The death of Orwell had nothing to do with Tiger of Tawau mercenary group. How could any killer be stupid to leave a trace after he killed Orwell? Others did not know that he knew well about Mourtta and Hotchbini. They were cruel and cold in fact. If they wanted to, they could have killed that woman. It would not be possible to chat at the killing scene and talking about the princess. Shanteler thought all of these were just to cover the truth.
Who actually did it? Why would they do it? Shanteler was deep in thought. He felt something big would come soon. He had thought to report to the commander after he returned to the station. He could have asked him to come to Blackwater City as soon as possible. However, the magic array was ruined, and the connection between Blackwater City and White Mountain City was cut off. It had become hard to report to Anthony, not to mention sending him here with the magic array. Right now their commander should be practicing the sword skills to pursue the highest level in legend, and he had no idea what sensational news was coming out of Blackwater City.
"How long does it take to repair the magic array?" Shanteler asked with a concerned voice.
"Not so sure. Master, we will try our best." A mage looked up with a bitter smile.
"What is the longest amount of time it could take?" Shanteler was not happy with that mage’s answer. He needed a specific time in order to make a series of plans. The enemies hiding in the dark must not be simple. It would take a lot of courage to plan a scheme that involved both Glory and Tiger of Tawau mercenary groups.
"One day. Master, magic array will be able to work again in a day." The mage said.
With that mage’s answer, Shanteler heaved a sigh of relief. Compared with regular mercenary groups, Glory mercenary group was very powerful. If they wanted to hide away for just one day to avoid potential dangers, they should be able to do it.
"Shanteler." Davidson came to the yard with a group of mercenaries behind him.
"Go back to your room." Shanteler had no patience for Davidson and gave him a dirty look.
"Shanteler, what are we going to do about Orwell’s death? Are we just letting the killer go?" Davidson asked with a distorted face.
"Orwell would not die for nothing. I will investigate his death and give you an answer. You need go back to your room and wait for the results of my investigation. Pass my order that everyone needs to stay inside the station and no one is allowed to go out from now on. All other assignments will be postponed," Shanteler said with a serious voice.
Davidson looked down. Although he and Shanteler had similar positions and they only had one year difference on age, he had respected Shanteler for the past few decades. A long time ago, Anthony had similar powers as Shanteler, and Davidson was far from them. After Anthony took over his family business, he asked Shanteler to be in charge of the daily management of Glory mercenary group.
Everyone could only do so much in one day. Shanteler spent a lot of time managing the mercenary group, but he also had to spend a decent amount of time on practice. It was really hard to balance both. After giving it serious thought, Shanteler made the decision to take the responsibility of managing the mercenary group so he could spare some time for Anthony to focus on practicing sword skills. Anthony became a master swordsman and Davidson became a senior swordsman, while Shanteler remained a senior swordsman. Shanteler’s sword skills were not as good as before, even a little worse than Davidson’s.
Both Anthony and Davidson knew what Shanteler had contributed to the mercenary group, so Davidson had to take some crap from him and was willing to take it when Shanteler asked him to do certain things.
Shanteler had been in the wagon, thinking about how everything had been fine a few days ago and how could things just suddenly changed. Shanteler felt confused and could not find reasons for all the things that had taken place.
* * * *
A poor mercenary hobbled on the street. Life had its ups and downs. There were many rich people in Blackwater City, but also many people who could not feed themselves. It was not strange to see both poor and rich people in the city.
A wagon passed by a poor mercenary. That poor mercenary sneered, and then he rolled pretty far and laid on the ground, screaming in pain. He had his eyes opened wide, watching the wagon. If the people in the wagon did not care about him and continued to drive, he would report to the patrol. If they were nice people, maybe it was a good thing for him to be hit. He could get some compensation at least. An idea flashed in his head, "Should I look for opportunities to be hit?" A new profession had developed.
The wagon stopped, an old man jumped off and walked up to that mercenary. He only talked a little bit before the patrol came to the accident. Justice could only be provided by patrols. They would be able to facilitate the communication between the two parties.
Shanteler’s wagon just passed the crossing of the streets and suddenly stopped. He frowned and asked, "What happened?"
"Master, it seems there was an accident ahead of us. Patrol was there," The wagon driver answered.
