing emotionlessly into Grayson’s soul. Grayson slowly gulped while trying to rile up the mana around him. Wind elements also started to collect beneath his feet, in preparation for a burst attack.

However, mana did not respond to him at all. The wind element had gathered at his feet yet he could not do anything. His eyes shook as he noticed the problem.

‘His influence on mana is much better than mine!’ Grayson bit hard on his lower lip. Anger had subsided from his eyes and fear started to take its place. He looked at the kid that was still standing motionlessly as if beckoning him to try some more. When Grayson couldn’t think of anything to try, Mehr slowly moved up to him and grabbed the back of his head.

Mehr pushed Grayson’s head down to the ground, cracking the floor beneath.

“Do you want to try anything else? Or should I cut off the other hand as well?” Mehr’s voice rang inside the room like thunder. Every word he uttered made Grayson shudder in terror.

“Yo-You can't do this to me! I’m a Noble! You can’t!! ” Grayson’s expression broke, accompanied by a few drops of tears that streaked through his cheeks.

Mehr rammed Grayson’s head to the ground again. Lifting Grayson’s head up, Mehr noticed his nose was battered and broken; twisted in grotesque ways. Blood had seeped into his eyes and his teeth were protruding out of the ruptured lips. Mehr applied healing arts to the beaten man.

“This is your last chance.”

“Pl..ea.se sto.p.” Grayson’s drifting voice struggled to come out of his throat. His mouth, which had been badly injured, was slowly taking a rudimentary shape under Mehr’s healing.

“Speak,” Mehr commanded.

“I-It's true. Jason pays every official here.” Grayson uttered through his badly formed mouth.

“Every official?” Mehr raised his brows.

“Yes..”

“I see.” Mehr nodded, prompting for more information.

Grayson, struggling to form words from his mouth, still gave away the information he was aware of. Mehr listened intently, nodding at times. By the time Grayson was done providing the information, Mehr noticed footsteps approaching the door. He stood up, walked to the window and sliced a small part of the curtain, throwing it to Grayson.

“Hide your face. Don’t let the other two see it.”

Grayson didn’t dare to neglect the command and hurriedly grabbed the cloth to place over his malformed mouth.

Not long after, several people entered the room followed by Nora and Sirius. The people that entered with the kids were either junior officials or guards that occupied the building. Their faces were ashen, their heads hung low as they walked silently. None of the people had any wounds or injuries on their bodies but they still seemed quite shaken. On the other hand, Nora and Sirius seemed livid, their faces red and eyes burning with fury.

“What happened?” Mehr asked, noticing the faces of the two.

Sirius struggled for a moment, his fists tightened and jaws clenched but no words came out of his mouth. It was Nora who signalled Mehr to follow her.

Mehr frowned while looking at such an expression on Sirius’ face and followed Nora immediately. They left the guest room they were in and went down the corridor towards a large hall that seemed to be built for gathering.

“We found them caged up in the basement. For now, we have put them in the hall but they are still very scared.” Nora said while walking at a fast pace.

Before Mehr could ask what she meant, they had already ended up in front of the hall’s door. Nora pushed it open and a foul smell immediately assaulted Mehr’s nose. He moved his hand to his nose as his gaze settled to the front.

Little boys and girls, no older than ten, were clustered together in a corner of the hall. Without any clothes on their bodies, with marks of chains on their hands and feet, their eyes showed fear of the strangers that had just opened the door. Their bodies, ridden with whip marks and several other injuries, were trembling violently.

Mehr watched the harrowing scene for a moment with no change to his expression. He turned back to look at Sirius who was standing with head hung low and watery eyes, afraid to look at the people in the hall.

“I wanted to change the state of the commoners but I can’t even look at them. How pathetic am I?” Sirius said with a shaking voice.

Mehr’s heart sank at the pain in Sirius’ voice. Anger flared up in his eyes with the emergence of thoughts of devastating every human that resided in the building. His eyes went colder as he looked behind Sirius, at the door of the room where the official was currently at. However, before he could move, he noticed Nora slowly hugging Sirius tightly.

“It’s fine. I’m also that pathetic. I can’t afford to look at them either.” Nora released the hug and looked at Sirius. “So, let’s work hard so that we don’t have to look at such scenes again.”

Sirius nodded, glancing inside the hall. Mehr also forcefully calmed himself down. He looked at Nora, nodding thankfully at her and closed the door of the hall.

“Provide them food. Keep it inside the hall and do not approach them at all. I do not want anyone else inside.” Mehr ordered the guard that had escorted them inside the building. He turned to Sirius and Nora, “Take care of them for the time being. I’ll call for you in a while.”

Mehr walked towards the room where he had left the official. His steps were fast but his mind was racing faster, ‘There is a possibility that other official buildings might also have something like this. I can’t let Sirius see such a thing again.’

