"Hi, Eric..." A deep voice came as Eric entered his house.
"Does the term private property mean anything to you?" Eric asked grudgingly.
"I'm your father, after all." The hooded man stood up from his chair.
"What if I followed you everywhere, and every time you asked why, I'd just say "I'm your son." What do you think?"
"That would be... Kind... If you could follow me."
"Bah, what do you want from me, father?" Eric asked.
"I just wanted to know how are you doing..." "Sure. I suppose you are quite disappointed by my early recovery."
"Eric..."
"Can you leave?" Eric told him vigorously. "I... Okay, we'll talk again tomorrow." The next morning Eric went to work as usual. "Ah, you're back..." Garon said.
"Did you worry about me, too?" Eric laughed.
"Maybe."
"Thanks, Garon... What do we have to do today?"
"The others have already grabbed everything. But there's something special left for you."
"Seriously? What?"
"There are some rebels in the city. The survivors from those "free countries"." Garon laughed.
"Here? That's impossible..."
"I should have told you. A member of the Crows told me. Will they be coming here often? Just if I should arrange a fireplace here. I feel like a piece of ice after every conversation with them." Garon smiled.
"So the resistance movement in the capital? Rebellion..." Eric muttered, and went out. Then he went to the pub where he wanted to meet Tern and Carn. As he entered, he looked around and saw a strange group of people at the table near wall. Eric already knew all the visitors of the pub during his time at the city guard. He watched them first, then sat down beside them.
"Hello, are you new here?" Eric asked.
"Who are you?" One of the men replied.
"I'm just keeping order here. Well, you know, somebody has to watch over here." Eric smiled.
"Hmm… So tough guy, huh? Isn't there a city guard for keeping public order?"
"Guard? The bunch of dumb heads comes here just to get drunk." Eric replied.
"And does only the guard come here?" Another man asked.
"Crows come here from time to time too. They are probably sniffing for some survivors from those free countries... Poor guys, they probably won't survive for long." "Listen, who are you? What do you want from us?" The man asked hostilely.
"Let's say I would like to welcome such a resistance movement." Eric whispered.
"You know... Saying such things is dangerous."
"Haha, of course I meant that I would kill them myself. I apologize for the disturbance, I guess I misjudged you..." Eric turned and wanted to leave when one of the men grabbed his hand.
"Wait… Be tonight at eight o'clock between the Temple of the Saints and herbalist. Let's see if we can deal with those resistance fighters."
Eric just nodded and left.
At exactly eight, Eric was in the alley. Several figures emerged from the darkness and surrounded him.
"So you'd like to meet the resistance?" The man stepped forward.
"Of course I'd like to meet someone who managed to organize such a thing in the capital." Eric smiled.
"And do you think this someone would accept a random drunk?"
"Not a random drunk, but a random drunk with informations maybe." Eric smiled.
"What do you mean?" Another man asked. "Maybe I know how the Crow's searching goes... Maybe I have contact there." Eric replied.
"And are you sure you're not one of them?" One man asked.
"Hahaha, I think you'd already know." Eric laughed.
"He's right... We could use those informations." There was a moment of tense silence until one of the men said, "Alright. We'll take him to our place." The man put a headscarf over Eric's eyes and took him away.
"Here we are." The man announced, and tore off Eric's headscarf.
"Hmm... Lots of abandoned warehouses, the whole army would fit in." Eric looked around.
"You're right." The man laughed.
"How come no one noticed you?" Eric asked as they stood outside the warehouse entrance.
"These warehouses have not been used for nearly thirty years. The Imperium has no use for them, and they don't even bother to look after it." The man replied.
"Well, boy, show yourself now. What do you have for us?"
"That depends on what you want to know." Eric said calmly.
"Hah, you want to make fun of us?"
"Calm down, Ogun. We should get to know each other first, don't you think?" A man said.
"I'm Eric."
"I am Anej, this is Ogun, and this guy is Tanor."
"And the fourth one?" Eric asked.
"Who?"
"There were four of you in that alley." Eric said.
"Hmm... What else could you tell us?" Anej smiled.
"That the fourth one, purely theoretically, stands in the tower behind me, and the barrel of his rifle is pointing at my head." Eric said calmly.
"And what would you do if he fired... purely theoretically?" Anej asked.
"I would use you as a living shield, you are obviously the brain of the group. Then I would handle Ogun, only Tanor would be more of a problem for me." Eric replied.
"You little bastard!" Ogun was detained by Anej.
"Haha, relax." Anej laughed.
"You're desert people, aren't you?" Eric asked.
"So a scholar, huh?" Ogun said scornfully. Eric just smiled.
"Well, since we brought you all the way here, you should have something for us." Anej frowned.