"Patrol?" Shanteler had an almost unnoticeable smile on his face. His fingers touched the sword shaft like he was caressing his lover. "Are you sure it is a patrol?" A smart person was usually very suspicious. Shanteler used to analyze it from different angles when something happened. He did not think it would be simply an accident. It was Tiger of Tawau mercenary group’s turn to to have control over patrols this year. If Shanteler was attacked by a fake patrol, it would make the conflicts between Glory and Tiger of Tawau mercenary groups even worse.
"Master, it’s a patrol. The wagon ahead of us hit someone. Patrol is taking care of it." The wagon driver said.
Shanteler lifted the wagon curtain and looked outside, seeing a familiar back among a group of patrols with torches. The person facing the opposite direction seemed to notice something. He turned around to look. His eyes met Shanteler’s. Shanteler smiled even though he was worried about things that had been happening. Seeing that person, he could not help smiling. That person was a tycoon in Tumen Commercial Union. His name was Robert. He was a very capable person, having many businesses with four super mercenary groups. He was one of the aggressive businessman among others who had business with the Country of Mercenaries. The most important thing was he was a good friend of Robert’s.
Under the torch light, Shanteler could see some hesitation on Robert’s face. He called a housekeeper out and whispered something to him. That housekeeper turned around and run towards Shanteler.
After Robert left the Country of Mercenaries, that old housekeeper was in charge of managing everything. Shanteler had many contacts with him as well. He did not suspect anything. He lifted up the door curtain himself to welcome the old housekeeper.
"Master," the old housekeeper whispered with half of his body inside the wagon. "My master said the next few days would not be peaceful. Please be careful."
"Hum?" Shanteler was shocked and then he asked, "What do you mean?"
"Master, these are the words my master asked me to pass on to you. I did not know the meaning either," the old housekeeper said quietly.
Shanteler looked up at Robert, but Robert looked away. Robert’s body was relaxed. It seemed that he sighed. Shanteler seemed to understand something.
Robert’s capability was self-approved. In the past twenty years, Shanteler had seen young Robert grow from a regular businessman into a tycoon. He had enough people to help and protect him and only needed to hire a few mercenary groups as bodyguards. Robert was generous. He was a people person, so he had many friends.
Shanteler believed Robert must have heard of something. However, for some reason, he could not tell him everything, so he sent his old housekeeper to give him a hint.
Shanteler thought a little and gently knocked on the wagon. "You guys can go back now. I have to deal with something right now."
"Master, take some fellows with you", the wagon driver said.
"No need." Shanteler shook his head. He was a senior swordsman. As long as he was alert, he should be able to rush away from enemies even when he was in trouble. In addition, he had an SOS magic scroll and other magic tools in his Dimension Ring that he could use to save himself, so he was not afraid. In other words, he subconsciously trusted Robert. If he had to suspect their twenty-year friendship, what else he could trust.
"Master, take a few people with you," the wagon driver said.
"If I said I do not need them, then I don’t need them." Shanteler had already jumped off the wagon and walked in big strides to Robert.
The patrol had almost finished it’s work. The injured mercenary did not care about his pain and had smiles across his face. It was obvious that Robert was generous and gave him a decent amount of money as compensation.
Robert saw Shanteler walking over. He looked a little panicked and smiled bitterly. Shanteler seemed not to see his panic and bitter smiles and continued up to Robert. He smiled, "My old friend, I need discuss something with you. You won’t refuse me, will you?"
"My old friend, why would I refuse to talk to you. Come on in and we can talk." Robert could not stop his bitter smile. He had a regretful look on his face. He seemed to regret leaking some secrets on impulse to Shanteler.
Shanteler also felt a little bad about it. He did not like to put people in awkward situations. In fact, he really appreciated that Robert had given him some hints. However, at this very crucial moment, he had to dig up as much information as possible. He had to make Robert feel uncomfortable this time, but he would return his favor hundreds of times more once he could pass this dangerous period.
Shanteler skipped the courtesy greetings and stepped into the wagon. He was a good friend with Robert, but they were different kinds of people. Shanteler’s wagon looked like a regular wagon. Beside a carpet, there was nothing else in the wagon. He did not care for luxury goods. People who enjoyed luxury goods would not indulge themselves in so much work as he did. Robert’s wagon was very fancy, with all kinds of luxury goods. Shanteler was looking at the wagon but could not take everything in at once. He was thinking what to say as he looked around the wagon.