The Storm Was Brewing

The streets looked as though nothing had changed, but Heka knew that some things had.

There were far fewer children on the streets—at least, far fewer than there had been before Heka left.

In the alleys and lanes, several familiar old beggars were looking around. Heka had no idea whether they were searching for him.

Heka pulled down the edge of his cloak and disappeared into the depths of the drainage tunnel before those people noticed the gaze coming from the sewer.

He then left the sewer through a hidden spot on the edge of the rich district.

This had originally been a maintenance entrance, but when the rich district was divided up, it had been placed along the boundary.

As a result, the place had escaped the outside gangs' surveillance and become a fairly ideal exit.

Heka and Tuft of Hair had entered the sewer through here, and now Heka was leaving it through the same place.

However, it was not yet time to enter the streets. He reeked unmistakably of the sewer, and with his short stature, he would be discovered the moment he entered the streets. When that happened, he would die without even a proper burial.

Heka was actually hesitating over whether to use the silver coins. Although they were indeed Walin's currency, the exchange rate between silver coins and copper coins was one to a thousand.

A single silver coin was enough to cover a dockworker's income for half a year, and that was assuming there was plenty of work at the docks. Besides, the docks had protectionist practices, and the dockworkers had their own organization, so their wages were generally higher than those of ordinary laborers.

The adventurers whose exploits were sung by the tavern bards were also usually paid in silver coins.

As for gold coins, to be honest, they only appeared when someone was describing how incredibly precious an item was.

Heka had once thought it was merely an adjective used to describe an item's splendor.

The sum was far too large—so large that it felt almost unreal. Even now, whenever Heka saw the item marked Huika Gold Coin in his backpack, he felt a sense of unreality.

Heka skillfully avoided the patrolling guards, then looked up and quickly searched among several possible targets.

He soon spotted his target. No sheets hung in the courtyard, and the curtains on the windows were tightly closed. There should be no one inside.

Moreover, if Heka remembered correctly, the villa did not have its own water shutoff valve. The last time he had gone there, he had discovered that the water was still usable.

There were more people patrolling the main road, but thanks to the rich district's beautiful greenery, Heka was able to circle around the side and reach the room he had chosen.

After confirming that no one was nearby, Heka skillfully and carefully pried open the window. He then vaulted through it and landed steadily inside.

All the furniture in the room was covered with cloth. This was a study. The books and valuable decorations on the shelves had probably already been packed away and stored properly, leaving the shelves bare.

The sight made Heka relax slightly. He carefully lowered the window, put the curtains back in place, and patiently smoothed out their wrinkles.

The first thing to do after entering a room was to determine whether anyone was inside, then establish an escape route. This was a trick Heka had learned from a beggar whose eyes had been gouged out.

"He's in the sewer. Have they blocked the exits?"

The chief constable tapped the map before him. It was a map of Seapeak Port, probably the most complete map of the city currently available.

Yet the large blocks representing the districts were mostly blank, with very little detail marked on them.

Those were the gangs' territories. Their layout changed constantly. Sometimes a gang would block an alley connecting two districts; at other times, they would open it up. It was a physical manifestation of the increasingly fierce struggle between the gangs over smuggling routes.

However, every place where one could enter or leave the sewer was clearly marked on the map.

"Boss, we don't have many men. For now, we've told the gangs that the kid is an important witness and that they must capture him alive.

"They aren't very enthusiastic about it. Should we add some more incentives and make them put in more effort?"

"No. The Graytooth Gang incident has already made those dogs realize that something is going on. I went to great lengths to reach an agreement with the few people who know about this. We absolutely cannot let more people find out.

"Otherwise, they'll send everyone into the sewer. Once things get chaotic, we'll never find that money.

"Don't underestimate how badly those people crave money."

The chief constable rubbed his temples. He had originally thought he could settle the matter through decisive action.

He had even been willing to move against the leader of the Graytooth Gang, who was loyal to him, and spend time supporting someone else in his place.

He had done so only to make his raid on the gang's headquarters appear to outsiders as an operation primarily targeting the gang, with the search for something being merely incidental—a smokescreen.

"Any progress lately?"

The chief constable did not dare push too hard, afraid that one careless move would let some passing stray dog snatch away the meat pie in the sewer.

If he had not been worried about hitting the rat and smashing the vase, he would have driven the gang members into the sewer long ago and searched it inch by inch.

It was not as though they had never done that before. The lives of the gang's low-level thugs were worthless. Even if they died, there was no need to pay compensation or appease anyone—the gang would deal with the bodies.

And if they failed to handle it properly, it was simple enough to replace the gang.

After all, they were the ones running the game.

"We interrogated that fat pig several more times. Combined with the statements from the people we captured who had ties to that kid Heka, it seems the kid can enter the rich district."

At his subordinate's words, the chief constable's finger, which had been moving across the map, suddenly stopped. It then pressed down on a spot circled with brown lines.

This was Seapeak Port's rich district. It was said that when the district was first built, they had deliberately chosen a place that was not prone to flooding. They had then gone to great lengths to drive away everyone living there.

The tall walls, constant patrols, and lamps that burned throughout the night had made it the most suitable place for humans to live in the entire city.

"The rich men's territory? Why does this little rat always choose such obscure corners to run through?

"Look, wouldn't it be better if he simply brought the thing to us himself? Then I might even give him a quick death. Now he's made everyone miserable and dragged in so many people he knows.

"Here's what we'll do. Give the people we captured some charge, then throw them outside and hang them. Set up enough men at the scene and see if we can wait for the rabbit to come out of its burrow."

The chief constable tapped the desk before him. This was already a last resort. He knew that the other party probably would not appear, but it was the only leverage he could think of at the moment.

The city was far too large. Finding one kid lost in it was like searching for a needle in a haystack.

Moreover, the kid could dive. Once he entered the sewer, he vanished without a trace.

"As for that place, I'll negotiate with them. We'll give up a little, and they'll let you in. But this is ultimately only a delaying tactic.

"Our few partners are already growing impatient.

"That lord may no longer want his uncle's property, but before leaving, he contacted an adventurer group called Red Sparrow. They've already assembled their people and have been lying in wait nearby recently.

"If we still have no leads after half a month, I'll have no choice but to report the matter to the old men above us. By then, we won't even be able to get a hot bite of shit.

"I might get one or two gold coins. Huika Gold Coins are heavily devalued here; they're only worth five or six hundred silver coins. At that point, each of you three will get around a hundred, and the fifty silver coins I promised earlier will be gone too."

The chief constable looked toward the ceiling. That little rat had run too quickly, leaving him mentally and physically exhausted.