"Depends on what type of informations you want." Eric replied again.
"Give us some names." Ogun motioned. "Names will be of no use to you. Crows do not live a normal life, they almost do not eat or sleep, they do not have a permanent residence. Their home is terrain. Their life is just murdering. They probably don't even know their own names." Eric explained.
There was a moment of silence after Eric finished speaking, after a while Anej applauded.
"Great. Looks like you really know something about them. You can go. Tomorrow afternoon we'll meet again at the pub." Anej said, while he was putting headscarf over Eric's eyes again and slammed him in the head.
Eric woke up on the street near the pub and went home. He walked in, took off his shoes and coat, stepped near the table in the middle of the room, and put his sword on it.
"So you are the bad feeling that has been accompanying me since I entered that pub." Eric said.
"Strange, they told me you are very attentive." The man in the chair replied.
"I'm a little offended by the fact that they've sent a recruit." Eric replied.
"And how do you know that?" A man asked.
"You are emotional, and I don't feel the cold of you." Eric replied, while he was cooking his dinner as if nothing unusual was happening.
"Hmm… But you're not that good after all. I'm not an ordinary recruit."
"Of course, you're a pretty arrogant recruit, which probably offends me even more." Eric laughed.
"I am like you." The man stood up.
"Um… So another who thinks the world belongs to him? You're not like me. Stop this babbling, and you'd better tell me what you want" Eric frowned."
"You did a good work. You got into their ranks."
"And you know this how?" Eric asked.
"You was with them, and returned alive. Which means you gained their trust. But now you need some informations."
"Crows wouldn't mind sacrificing one of their minions." Eric said.
"Hah… In this case, you're right. A group of soldiers regularly stir up the turmoil and riots in the part of the city belonging to the Desert People. Tomorrow they are even going to attack one of the food storages. This behavior is inadmissible, and these traitors must be punished in your own considerations." The man told him.
"Funny. You haven't minded their behavior until now, right? Only now that you have the use of it, it's suddenly "unacceptable behavior." Eric laughed.
"No one asked you for your opinion. I don't know why do you have this task, but all you have to do is fulfill it. By the way, I'm Ador, your new partner... If you want to call it that way."
"And what do you call it?" Eric asked.
"I prefer a term supervision." Ador replied with a grin.
"Uh... So try not to spoil my work, if you do, I'll kill you. Now get out of my house." Eric said, while pointing to the door. Ador left the house, Eric finished his dinner, ate, and went to bed. The next afternoon, Eric went to the pub, met again with the resistance, and set off on their journey.
"So where are you taking us, Eric?" Anej asked.
"We need to get rid of a bunch of oppressors of the local population." Eric replied. They walked down the street when a hooded man shouted at Eric,
"Eric! Here you are. I didn't expect to find you here. I wanted to apologize. I know we should have talked yesterday..."
Eric recognized his father's voice, and at the instigation of the group's confused and angry gaze, he walked to his father, and pulled him away.
"What are you doing here by all the Saints?" Eric asked.
"I came to tell you..." Eric's father couldn't finish the sentence.
"You have to get out of here, I have a secret assignment." Eric explained, and returned to the group.
"Who was that?" Anej asked.
"My contact in this neighborhood. He couldn't find me yesterday, so he wanted to apologize." Eric smiled.
They reached the food storages.
"What are we doing here?" Ogun asked. "Shhh..." Eric crouched and pointed at a group of guards carrying boxes out of one of the storages.
"They are stealing food..." Eric whispered. "Are you sure about that?" Anej asked. "Absolutely." Eric snapped.
"Then we'll give them a lesson!" Ogun said, and before anyone could respond, he lunged in front of the guards. The whole group ran after him. Ogun drew his sword without thinking and rushed at the confused guards. After him, the rest of the group began to fight them too. After a brief struggle, the four guards were disarmed. "What are we going to do with them?" Anej asked.
"We'll cut those bastards." Ogun laughed. "Why don't you start with the commanding officer, you stupid monster?" One of the guards asked in a familiar voice.
"As you please." Ogun stepped to the kneeling guard and put his sword on his neck.
"Wait!" Eric shouted, and stepped towards them. The kneeling officer was Tern. Eric froze for a moment, then took a deep breath and said, "We can't kill those officers. We don't want Crows searching for us. If there was only one or two, but there are four. That's the whole unit." Eric argued. "I'm afraid he's right, guys." Anej agreed.
"So what do you suggest?" Anej continued. "I'll interrogate this officer. Meanwhile, watch over the others." Eric said, and dragged Tern into the storage. Eric forced Tern to sit on a chest and whispered, "How could you betray the Imperium like this?" "Betray? You, with a bunch of wicked ones, attacked a group of guards sent for supplies." Tern replied.
