"To slow down the process of decay, I have been constantly empowering my body and circulating the mana of ice affinity. Healing treatments alleviate some of the pain I feel but even an Elf specialist couldn't heal me. The mind is strong and my will unshaken, but it is only a matter of time before my body gives out."

Tristan remained silent after Fluvis finished talking and watched the prince from the corner of his eye. "Ahem, I didn't come here to reminisce about the good 'ol days. If you want to hear about the Nether Realm next, ask your father! We have more pressing matters to discuss now, don't we?"

"Yes, of course. The repairs are well under way and the sewer structure beneath the city has been stabilised. The situation on the frontlines has taken a turn, though. The enemy had taken advantage of our situation and used the opportunity to secure control over the south camp. After the memorial service yesterday, I had no choice but to dispatch the rest of the army, leaving only the minimal required personnel in the city. We can't afford to lose any more ground. We have to stand firm and hold on until the King arrives."

"Have you heard any news of his return?" Fluvis asked.

"Yes, there has been news that he and Domino have boarded the ship and were on their way back as we speak. As for the matters of the Hounds…I'm afraid I don't have any news. I've been so busy with everything else I didn't have time or available personnel to look into them. The guards swept the city but haven't found anything nor were there any sightings up north. What about you? The only report I received was that you have concluded your investigation and would come report the results in person."

Fluvis nodded and was sympathetic towards the situation at the frontlines, then said they had greatly underestimated the involvement of The Hounds in The Kingdom. The statement was obvious at this point but the prince wanted to hear the result of his investigation.

"It's a bit cooped up in here. How about we take a walk outside?" Fluvis said and stood up. Tristan stood up after him and led Fluvis out the guest room and down the long corridor leading to the royal garden in the back. As they walked, Fluvis continued.

"The interrogation led me in circles. Some of the men interrogated knew nothing, some bits and pieces but no one knew anything concrete. No one but Gustav himself who didn't even know he was being manipulated."

"So he was their scapegoat?" Tristan asked and Fluvis said the guards stopped Gustav at the gates flaunting his influence within the guild to try and leave the city."

"Interrogating Gustav led to more questions than answers. The man was brainwashed so many times I was surprised he could function at all. He was willing to talk. Very willing, but his statement changed with each session of interrogation. He was confused and had gaps in his memories. After hours of questioning, he suddenly collapsed in his seat, dead."

"Wait what?" Tristan stopped walking and asked, frowning. Fluvis said he had a hemorrhage in the brain caused by a sudden spike in pressure. Further autopsy of the body revealed traces of mana unique to Mind Magic. Alter Mind was used on Gustav, frequently. Once I went through all the reports of the interrogation before and after the festival and after analyzing the fight between Rayne and Silva, I deduced that Silva had high level skills in both Mind and Arcane Magic. He had taken precautionary steps to ensure that Gustav wouldn’t reveal anything important to us in case of an interrogation. I have to say Silva is quite an insightful and talented individual for a mere gold ranker."

"Their whole operation revolved around three people. Silva, the Dark Elf Tivaara and It all started with Varia the necromancer transferring here twenty years ago from the Headquarters in The Brales Kingdom."

"Twenty years ago? Are you certain of that?" Tristan asked dubiously. Twenty years was a bloody long time to commit to a mission.

"I already sent an inquiry to the headquarters in Brales but they have denied each and every of my inquiries. The person we thought was in charge of the transfer back then is no longer with the guild and there was no paper trail left leading to the transfer. We also haven't heard anything from Varia's guild, Jolly Regiment. They remained silent."

"The Hounds kept to themselves the first few years and acted for the first time during the assault on the royal palace. As you know, Rayne's father died in the line of duty that day."

The prince nodded. Remembering that day. It was just around time his father, the king, had left.

"Then there was the exhibition match during the festival that got out of hand, resulting in dozens of deaths. Aphitonians never claimed responsibility for it."

"You think the Hounds were involved in the incident? Seems a bit far-fetched." The prince questioned.

"Perhaps, but the timing is a bit too coincidental. Just like now, where the Aphitonians have taken advantage of the attack during the festival to advance on the frontlines."

"Next was the sabotage of mana stone processing facilities seven years ago and who knows how many minor incidents that happened over the years that were overlooked or weren't reported."

Everything that Fluvis said got Tristan thinking…"and last year our transport routes got intercepted. You think this is all planned?"

"There's a pattern that led me to believe that. Every major attack was carried out while either the King or I was away. From all the information gathered, I believe most of the incidents are connected in one way or the other."

"There's something else." The prince added and addressed the matter of multiple robberies that occurred at the time of the festival. Most of them were minor, but special notice was given to the robberies of the vault at the House of Covingster.

"Covingster? I vaguely remember the head of the house, Joseph, was the General Manager of the Trade Department."

The prince confirmed it was the same person, but that's not the reason the robbery was given a special notice.

"A gold ranker took on the job as the head of security and among the five robberies in the eastern district, there was only one casualty."

Fluvis stopped walking and approached the nearest bench. They both sat down and Fluvis exhaled, stroking his beard. "For a gold ranker to die during the robbery…who was it?"

"His name was Erhan." The prince said, then added after seeing the name didn't ring a bell: "He is an adventurer, but more importantly, a guild member of the Forsaken Garde."

"Asim's man?" Fluvis asked. The prince confirmed and continued. "He was injured during the last guild dungeon run and took on the job while he was recovering."

"Asim will throw a fit! Have you told him yet?"

The prince shook his head and explained that Asim has been on the battleground looking out for Kidllams, but he should be receiving the message about now.

"And you think there's a connection between the robberies and the attack afterwards?" Fluvis finally asked.

