Dan walked alongside Arno at a slow pace. It was already past noon, but there was still time before the bank closed. The situation with the carriage left him thinking; it had been his father who had delivered it in order to survive his supposed crisis, but now that he knew about the evidence, Dan saw it differently.
Perhaps he did it to keep that Basil away from the evidence.
It made sense; it was his cunning old father. Thinking about him, he couldn't help but remember how he always said, "once you reach a certain age, you can't escape the rhythm of this city." It had only been three years since he arrived, but it felt quite rigged. He felt a knot in his heart thinking about how that city he loved so much had killed him.
As they walked, Dan shared his father's plan with Arno. Or at least all the details he knew.
—Well, my father planned to take care of the other businesses alongside Magenta Seraph.
Arno listened in silence while reflecting. He felt there was a clear gap in the story.
—I don't understand; didn't the other merchants think about retaliating?
—About that, my father told me they hired another gang.
Arno searched his memory for a gang capable of properly fighting against Magenta Seraph, and a name slipped from his lips.
—Surely it was Thorns of Desire. But now I wonder, didn't hiring those people interfere with your father's plans?
—My father was insidious; he surely made some arrangement regarding that.
They both stopped talking and continued walking. Arno began to reflect on those gangs. Thorns of Desire had been operating in the slums for quite some time; the Grand Headquarters had tried to track them down, but they were elusive beyond measure. Moreover, they were only sought after by the lower levels of the Grand Headquarters, which helped Gurad bribe them easily. On their part, Magenta Seraph had arrived two years earlier and consolidated good power, putting them on the police's radar. The Grand Headquarters avoided them as they weren't a Wandering problem, at least not until now.
Arno's blood boiled at the thought of those people. Because of the corruption in the city, they had been thriving unchecked. But beyond hatred, self-loathing was his main emotion. He was the second Disciplinary of the city; despite having such power, he never cared about the movements of the underworld. Now that had taken its toll.
After a while, they reached the bank. They ignored the line and approached the receptionist, who tried to appear professional in front of the Grand Headquarters uniform.
—Good afternoon, gentlemen. If you need an inquiry, please wait in line...
Arno didn't think twice and pulled out his badge. The woman saw the symbol of lips crossed by a sword and fell silent.
—We wish to speak with the manager. This concerns the Grand Headquarters, miss.
She didn't speak further; she nodded and left calmly. She returned after a while with a neat-looking man. The man saw Arno's face and made a gesture of recognition.
—Mr. Arno Cas, it's a pleasure to have you here.—He extended his hand elegantly.
—The pleasure is mine; Hilde Bank always keeps well.—he replied with a diplomatic smile.—I would like to continue talking in a less busy place.
The manager looked at the crowd apprehensively and guided them down a lonely hallway.
—We wish to inspect a carriage that was pledged as collateral a month ago. Its owner was Mr. Hall Gaustin.—The echo of his voice covered them as Arno noticed the apprehensive look on the manager.—Don't worry about paperwork; it will just be a moment.
The manager felt somewhat reluctant but could only look away. This was a very important individual; if anyone could refuse him, it wouldn't be him.
—May I ask what this is about?—He would have to provide an explanation to those above, so he tried to scrape for information as best he could.
—It concerns an alleged case involving Wanderers; nothing to worry about.
All cases from the Grand Headquarters involve Wanderers... The manager felt scammed but couldn't ask more upon seeing Arno's inaccessible stance.
They continued walking until they reached an area guarded by several men. They stepped aside when the manager nodded and separated from Arno and Dan.
Both inspected the warehouse as they walked through it. There was a wide variety of expensive objects. Mostly carriages, but there were also some vases secured on glass shelves. Their attention was on the carriages.
—A-2, A-5, A-7.... —Dan murmured as he read off numbers; it wasn't until he saw a carriage set apart from the rest that his tone rose—. A-10! It's here...
—There's no time to lose.
