Chapter 171
“Hmm, Draco, you’re here too. Then those kids outside must be your familia members,” Shakti said, spotting Draco getting up from some rubble.
“It’s been a while, Shakti,” Draco replied with a smile.
“Yes, it has. Thanks for dealing with my troublesome sister. I hope she hasn’t been an inconvenience to you all,” Shakti said.
“No, she hasn’t. She has been good company for our familia, especially my sisters. Right, Vasiliki?” Draco said, glancing at Vasiliki.
“Nice to finally meet you, Shakti-san. I am Vasiliki, temporary vice captain of the Bahamut familia,” Vasiliki introduced herself.
“Just Shakti is fine. I’ve heard a lot about you from Adi. I hope she hasn’t been troubling your familia too much,” Shakti said.
“Not at all. She is fun to hang out with. My sisters and I enjoy her company,” Vasiliki replied.
“That’s great! Please keep taking care of her,” Shakti said with a slight bow.
“Ah, yes,” Vasiliki replied, a bit flustered. Shakti was much older than her and the captain of the Ganesha familia, which made receiving a bow from her somewhat intimidating.
Shakti noticed Vasiliki’s restlessness—her furry tail seemed agitated, and her ears perked up.
She couldn’t help but smile at the reaction.
‘Cute,’ she thought, before turning her attention back to Draco.
“Draco, any progress on that?” Shakti asked cryptically.
“Not much so far. I have something in mind but need some time to test it,” Draco replied.
“I see. Take your time,” Shakti said.
“I didn’t know you two were close?” Alise interjected, surprised by their interaction.
She and Shakti were close friends, and Shakti had never mentioned being close to the Bahamut familia.
“We had some dealings a few months ago,” Shakti replied, not elaborating further.
“Anyway, thank you all for aiding in upholding law and order within the city,” Shakti thanked both the Astraea and Bahamut familia’s.
“Tsk, only coming after we’ve done all the hard work, and you call yourself city watch,” Lyra muttered loud enough for everyone to hear.
Indeed, the Ganesha familia was the largest group dedicated to maintaining law and order in the city.
Following the will of their god, the Ganesha familia took it upon themselves to ensure that laws and customs were followed throughout Orario.
The age of darkness brought about by the fall of the Zeus and Hera familia’s would have plunged Orario into chaos without their constant efforts, preserving at least some semblance of order.
“Lyra!” Alise scolded immediately.
“The Ganesha familia is busy watching over other parts of the city. Isn’t that why we have patrol areas? Don’t say things like that again,” she warned.
“But even still, they were late, and this is along their assigned patrol route. You guys are all too soft,” Lyra grumbled.
‘Good thing I only took a small area for our familia to patrol,’ Draco thought.
The Ganesha familia was stretched too thin with the size of their patrol route.
Alise was about to scold Lyra again, but Shakti interjected.
“It’s okay, Alise. Lyra is somewhat right. Although it won’t make up for our negligence, we will handle things from here,” she said, ordering her familia members to take action.
“Take the unconscious evilus into custody and keep an eye out for stragglers,” Shakti instructed.
“Yes, ma’am,” they replied.
“Ahem,” Draco coughed to gain Shakti’s attention.
“Since you guys are taking over, we will be taking our leave.” he said.
“Can you wait a bit longer so we can share information on our observations? I also want to brief both your familia and the Astraea familia on our findings,” Shakti said.
‘Ugh, just what I want—more work. But I am kind of curious about the incident. If I remember correctly, the evilus are constructing a magic weapon or something, but when was it again? Damn, my memory sucks,’ Draco thought.
“I can stay, but my familia needs to rest. It’s our turn to clear the Goliath that spawns today, so rest is needed,” Draco replied.
“That’s fine,” Shakti agreed.
“Vasiliki, you take the others home to rest,” Draco instructed.
Nodding, Vasiliki exited the factory.
“Alright, from what we know, this is the fourth attack on magic stone factories so far,” Ryuu said, sitting on some rubble while the Ganesha familia worked in the background.
She was exhausted from squabbling with Kaguya.
“What? Four attacks have already happened? Why am I only hearing of this now?” Draco asked.
“Ah, that’s my bad. I meant to inform you a week ago, but I didn’t know where you stayed,” Iska said, a bit embarrassed.
“Sigh, It’s fine. I didn’t particularly share our address. That aside, four attacks don’t sound like a coincidence,” Draco said.
“Yeah, the evilus are plotting something, and no matter how many we put down, they just keep crawling out of the woodwork like bugs,” Kaguya added, her tone strained.
“True, and the ones we round up never seem to know the full plan,” Lyra added.
“Wonder if we’ll learn anything this time,” Lyra muttered, clapping her hands behind her head.
Just then, one of Shakti’s subordinates came over and whispered a report in her ear.
Afterward, she turned to address Draco and Alise.
“So what have you found out?” Draco asked.
“At first glance, everything looked the same as the previous raids,” Shakti began.
“However, thanks to both your familia’s ’ timely intervention, we managed to preserve much of this factory. Surveying it, we have learned that something was stolen.” she revealed.
