Chapter 34: Chapter 32 – Ghosts of Steel

"I'm already sick of this place." says a young man in a dark grey uniform, the emblem of the Union embroidered on the front. The emblem was relatively simple, a hollow mountain shape with the shape of a building inside, and a sword underneath the mountain. Next to this emblem was another one, it displayed the skull of a fearsome monster, a Deep One, with a sword plunged into it at an angle. The first emblem of the mountain was of the Grand Stone Union military emblem. The second denoted their branch, but the emblem displayed didn't match any known platoons or divisions.

"Tough shit Nicolai. We're deployed here to manage stability in the frontier, not to slack off. You can live without the capital's chocolate." Said an older woman, perhaps in her thirties or late twenties. She had a similar uniform, but wore a light mantle with red trimmings. The young man, Nicolai, groaned quietly. He heavily flopped onto a dusty couch, sending up a cloud of it. They were in an old storehouse that was currently unused, situated in the inner middle ring of Mou 13. Then two more people entered the room.

Tall man: "Captain, we've returned." Said a large, bald man with the same grey uniform Nicolai wore. Beside him was a cheerful-looking girl with the same style of uniform.

Girl: "And we brought food, I'd bet Nicolai was getting hungry." She said, holding a bag in one hand and shutting the door behind her.

Nicolai sat up from his dusty seat with a look of joy on his face "Seriously?! Oh, Mara, you're the best! Tell me you got chocolate."

Woman: "Vahn, give me a status report while these two goof off."

Vahn: "Roger, Captain." The tall man stood at attention as the younger girl, Mara, went over and handed the bag to Nicolai.

Mara: "No chocolate. We need you not crashing for this mission, plus, you like the capital's chocolate best. What was that place? 'Valley Cocoa'? Instead I got you some premium bread."

Nicolai groaned and complained quietly as he ate the bread. Meanwhile, Vahn gave his report. "Seems like the recent disappearances are all Gravel District 13 refugees, and they've been getting taken by a recent group called the Alchemists of the Deep. Theyre Frontier Engineers that experiment on live people to turn them into monsters. Actually, on that note... It seems their branch HQ here was wiped out, as well as one of their labs. I'm as of yet unable to ascertain who did it, or why."

Captain: "They were destroyed? Perhaps it's a rival faction that didn't take kindly to their rising status."

Vahn: "I would agree, but the Alchemists are the dominant force on this part of the frontier. Infact... I've heard rumors they caused the collapse of GD13."

The Captain held her mouth in thought for a moment before letting go and turning towards the window. "They didn't self destruct from one of their own experiments, did they?"

Vahn: "No, ma'am. Infact, the lab had cages that were open without any resistance on the bars, and the key was left in the lock. The bodies I found were, well, mutilated but with weapons."

Captain: "Then I suppose they made a powerful enemy. Hopefully that will make it easier for us to destroy this group. We deploy in 30 minutes, so get prepared." The woman declared, much to the dismay of Nicolai. Mara and Vahn saluted with an "Affirmative", and prepared themselves. Nicolai finished his bread, and the lot of them moved to the back of the storehouse, taking the large cloths off of a set of figures. The cloth revealed a set of 4, about 10ft tall suits of enclosed steel armor. The design was angular, and from the front, a set of plates opened up to reveal a hollow interior. 

They climbed in and channeled mana into the armor, forcing the plates to close and seal the soldiers in. Shortly after, they began to move around, checking that the movement is optimal before leaving the room with heavy cloaks on each one. The armor was dark grey, with a few red lights on each one. The helmets took on triangular shape, with sharp angled armor. At their waists were longswords of exceptional make, and some kind of rifle attached to the back.

And then each one, with a silent signal, completely vanished from site, leaving through an open door at the bottom of the building.

~~×~~×~~

Two days had passed since I took out the branch HQ of the Alchemists, but I was confident that additional labs remained. While taking simple hunter requests to keep improving my rank in C-class, I would stroll around the city, listening in on conversations here and there to gather intelligence, but it was hard to gather any. At least, any related to the Alchemists of the Deep. I had been hearing rumors of disappearing people, and ghosts roaming around the Middle Ring.

Seems like public opinion has shifted to disliking the refugees from Gravel 13, as ever since they got here, the streets have gotten more dangerous. Of course, I figured the streets were dangerous from the beginning, and recent events have made the pot boil over. Licht assumed the primary cause was the Alchemists, as they seemed to be some kind of radical rebel faction that hated the upper class. I wasn't as good at deducing the bigger picture as Licht was, so I left all that to him.

As for Christy, she's been tagging along with me as always, and seems to think my intelligence gathering has been me going on dates with her. We were hanging out while I wandered and listened in on the public, but dates weren't really my intention... Still, it's a convenient excuse to keep her as far away from the underworld as I can, so I just let her believe that.

Fortunately the guards are relatively low-staffed recently, dealing with the refugees and increased outer-ring patrols, so they have contracted Hunters to patrol the streets. A convenient job for me to progress as a hunter, as well as gather intel on the Alchemists by patrolling the back streets. That said, was I unlucky to run into that first guy on accident, or was I lucky to find my enemy? I sighed while patrolling. Christy was Talking about something as usual, this time it was her studies. I lent her the Engineering book I bought from the shop in Gravel 13. I hope that old man was still alive.

???: "...down to just two labs left."

