Bab 31: Chapter 30: Revelation (12)

'-Worthy is he who walks in the name of the Lord. For he shall have no adversity in will and no place in damnation.'

Noah opened his eyes, squinting ahead in the low lighting of Amaranth's slum district. Behind him was a contingency composed of a unit of Everbright and Capital Knights respectively.

"Is this old woman really so bad?" Annette asked.

Behind Annette, the unit of Everbright Knights were marching in tandem with their youngest lady. On the other hand, the members of the Capital Knights kept to themselves, a majority unsure of why Juda agreed to lend their force to Noah.

Noah himself was a growing mystery with no conclusion in sight. From his means of combat to the way he was able to be so certain in his actions, it was like he was following some higher script others could not see or read. His ability to heal Blight in of itself was tantamount to a miracle that no other race including the elves could boast of.

The ability would no doubt be coveted, not just by the human Kingdom of Aletera.

Glancing at Annette, Noah opened and closed his mouth, going over the information he had of the Old Hag of the slums.

"It's not about the weight of her crimes or her personality, but what she'd do to Amaranth's stability if left alone under a siege." Noah explained while Annette listened intently. "She's exceedingly selfish, that woman."

The Everbright Knights had an inkling of what Noah was talking about, but the capital knights still acted like they were in the hicks and that the problems here would be easily resolved.

Helen and Caren might have paid more attention as initiated knights of the Third Princess's Floral Order of low social standing, but most capital knights hailed from other prestigious noble families. They saw no need to put in much effort for endeavors unrelated to the encroaching black fog.

Given that Helen and Caren were tagalongs to Juda's unit, they stayed behind in Everbright as Juda deemed them lacking in experience.

"To be frank, would it not be easier to find this old hag if we just did a full ground sweep of the slums?" The unit leader, Jacob of the capital knights suggested.

Noah glanced at Jacob, realizing that he was speaking for the entirety of the capital knights when he suggested his take. The disinterest and languid nature of his demeanor was common throughout the ranks he led.

"How do you stalk a rabbit in the vicinity of its burrow?" Noah asked, recalling the days the original Noah's father had taken him out on hunting trips. It was a noble pastime, one that helped breed a tolerance for bloodshed and develop a killer sense. "It spooks quickly and blends in with the most difficult places. Any sign of forewarning, and the target will flee to a much harder location to catch."

Jacob frowned, but he found the content relatable. For some boy in one of the six border cities, it showed a level of class above an ignorant country bumpkin. A likable quality.

The annoyance on Jacob's features eased somewhat.

"Smoke and fire," Jacob suggested.

Annette was the one to frown at the suggestion, and quickly adopted her mother's icy demeanor. She was a mage, a wizard, a class renowned to be more arrogant than most. "Do you intend to burn an entire section of Amaranth down under Everbright's jurisdiction? Mind your words lest they be held in contempt."

"It wouldn't work," Noah brought an end to the argument before it could even begin.

Annette and Jacob turned to face him as Noah stopped in front of a dilapidated shack.

Wordlessly, he kicked in the door before rummaging around the messy interior. Worn hemp and soiled breaches made the place smell like urine and feces.

Annette covered her nose while Jacob scowled at the foulness. Yet Noah was unperturbed.

Eventually, Noah found what he was looking for. Concealed behind the filth was a small lever one would-have-had to know was there to notice. It wasn't shaped as a lever in the first place. Rather than some fancy book or item that would activate a secret mechanism, it was covered in a pile of excrement most sane people would have reservations about sticking their hand into.

Grimacing, Noah cleaned his hand of the brown stains before a burst of light acted as a disinfectant to whatever disease might have been plaguing the pile.

In front of Noah, a spiraling underground staircase opened as the floorboards creaked and groaned. As if to make a mockery of the means to open the passage, the interior looked nothing like the dilapidated state of the shack and was lined with neat candles and solid brick.

Embezzled funds, protection money, and black market dealings revealed the lucrative nature of trafficking, prostitution rings, and forced criminal organization.

"Smoke and fire do nothing when the entire structure is underground," Noah said, gesturing for Annette and Jacob to follow.

Annette could not so easily let what she was seeing go. Grateful to Noah or not, the astonishment of what she was seeing caused her perception of her own city to skew.

"W-What is this? How did you…?" Annette hurriedly followed after Noah, demanding answers while Jacob began to really think about why Juda would lend Noah the capital knights.

Coupled with the Knights of Everbright, Jacob had initially believed the endeavor to be nothing else than overkill, but he was starting to harbor doubt.

His finely tuned senses had picked out what the slum people were saying about the Old Hag.

They called her a witch, and Jacob and the others were starting to get an idea that the term may not be as out of place as they thought.

A witch, though a derogatory term, is still equated with 'magic user.'

And old hag, though demeaning, symbolized age.

-Age begets experience and time enough to adapt to one's power.

Did they have an errant and experienced wizard as an enemy?

A subtle tension began to rise in Jacob and the others as Noah led them through the dark of the dim lit passage and towards the atrocities that lay ahead.