Vladimir put his wrist to the panel, and the elevator went down. Kyon could tell they were going to the - 4th floor. The well-lit corridors were furnished with some dark stuff that created an atmosphere of secrecy.
«The a.n.a.lytical department, where I have a place for you, is the top authority of the department. Only eight investigators work there, and they have no equal in the whole kingdom. As they lack certain strength, there is also a security forces squadron administered by the department that can suppress even a mid-ranking family. You, as an investigator of the third rank, will have ten rather weak security forces officers under your authority. If you need more, you have to prove yourself. Then just ask Charge to appoint more people for the operation. Charge is just and reasonable. If he sees the potential in you, he will always help out. When he starts to use foul words to make a joke, it"s a sign that you are doing everything right. Anyway, your future is in your hands.»
Kyon nodded. - {Only eight people? I see why they are facing a talent shortage.}
They approached a huge heavy door. Behind it, Kyon saw a s.p.a.cious room that reminded him of the elite library building. It was crowded with people looking through doc.u.ments in a large archive. Experienced investigators were busy focusing on key areas of work.
«Mr. Vladimir! How do you do? It"s been a long time.» - A broad-shouldered man of about fifty came up to the newcomers. He had a broad smile and heavy stubble on his face
«Greetings, Charge.» - Vladimir nodded briefly to him.
A few more high-ranking investigators came up to greet the boss. Then their eyes fell on the guy in the black mask, and they turned to Vladimir, perplexed.
«Meet the new investigator of the third rank. He wants to remain anonymous, so call him just Stone…»
«Neophyte would be better.» - Kyon said in a hoa.r.s.e low voice and slightly bowed his head in respect. He was disappointed that Vladimir had blurted out his name. Kyon should have warned him.
The tall man, who reminded Kyon Mob from the mine, grimaced in disgust. When he heard the newcomer"s family name, something menacing appeared in his gaze. He was a Brown.
Almost everyone in the room became interested in the masked guy.
«Why does he disrespect his seniors in rank, hiding his face behind the mask?» - Charge asked sternly, although he already knew the answer.
Vladimir looked questioningly at Kyon, giving him the floor.
«I wish to remain anonymous, Sir. So, you should take the mask on my face as a given.»
The investigators looked at each other. They had always been a friendly team where everyone knew each other before this "anomizer" appeared.
«I forbid anyone to give the recruit any orders regardless of the fact that he is a 3rd-rank investigator. I see his great talent, that"s why I"ve decided to give him freedom. It will help him reach his full potential. I need a month to figure out what to do with him.»«That is… He is on probation, isn"t he?»
«Something like that.» - Vladimir nodded, frowning thoughtfully. He didn"t know what to expect from Kyon. Would the guy prove himself to be a high-ranking investigator, or would he be trouble? Would he have to have to kick Kyon out in the end?
«The novice has some skills and even has serious intentions to eliminate at least two of the three issues in the kingdom. Tell them all about it.» - Vladimir said.
Kyon heard contemptuous quiet laughs. A well-coordinated team of eight, the best investigators in the kingdom, had been failing for several years to achieve what the arrogant masked weirdo intended to do. This self-confident idiot was a joke.
Charge look the rookie up and down. – «The first issue the kingdom faces is robbers, vile parasites who live at the expense of merchants and intercept goods sent by bird mail. They cause enormous losses to the kingdom, discourage other kingdoms from trading with us, and intimidate settlers and travelers. No one has ever returned from their captivity, at least there are no recorded cases.»
«There are six gangs and seven brothers in total. All of them follow the first brother"s orders. They call him Sauron. He is the most secretive, the most dangerous and elusive, competent strategist and organizer. He developed a system of secret meetings, recruiting new members, ranking his brothers and gang members, dividing the territory. The robbers regularly change their geolocation. All this together make his syndicate too difficult to track down. Besides, Sauron has great personal power and is cautious like a field mouse. We can get rid of the robbers only after their chieftain is taken. Otherwise, one brother will replaced another, and there will always be new recruits. The reward for his capture is five times more than for the other six brothers" heads combined, namely, as much as five million spheres. With each month, the amount only grows. You intend to catch him alone, without a team. Well, we all are excited to watch you do it» - Charge grinned. He hoped to intimidate the greenhorn novice with his eloquent descriptions.
Kyon nodded, smiling behind his mask.
«The second pain in the a.s.s is the thieves guild. They are no less vile than robbers, but they do their dirty work without unnecessary casualties and brutal killings. They mostly commit theft, less often robbery. They steal mainly from wealthy people: merchants, high-ranking families. Sometimes they break into treasuries. Families in Boston have suffered so much from the ubiquitous thieves in recent years that they keep their wealth in the reputable trading guild Golden Piggy, paying a fee for protection. The d.a.m.ned thieves are well trained by their talented leader. They act in cold blood and take a calculated risk. They are not afraid to die, though. Everyone has a pill with poison behind a tooth. If you catch one of them, you"ll have a corpse in a minute. Even if you knock them out instantly, the swallowing reflex will do the trick.»
«The entire guild is run by a woman under the name Lanai. She is an experienced and talented leader and organizer who has outstanding personal power and theft skills. Unlike any other thieves, she doesn"t leave any traces after the theft, from the word at all. When she commits robbery, no victim has time to react. She knocked them out with an exact blow to the back of the head. This ingenious thief has on her account a whole series of the most serious thefts and robberies in the past fifty years. The reward for her capture has been growing steadily for many years. Today it"s a whopping fifty million! This amount is significantly higher than the annual income of any high-ranking family. The huge reward attracts powerful pract.i.tioners from Dantes, but after a month of unsuccessful search, they go home, helplessly shaking their heads. If she is caught in my lifetime, I can die peacefully. The d.a.m.ned b.i.t.c.h has robbed my father! He still squeezes the ring on his finger, nervous, when he walks around the city!»