"What? Listen, I'm here on a secret mission. I must..." Eric explained, but he suddenly hit Tern in the face.
"So who sent you here?" He shouted.
"Die, you bastard..." Tern replied.
"I see that the interrogation is not going well... Should I call Tanor instead?" Anej asked quietly.
"That's not necessary. He'll talk in a moment." Eric smiled.
"Right, officer?" Eric looked at Tern.
"Oh... Dornius sent us." Tern replied. "Hmm... This will be interesting." Anej laughed.
"What does he need supplies for?" Eric asked.
"For soldiers, you idiot..." Tern looked at Eric.
"How long have you been robbing these people?" Anej asked.
"Not for long, you stopped us quite quickly, you" heroes." Tern laughed.
"Nearly your entire command is just as rotten as you." Ogun said.
"Hmm... I'd say the entire command." Anej said.
"So? What now?" Tern asked.
"Let them go." Eric said with a smile.
"What?!" Ogun exclaimed.
"The boy is right, Ogun. We will not gain anything by their death, at least we know other crimes of those bastards. We have more evidence!" Anej rejoiced.
"Evidence?" Eric looked uncomprehendingly at Anej.
"We'd better go now." Anej smiled, and he and the group went back to the warehouse, while the guards went away.
"No more headscarf?" Eric asked.
"No... Not anymore." Anej replied, and they continued.
"What do you need evidence for? Do you want to bring the Imperium's government to the justice court?" Eric asked.
"That's none of your business." Ogun replied. Anej looked around and said,
"I'm afraid it is, Ogun. He beat up the city guard's officer for us, I suppose he remembers him more than anyone of us." Anej said.
"So ... is he one of us now?" Ogun asked. "Probably so." Anej smiled.
"So ...?" Said Eric.
"You can stay here." Anej replied.
"I really appreciate that, gentlemen. But I should still come back home and take a few things before they start the pursuit." Eric replied.
"Well, if you must..." Anej nodded.
"Um... I... I don't know the way." Eric said. "Oh, sure… Ogun! Take our newcomer home." Anej ordered.
"Why…? Oh... All right..." Ogun nodded and led Eric to the pub.
"Can you get back?" Ogun asked.
"Rest assured." Eric smiled. Ogun looked around and went back. Eric went home.
As soon as he entered, he closed the door and pulled the window curtains. He took a pencil and paper, and began drawing. A mysterious figure approached.
"Here's a map, I know where their... What the heck are you doing here?!" Eric shouted. "What are you doing, Eric?" The figure pulled off the hood, it was Eric's father.
"Not your business. You keep me from my work, father." Eric pushed him back.
"You work with Crows now? So you found another way..."
"It has nothing to do with it! Damn it! I'm doing something very important here and I don't have much time. Where's Ador?" Eric asked.
"Who?"
"The young boy, you probably thought was stealing here." Eric said as the door to one of the rooms flew open, and Ador jumped at Eric's father, while shouting "You bastard!" "At least you already know each other. When you stop playing, can we finally continue working?!" Eric shouted. Eric's father and Ador stood up and shrugged. "Uhm... I... I'm sorry, I was wrong." Eric's father said.
"All right, you can leave." Eric replied, and his father walked away slowly.
"He should be executed for this!" Ador screamed.
"It's no longer my business. I'm not quite sure if a recruit of one Crow's clan can execute the leader of another..." Eric smiled. "What?" Ador asked, confused and a little horrified.
"It does not matter. Here, a map to their headquarter's location. I'll be out of reach for a while now." Eric explained.
"You didn't kill them." Ador replied.
"What? The guards? I think the humiliation was enough for a punishment... Besides, you didn't say kill, but punish at your consideration." Eric objected.
"Haha, it's okay, Eric. That was just a test." Ador laughed.
"A test?"
"You know, everyone thinks we're just ruthless killers. But the truth is more complicated, we must be fair, merciless killers. For we are also investigators, as you probably have already understood, and we cannot afford to kill the innocent." Ador explained.
"So these ones were innocent?"
"Yes, Eric, they were. You passed the first exam."
"What?" Eric was angry.
"You'll find out soon enough. Just keep going. Back to the task, what are you planning now?" Ador said.
"I have to be with them at their base now, but I don't know anything about them yet." Eric replied.
"So we're not supposed to raid it yet?" Ador asked.
"No, except for the three, I haven't seen anyone else in the warehouse area. Either this is all the famous resistance, or the core is elsewhere." Eric explained.
"By the way, you should watch out for the fourth resistance member, you're not the only one following me." Eric said.
"Do you really think I haven't noticed him?" Ador was offended.
