Sewers War

The girl transformed in front of everyone, instantly causing a commotion in the inn.

This is because when lycanthropes transform, it usually signifies an attack and slaughter.

The soldier immediately raised his shield to protect his master, his muscles tensed, ready to eliminate all these dangerous young werewolves.

However, the girl who called herself Fangas did not, like most werewolves, lose control of her wild nature once transformed. Instead, she quickly reverted to her human form.

Ignoring the hostile, disgusted, and fearful glances from those around her, she spoke to herself, "As you can see, we are all werewolves from the same clan.

As for why we suddenly left the sewers to come to the surface...

It's naturally because our home was destroyed by those damned ratfolk!

They somehow got their hands on a large quantity of silver-plated weapons and arrows and launched a surprise attack on us.

Despite our desperate resistance, the enemy numbers were simply too great.

In less than half an hour, all the adults in the clan were killed.

Only we, the minors, managed to escape in the chaos."

"Ratfolk? Surprise attack? Large quantities of silver-plated weapons and arrows?"

Zuo Si immediately seized on several keywords.

Although the girl's description was very simple, he still found something unusual about it.

First, ratfolk are a relatively "peaceful" type of lycanthrope.

Even when they lose all reason on a full moon night, they rarely attack others proactively.

Second, silver, as one of the most special precious metals in the Magical world, can cause great damage to demons, devils, and lycanthropes.

Normally, ratfolk, being lycanthropes, should not possess a large number of silver-plated weapons.

This is as ironic as finding a "Dragon Slaying Sword" in a dragon's lair in a game.

Third, the number of ratfolk who launched the surprise attack was very large, clearly an organized and premeditated action, not a crime committed by small groups of a dozen or a few dozen people.

In conclusion, something significant and unknown must have happened in the sewers.

Just as Zuo Si was about to ask for more details, he suddenly saw Epke, the leader of the Thieves' Guild, enter with four bodyguards.

"Outcasts?"

The bald, fat man showed undisguised disdain and disgust upon seeing the group of ragged children exuding the unique stench of the sewers.

But before he could even wave his bodyguards to chase them away, Zuo Si smiled and said, "You've come at the perfect time. I've just received some astonishing news from these children, which you might find interesting."

"Oh? What news?"

Epke forced a semblance of interest onto his plump face.

He clearly didn't believe that a bunch of lowly "Outcast" children could provide any useful information, but he was too polite to say it directly.

Zuo Si, however, didn't mind and continued, "A large group of ratfolk armed with silver-plated weapons raided the territory of a werewolf clan, wiping out all the adult werewolves. Given the scale of the Thieves' Guild in Caledon, this could already be considered a Guild War, couldn't it?"

"What?!"

Epke, who had been nonchalant a moment ago, changed his expression dramatically the next second.

He immediately turned and signaled his bodyguards.

Without a word, they rushed into the inn and roughly cleared out all the customers in the hall, even pushing the owner and waitstaff into the kitchen.

After the "clearing," the shrewd leader of the Thieves' Guild sat down on a wooden chair.

The somewhat old chair undoubtedly bore a weight far exceeding its limit, emitting a creaking sound of protest.

But fortunately, it did not collapse.

Shifting his large posterior slightly, Epke then asked in a very serious tone, "When did this attack happen? Who was the leader of those ratfolk?"

The girl clearly hesitated, looking towards Zuo Si, the only one willing to give her food.

Zuo Si nodded encouragingly, "It's alright, tell us. If the information you provide is accurate enough, this gentleman beside me will not be stingy with his rewards."

"That's right! Hurry and tell me what exactly happened in the sewers!" Epke urged impatiently.

If Zuo Si hadn't been present, he would have already ordered his bodyguards to apprehend these "little wolf cubs," lock them up in a dark dungeon, and interrogate them with whips and various tortures to pry open their mouths.

As the leader of the Thieves' Guild, despite his usual smiling and harmless demeanor, this man was inwardly cold, cruel, and cunning.

However, he disliked openly displaying these traits like other members of his profession, let alone treating them as a hobby.

Epke believed that excessive use of violence would not only fail to inspire fear but could also backfire.

True violence should be like a whip held high; its greatest deterrent effect is only felt before it descends.

Once it strikes, it's merely pain.

Only when necessary would the bald, fat man reveal his most ferocious side.

The girl didn't notice Epke's dangerous gaze and said through gritted teeth in a hateful tone, "The attack happened four days ago.

I don't know the name of the ratfolk leader."

However, he had very distinct features: one eye was missing, only half of his tail remained, and there was a small notch on his left ear.

The adults said that as early as last month, there were rumors of other clans in the sewers being ambushed by ratfolk.

"They definitely want to wipe us out completely and turn the sewers into their own kingdom."

"Well, after hearing this, what do you think of?" Zuo Si asked meaningfully.

Epke stroked his chin and fell into thought, but quickly replied with a cold laugh, "It seems I'm not the only one in Caledon preparing for the upcoming Guild War."

"So, the ratfolk's unusual activity is supported by leaders of other guilds. Have they reached some kind of cooperation agreement?"

Zuo Si immediately understood the subtext of what the other person wanted to express.

He was curious about the scale of this so-called "Guild War."

Would it be like gangs in movies, with hundreds or even thousands of people gathering for a shootout?

Or would they send assassins to kill important personnel or disrupt their illegal money-making businesses?

Why would the rulers of Caledon allow these thieves' guilds to fight amongst themselves?

Weren't they afraid that raising these "gu" would result in a super-hegemonic power that would then usurp the throne?

Or perhaps, these thieves' guilds were merely tools for the power struggles of the upper nobility?

Given Caledon's complex and chaotic power structure, Zuo Si felt it wasn't impossible for a vast and unknown force to be manipulating things from the shadows.

Of course, he wasn't particularly concerned about what this city would ultimately become.

He just felt that he could leverage the impending war between the thieves' guilds to do something.

After all, a significant source of mana was killing!

And in the sewers of Caledon, there were thousands of ratfolk causing trouble.

These creatures often stormed the slums at night, capturing innocent poor people and dragging them back to their lairs.

Then, they would spread the lycanthropy disease through bites, forcibly converting their victims into members of their own kind.

If he had the chance, Zuo Si wouldn't mind undertaking a "Rat Extermination" operation.