Chapter 91 - The Mysterious Masked Group
It's time for the fun to begin. Time for the assault.
Our current appearance is highly suspicious. We've made masks from burlap and dressed in all black, a stark contrast to our usual overcoats, gathered from a random clothing store.
We look like a dangerous and abnormal group, armed with cheap clubs and pieces of wood.
It’s the middle of the night, when even the trees and grass are sleeping. Our target is a building where a group of about a dozen people are reportedly sleeping.
We're about to raid it.
Dressing up differently like this gives a strange sense of excitement. It’s even more thrilling when we're all together, creating a sense of camaraderie.
The mysterious masked group dashes through the dark, empty streets. We should reach our destination without any interference.
"Yukari-san, it's right there," Josephine leads us to a low-rise building on the outskirts of town, which looks like it could be a gang office.
There’s no gang name on the entrance, but a large black snake emblem is clearly visible. They might as well put up a sign, but they seem to be trying to keep a low profile. It doesn’t look like they’re trying very hard, though.
I use my convenient magical sensing to confirm that there are indeed about a dozen people inside, as the information suggested. The lights are off and there’s no movement, so they must be sleeping.
I’d love to kick the door in, but we don’t want to disturb the neighbors, and since this is a covert assault, we’ll hold back on the flashy stuff this time.
Josephine signals, and the young members of the Intelligence Unit deftly unlock the door and open it.
We know there’s no movement from the inside and no magical traps, so we just need to be wary of physical traps. But it seems there are none, and I can trust Mia to watch out for them.
Everyone's attention is on me. I nod, and Ophelia, now the raid leader, leads the way, followed by Albert and the young members. Josephine and the Intelligence Unit stay to guard the perimeter, while I head inside.
We pass through a lobby-like area and head to the back rooms, where the masked, all-black group is already attacking with their clubs, striking down the groaning men. For the victims, it must feel like a bolt from the blue.
I bypass this and head upstairs. There are still people up there.
I climb the stairs and enter a room, only to find the same scene as downstairs. The same assault is happening in every room I check. I must say, this is one dangerous group.
There’s no one hiding, so all we need to do now is find the loot. I feel a bit disappointed that I never got to use my club, but it’s time to search the house.
I open closets and cabinets, dumping out their contents. There’s no need to be polite; we just need to get the job done quickly.
I throw any valuables into a burlap sack for later sorting. Once the assault is over, Ophelia and the others start ransacking the rooms, looking for the stolen goods.
Hmm, it doesn’t look like there’s anything here. We have a lot of people, so the search doesn’t take long. Let’s check the ground floor.
"Hey, did you find anything?"
"President, come over here, please."
I go to a room further back, where an open closet reveals a large amount of treasure. Yes, treasure.
"What is this? They must have saved up a lot, huh?"
Not records, but cash. That’s unusual. There are a lot of gold coins and jewelry. Yes, this should be plenty for compensation.
Even in a world where magical records are common, cash is still powerful. This should make a strong statement. We in the Kikyo Society rarely carry cash, so this could be useful for future performances. We’ll take it gratefully.
I hand out burlap sacks to the young members for collection and move on to check elsewhere.
"Did you find the coats and equipment?"
"Yes, we did. They seem to be planning to run a clothing shop or something. They have a lot of clothes, both for men and women, all stolen goods, no doubt."
"They might have some unusual hobbies. Since we’ve recovered the stolen goods, that’s all we need."
I remember the young members who were stripped and look at them.
"What about your records? If you notice any unexplained deductions, make sure to get them back. And, you know, a reasonable interest and compensation would be nice."
The young member who checks the recovered records confirms that they’ve been significantly reduced and heads to the fallen, angry men.
"President, everyone’s been waiting."
"We caused you some trouble this time. Sorry about that."
The young member quickly finishes up, apologizing and thanking everyone. Ophelia and Albert smile and offer reassurance.
"If it’s a mistake that can be fixed, it’s no big deal. But be more careful next time. I or Yukari might not always be around to help you."
"Especially in an unfamiliar place. You have the skills to handle things head-on, but situations like this can happen. Stay alert."
The other young members listen attentively, and I hope they’ve learned something. We senior members need to be careful too.
"Well, we’ve settled the score, so let’s get out of here quickly."
We found a lot of jewelry, so we ended up with two burlap sacks. The Black Snake Gang will suffer significant damage, but we didn’t touch their records beyond what the young members recovered, so they won’t be left penniless. But they certainly won’t learn their lesson from this.
For bodyguards, they weren’t much. They seem to be better at fishing.