"No. Maybe? If there is a connection, we didn't find it. There wasn't much taken. The robbers' target were the vaults and they only took the currency and valuables they could easily get a hold off which told us they weren't highly skilled but skilled enough to incapacitate the guards without killing them. Until Erhan that is. His death was a brutal one. He was stabbed fourteen times…that's how long it took to kill him."

"Silver rankers then." Fluvis stated and Tristan confirmed that was his conclusion as well.

"And witnesses?"

"Many. No detailed information about the robbers apart from their height."

Fluvis raised an eyebrow. "Their height?"

"It seems the attackers were short, stocky figures. I suspect they might be dwarves." Tristan said standing up. Their meeting was coming to a close and he escorted Fluvis out the garden.

"If not for the death of the gold ranker, the royal palace wouldn't be personally involved in the matter. I had the Spymaster himself take the case into his own hands and find the culprits. It's only a matter of time before they're apprehended and tried."

On the way out of the mansion, the prince said that the memorial service for Rayne would be held at Radiant Hawk guild's estate tomorrow evening. Fluvis nodded and confirmed he will be there and said he put bounties on Silva, Tivaara, Varia and Bones who they failed to find after the festival.

"The undead? He certainly can't be left to roam free!" Tristan stated with disgust.

"That too but he is wanted for questioning regarding his connections to the Hounds and Silva."

Triatan nodded. "After analyzing the fight between Rayne and Silva, and from the blood trail left behind, it was presumed that Silva was injured and in need of a healer. We swept the city and the surrounding area around the city, and all the way to the border north but didn't find any sign of the Hounds."

"We won't stop pursuing the criminals but the influence of the kingdom doesn't reach far so I appreciate the Adventurer’s Guild making sure that the wanted posters will spread throughout the continent."

"Of course Tristan. The Adventurer's Guild Is and will continue to be at your disposal. Regarding the frontlines - the Guild can't be directly involved but there's nothing stopping adventurers from joining unofficially. What's your next move?"

"I know. We push! We push until we win back the south camp and fortify our defences. We can't allow the Aphotonians to progress any further into the kingdom. We have to hold on until the King comes back and see what course of action to take next."

Fluvis nodded and said before leaving that they'll see each other again at Rayne's memorial service. Tristan watched the old man leave, then returned to his mess of an office and got back to work.

Just like the prince said, the rest of his army was sent to the frontlines and Bones observed for the past two days as the Wezar's Kingdom army had been pressuring the enemy with constant attacks. The north camp had become more active in the war and the battlefield more dangerous with gold rankers dominating all fronts. There was little room for silver rankers in the battle. Only the strongest of the second tiers participated and bronze rankers were made to sit this one out.

It's been a bit over a week since I came to the frontlines. I've seen plenty and I think it's about time I took on a more active role.

Bones gathered enough information to see how things stand. With overwhelming pressure on the south camp, Aphitonians slowly began to retreat. The first ones to leave the camp were low level soldiers and adventurers. Bones observed as larger groups of soldiers passed near his hiding place and stalked smaller groups and individuals.

The individuals weren't anything difficult to handle but two or three people grouped together presented a challenge. None of the soldiers Bones encountered were lower level than him. Just like the three men running against the water through the swampy area, Bones prepared to ambush now.

He moved as silently as he could, jumping tree to tree, branch to branch. A hardened layer of mud against his bones served as perfect camouflage these past few days. If he kept his aura suppressed, he was difficult to sense. His low level and rather low overall power compared to others also meant lower aura output. Still, classes focused on perception and specialising in tracking, easily detected his position before he successfully ambushed them. They didn't notice Skully coming from above though and Bones has been using the same tactic ever since.

The three men he was stalking were returning to the Aphitonian main army stationed close on the other side of the border. With gold rankers fighting at the south camp and its surroundings, most of the soldiers were forced to make a rather roundabout way back and that meant going through the swamps. Bones passed the men and positioned himself ahead for ambush.

When the three got within twenty meters of him, Bones sprung to action. He was around fifteen meters from the ground, hanging tightly, his bony fingers penetrating tree bark. He flung himself to the nearest tree four meters away, then to another and immediately at the third tree five meters away until he was above his targets. Not wanting to lose the element of surprise, Bones wasted no time and dived straight at the men in the middle while leaving the golem core in the air behind and let gravity do the rest.

Casting Bones Spikes and summoning Bone Lance in his hand, Bones had the advantage. His element of surprise failed, however. All three targets, sensitive to bearing and quick enough to react, heard Bones taking off and looked up. Two immediately jumped to the side, avoiding ambush and Bone Spikes, while the main target reacted one step too late and got pinned. Bones rammed a lance through the man's head as he was falling down and made a splash landing.

The remaining two men immediately unsheathed their weapons and took on an offensive stance. The one on the right called out to Bones while the one on the left froze, feeling Bones' Soul Gaze bearing down on his soul. It was for a moment. Just a second worth of time that the man on the left remained unresponsive, but long enough for Skully to appear above him and thrust the spear through his collarbone, piercing his heart. The two men died in a span of three seconds. The third one was about to retaliate before Skully dropped and killed the second man, so instead he turned and fled.

His decision was a poor one as running in water wasn't easy. Bones raised a hand and casted consecutive Bone Lance. The first one hastily casted, missed the target and impaled a tree next to the man's head. Next lance hit the shoulder, third one a hip and the fourth one penetrated and tore a hamstring. All four spells casted within a second. The man fell down into the water that swallowed him whole and dyed the murky water red.

Bones made a few steps forward, but stopped as multiple ripples occurred and the water's surface disturbed. The heavily wounded man suddenly started thrashing but quieted down shortly after and once again, the water surface turned calm.

"Bloody leeches!"