บท 452: Conspiracy Reveal

"How? How can a group of bandits, one that did not even have a Spirit Grand Realm expert, hope to achieve anything inside the capital city?" Adia asked, clearly surprised by what she read.

"Yeah, how can we be sure that this is real?" Sela questioned the dual-haired man. Ryker merely looked at her with arched brows before pointing to the captured man.

"Asked him, and oh, if you tell any lie, I will make sure you regret it," he told the man, who nodded in fear.

"Y-yes, it is the truth, but we don't plan it. Someone convince us to join in the plan. They said the endgame is to weaken the Birak Kingdom, and if we pulled it off, we will get a lot of money in return, as well as able to plunder and raid the more vulnerable towns and cities," the man confessed, fearfully looking at Ryker.

"Someone. Who?" Bryan asked.

"I am not sure but I think he is not local. Maybe he is someone from the other nations, but that is my speculation," the man answered, fear in his voice and eyes. Then again, he probably see his fellows murdered with ease by the person in front of him, so it is a valid reason.

"So, what should we do?" Brya asked the question everyone answered to. Quickly, everyone looked at Ryker, who's eyes twitched slightly.

"Let's take everything of note in this place, then hand this man over to the guards. Maybe the someone in the guards noticed something, but this is above what we can handle," he told them, the four women nodding in agreement.

-x-

It did not take them long to gather every useful information. Most of it is located in one place. Then again, the hideout is well hidden, making it hard for anyone who did not know the existence of it to find the place.

Afterwards, the five head towards the gate, the captured man in tow. It did not take them long to arrive. They stopped by the gates, the captain stopping them before realizing who it was.

"Your Excellency, you are back- who is this?" he asked, surprised by the sudden addition.

"Someone that might possess information that can protect us from possible threats. I have asked for my older brother, so we will stay here for the moment," Dory replied.

"It is? I understand Your Excellency," the captain bowed to the princesses before walking away.

The group of 5 quickly find a place to sit, with the prisoner in the middle.

"So, did you find the hatchling are is it something else that make them stop there?" Ryker asked, starting the conversation.

"We found them, 1 hatchling and one egg," Dory took out the hatchling, which is about the size of a baby, while Brya took out the egg, which is the same size as the hatchling.

"How about you? How many bandits you killed?" Brya asked, interested in what Ryker had done when they were gone looking for the young of the Blood Hawk. Similarly, the guards leaned in closer as well.

"37 bandits, all Genesis Lake and above, with 9 at Genesis Sea. There is no one challenging, except for the leader and his second-in-command, which is the same cultivation realm as Adia and Sela, and they did not even put up a proper fight," he answered, before taking out several storage rings from his pocket.

While the princesses nodded, having expected such outcome, the two guards looked at him in disbelief, clearly not believing a 4th Stage Genesis Sea expert can be so powerful.

Before they could question him some more, a person walked towards them. Ryker turned and spot the Crown Prince himself. The others did the same, the guards bowing to the man.

"You called me, Dory. What's the problem?" Dory did not say anything, instead just giving him the storage rings with all the information they collected from the hideout.

The man accepted it before skim through the papers. As he did so, his expression turn graver by the seconds. He turned towards the bound man and asked, "Is he part of the bandit group?"

"Yes, and he seem to be someone important. He is not the leader, but clearly hold an important position in the group," Ryker answered.

"I understand, but I want to make one thing clear, do not tell anyone what you have learned except for the Sovereign experts of the Kingdom," Lariz said with a serious tone.

"From what I manage to gleam out of this, there might be a traitor among the higher-ups of the Kingdom," the reveal cause the four to gasp, while Ryker's face turned darker.

"What make you think so, eldest brother?" Dory asked the man, who took out one of the document.

"This is the reason," Ryker decided to look away, not wanting to learn any secret of the Kingdom. Unfortunately, Lariz did not let him has his way.

"This is a special caravan heading towards one of Kingdom's army camp. It contain a lot of resources that will be given to the army. Such caravan are well kept secret of the Kingdom, yet a group of bandit somehow manage to get the schedule for the caravan. And not just one either.

They manage to get information of every single caravan and the path it will took," Lariz exclaimed with a growl.

"So tell me. How does a group of bandits managed to get an important secret of the Kingdom without a spy inside our rank?" everyone went silent. Who would have thought a simple adventuring trip would led to them discovering the possibilities of traitor or traitors inside the Kingdom's higher up.

"I don't need to tell you the important of such thing know, can I," the five nodded.

"Does that mean we are no longer allowed to go outside?" Brya asked, which is a legit concern for the two princesses.

"In the near future, probably no, but I will talk to father about it some more. In the mean time, Ryker, do you mind taking a commission from the royal family?" he asked the dual-haired man, who let out a sigh.

"It's about the bandits, isn't it?" he said with a deadpanned face.

"Yes," Lariz nod, "Basically, I want you to bring the two guards over there, Sela and Adia, and hunt any bandit groups you can find. With your strength, it will be easy for you to handle the bandits, as long as the 10 strongest bandit groups did not join in,"

As Ryker nodded, Sela objected to the new task, "Your Excellency, why must we be under someone that is not a guard?" while Adia did not said anything, she agreed with her fellow guard.

"It because he find the hideout, so he can easily find another one. Your presence are to make thing easier for him," he told her.

'But he is just a Stage 4 Genesis Sea expert,' was something the two did not say, but it is written all over their face.