CHAPTER 73: YANKAI THE THEIF

"Hoooo!!" Blowing out a hot breath of air, Enzo collapsed on the back of a wooden wagon, a feeling of exhaustion washed over him.

Suddenly, a ray of light shone on the right side of his face, causing him to squint and look over at Zeke, who was covered in dried-up blood.

"You never told me your friends are monsters, Zeke, pleasantly surprised..." Suddenly Sword Cleaver crawled from the front of the wagon and towards the back.

Right now, the father of the family of four had taken point and was driving the wagon forward.

"That was nearly a thousand men, you almost got us killed," completely indifferent to the complement, Zeke spoke with a tinge of frustration and surprise.

The number of people that chased them, the cloud of humans behind them, numbered nearly a thousand. If not for them creating space between the army and the wagon, they would be dead by now, swallowed by a flood of thieves.

"I didn’t know that they’d send out a thousand, I’m just as surprised... I was expecting one hundred tops," Sword Cleaver shrugged his shoulders.

It was a big settlement, of course they were more than a thousand people there, just that he didn’t expect that many to react so readily to this.

"At least we know what we’re up against." Suddenly Enzo spoke, a sense of calm washing over him. They couldn’t possibly storm into that place with those numbers; they had to seriously plan.

"Hehe, I’m beginning to reconsider help you guys myself, just relax guys — all we need is information," Sword Cleaver added with a sly smile.

Killing Vegar would be harder than he thought.

"And here is our first source," he turned to one of the younger members of the family of four. A young man, a scarred cheek and a gloom in his eyes from days of no sleep.

"This is Yankai, he’s a member of the thieves’ guild and a close aide to the elite guard."

.

.

.

.

Some hours later, they arrived back at Windgrave where Sword Cleaver gave the escapees asylum in his store underground basement.

"Take a seat, Yankai, we have a few questions for you."

While Raven and the attendant helped them settle in at the back, Sword Cleaver had the thief Yankai come up to speak with them.

"That was the deal wasn’t it? You can ask whatever you want." Without missing a beat, the young man Yankai responded, slowly reclining into the chair while letting out calm, stable breaths that both signaled exhaustion and relief.

"First, how close are you to Vegar?" Enzo asked.

"Very, I see him almost every day," Yankai responded flatly; he was an elite guard of course he saw Vegar every day, he was in charge of protecting him.

"Every day? So you’ve seen his face?" Enzo doubled down, squinting his eyebrows.

"No, no one has seen his face before; he wears a mask," raising an eyebrow at Sword Cleaver, Yankai frowned at Enzo’s question.

This was common knowledge. Vegar was very careful. A lot of people wanted him dead and in a city of thieves like Astoria, remaining hidden was the only lifeline one could truly afford.

"Mask... coward," Zeke sneered, a bitter look of disdain on his face seemingly coming out from nowhere.

"Anyway, why is he so adamant on capturing you?" Enzo raised his eyebrows for a brief moment before turning back to Yankai.

There was no logical reason for sending out a troop of one thousand just to capture one man. It didn’t make sense unless something more precious had gone missing.

"He thinks my elder brother stole something from him, something too precious... it’s a lie though, he’s just bloodthirsty." Yankai gritted his teeth; he wanted nothing more than to charge right into that fortress of his and kick him in the face.

"As for why they reacted that way, it’s probably that," pointing at the barrel being carried in by Sword Cleaver’s attendant, he affirmed.

"I figured, if he’s going to execute my brother for taking something from him, then I might as well take something for real," Yankai said, feeling some satisfaction; at least the death wouldn’t be worthless.

"Execute? Do you mean a public execution? Isn’t that something only the city lord can do?" Enzo questioned; his internet knowledge seemed to be failing him right now, if only he had a good education. (hehe)

"You’re definitely not aware of the situation in that cesspool. Vegar is the leader of the thieves’ guild; in the city lord’s mansion there’s no scarcity of people willing to kill the city lord on his behalf... if he wants to execute someone publicly, the city lord will approve it."

"Or else it’ll be his head on the chopping block," Yankai was clearly frustrated about the whole thing.

His brother was going to be executed and all he could do was complain to these strangers here, even singing some praises of Vegar. It annoyed him to no end.

"Public execution... okay, are you planning to save your brother?" Enzo, finally taking in all the information, asked a very crucial question, one that would determine the next step.

"Hm? That’s too dangerous, there are far more than a thousand men in the settlement, most of which are in the guild. I’m not risking anyone in my family again." With a bit of struggle, Yankai repeated the words of his mother, pain visible in every word that came out of his mouth.

"I see." Enzo straightened his back and looked over at Zeke then Sword Cleaver. Keep him around for a few days, we’ll need to ask a few more questions, get a general feel of the place.

Enzo spoke with a sudden authority that wasn’t there before, instinctively moving Sword Cleaver to do just that.

It was quite clear that what awaited them in Astoria was an army and, behind that army, a figure clothed in a veil of darkness. They had a few things now but it was clear that whatever they were planning to take him out had to be 100% foolproof or else they would all die on Yari.

"You like our odds?" Enzo raised his eyebrows at Zeke.

"I love them," Zeke smiled back confidently, leaving Sword Cleaver stunned.

These two... with all these odds, were they stupid? Or suicidal?