Chương 107: Book 2 Chapter 59 - Attack In Portish

Dustin had informed Kiara that he received news that morning that another one of their shops had been attacked in Portish. No Silver Serpent crest had been found this time, but the attackers had killed two of their guards, and taken their shop employees hostage. They had left a ransom note with a time and place to deliver the money, or the employees would be killed. The meet was supposed to happen that same night, which didn't give them much time to reach Portish.

Before leaving, they had met quickly with Kiara's parents, since Kiara wanted them to step up into leadership roles anyways with House Yountal, and this felt like a good opportunity for them to get some much needed experience. Kiara and Zoey pulled Dustin along in the same carriage they had used the last time they went to Portish. Kiara's increased strength meant she could pull more of the weight, allowing them to travel even faster without Zoey tiring out.

Kiara also didn't tire out nearly as easily as she had the previous time they'd pulled Dustin to Portish. The previous attempt had taken them four hours, but this time they made it about two and a half. Not bad, all things considered. Zoey was able to maintain a light mana shield in front of them both, solving the bug problem that Kiara usually had to deal with when she ran on her own. It was quite nice, actually.

They arrived in Portish with plenty of time to spare before the meetup, but went straight to the shop to check on things. City officials were already there, turning the place over for evidence. Apparently murder garnered a closer look than mere destruction of property. Or perhaps they had been so hesitant to get involved last time because of the Silver Serpent Clan pin that was found. The attack had happened at night.

With the shop employees having been taken hostage and the guards killed, the attack wasn't discovered until the next shift of guards arrived to find the two dead guards at their posts. The discovery was made in the wee hours of the morning, at which point the city officials had been alerted, and an emergency courier message had been dispatched to Easton. Nothing in the shop had been broken, other than the front window to gain access, and nothing was missing. It was a blacksmith shop.

The owner, a man in his forties, ran the shop with his adult daughter, who worked as the clerk while he made pieces in the back. They lived above the shop on the second floor, and so when the attackers broke into the shop, they also broke into their home. The ransom note didn't say who it was from, or where the hostages had been taken. It only claimed that House Yountal had to pay an exorbitant fee, or they would be killed, and listed a time and place. Tonight at a nearby bar.

The city officials showed the note to Kiara and Dustin, but claimed they needed to keep it for their investigation. When Kiara pressed them for details about the investigative process, the city official said it usually took a few weeks for it to gain any traction, but they would keep her up to date as things were discovered. Kiara pointed out that the hostages probably didn't have a few weeks, but the city official simply grimaced and shrugged, saying it was 'out of his hands'. That didn't instill much confidence.

Kiara decided she would do some investigating of her own. They got food at a nearby inn, and rented three rooms for the night, one for each of them. As they ate, Kiara asked Dustin if he had any thoughts on who might want to attack them.

"Well," he said around a mouthful of food.

"Maybe a lot of people. We aren't local, so we might seem like an easy target. Our headquarters is one hundred miles away in Easton, a much smaller city. Competitors in Portish might look favorably on something like this happening to us. We are outsiders, coming in to try and steal their business." He pondered it for a moment as he took another bite.

"The methods though, they point to something else. Competitor businesses don't take hostages, they eliminate the competition." He lowered his eyes to his plate.

"At least in my experience." He pursed his lips.

"A ransom note points to a crime organization. A local gang, perhaps. Powerful enough to take out our tier 2 guards, which means they have some serious muscle, maybe even a larger backing than we might expect." Kiara pinched the bridge of her nose.

"Why do people keep attacking us? How do I get that 'easy target' sign off of our backs?" Dustin looked at her for a moment then nodded.

"I suppose any group who kills our guards and kidnaps our people isn't one that we could take the high road with or reason with." He exhaled audibly.

"Long term, we need stronger house retainers, more guards, and continued expansion. Our growth and strength will signal that we aren't a target to mess with lightly. Short term, though, that target is hard to get rid of." Kiara nodded reluctantly.

"Okay. More importantly, how do we get our people out of there safely? Do we deliver the ransom?" She already knew the answer, but when people's lives were on the line, she needed to hear it from someone else.

"No," Zoey said, shaking her head.

"If we give in this time, they'll simply do it again, and more frequently. People will repeat behavior they are paid for or rewarded for." Dustin nodded his agreement.

"Indeed. And I don't think the city guards will be any help without an official decree from the higher ups, which will likely take too much time. We may be out of options." What he didn't say, but all of them were thinking, was that they could do something themselves. Personally take action. Dustin, obviously, wouldn't be involved, he was mortal, and had made it clear that he didn't want to be near any sort of violence.

Kiara didn't blame him, given his history and his fragility, but she suffered from neither of those limitations. This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report. She also knew that he knew that she wouldn't stand by idly while their people were in danger. She had proven that time and time again. In order to focus, she would need Zoey to stay with Dustin and keep him safe. She couldn't be worried about him while she was trying to help the others. She decided to say as much.

"I'm going to that meetup tonight." Dustin's face was one of resignation, accepting a fate he had already known to be a certainty. Zoey's was one of determination and resolve.

"Got it. I'll come with you, you can count on me."

"No," Kiara said gently, shaking her head.