With that said, both climbed in and inspected the interior. It was dark and difficult to see anything; Dan was about to go for a flashlight, but Arno's powerful voice interrupted him.
—This carriage will illuminate faintly.
The walls of the carriage glowed with a dim light, revealing the empty interior. Dan observed this with a bit of wonder, but his excitement faded when he found nothing.
—It must be hidden somewhere, but where?
He crouched down and searched between the boards of the carriage, but he couldn't spot anything. He was going to ask Arno to light it up, but he was interrupted again.
—Look here.—The old man was near one of the upper corners of the carriage—. There seems to be a small hole.
Dan approached and noticed it too, and with that came a new problem.
—How do we open the corner?
—Let's ask the young men outside for a lever.
Dan felt it would be a nuisance; he couldn't help but think about buying one of those canes that wealthy men used. Both turned around but stopped immediately. In front of them stood an unknown man.
—It's important to bring a cane for moments like this. Are you really Uliemans? —he spoke with an accent from the Snowy Mountains. His outstretched hands held a cane stained with blood.
Arno stepped in front of Dan as his mind processed at inhuman speeds.
Not one of the guards... blood... nothing was heard... Snowy Mountains... burly man...
—You must be Gurad.
The man gave him a meaningful look and smiled.
—Wrong. I'm just another burly Ezikano. If you want to talk to that Fugi, you'll have to wait.—He shook his cane while showing his white teeth—. You have some things to do for me first.
The man had made his position clear, so Arno didn't think twice about acting.
—The light will triple! —he spoke quickly while closing his eyes.
Suddenly, the entire area near the carriage shone intensely. Dan had to close his eyes in pain. Fear overwhelmed him when he saw nothing; he could only be dragged by who he assumed was Arno. They both ran toward the driver's seat; he heard a couple of shots and Arno shouting for him to escape that way. He climbed through the hatch with difficulty and fell to the ground.
Only then could he reopen his eyes, but the light was very close to the carriage. He got up and tried to go for the guards, but he realized they were unconscious. He could only grit his teeth and run for reinforcements, but three men stood in front of the door.
—is that Hall's son? It's like seeing his younger version.—Gurad scanned him briefly and lost interest.
—His brother didn't look like him at all. Looks like someone took all the winning genes.—Ferei replied with a lame joke.
Wiry watched Hall's son from behind the Ezikanos. His gaze was full of questions.
Damn!
At that moment, Dan regretted not having listened to his father's advice about carrying a weapon. He saw it as something very crude for a lawyer; now he couldn't disagree more.
He heard the sound of wood creaking and quickly turned to the carriage. Arno had fallen in front of them with a confused expression. The other man jumped out a moment later.
Arno could barely understand what happened. He had shot that man in the midst of his blindness and missed. Contrary to what one might think, he had a lot of confidence shooting blindly. He would swear he had hit him, but that person remained intact. Moments later, the small suspicion he had became reality as he disoriented at inhuman speeds.
Disciplinarian!
He barely had space to think; his vision shook in multiple patterns never seen before. He couldn't even manage to balance himself to stand up.
—The Ezikanos will...! —In the midst of his confusion, he tried to speak but was interrupted by an even more powerful and rapid voice.
—Your tongue is going to disorient itself.
Arno couldn't continue gesturing; his tongue began retracting involuntarily. The movement was so erratic that he feared biting it accidentally.
I have to help young Dan!
He moved quickly to draw his revolver but stopped dead in his tracks. He had no idea where the enemies were; their blurry figures changed shape moving between the periphery of his vision. If he shot, he might hit someone by accident.
The mysterious man saw him and smiled. Then, he spoke in a powerful tone.
—It seems you are finally willing to listen. Don't worry; as long as you are good, I will be good.
Arno's expression darkened. Moments later, the man introduced himself.
—Nice to meet you, Mr. Arno Cas; you can refer to me as King O.—he said with a bright smile in his eyes—. I have a great interest in speaking with the Grand Headquarters.