Chương 73: The Bloody Hand

Celia trotted towards him and held his hand.

"It's been a while, Kyle. How was Velkaris?" She said with a beaming smile on her face.

"It was… fine," Kyle said uncomfortably. He slowly removed his hand from her grip, then waved for her to sit. Celia unhesitatingly sat next to him, her eyes landing on the copper tag hanging on his neck.

"Congratulations on becoming a copper-grade adventurer! I believe that your name will soon resound through Mirevale." She said with a smile.

"Thanks, the final escort quest wasn't easy though." Kyle leaned back on the sofa, taking a sip of his orange-milo mix.

"I see, you should have upgraded here, though…" Celia muttered under her breath. Facing Kyle's inquisitive expression, she quickly shook her head and changed the subject.

"You came back at a difficult time. The goblin disaster is reaching its peak," Celia seriously said. She placed her hands on her lap and explained.

"According to the guild's investigation, the number of goblins in the outer reach of Silverbark has almost reached 100, 000. They have started attacking the villages under Mirevale and the surrounding towns."

"It won't take them long to launch a full-scale attack." Celia paused for a moment; a confident smile crossed her face.

"Of course, the guild wouldn't just wait for the goblin horde to reach the town. After months of investigation, we have already found the location of the goblin lord behind the horde. The guild is making its final preparation before launching a decapitation strike." She leaned closer and whispered.

"Technically, this is news reserved for silver-class adventurers and above, but… just keep it to yourself." Celia cautioned.

'It seems that the guild isn't unprepared. The best way to curb the severe goblin growth is to take out the head. I wonder what their preparation for the cult is, though.' Kyle's brows relaxed.

"Who's the one that will carry the decapitation strike?" Kyle curiously asked. Celia looked around before leaning in and whispering.

"The guild is going all out this time. The minimum requirement to participate in this decapitation strike is silver-class. Most importantly, the president is taking action personally."

"The president was known as the lightning blade in his youth. Once he takes action, it will be over." She said with a proud expression on her face.

"I see, that's good to hear." Kyle relaxed. Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation. Once this goblin incident ends, he would finally be able to train in peace. He took another sip of the orange-Milo mix, finishing it. Noticing Celia looking at him, he placed the empty cup on the table and ordered another orange-milo mix.

"Wanna order something?"

"No, thank you. I already ate." Celia shook her head. Her hazel eyes landed on his face, lost in thought. Kyle nodded and leaned back; he suddenly remembered the unfamiliar guards at the entrance of the town.

"Did the baron send his regular army to guard the city? I saw many unfamiliar faces at the town's gate." He turned his head to the side and asked the dazed Celia.

"Hmm? Ah, you're talking about them." Celia snapped out of her daze. Her brows furrowed.

"They are the personal guards brought by the eldest son of Viscount Victor Haldren, Matthias Haldren." She calmly recounted, hardly hiding her displeasure.

'Viscount Victor Haldren? That rings a bell.' Kyle felt that the name was familiar, but he couldn't recall where he had heard about him. He pondered for a moment before shaking his head and shelving the thought.

"Why is he here then? He even brought so many guards along, and why do you seem to dislike him?" Kyle raised his eyebrow. Generally speaking, a noble couldn't interfere with another noble's territory, unless…

"The Baron of Mirevale is the subordinate of Viscount Victor Haldren. He was the one who requested assistance from the viscount." Celia explained much, to Kyle's expectation.

"He brought along 300 apprentice-class guards, 20 rank 1 knights, and 3 rank 2 powerhouses."

"As for why I dislike him…" Celia paused, her eyebrows furrowed.

"He's an extremely disgusting man who kidnaps women as long as they are pretty. Since arriving in Mirevale, he has snatched 3 women from the street back to the manor the baron prepared for him, one of whom was a married woman." She said with a trace of disgust in her voice.

'This is basically Celestial Dragons-level of villainy.' Kyle's eyebrows twitched.

"No one did anything to stop him?" He slowly asked. Celia shook her head. With his status and the forces under his command, hardly anyone in this small town could do anything to him, including the baron. Celia hesitantly looked up.

"Maybe the president could? But…" Although she didn't finish, Kyle already understood what she meant. It wasn't the president's place to stop him, and more importantly, he was an important source of combat power. The two fell silent, the atmosphere slowly growing stifled. Kyle looked at the depressed Celia and inwardly shook his head. He decided to change the subject.

"By the way, how was the Bloody Hand matter handled?" Kyle curiously asked.

"Huh? What do you mean by that?" Celia tilted her head, bewildered.

"Huh?" Kyle narrowed his eyes. He straightened up and looked at Celia with a serious expression.

"Is something the matter?" Celia looked confused.

"The Bloody Hand Gang. You should know it; didn't the guild do anything about it?" Kyle solemnly asked; a bad feeling crept over him.

"I know about the Bloody Hand, Kyle, but why should the guild do anything about it? That's not within our jurisdiction." Celia was baffled. Kyle closed his eyes and rubbed his forehead, feeling a headache.

'Luke! The Velkaris Branch is even more incompetent than you expected!' Kyle was extremely annoyed.

'To think the Bloody Hand freely acted within the past week without consequences.' His expression turned ugly. According to the information he got from Nick, the Bloody Hand was facilitating the cult's actions by providing them with corpses and captives for their rituals. They had even prepared quite a few secret strongholds for them in town, and that was just what Nick knew about!

"Let me confirm first, Celia. You haven't received any message from the Velkaris branch over the past few days? Is the Bloody Hand Gang still acting freely within Mirevale?" Kyle looked at Celia dead in the eye and asked.

"No. At least within my knowledge, we hadn't received any message. The Bloody Hand Gang is fine." She shook her head. By now, she had realized that they hadn't received a crucial message. Kyle heaved a deep sigh and said.

"Can you take me to the president? It's a very urgent issue." Celia looked at Kyle for a moment, her hazel eyes meeting his blue eyes. They held no trace of falsehood.

"Fine, follow me." She nodded and stood up, heading towards the third-floor stairs. Kyle followed behind.