Vladimir smiled at Charge"s glum commentary. The investigator had his own feud with Lanai. However, there was no prospect for him to catch her. She had left no trace. The criminal was too elusive.
«And the third issue…» - Charge"s face darkened. – «The guild of killers. It"s a shadow guild of a level that Boston had never seen before. They kill for money, very professionally. They include descendants of direct blood, both old and young, even the elders. They take up anything once you negotiate the price.»
«Their skills are staggering, and their total combat power can compete with the first three families. Even if we risked a straightforward confrontation and sent all our forces to them, we would most likely leave with nothing. It"s not worth it. We could ask the imperial investigators for help, but first, we need to find out where to look for these killers. The devils are more secretive than the thieves and the robbers combined! We simply can"t find them! The Black Queen, their leader, is beyond our level. The reward for her capture is one hundred million spheres. It"s a large sum even by the standards of the Grands, but they are willing to pay so much money because the loathsome b.i.t.c.h had killed…» - Charge broke off.
Vladimir turned red with rage. Elder Grand, his father, who was the greatest and the most influential of them all, had become her victim. Vladimir hated the Black Queen with every fiber of his being.
A deathly silence fell on the room.
The head of the department said quietly:
«That"s why I told you to get rid of only two issues in the kingdom. The third task is impossible. Spare yourself the trouble. If the guild of killers gets angry, you won"t feel safe even in the department.»
Kyon nodded.
«Alright then, good luck to you!»
Vladimir said goodbye to everyone and left the a.n.a.lytics department.
Grek Brown, a tall, thin man, approached Kyon and brazenly poked a finger into his chest:
«No one likes you here, little squirt. You"re nothing but a masked idiot with an inflated sense of self-importance. My team and I have been busy catching elusive thieves and arrogant robbers for years. And then you come and talk a good game like it"s all a piece of cake. The truth is all the Stones are pretentious liars. You are no exception.» - He said with icy disdain.
«Anything else you need to tell me?» - Kyon inquired calmly.
Grek clenched his teeth in anger. He was on the point of punching Kyon"s impudent masked mug:
«Don"t talk to your seniors like this! You"ve b.u.t.tered the boss up and think you"ll have all your problems solved? Like h.e.l.l you will. I"m an investigator of the 2nd rank, and you are my subordinate. Go and bring me coffee. No sugar.» – His commanding tone sounded harsh and rude. He was a boss in front of an impudent subordinate.
Kyon frowned. Why did Vladimir have to blurt out his name... What a stupid coincidence that one of the Browns worked there.
«Let him be, Grek. He"ll get around pretty soon and see the futility of working alone. Then he will serve us as a servant as an instructive punishment for a month. It will give him experience.» - Charge chuckled and went to work.
The rest of the high-ranking investigators also perceived the boy as an arrogant upstart, an empty windbag.
Grek gave the novice a quick unkind glance and left.
Kyon heaved a sigh of relief, there were no casualties. He went to the file room and began to study cases. He had a couple of hours ahead, and then it was time to pack for the robbers.
With his keen ear, Kyon overheard Charge"s conversation and singled out some pieces of noteworthy news.
The first announcement concerned Saturn, the empire of the first rank, where they organized a summit of the leaders of the top three empires. The discussion would mainly refer to the thunderclouds that had covered the whole world, as well as future global events.
{It"s an honor. I spent half an hour to master the nine elements, and the elite of the world is already gathering for the summit.} – Kyon thought, flattered. However, he understood perfectly well that the officially announced discussion of the summit was only a distraction for short-sighted people. In fact, the point of the meeting would be something else, but what? Only heaven knows. It was too early for Kyon to think about global politics.
Charles also casually mentioned that the king was to make a statement in the central square anytime soon. Every four years, he was obliged to give a pre-tournament speech to make sure the whole of Boston was getting ready for the ma.s.s event with dedication and responsibility. It was going to be a significant event. King Michael hadn"t appeared in public until now, although before marriage, he was regularly seen around town, inspiring hope and faith in his people.
Grek was excited to share his piece of news. Elder Stephan accused Patriarch Bai of brazen, unceremonious theft of two hundred thousand spheres. When the elder came ever to talk about pressing issues between their families, he was flagrantly robbed and kicked out of the Stones" area.
Grek sounded very convincing. It was impossible to side with crazy old man Bai. On the other hand, Stephan was described as nothing short of a saint.
The investigators expectedly sided with Grek and accused the Stones of dishonor and spitefulness. The dirty trick concerning the victory of some little snot over Tsayan had already damaged the reputation of the Stone family. The news about theft made the Stones a laughing stock in the eyes of the Bostoners.
{Scoundrels! How dare to gossip about it, distorting and exaggerating facts!} – Kyon couldn"t help but feel he was a part of the Stone family. The gossip made him angry. However, he couldn"t dispel or refute another dirty lie. It was up to Bai. He must have a video formation. There was a pitfall, though, that might occur when the evidence reached the department. The Browns" dogs could easily get rid of it. Grek was the biggest a.s.shole among them. His family connections must have ensured him an easy path to the 2nd rank.