"I need you here with Dustin. If whoever did this catches wind that we're in town, they might be looking to increase the hostage count. I need you two safe while I'm working on this." Zoey only pushed back for a couple of minutes before she finally agreed. Kiara could tell that she was both disappointed and relieved at not having to go with her to the meetup. Relieved because it was scary walking into an unknown danger, and disappointed that she wouldn't be there by Kiara's side to help protect her.

Zoey was fiercely loyal, and Kiara loved that about her. * Dasor watched Shian Yountal walk into the bar from his table near the wall. He had in his possession a rough sketch of the woman, which Vance had given him. The man who hired them, a powerful tier 4 from the Silver Serpent Clan, had given them multiple copies. Apparently someone in Easton had drawn them up. Dasor hadn't expected Shian to show up herself, since Easton was a three day ride away, but was pleasantly surprised when she did.

Vance had assumed they might send a house representative tonight to try and plead with them for more time, to give Shian a few days to get to Portish. They would have agreed to the new timeline, of course, provided House Yountal doubled the ransom fee. No matter. Their original ransom fee was already outrageous. Dasor laughed softly to himself at the thought.

The man from the Silver Serpent Clan had assured Vance that House Yountal was quite wealthy, despite their small presence in Portish, and that they would likely pay the ransom fee. Vance was the leader of the local branch of the gang, which was headquartered in Lakeshire, the capital of the duchy. Normally, outside contracts were required to go through gang headquarters in Lakeshire, but Vance didn't dare refuse what amounted to a demand from the Silver Serpent clan.

Vance, Dasor, and Tank were all tier 3s, which gave them a strong edge over the other gangs here in Portish. They had even captured one of the leaders of their main rival gang just the day before, which was a stroke of luck that was sure to get them heavily rewarded. Combined with this new job, they would all be incredibly rich! Dasor, while not quite as strong as Vance or Tank, still held himself in pretty high regard. As a tier 3, he was already among the elites in Portish.

Sure, there were probably a few dozen tier 4s in the city, and the count was a tier 5, but Dasor was stronger than everyone else. Or at least that's how he saw it, especially now that he'd finally learned his first concept. His lightning magic was more powerful than ever. He had graduated from the academy at tier 2, but had finally figured out how to advance to tier 3 a few years after graduating. Most people never made it this far, and he was pretty proud of his achievement.

He instinctively knew that tier 3 was as high as he would go, but that was already high enough to earn him plenty of respect with the gang. Now that he'd learned a concept, he was miles above any tier 2s he would have compared himself to previously. Vance oversaw Dasor, Tank, about fifteen tier 2s, and dozens of tier 1s throughout the city. They mostly targeted small businesses and local merchants, people who couldn't fight back. It was steady work, and pretty low-risk.

The city guards didn't tend to get involved with the type of petty crime they carried out unless they were caught as it was happening. Attacking a wealthy house like this came with more risk, but their contact from the Silver Serpent Clan said that House Yountal only had two tier 3 guards. Their entire guard force was smaller than the people under Vance's control, so the risk was pretty low. Besides, trouble was brewing in Easton right now, so most of those guards likely wouldn't come to Portish.

Instead, they would probably just pay the ransom and leave. Dasor chuckled to himself again and glanced over his shoulder to where Shian had taken a seat. He scanned the room, but didn't spot any city guards lurking about. He also didn't spot any of her own guards accompanying her. She had apparently come alone. He had purposefully made her wait to unsettle her. By now, she would probably be wondering if she got the time and place wrong. He decided he'd made her wait long enough and walked over to her table.

He plopped down without an invitation, a predatory grin on his face. The grin faltered slightly when she didn't react to his sudden appearance. He only hesitated for a moment, then the grin returned in full force as his magical sense confirmed that she was a mortal, and posed no risk to him whatsoever. This would be fun.

"You have the money, peasant?" he asked her with a sneer. It was good to start off strong, throw around a few demeaning names, let her know he was in charge here. She looked him up and down calmly, then cocked her head to the side and placed a single iron coin on the table.

"The amount in your note was unreasonable. Here's my counter offer." She slid the coin across the table to him, and his grin faltered again. Was she being serious? He picked up the coin and confirmed it was truly just an iron coin. Literally worthless to a tier 3 like himself.

"You think this is a game?" he snarled in response, chucking the coin at her face. He blinked in surprise as she moved her head to the side just in time to dodge it. It landed on the table behind her and rolled to the floor, drawing a few stares.

"No game," she replied.

"Where are my employees?" Her confidence unnerved him, and he had to double check that she truly was just a mortal. He relaxed when his magical sense once again pinged her as a mortal, and his inner danger sense didn't register her at all. It was a conclusion that his eyes didn't agree with, seeing her behavior, but he knew logically that she was just posturing. He ignored her question.

"The boss wants to meet with you. Two days from now, at the Mester Straw Inn, just after sunset. Don't be late." Vance didn't actually have anything ready tonight. They had only expected a liaison to show up and beg for more time, so they had the real meeting planned for two nights from now. Vance hadn't wanted to waste his time here tonight, so he'd sent Dasor instead. Shian locked eyes with him for a moment, then nodded.

"Got it. I'll be there."

"Make sure you come alone," he growled threateningly.

"One false step and your employees die." He stood and walked out, quite pleased with how he'd handled that.