Honkai Impact 3rd: Don't Die For Me/ Book 1: Promise

Chapter 55 Trees and Roots

<Captain's Quaters>

"I'm swamped with cases, Sile I'm sorry I can't help you on this matter."

An exhausted sigh escaped from the captain of the guard. It was rare that his good friend requested his help on a matter. This matter in particular required a colossal amount of work.

"Maybe we can squeeze something through, I'm too well known. My disguises can easily be seen through a practiced eye. But if we follow the trail of snow-white hair we can find the girl. Disguise it as patrol work, an intruder of the city, a fugitive."

"I can't spare the guards, I don't even have the authority to move such men around."

"Then ask for volunteers, the families in the city."

"The families are a greedy bunch, I wouldn't be surprised if they had a part in the operations."

"Wei Fang, what could be more important than stopping the handling of humans as goods? Just a small team of guards, that's all I'm asking for."

Sile was having trouble following his friend's train of thought. Yes, they had lost an innumerable amount of able personnel during the war but it shouldn't be enough to wring the city dry. Though Sile would admit that he was not too adept within the political hemisphere, surely the government could do something.

Wei Fang felt the years catching up to him, there was a time when he was rash and full of joy. A stoic youngster who only had justice in his mind. When he joined the guard his seniors had dealt a heavy blow to the trafficking of humans and other goods. He was prideful and proud to work under them. But through the past decade, he had lost them to terrible hits and the war claimed the last of them. They were his second family and he was the last of them. They fought for peace and obtained it for a time. But when it came for Wei Fang to take the torch, the peace they fought for had already begun to crumble along with their strength.

"The young blood is tired from war. I've appealed to the governor for aid but gotten no response. Sile most of our recruits are sent away from the city. The Emperor is planning something and as a result, we are left dry and winded. We don't have the money to employ mercenaries. We can barely defend the city against Honkai attacks that have also picked up in frequency. I want to bring to safety as much as you do but I'm stretched too thin."

Sile scratched his stubby head. He recalled the day he met Wei Fang, catching him pickpocketing. It was a strange friendship that ultimately helped the guards of the city capture and destroy parts of the underground. Sile did his part as an information gatherer. Wei Fang was so stubborn and upright that he still wanted to detain Sile for stealing. But now he was just a weathered man. Sile knew some of the setbacks the guard's faced but he never expected it to be so dire. He should have known when Wei Fang employed him to guard for a few days. Sile thought Wei Fang was doing him a favor.

"How about old veterans?"

"That would be irresponsible of me to ask them for help. They-"

"But we need their help. I've been so blind to it before but I've done my own digging in the past days after I met that girl. The name Fan has been whispered."

Wei Fang's eyes perked and sharpened at the mention of that name. Old memories forced Wei Fang to grind his teeth. Fan was impossible to catch. Every attempt resulted in at least one death. He was so infamous that the common people of Lanshau never named a child Fan after he rose to notoriety.

"He's built a new team?"

"I'm not sure."

Wei's eye twitched, and his fist was clenched so tightly a walnut could be crushed by the force he exerted against his palm. His greatest failure was letting Fan getaway. In their last encounter Fan lost an arm but the previous captain of the guard died to Fan.