The Kingmaker System-Chapter 47 - 46. Extermination (2)

The work at the Fourth Wall was quiet so, I ended up trying to satiate my curiosity and gather the answers for my questions.

"Say, Sir Ivan. You were there during the time of investigating the Third Wall, right?" I asked as I leaned my forearms against the railing of the Fourth Wall as he stood beside me.

"Why are you suddenly asking about the third wall?" He asked me and I shrugged my shoulders.

"I heard about it from Sir Adler and have been wondering if there really was something strong enough to break these walls." I brushed my palm against the thick stone and then looked at him.

"If there really is then, don’t you think the history might repeat itself and another wall would break as well?"

"Don’t say that!" He snapped, glaring down at me and I kept a calm face.

Ivan sighed running his hand through his deep green hair and his blue eyes stared off into the space for a moment.

"It is an unprecedented disaster already, we don’t want it to happen again." He mumbled.

"Then, we need to find out what caused it and stop it before it could do anything else again, right?"

He scoffed, "Those were the words of Captain when the Third Wall was breached but..."

"But?" ƒrēenovelkiss.com

Ivan sighed again and started, "Six months ago we hadn’t even dreamt of the possibility that the Walls that had stood protecting the kingdom for so long could be breached. But that night there was a sound of a huge explosion, the knights who had seen what happened ran to the castle and told us that the Third Wall was breached."

He released a deep breath massaging his temples, "It was a horrifying night, we had been trying to stop the rogues that were pouring in through that hole."

"I had never seen so many rogues at once but we managed to get the situation under control thanks to His Grace Alarice and Lady Dahlia."

Dahlia Greenheart was from a small noble family of North but she was known for her great swordsmanship skills and that became the bond that tied her and the previous Grand Duke together. It was quite a famous love story of the North.

"The situation took time to get under control but it was taken care of within a few days. It was also fortunate that His Grace Davian had been visiting the capital when the explosion happened."

My eyebrows twitched at that and I asked, "What happened after that?"

"After everything was settled, we returned to the site of explosion with His Grace and kept searching for the cause of the explosion. It was quite a dangerous time as there were rogues all over and it wasn’t an easy feat to keep them in check and investigate at the same time. Yet, His Grace and Lady were incredible to keep up."

There was a hint of sorrow in his voice as he continued, "While fighting, His Grace noticed the traces of something,"

My ears perked up at that and I leaned ahead to him.

"The explosion was caused by something and it was done on purpose. His Grace seemed to have figured out something as he started running towards the Siern Mountain. It was already snowing heavily and the winds were strong too."

"Yet, Lady and all the rest followed, I was injured at that time so I was behind in the group. The blizzard had picked up and we had barely reached at the pass in the mountain when we heard a loud sound and-"

"Another explosion?" I frowned.

"I don’t know if it was an explosion or not but before anyone of us could react or do something the snow beneath our feet had started growing loose and the avalanche had hit us along with the blizzard. It was a miracle that I survived but when I came to my senses after days of that happened, I learned that His Grace and Lady had disappeared along with the other knights. The ones who were close to me were found but none who were with His Grace and Lady."

"Was there really no sound of explosion or anything?" I asked and he shook his head.

"I don’t know... I was injured and the blizzard was... really bad." His face was twisted into the expression of agony as if he was reliving the memory.

"If only... If only I had been stronger then I... I might have..."

I reached out and placed my hand over his shoulder as he squeezed his eyes shut and clenched his fists even tighter.

After a few minutes he calmed down and I kept eyeing him as his shoulders stayed slumped and eyes distant.

"Is there anything else that you could recall?" I asked, "Any details? Even a tiny and meaningless sounding one would do."

"No... there wasn’t." He said and I didn’t ask him anything else.

I would have to scrape for more myself.

The rest of the day was uneventful until it was time to return and Lyall brought over a carriage that I had told him to.

"Oh, Sir Ocean, are you going somewhere?" Sir Stephan asked as he saw me getting on the carriage.

"Yes, I have some work in town, would you mind taking our horses back?"

"But why are you going by a carriage? Horses are convenient."

"I have to buy some things and a horse won’t be able to carry it all so, I’m taking a carriage."

"Then we’ll see you for dinner."

"I might be late, I’ll see you tomorrow." I smiled and the knights exchanged looks.

"Eh? What exactly are you going to the town for Sir Ocean?"

I simply smiled and the knights laughed, it would be better to let them have their own thoughts about it.

"Good night then, have fun."

Some knights hooted and I got on the carriage.

Lyall was sitting beside the coachman while I was inside to accompany the large burlap bag that was placed inside.

I looked out of the window and saw the fields that were covered by snow along with the woods. The snow seemed to be reflecting the orange hue of the setting sun and the gray clouds were starting to gather in the sky.

I saw a few people working hard even in the snow and couldn’t help but feel the need to appreciate the perseverance of humans who even in such tough times were managing to live a life.

The scenery changed and soon the houses and the shops came into view.

The carriage stopped and I got down looking at the people who were bundled up and walking about in the marketplace doing their thing.

The coachman told us he’d be waiting near the entrance of the market and Lyall grabbed the burlap bag from inside and threw it over his shoulder giving the coachman a nod.

Lyall and I started walking towards the lines of the shops and stalls that were sprawled around with the lanterns that were lighting them. Yet, those lanterns couldn’t light up the dark alleys where the hungry eyes waited for their preys or the victims who sought hope.

The night market was quite a fascinating place as all kinds of creatures came out when the sun wasn’t there. These creatures ranged from the criminals to the smugglers to the slave traders.

All of which I hated.

Lyall walked inside the alley and I followed behind looking at the beggars who were huddled up in the corner trembling because of the cold.

I didn’t stay back and kept moving deeper into the alleyways as Lyall was leading.

He stopped in front of a metal door which had a sign of a circle slashed by two vertical and one horizontal lines.

"It’s this place, Master." Lyall spoke and I nodded pulling out a black mask from my pocket and wore it covering the upperhalf of my face just as the one Lyall had on.

He knocked on the door two times and after a pause once.

The slit on the door opened and a pair of beady eyes peered out at us.

"What do you want?"

"We are here to place an order."

"What kind of order?"

"Raven beef’s meat."

Those eyes watched us carefully before I heard the metal scraping and the door opened revealing an old man who was dressed in layers and had thinning white hair.

"Please enter and go straight down the stairs, a person will guide you to your order." He spoke pointing at stairs that went deep into the darkness beneath us.

Lyall and I didn’t say anything as we started walking down. The scent of the moist earth filled into my nostrils and I could hear the sounds of the people chattering and the hustle and bustle.

We reached at the base of the stairs and found a man waiting for us.

"How may I help you?"

"Raven beef’s meat." Lyall repeated the code word he’d used earlier and the man bowed.

"Please follow me."

He started leading through the throng of people, most of them had the masks on.

The place was larger than I expected and it seemed like there was an underground supermarket thriving below. There were shops and stalls just like the ones from above ground but down here the shops sold slaves which included humans, elves, shifters and dwarves along with the pleasure shops.

The slaves were dressed in bare minimum and I couldn’t even go to explain how miserable they looked. A person who thought he had it rough while staying within the warm walls of their homes should have a look at these people.

I kept my eyes forth feeling my anger boiling under my skin yet, I kept my cool, I couldn’t let my anger take control and cause chaos, at least not yet.