"Actually, yes. Well, I will go, hopefully I will be able to contact you if necessary." Eric replied.
"Don't worry about that." Ador smiled. Eric took some things, including a diary, and went back to the warehouses.
"Hello, Eric! Since this evening you are an official member of the resistance. Anej led Eric to one of the warehouses.
"All Saints..." Eric was stunned when he saw how many resistance fighters and weapons really is in the warehouse. Around the warehouse were stands and piles of weapons around which dozens of armed men walked.
"It's quite alive here..." Eric said.
"Haha, only recently, Eric. You came just in time. It will start soon, but I'm sure you're tired. You can sleep here. It's not entirely comfortable, but it will end soon, you are lucky." Anej led Eric to the sleeping quarters. The next morning, the warehouse area was busy.
"Eric! Come on, you're part of our team. We must organize it quickly before anyone notices us." Anej woke him up.
"What?" Eric asked.
"Let's go, it begins!" Ogun rushed in. They all went out where the armed men were gathering. Ogun thrust armor into Erik's hands.
"It's the Imperial Guard's armor..." Eric muttered.
"Smart boy." Anej laughed.
"Where is the fourth?" Eric asked. "Everywhere, that bastard can get anywhere, don't worry about him." Ogun replied. Anej gathered a group disguised as imperial guards, and they all headed toward the imperial palace. Eric saw Ador leaning against the wall. He looked around and ran to him.
"Ador, it's me, Eric. It starts, those bastards have two groups disguised as an imperial guard, and dozens of soldiers at those warehouses, and lots of weapons..."
"Well, that's not possible!" Anej called. Eric froze in horror.
"You found him!" Anej laughed.
"What?" Eric replied.
"Well, the fourth, Ador. You're really good. Come on, we have to run." Anej pulled the confused Eric away, while Ador just smiled. They finally got inside the palace.
"Now or never!" Anej nodded, and the group split up, leaving only Anej, Ogun, Tanor, and Eric.
"What are we going to do?" Eric asked.
"We have the most important task." Anej smiled, and the group continued on.
"Halt!" One of the real imperial guards called out near the closed, ornate gate. Everyone except for Eric drew their swords and started fighting. In a moment the guards were defeated. One of the generals and his guard entered the hall. Eric, standing in the background, sighed. "Everything is ready, general." Anej told him. "Are you really with us?" Eric asked.
"Haha, who is it?" The general laughed.
"A new talented recruit, sir. His name is Eric." Anej replied.
"You brought a newcomer here? Never mind. Let's finish it!" The general ordered, and Tanor and Ogun were about to break the gate.
"No!" Eric exclaimed after a while, and draw his sword.
"What?" The general laughed, but his smile fell after seeing Eric's serious expression. They all turned to Eric, ready to fight, clutching his sword.
"You really think you can stop us, kid?" The General approached him. "Tanor!" The general called out, and Tanor began to pound the gate.
"Stop! Give up and save your lives!" Eric shouted.
"Hahaha... Do you really think you can defeat us alone?" Ogun asked.
"He's not alone!" A familiar voice called. "Ador? You won't dare!" Anej exclaimed.
"I am afraid I will." Ador, standing in the hall, holding a rifle in his hands, said.
"Seriously? But you can shoot only one of us..." The general walked slowly towards Ador. Ador almost pulled the trigger when the door swung open from all sides, and guards burst into the hall.
"But I can execute all of you." Grand general Dornius stood beside Ador.
"General Samir. How unexpected..." The grand general laughed.
"I hope you're not disappointed, Dorn." General Samir frowned.
"quite the reverse. I didn't expect you to take part in this cowardly attack personally." "You are fools! If we don't stop him now, we will never! We must..." General Samir shouted.
"Shut your mouth, you cowardly traitor! Everyone, on your knees! And you must be Eric!"
"Yes, sir." Eric replied, still holding his sword. "It's all right, boy. Thanks to you, and Ador's courage. You have passed the next exam, now the final one."
"And that is...?" Eric stepped forward.
"Kill the traitor." Grand general Dornius pointed to the just-bound, kneeling general Samir.
"Isn't it rash? We should..." Eric objected, but then the grand general Dornius stabbed him with a dagger in his chest, thrust it into his hand, grabbed Eric's hand, and pushed it to general Samir's neck.
"See? This is better." Grand general Dornius smiled. General Samir's blood was running down the Eric's hand to the wound in his chest.
"Now, let's see if you are truly worthy of perfection." Dornius said.
"What's going on...?" Eric knelt near general Samir. His head was dizzying, he felt like drunk.
"It's always a little strange for the first time." Grand general Dornius smiled.
Eric felt unconscious.
ns 15.158.61.8da2