I heard a hushed voice from an alley. It was quite far in, but I had been enhancing my hearing with wind magic to increase my detection range. I slowed my steps, and casually changed directions to enter the alley.

??? 2: "seriously...? We just had 5 and the branch HQ the other day..."

???: "I know, we're getting hunted down hard and we don't even know by who. The last of our leadership have told us to start going into hiding, but will that really be enough?"

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??? 2: "What else can we do? We'll just have to do our best to disappear."

Seems like I found my targets. This time, I'll do my best to interrogate them for all they know. Still... 5 Labs and their HQ? I only took down the HQ and a lab. Who destroyed the other two? No matter. Perhaps I'll find out when I destroy the last two. I whipped around the corner at high speed with my shortsword drawn, and killed the source of voice 2. They were both male, but this one seemed less knowledgeable. I quickly separated his throat from his body, and grabbed the head of the first voice, slamming it into the wall with a burst of strength from Primal Enhancement, instantly knocking him out.

Christy rounded the corner moments later. "Aa~hh, you've gone and killed more people again... You really don't hesitate at all huh?" she said, crossing her arms with a sigh.

I responded while dragging the man's unconscious body with me "Well, they're my enemies after all. And besides, I need this one for now, so I didn't kill him." I said, walking deeper into the back streets with christy at my side.

Christy: "I feel like you're missing the point with that reply, but whatever... Is this one of those dangerous guys you fought the other day? Alchemists of the Deep or something?"

Iris: "Yeah. I want him to tell me where the other labs are before they all run off. As for how... You shouldn't watch, Christy."

Christy: "...No, I'll watch. I can't turn a blind eye to the darker sides of the one I admire." She said with a resolute look. I frowned a bit and relented with a sigh.

Iris: "alright, fine, but stay out of sight okay? You aren't very intimidating, and I doubt you can act very well." She pouted at this but didn't respond. So, we found a small abandoned storehouse filled with nothing and tied the man's hands and legs up. Then, when I deemed it ready, I had Christy walk out of sight and woke him up by pouring freezing water on his head.

He awoke with a shout and a gasp, sputtering and looking around wide-eyed before looking at me properly. "Wh-Who are you! Wh-why'd you attack me! Where's Everett?!" He started spouting questions left and right so I calmly flexed my left arm and hand before punching him with a strong left hook, knocking out a couple teeth in the process.

Iris: "Who the FUCK decided yer allowed to talk, ah? Shut the fuck up and only speak when spoken to, aight?" I said, crouching down and grabbing his hair, looking him in the eyes as I put on a new act. He seemed like the submissive type, shaking while nodding the best he could.

I let go of his hair while throwing his head downwards, and looked at him while still crouching. "Good boy. Now, where's those two labs ya mentioned? The ones affiliated wit da Alchemists of the Deep. And the hideouts of any members ya know. Be honest now, cause I can tell when ya ain't." I ordered with a polite smile. He looked shocked and stammered for a moment before looking away.

Man: "W-will you let me live if I answer...?"

Iris: "Ha~ah?" I stood up slowly and took a step back with a sigh, before whipping around and kicking him straight in the jaw, sending him flying to the floor. "I never told you to answer a question with a fucking question, did I, you fucking maggot?!" The man was curled up and groaning with pain from my kick, starting to sob. "aaaggh...! M-mihhle wing... Mihdle Wring! Two labs... Neighbhurz... Uhh... Marble street... Cloe to wahll..."

Hm. They're in the middle ring on marble street, close to the wall? And apparently they're neighbours. Maybe it's one lab that separated to work on different projects. Then... "Oi, and the hideouts?" I asked, crouching by his head.

Man: "dohn know ehny... Plea... Spahe me..."

I sighed and took out my new steamgun, shooting the man in the head. The new steamgun didn't look massively different, but the appearance looked closer to a desert eagle's now, and the barrel was threaded. The bullet was also twice as powerful as before. The reason for this... Well, there's more to it, but the bullet was now a .50 Caliber round, just .50 AE sized, and not .50 BMG. 

I holstered my pistol and left the storehouse, to find christy waiting with an expression of awe. "Wow, you were like a totally different person." She said.

Iris: "That's why I mentioned acting earlier. You have to intimidate the person you're interrogating too. And, acting can be useful in other situations too."

Christy looked at me with worry as we started to move. "...Is this the real you?" I didn't meet her gaze, and hesitated with my response.

"...Real enough." I answered, quickening my pace. We walked in silence, and after some time, arrived on marble street. I slowly paced through the quiet street full of residences and artisan shops. Then I took a left into an alleyway, walking towards the wall. Soon I found the two connected buildings by the wall that seemed to be the Alchemist's last two labs.

It was quieter than I expected. Maybe they already scattered and abandoned the building. I approached cautiously and entered the open double door of the building. The fact that It was open was strange, but if there really was no one left, It wouldn't hurt to look around.

As I stepped into the foyer, I could already feel something was off. Something wasn't right. My senses were on high alert as I looked around. Christy also seemed disturbed. What was it...? There was nothing around. Just a big empty room covered in dust. A sofa, a table, a corridor leading off and a door that's slightly ajar.

Suddenly, I leapt backwards, colliding into Christy as a Shimmering Blade swiftly cut through the air infront of my face, and my eyes went wide open. Infront of me was a tall, Steel Ghost holding a longsword. I could barely see it, but it was like some kind of armored knight. And I could see through it like it was some sort of ghost.

"Hooh? You dodged that?" a male voice rang out in the silence.

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