Epic Of The Demonic Sage

"Excuse me, I think we've already received enough information about this Bordeaux individual," Kiana said curtly. "We already know that he's a threat but there has been no mention of the other criminals that are supposed to be here."

"Huh, so it's been a she all along." Carlyle whispered and nudged Cohen with his elbow. "You owe me money."

Kiana had mostly kept her distance when dealing with the criminals and always kept her hood on alongside Asher, and she also didn't talk much either except for now.

"Now's not the time, Carlyle." Cohen hissed slightly and tried to look more pissed at his companion.

There had been some occasional bets on what lay underneath the hood or who they have been dealing with, but it was mostly discussed when they were in their private rooms or their home in the rehabilitation center.

Of course, the fact that Carlyle said it now in the presence of Lucius was most frightening because the man might take it the wrong way and feel like he was being impugned.

Lucius only kept his expression calm however and nodded towards Kiana and then turned back to the criminals. "Thank you for the reminder. I've gotten a little caught up with this Mad Blade, but it is true that he's not the only one who's here, or coming here rather. What other information do you guys know?"

Since Lucius was more or less used to dealing with all sorts of individuals from the Great Barrom Clan, the attitude and behavior of the three criminals were of no issue to him as long as they managed to do their work for him.

"Since they've yet to arrive, we haven't been able to identify the two criminals by name and gift, but we do know that these people may actually be on the run from someone else," Leif said. "There are rumors about several bandit groups being hunted down by other bandits, though we've yet to actually validate that… so it is debatable."

"Is that so?" Lucius raised a brow. 'So we may have other bandits hunting fellow bandits. While it's not the most odd thing to do as there may be territorial disputes and other reasons for bandit groups to fight, it makes no sense that they'd invest too many resources into driving competition out. They mostly have aimed to kill and so the other group is fleeing for their life most likely…?'

Once again, with the limited amount of information that Lucius had received, he was making the most acceptable conclusions that he could arrive to.

"Sounds quite possible," Arius murmured after awhile. "While I've never really liked the idea of joining bandit groups since the hierarchy can get all convoluted and tiring to deal with, the fact remains that some bandit groups are hostile to others."

"Since it's only two criminals, then if they're bandits, they're most likely survivors of some sort," Cohen muttered. "Or maybe they're actually just scouts? We might be wrong."

"You think some bandit group is seeing an opportunity to start up a place here since it's been mostly cleared off by other criminals?" Carlyle grinned a little. "They might not be right in the head like Bordeaux then. He might fit right in with this group."

"He'll most likely kill them if they were to encounter each other and the two rub him in the wrong way." Arius said.

"Hah. Then that'll be a nice cleanup, won't it?" Cohen said.

Lucius himself also had his own thoughts about the situation.

'It may be a bit of a stretch itself, but if there's any group that has once masqueraded as bandits, it's the Bergan's Band. What are the chances that they're the ones driving out other bandits? Of course, I've already cut off their current manpower by a good chunk when I visited Aisse Territory, but they can easily recruit more individuals to fill up the ranks and there might be a purpose to them driving out criminals. Although it's not much clear cut right now as to why if it's really them.'

"Is there any other information that you can provide me, Leif?" Lucius glanced at the tavern owner.

The fact that Arius, Carlyle and Cohen had information about Bordeaux was something out of a lucky chance, but the one who really was responsible for finding them in the first place was Leif.

"I'm afraid not, Lucius." Leif shook his head and was about to end it there until he hesitated and then spoke honestly. "… my associates, some of them have grown too wary of communicating here in Inanis City due to the fact of the increased surveillance of the Inanis Guards. I'm trying to re-establish communications, and some are still in contact, but they're more on guard than before. Once the two criminals arrive though, it'll be easier to get information about them."

"I see, thank you, Leif."

Leif provided good and fast information already which Lucius was satisfied with, and maybe Lucius couldn't expect much more information given the circumstances… but there were a lot of things left up to 'we'll figure it out once they arrive here' as an answer.

'It's a little bit out of my current goals and reach, but the Arkaves mercenaries are also good at gathering intel. I wonder how they compare with Leif's sources? Of course, they might not deal with criminals and could be clueless… no, who am I kidding? They've agreed to work with Bergan's Band before. I'm sure that they also have dipped their toes into far more criminal sources.' Lucius thought, before he glanced at the three criminals.

"Since we've finished tackling the information we have on hand, it seems like it's time for an assignment for the three of you."

"What is it, Lucius?" Arius asked.

"Since you're all here in Inanis City, keep an eye out for these people and capture them if you ever see them and bring them to me alive," Lucius said. "Of course, it'll be better if they cooperate with us, but don't leave it to chance and capture them if they refuse."