Mehr entered the room, but his eyes turned sharp as soon as he saw the official jumping down the window. He had heard from junior officials in the room that one of the children was The Heir of Frye while the girl was the Supreme Commander’s daughter. If he wanted to live, he had know choice but to run away from Ruvonne.

Mehr kicked the ground with mana clad legs as soon as he noticed, and rushed towards the window. He jumped down and while in the air, kicked hard to increase his speed of falling. The surrounding became a blur as the wind rushed at his face but to no avail. He had already grabbed Grayson by the neck, kicking the air again to increase his speed further.

Grayson struggled for a moment but noticing the sudden increament in speed, he could only squeak out a word.

“Mercy-”

Booom!!

As soon as Mehr fell down while grabbing Grayson’s neck beneath him, he felt the bones in Grayson’s neck crack and shatter. The ground beneath them had caved in, creating a fairly wide crater.

Mehr slowly stood up, inspecting his hand for any broken bones. He jumped out of the crater when he found no injuries to his hand and started dusting his uniform. As the dust settled, he noticed many villagers, wearing modest clothing, looking at him with unveiled delight and appreciation. There was a loud cheer as soon as they noticed the dead official, their eyes twinkling with joy.

A woman, who seemed to be in her late twenties, approached Mehr and grabbed his legs. Her hair was in disarray while her clothes were tattered. She looked malnourished and downtrodden, her eyes devoid of any semblance of joy. Her body was trembling while she struggled to speak clearly.

“My Lord! My son! The official knew where my son is. Did he tell you where he went? Please, My Lord, please. I just want to see him once. They say he has gone to a town but don’t say when he will be back.” The woman yelled with the most humility she could conjure.

Mehr couldn’t understand the woman’s ramblings. He looked around, not bothering with the woman, to see if he could find anyone sane. Mehr looked up, towards the window he had jumped out of and noticed several junior officials looking at him with a horrified look on their faces. Mehr pointed at the female junior official standing at the front. Her body shuddered as she found herself bound by something. Her body levitated off the ground and jumped out of the window on its own.

She screamed while falling, scared of her incoming death but her body stopped just above the ground. Her body relaxed as she fell from a few inches above. She hurriedly stood up but didn’t dare to look in Mehr’s direction.

“Explain what this woman meant,” Mehr ordered the female junior official.

“She has been coming here for the past year, My Lord. She says The Official had taken her son, saying that he was quite smart and would do well in a school in one of the big towns. Her son hadn’t come back since. It has been around four years.” The woman spoke up instantly, regurgitating everything she knew about the woman.

‘These idiots can’t be stupid enough to use the residents of the village itself,’ Mehr thought remembering the children found inside.

“Your son will come to you tomorrow. Go back and prepare for his return.” Mehr said to the woman who was still clutching his legs tightly, not willing to let go. Her eyes lit up at the answer and she bowed and kissed Mehr’s feet several times. She got up on her wobbling legs and ran away weakly.

Mehr sighed inwardly. If her son was indeed one of the children inside, then Mehr’s words would come true. If her son wasn’t inside the official building, well, Mehr would already be back in the Academy by this time tomorrow. He really didn’t care enough.

‘Looks like I’ll have to ask someone to find out every missing child in the village and gather information regarding them.’ Mehr changed his mind as he realised that Sirius would get mad at him for neglecting the people in the village.

“Your name.” Mehr turned to the woman who he had flown down the window.

The woman was wearing clean clothes, not too extravagant but not too plain either. Her hair was tied nicely in a bun except for a few strands that seemed haphazard due to the sudden wind while flying down.

“I’m called Stacy, My Lord.” The woman answered.

“So, Stacey,” Mehr said, “If I were to go to other official buildings, would I find something similar?”

The woman, Stacey, pondered for a moment. She bit her lower lip as she answered, “Yes, My Lord.”

“Children? In all of them?” Mehr asked.

“No, My Lord. Most of the officials are offered young men and women. Only a few officials are offered children.” Stacey said in a low tone.

“Then it seems you’re quite lucky. Working in a place where you could devastate little children would bring such joy to you, no?” Mehr said in his familiar sarcastic tone while looking for another official building in the distance.

“N-No, My Lord. I’ve never done anything like that!” Stacey flailed her arms, refuting Mehr’s words.

Mehr slowly turned his head towards Stacey, his eyes cold and threatening. There were no emotions on his face and Stacey felt suffocated even looking at Mehr. She hurriedly took a step back, in fear for her life while the truth unwittingly escaped her mouth.

“I’ve only tried it a few times before. I swear I will never do anything of such sort again. I promise, My Lor-”

“Take me to other official buildings.” Mehr cut off her words, not interested in listening to her excuses anymore. She was a dead woman for him, only alive right now so that she could show the way to the other buildings. She was one of the reasons for Sirius’ pain and would die very soon either way.

Mehr turned his eyes away, clenching his spear as he looked into the distance.

‘I wonder if the other teams also found the basements.’