"Don't you think you went a little too hard on him, Drake? I thought I was the tough one."

"Haha... It's just... For a moment I thought he was going to side with us. He doesn't like what Scarred Jack is doing to Park, but he doesn't have the courage to do anything about it."

"Yeah. Unfortunately, that happens quite a lot. With the governments worried about major Ifere waves and the Barbarians, criminals are let free to run amok. The most that happen is that people like Anna are sent to try and deal with it."

There it was, the same complicated expression as before. Drake was now certain something went on between the two of them, but he wasn't sure if he should ask. In the end, he decided to pry slowly.

"So, who are 'people like Anna'? She and the other guy don't look like businessmen."

"They aren't. Like the two we saw earlier, they are agents of Menoraz Kingdom's Secret Service, or Nulls, as they are called."

"Uhmm..."

The ranger glanced at his curious gaze with the corner of his eyes, and laughed.

"You want to ask how do I know her, don't you? It's nothing too incredible. She and I had a... Thing, for a few months, when I was assigned to Virgo Kingdom. She was working on Menoraz's embassy. Well, she was a spy, really. Since rangers aren't part of any kingdom, it didn't matter much. Later, when she was called back here, we lost touch, end of the story. Just don't mention it to her, she gets pissed."

Knowing Higler's personality, Drake was almost one hundred percent sure he was the reason for the breakup. But, since he wasn't there when it happened, he wouldn't judge it.

As they talked, they reached Dallas Hotel, and entered through the automatic doors. Drake had to admit that, for a city like Park, the hotel was pretty fancy. He just hoped the beds were soft, because three or four days of sleeping on the ground destroyed anyone's back.

Unfortunately for him, Higler had other plans. As soon as they had given their names to the receptionist, he forced Drake to enter an elevator, and went straight for room 201, to meet Anna and her partner. Drake was unsure if he just wanted to know more about Scarred Jack, or if he had any ulterior purpose.

He knocked on the door, and soon, Anna answered. Her partner was sitting at a table, reading through some papers, while she had a stack of her own on her hands.

"Come in."

They entered, and stood next to the wall, waiting for her to start the conversation. Her partner was looking at them - specially Higler - with respect, hinting that she had already explained his identity to him.

"Hey, Warkin, how are you? Come here!"

Instead of saying anything related to Scarred Jack, Anna gestured to Warkin, who gladly jumped off Higler's shoulder, making the ranger twist his eyebrows. The Ifere purred, and rubbed against her. Frainer also didn't resist, seeing his closest Ifere friend being so happy, and joined them, which made Anna giggle. Meanwhile, the three men were looking at her exasperated.

"Sorry, I just missed Warkin. I should make proper introductions. This is Alex Freer, Secret Service. I'm Anna Holliday."

"This is Drake Stronter. Now, shall we stop wasting time, and get to what matters?"

Anna frowned at Higler's rude words, but said nothing about it. Freer didn't seem happy either, but considering the man before him was a ranger, he kept his mouth shut.

The agent pulled up a computer, and showed it to them. On it was a photo of a tanned man, probably forty to forty-five years old. The left half of his face was a mess of scars and burn marks. One of his eyes was milk-white - blind.

"This is Scarred Jack, and it's about all we have on him. He and his gang of murderers and bandits are responsible for at least thirty homicides, including three Secret Service agents. Five, with the ones you two found."

"And the army? Why didn't they do anything?"

"Haha... You saw it for yourself, kid. Park only has about ten thousand inhabitants. With the Barbarians of Akon wreaking havoc in the south, they don't have a soldier to spare with a city like this."

Alex laughed wearily, which made Drake think Nulls disliked the army as much as he was coming to. He understood they had a bigger purpose, but what was the use of them if not to protect the citizens of the kingdom?

"Do you have any clues as to where the gang is hiding? Can't be too far from the city if they can come to party here."

"Not yet. I suspect a lot of people here know, but they are too afraid to talk. We will have to figure that on our own. But Zaplin should be coming back from scouting."

As if on cue, two Iferes appeared in the window as Anna said that. It was easy to recognize the Zaplins. Small yellow bodies, with two pairs of insect-like wings. They had a long tail that ended in dangerous electricity conductive spikes, which could be thrown at their target.

Their compound eyes could see in almost every direction at the same time, and their almost negligible mouth was home to hundreds of small white teeth, which carried a strong paralytic venom.

One shouldn't be fooled by their small size, and normal appearance. Zaplins were dangerous predators, which usually hunted in pairs.

On the way, Higler had told Drake that all Menoraz Secret Service members had a Zaplin as a partner. They were great scouts, and powerful in their own right, as well as easy to breed, meaning they were an optimal choice to create a Spirit Contract with.

For a few minutes, the Zaplins made some high-pitched noises to their respective partners. Drake knew that as unintelligible as it might seem to others, they could understand it through the Spirit Contract.

After a while, the Iferes stopped, seemingly pleased with themselves, and went to rest, grabbing onto the ceiling. Frainer and Warkin looked at them curiously for a while, but then lost interest.

"Uhmm..."

"Well, did they find anything?"

Anna shrugged, and pursed her lips. Meanwhile, Alex looked at the stack of documents on the table, and picked one up while letting out a victorious exclamation.

"Black Bird!"

Listening to the Null, Drake and Higler exchanged glances, and the ranger raised an eyebrow. Since they doubted the agent had gone nuts, it was probably a codename to something, but it was still weird to say it and nothing else.

"What is Black Bird?"

"An exiled Barbarian. He joined Scarred Jack's gang after being kicked from his tribe."

"Okay. Is that all the Zaplins had to tell?"

"No. They followed a person that left Park as soon as you killed those guys in the saloon. We suspected she might be a spy to Scarred Jack, and we were right! Although she didn't lead us to the big boss, Black Bird is an important member of the gang. If we can make him talk..."

He smiled, and they mimicked him. That had been good work by the agents. Since Drake and Higler didn't know how big of a deal Scarred Jack was before they talked to Tom, they hadn't thought someone might be spying for him.

"Good thinking. We will go with you. I know a few tricks that would make even a mute talk."

"Don't even think about it, Ben. You rangers might not have many reserves, but we have a job to maintain. You can only talk to him if he refuses to answer our questions."

Anna interrupted Higler's corrupted line of thought, clearly familiar with his interrogation methods. For a moment it looked like the ranger was going to complain, but then he thought better. Drake didn't have much of an opinion on this matter. If Black Bird talked, be it by the Secret Service's hands or Higler's, it didn't matter.

"All right then. We will follow your lead."

"Great. That's all for now, I think... Hey, Ben."

"Yeah?"

Anna gestured for the ranger to follow her to a corner of the room where they couldn't be heard and whispered something to him. He stopped, his mouth slightly open, before nodding. The look he gave Drake as they left the room had a simple meaning.

The adventurer raised an eyebrow, but said nothing. Instead, he just patted Frainer, and told the Ifere to follow him, then left the hotel.

The sun was just setting, so he decided to walk around the city. It was easy to predict they would be involved in another gunfight later, so he might as well take the chance to have some fun while he could.

The streets seemed to become more lively as night came, and people left their jobs and went home or to the pubs. Trusting the crowd would know what was better, he followed them to a well-lit bar.

After ordering a beer, he sat down at a table in the corner of the ambient. It looked slightly lonesome, to be sitting there by himself while the rest of the bar was so lively, but that's all he wanted for now.

Unfortunately for him, he seemed to have picked up Higler's affinity for trouble. Not much longer after he had sat down, one man and two women approached him, a deck of cards in hands. They were looking at him as if they had just found their prey.

"Care for a short game, friend?"