“And what was stolen?” Maryuu asked.
“All the magic stone ignition pieces,” Shakti answered.
“What’s that?” Alise asked, her head cocked in confusion.
“Think of them as switches that activate a magical device,” she explained.
“They are an integral part of all magic items.” she added.
‘Hmm, now it all makes sense. They want to use it as a trigger for the bombs they are making,’ Draco realized.
He didn’t have much knowledge about magic items, but what he did know was enough for this conjecture.
“What do you suppose the enemy wants with them?” Kaguya asked.
“Who knows?” Shakti shrugged.
“Are they building something?” Lyra asked.
“I don’t know either,” Shakti replied.
“Aaaaah, what good are we then? I hate being kept in the dark! What does it mean when none of us have an answer for this?” Lyra said, ruffling her hair in annoyance.
“Draco, do you perhaps have any thoughts?” Alise asked, noticing that Draco was lost in thought.
‘Ugh, should I tell them or even give hints? How much would change if I do? Could I become a suspect if I reveal too much? Finn is quite smart, so things might become troublesome if I come across as a know-it-all,’ Draco mused.
“Hmm, the fact that they stole so many of these devices means they can’t make them themselves or don’t have a quick reliable source, right?” Draco asked.
“Hmmm,” everyone nodded, listening.
“If they can’t make them, then it’s also unlikely that they need them for some complicated magic device. So, with that line of thought, what use could they possibly have for stealing all those ignition pieces besides using them to trigger something simple?” Draco explained.
“Something like what?” Shakti asked, drawn into his line of thought.
“The evilus seek destruction, right? We can tell by their random acts of violence and fires they started. So what could cause a large amount of destruction that would need ignition pieces?” Draco asked, letting them come to their own conclusion.
As much as he wanted to mention living bombs, he feared it would make him sound paranoid or crazy.
Who would think that people were extreme enough to do such a thing to themselves and even their children?
“Is it perhaps some explosive magic device?” Kaguya asked.
She was familiar with concepts like smoke bombs, as they were used in the far east.
“That sounds plausible. And with so many ignition pieces stolen, it must be smaller in scale—like an explosive magic device that can be carried by each member or something,” Shakti muttered in realization.
Draco nodded in approval; they had arrived at the conclusion he wanted.
Although they didn’t know about the living bombs, they were now aware that the evilus were likely carrying some kind of explosive magic device, which was enough.
Everyone stiffened as they followed along Shakti’s line of thought, turning to stare at Draco.
Everyone could already imagine the chaos and destruction that would ensue if their suspicions were true.
“Thank you, Draco...” Shakti said, grateful for his insight.
“I will immediately report our conjecture to the guild and advise them to strengthen security,” she added after a moment of silence.
“I’ll inform the Loki and Freya familia’s too; this is serious,” Shakti continued.
“Let’s increase patrols around the city,” Alise suggested.
“We don’t need to know all the details of the enemy’s plan to stop it from happening,” she added.
The others nodded in agreement; something terrible was brewing, and they could all feel it.
“The remaining Evilus have all been rounded up, Onee-chan,” a member of the Ganesha familia reported in a rather cute tone.
“Adi, I told you not to come, and not to address me like that in public,” Shakti said, glaring at her younger sister.
“Oh yeah, sorry, sis,” Adi replied, childishly sticking out her tongue.
‘Cute’ the Astraea girls thought.
Shakti could only sigh and shake her head.
Draco gave a slight nod in Adi’s direction in greeting, and Adi did the same.
Not much needed to be said between the two, as Adi visited the Bahamut familia almost daily anyway.
“Anyway, we will take things from here and inform all the necessary parties. You all can go home and rest,” Shakti said, addressing both Draco and the Astraea familia.
“Really, we’ll take you up on that offer then,” Alise replied with a smile.
“Everyone, we’re pulling out,” Alise announced with excitement in her expression.
“Look at you now, all giddy to return home after declaring, ‘pretty girls like us can handle everything,’” Draco teased.
“Ugh, you remember that,” Alise groaned, slightly embarrassed.
The other girls struggled to hold back their laughter at the scene.
“Ahem, see you later, Draco, Shakti, Adi,” Alise said, quickly regaining her composure.
“Indeed, see you soon,” Shakti replied.
Turning to her familia members with a smile, Alise declared loudly, “Justice has been served; let us return triumphantly to the arms of our Goddess Astraea!”
‘Ooooooou’ the other girls replied in unison.
‘Sigh, time to go home,’ Draco thought as he began to take off his shirt.
“W-what are you doing?” Adi stammered, covering her face with her palm.
“Even if you show off your gorgeous body, you cannot seduce any of us,” Alise said, defending the pure girls of her familia.
“Keep dreaming,” Draco replied, using partial transformation to manifest his draconic wings.
“Goodnight, ladies,” Draco said before flapping his wings, stirring up dust and debris that oddly settled around Alise alone.
“Dracoooooo!” Alise yelled in annoyance as she watched him take off into the air, passing through the broken warehouse roof.