"Another one…" Dylan mumbled seeing the bloated corpse being pulled out of the water once again.

As per the norm lately, he stood by the edge of the canal with a group of guards who fished the body out with a large net.

“This is starting to be a serious problem…” he muttered, seeing the nervous gazes of the many Glummington citizens which stopped in their tracks to see if this body also carried the violent smile.

It was a wolfman with black fur, one feature which stood out about him was the missing thumb, its stub completely healed, the sight implied it was lost and “saved” like a scar.

“That’s it… It’s time for some drastic measures.” Dylan decided.

Later that day, Dylan, as well as a few guild representatives, were gathered in the large room previously used for the newbie-training arc.

A large, round table stood in its centre, the scene of this and every future higher-up meeting.

“A curfew?” questioned JohnWillStab, he leaned back in his chair.

A few of the important guild representatives stood with faces varying from uncertainty and disgust.

Dylan nodded.

“I understand it seems heavy-handed and it could potentially be harmful to some businesses, but we should prioritize the safety of the citizens.”

Bromy shrugged.

“Aside from the fact we already know who the killer is, I doubt that everybody will just go along with the curfew.”

John nodded.

“Yeah, trying to enforce a city-wide curfew with just a handful of guards just wouldn’t work - besides, we know the killer is willing to cause a commotion, breaking into a house doesn’t sound like too much of a stretch for them…” he remarked, glancing to Bonifacius who nodded in agreement.

Alex folded his arms.

“We need to look into what their motive is, that way we can figure out their next target and set up a trap…”

“If you put a curfew in place, the brothels will take a lot of damage…” remarked the tall, masked figure sat beside Dylan.

It was the leader of the artists guild, they wore a red, striped suit with a flamboyant vest.

Their whole face was bandaged under the mask.

Bromy nodded.

“It may sound crude, but you won’t be able to appease the people for long when they are being led away from you by the -”

The bandaged figure cleared their throat.

“Heart.” they finally said.

“What about a temporary pause on taxes?” Foxly suggested.

“If every player owning a home in the capital has to pay two coins to the jGuardians according to the territory expansion and improvement project - and another two to Glummington itself for the infrastructure and guards, suspending the tax on brothels would ease their economic burden, right?”

“Considering the scale at which you’re operating the city, and considering the amount of money you’re making from selling bases themselves, that shouldn’t be that much of a problem…”

Dylan pinched the bridge of his nose.

“If we do that, every bar in the city will demand the same treatment…” he lamented.

“Then every restaurant, then every inn…”

“Besides, just because they aren’t spending money on taxes, doesn’t mean they won’t be made about not earning loads every night…” he added.

Bromy nodded.

“What about the opposite approach?” he asked.

Everybody’s attention was now shifted to the druid.

“Instead of saying “Hey - please stay inside for your safety” - we’ll say, “Hey, if we catch you outside, you’re probably the killer and so you will be arrested!””

JohnWillStab shook his head.

“They’d catch our bluff in an instant, there’s no way we can keep that many people in prison.”

“Besides, we’d just be redirecting people’s attention from catching the killer to catching civilians…”

Several people nodded, agreeing with John’s assessment.

Dylan stood up, slamming his hands on the round table.

“Then what do you suggest?” Dylan asked, fed-up with the L.F.T.O’s borderline inaction.

John leaned folded his arms, trying to come up with some plan to no avail.

Met with only silence, Dylan sat back down.

“I’ll give you forty-eight hours, if you don’t catch the culprit by then…”

“We’re implementing martial law, there will be no more repeats of the Felix fiasco.”

“Martial law?!” demanded the black wolfman.

He wore a black suit with a red tie.

“And you are…?” asked Bromy.

“GreiSkool, leader of 4Tard.” he introduced himself begrudgingly.

Dylan nodded.

“Yes, I already sent a message to the jGuardians earlier today and received the permission to request the help of the jGuardian fighters to keep the peace in Glummington.”

He looked at the L.F.T.O crew.

“That includes you guys,” he added.

John and Foxly clicked their tongues in unison.

“Look… I don’t want to do this…”

“If the people want to replace with some other leader after this is over, so be it, but it’s my job to keep this city safe.”

JohnWillStab breathed a sigh.

“Fine… we’ll just need to catch the killer by tomorrow!” John exclaimed optimistically.

“Indeed! I shall patrol the city tonight!”

“Same, if we find the killer, I should be immune to the poison!” he exclaimed.

Bromy smiled.

“I don’t think we’ll need to worry about the killer…” he thought.

Meanwhile, the door to Zack’s home burst open as a group of sixteen jGuardians charged inside, they were equipped with special gear which covered every inch of their skin.

“WHO THE HELL ARE YOU PEOPLE?!” Zack demanded before tackled to the floor.

They wore massive metal plates with dozens of enchantments on their torso as well as several layers of enchanted chain-mail under the jGuardian tabard.

Their large metal helmets were equipped with Kevin-designed gas masks as well as two-hours worth of compressed air.

Moments later, massive slabs of metal with two hand-hole were locked together, working like twenty-kilogram handcuffs, the same ones were places around his ankles.

“Search the house! Look for any ink, watch out for traps!” commanded one of the jGuardians.

“HOLD ON! YOU’VE GOT THE WRONG G-”

He was cut off by sleep spell from one of the jGuardians.

Moments later a seal-user knelt down beside Zack, planting a mana-drain and sleep seal on him before gagging him and placing a sack over his head.

With the target captured, the jGuardians used a portal to bring Zack into the massive, underground prison run by the jGuardians.