We walk confidently through the deserted night streets to the city’s entrance.
The guard looks suspicious, but he has no complaints about outsiders leaving.
We ignore the guard, who seems to have questions, and get into our vehicles.
Well, despite the unnecessary distractions, the fish was delicious, and the stay wasn’t too bad. We finally had some downtime.
It’s still the middle of the night, but we plan to travel until morning and rest then. Valeria and I stow our cars in the Delta, and we get into Josephine’s stylish four-wheeler.
Josephine follows the departing vehicles with her stylish four-wheeler.
"Josephine, the Black Snake Gang is related to the Snake Head Society, right?"
I lay Valeria, who looks sleepy, on the back seat and cover her with a blanket before discussing business with Josephine in the passenger seat.
"Yes, that’s likely. The snake emblem is something only affiliates of the Snake Head Society would use."
"They have branches in such a small town, which is quite something."
"Yes, the Snake Head Society is a nationwide organization, and the branch in Exembra is just that. This incident will eventually come to light, so we should be cautious."
The Kikyo Society, including the president, heading to the Royal Capital is likely known to the Five Great Families. The attack on a Snake Head Society affiliate near the Royal Capital by a mysterious group of women could easily be traced back to us. After all, there aren’t many groups of women who could pull off such a feat.
"To be honest, I don’t like many of their practices. As the Kikyo Society expands, a confrontation is inevitable. You and the Intelligence Unit will have more work to do."
The Snake Head Society’s practices are incompatible with ours. Their main business is drugs and human trafficking, and there are rumors of other shady activities as well.
"Hehe, please go easy on us. But I share Yukari’s feelings, so I’ll do my best."
Josephine agrees, and it’s reassuring. Ortlinde, who’s left at headquarters, is also doing a great job. For the future of the Intelligence Unit and, by extension, the Kikyo Society, we should focus on building our information network.
After that, we continue down the road, not through uncharted territory but on the main road, and push through the night to cover as much distance as possible. We rest when the time comes.
We didn’t plan to make any stops on the way to the Royal Capital, but our journey had its share of unexpected events. Far from smooth.
We rested until mid-afternoon and moved at a leisurely pace. But with a trouble-prone member in the group, things didn’t go smoothly. Who is it, really? Such a nuisance.
One of the unexpected events was meeting a suspicious man who offered to guide us.
At our leisurely pace, we caught up to a small vehicle moving slowly along the edge of the road.
We had no intention of doing anything, but he approached us first.
"Are you heading to the Royal Capital? There are several forks ahead, and it’s quite complicated. If you like, I can guide you."
He sounded very helpful, but I noticed a drop of liquid dripping from the trunk of his small vehicle. To me, it looked red.
In the end, he turned out to be a serial killer pretending to be helpful. Approaching the Kikyo Society was his last mistake. I knocked him out without a word, showed the suspicious trunk to the confused Kikyo Society members, and they understood and finished the job. We stripped him and left him on the road.
The next encounter was with a self-proclaimed 'fastest man.'
"Hey! Lady, you’ve got a cool monster. But can you beat me?"
He was in a large jeep and, for some reason, challenged Delta. Gradena, who was easily swayed, accepted the challenge, and a bizarre contest ensued.
They took off in the wrong direction, and the Royal Capital seemed even farther away.
When we finally realized where we were, we discovered a natural hot spring and decided to stay overnight. Fortunately, Mia had diligently memorized the route and direction, so the return trip was less of a hassle.
Rejuvenated, we continued toward the Royal Capital. This time, we found a mother and child hitchhiking.
"Thank you. Actually, we’re on our way to visit a critically ill parent and are in a hurry."
Thinking we could help them to a nearby town, we agreed to take them. However, this led to another detour, as we rushed to deliver them.
After dealing with unexpected troubles, we finally reached a town near the Royal Capital. Then, Valeria, who had dozed off in a restaurant, was taken hostage by robbers.
While it was a manageable situation, it was frustrating. Just traveling down the road, one after another, how did we end up with so many troubles? Far from a simple journey, I’m getting tired of it.
I vented my frustration on the poor robbers, making sure they would never rob again. The world is a little bit more peaceful because of it.
Despite the wasted effort, we, the Kikyo Society, finally reached the Royal Capital after a long and unexpected journey.
We finally made it to the Royal Capital. The journey was filled with various troubles, but to avoid making this too lengthy, I’ve summarized it like a digest.
The Royal Capital section is expected to be quite long, but I’ll do my best to make it enjoyable!