Broken Tower Saga: The First Swordsman

The cloud was still showering, but now it was heavier than before. The wind had risen further, though it was still within the limit. The air was still fresher than before and the chimney had stopped emitting smoke during the rain. Now, the climate was far colder than before.

Through Byul, Wrik had learned the weather was wonky and it could get worse than this. Today was not the day it appeared to get worse, so without bothering to take shades, the two of them left the shade after dealing with the thief boss.

"So what should we do?" Wrik asked her. 

Byul did not answer. She had no answer. She had thought she would get her stuff back and for further success, she even brought Wrik with her for the first time. Her old boss dismissed her plea without even anything to listen. This time, though he had listened, the result was disappointing. At least before she knew her stuff was with Bakhan, but now she did not even have a clue if it still exist or not.

Bakhan, the old boss of her, had sold her belongings without any second thought and did not even bother to make sure to whom he had sold it. Other than the name—Jin Lycros—the thief boss could not give any valid answer, and the name could be true or false; they had no way of knowing for now. Even though he took two weeks of time, there was not so much productivity that could be done there. That was why she was so depressed after everything went through. 

"I wonder, if the records in the dome could be of our help," he said, "I suppose if there is a record in the administrative office, we could get our hands on them though I don't how easy or difficult it would be."

Byul nodded as they walked. The mud had already stained their boots while the rain was still bothering them, even though it was not as heavy. It could stop at any moment or it could rise further—they don't know. 

"Are you hungry?" he asked again, though the girl had not bothered to answer. Clicking his tongue, he looked for a shade nearer. "Let's get there," he said, gesturing at an almost broken down building. 

Pulling her arm, he brought her in the shade. There were a few other people there, from all ages and genders, kids to old men, male to female. They did not bother with them, stood in a far corner though they were not free from all the states, and whispered. 

Wrik opened his cosmic spatial pouch, and inside it, he brought out a carrier holding food. There was pastry, ham and a few other delicious things inside that had low value but were essential when you were hungry. They were cold now, but far from getting wasted.

"Why the long face? We were only here for about a week, and will stay here for months, if not years. There will be many opportunities to find your stuff," he said and gave her a share of the meal. "Take it, or you will get hungry before reaching the house. Who knows if this weather would be better or not?!" 

Byul took it finally and the two of them were among the tens of stares. Wrik ignored those stares, imagining they were the only ones present there. 

"Do you have your wand with you?" he hissed. 

Byul arched her eyebrow and looked at him. Confusion held her face, but she nodded.

"Good, it is better to be cautious during the night," he said and pulled his long sword out of the pouch. The people who were staring at them unconsciously took a few steps back, noticing the sword. The children were not so alarmed at first, but seeing the adult restraining back, they moved back as well. 

Wrik looked at them once. The light here was not great, yet they noticed the weapon. He did not bother with them and probably would not need to be. Other than telling Byul to be cautious, he did not tell her another matter.

He had picked up a few eerie feelings through the way, though he was not sure if they had any ill-intention after all the other day he had come across something like that as well, after he gave a few sighs that he could not be dealt with normal means, they retreated. There was no need to make the worried girl even more worried—she already had a bad long day.

He did not know if he would be able to avoid the collision. It's nighttime now and with the showering rain, it was almost a perfect condition to make a terrible decision. On another note, he was not afraid, rather he just did not intend to engage in a fight here. 

They hit the road again, and by road, it meant the muddy ground with a foot length of water. The drainage system here was not working everywhere and there was not a shortage of holes in the way. They moved at a regular pace, making sure not to fall in one of them. 

"Byul, do you know who administrates this region?" Wrik asked suddenly, finding the stillness a little lonely. 

"I suppose it was the nobles and officers employed by the council," she said. "There are areas divided among them. Some noble family known as Abaran should govern the place, we are now. I have seen a few of them coming here to supervise a couple of times in the last few years and other than that, I reckon they have nothing."

"So they did not bother to make this place a little better?" 

"Oh, they do things now and then, though I don't if they were limited though their means or of some intervention of cosmic force, it was always delayed. They were supposed to build a better house for all the workers in the factories, yet you have seen the infrastructure—some of them were abandoned even before the structure was completed while the ones that were made were used by the peasants that have some recognising."

"Other than that, are there some other groups?" Wrik asked, picking his brows. "Like the thief boss we have come across today, there should be others like them?" 

"There are," she said. "Most of them were smaller than Bakhan and stayed within their limit, while the bigger ones stayed incognito all the time. They have bounties in their name and most of them die within a year or two of their business. Bakhan is rather smart there, he was doing this type of thing for over a decade and did not peek his head where it did not belong." 

"I suppose," Wrik said. Then he recalled when the soldiers attacked him, supposing he was some rebel or thief. "What about the rebels?"

Byul peeked at him. "They were some fools, before their numbers were in thousands and had quite the force, but they were already dealt with," she said in a rather mocking tone. "They are the groups that think the nobles and the Forces of Maha that were ruling this place are evil and they could liberate them with the path of rebelling, though none of them had succeeded other than killing a few nobles and bystanders. And worse, the number of them dying was not any less than the people they have killed. 

Wrik arched his eyebrow at Byul. He had never seen her voicing out her opinion about anything—not in their statistical meetings or about anything else. She said her opinions did not matter as she knows nothing and was not sure about anything. But her opinion about the rebels was all firm and there was no way she would shake from it. 

It appeared she had some grudge against them, though he was not sure. 

"Are you alright?" he asked.

"Yes, it's just that I don't like those bunch," she added. 

Wrik looked at her carefully, though he did not ask for the reason, noticing her emotion was heightened. 

"Do you have anyone left here that you care about, even if it is only a little?" 

"No—" Byul paused. "There are a few actually, though I don't know where they are now."

"How about we look for them after making some time another day?" Wrik asked, sighing in relief. 

"No, I won't bother you with any—"

Abruptly, Wrik threw her off in the mud, lunging in. And then she heard a loud cry. It took her a moment to reconcile what happened and when she focused her gaze; she saw Wrik was similar in the mud while blood oozed out of his thigh. 

"Take cover," Wrik yelled, ignoring the pain. His eyes were already flickering with white light. The agony rose as his senses became heightened. "There were snipers here, get ready."

Not only snipers, but there were also others that came in their way, holding guns or other weapons. It was going to be a long night for them.

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