Each territory had their own goals and pride that they couldn't lower their standards. No matter what the king thought about the other two duchies wouldn't even bat an eye towards Ginehart and Blackwell. There was also a long-standing unwritten agreement between them. 'Mind your own business', no matter what happens none of the duchies could interfere with each other.
This agreement however doesn't apply to Ginehart and Blackwell since both the dukes of these territories were friends. Whatever the king was thinking, all Ulysses could do was to prepare himself. It was no use in overthinking about it. He would just let him think whatever he wants.
"Are you still going to investigate though?" Cygnus shifted his attention to his brother.
"No, let them do that and I won't interfere. I'd rather be a homebody for now. The king might find me annoying if I start investigating on my own." Linius was quick to answer because he had not desire to add another problem to his already messy life.
"If that's the case, then, I will be returning to Ginehart too and keep my hands off this matter." Ulysses stood and looked around the manor. "Look after the manor and don't create any problems for now. Let's lay low."
Ulysses bid his two sons goodbye and immediately left the manor. Cygnus and Linius also went their separate ways after breakfast. Cygnus once again went to Vergessen to check on it and also to meet with Fhin.
"I am impressed with your work." He looked at the bandit leader with a grin because he was pleasantly surprised that they were able to pull out that kind of performance.
"Thank you master," Fhin bowed and was glad because of the praise. He was also relieved because the master was satisfied with their work.
"I want you to keep up with your work and don't disappoint me," Cygnus waved his hand. He then clapped them and stood up to tap the man's shoulder.
"By the way master, what shall we do with the loot that we got?" They only stored everything they got from the stores and didn't touch anything. The feeling of fulfilling their master's command was enough for them.
"You can keep all of it for yourselves. I don't have any use for them." Cygnus took a step back after he answered the man's question.
"Are you sure master? There's a lot of valuable jewels in those loots." Fhin was surprised after he heard the master's answer. They got everything because they wanted to offer all of it to the master but he didn't want them.
"Just use them for yourselves or for that base of yours. I've got plenty of those so I don't need any more of it." Cygnus shook his head because he had no intentions of adding more junk to his collection. What he has in his dimensional storage couldn't be compared to what they had taken from those small stores.
Fhin's eyes widened and before he knew it, his body was already bowing down in a ninety-degree angle. They could indeed use the loot to improve the life of their children back at the base. They won't be worried about what they should wear and eat. Repairs for their homes would be easy. "Thank you so much master! We will never forget this generosity."
"No need to be thankful. Think of it as your reward for working hard for me. I just hope that you won't disappoint me." Cygnus grinned as he turned around with Mr. C. They left the shop after that went to the other branch so as to not make the spies following them suspicious.
Fhin returned to their base using the gate that the master made for them. He was in a good mood when he relayed the master's message to all of them. The crowd cheered because of that and they were even more grateful because of the reward. They became even more enthusiastic to go for another round of stealing and killing.
On the other hand, General Ishmael finished organizing the groups that will patrol the areas around the city. Their main goal was to find clues or even locate the bandits. Acasia also dispatched groups of heroes that would roam around the whole city to prevent any bandits from creating trouble for them just in case they were still inside the city. The mages on the other hand were tasked to track down the bandits because the king doesn't believe that they already left.
The surveillance of the Capital City Lumier tightened but it didn't make the people feel at ease. Even after the Minister of Affairs relayed the king's message to them, the people were still afraid. For three consecutive days, they couldn't sleep and if they managed to fall asleep, they would just be woken up by any slight noise from the outside.
The investigation was slowly moving because of the lack of evidence and clues as to who the bandits were. They barely left traces from the place of incidence and this caused quite an uproar at the palace because the merchants were not satisfied with the lack of result. They couldn't stop their rage because they've already lost a large amount of money and now the bandits were nowhere to be found.
It was a chaotic mess that the king needed to reiterate to them so many times that he had sent his elite men to capture those bandits. Even the entrance and exit to the capital were strictly guarded and inspected. Once they finally calmed down, they were ushered outside of the palace.
"There must have been someone among their ranks who can use magic. They could have used teleportation," General Ishmael suggested.
It was a viable conclusion but the mages hadn't found any traces of magic being used on the site. Even after rounding the whole area around the capital city a few times did not give them any clues and the mages also didn't find any traces of magic.
"Are there any ways to hide traces of magic that a mage used?" The king was now looking at the mage that came with the general to report.
"There are some of them that can be easily detected but some of them would be difficult to detect. We've tested every method to dispel any anti-detection magic around the site but came up with nothing. We tried the more difficult ones which yielded with no results. There are only two possibilities for this, it's either the bandits did not use magic or they have a magic user within their ranks that has found a way to hide their traces in a way that we can't dispel," the mage explained.
"Will there be a chance for us to catch these people if they strike again?" The king wondered out loud.
He was thinking of waiting for them to attack again while they lay in wait. This way they would have a higher chance of capturing them. Since they've already wasted so much time running around without a clue, it would be best to focus their energy inside the city.
"That would be possible, your majesty. This way our forces won't be divided when they attack again." General Ishmael agreed with the plan. It was better to wait for them than to spend their energy around without any results.
With that, all groups were recalled and rearranged. They were then redeployed to different areas of the city while waiting for the bandits to strike again. This arrangement remained for a whole week which made the people frown and the merchants impatient.
"This place is a bit empty," Cygnus commented when he once visited the Hero Association. Unlike the first time he visited, there were no people in the reception area except for the receptionist.
"Almost all of them had been dispatched as per the king's orders," the woman answered. This time the doubts in her mind already disappeared as she calmly talked with Cygnus.
"Then that means that even Hero Arcaine is not here?" He asked with a bit of disappointment in his voice.
"I'm afraid so. It would be difficult for you to meet him well, not until they catch those bandits." The woman nodded with sympathy in her eyes.
"Then can I at least come here once in a while to drink coffee even if Hero Arcaine isn't here?" He asked in anticipation which made the woman smile.
"Yes, of course you are welcome here anytime."
