Chronicles of Arcadia: The Enigmatic Adventures of the Nameless Guild

𝕮𝖍𝖆𝖕𝖙𝖊𝖗 3

"Here's another document report, Captain," sabay bigay sa akin ni Rafael ng isa pang stack ng mga papeles.

"Brotherhood?"

"Any report other than that," he gave me a look to not expect anything from the Brotherhood.

"Not much activity from the Brotherhood now, huh."

They're silent for once. There's just nothing. It's as if they suddenly got cut off their throat. Naging mangmang na ba sila? Walang ingay.

I was about to read another document when someone knocked hurriedly at my door. Napatigil kami dahil naramdaman namin ang papalapit na presensiya.

What is it this time?

"This is urgent, Captain Ereshkigal," he spoke outside the room. I heard him clearly.

"Enter," I said. My aide here, Rafael, wore a serious expression.

"Captain," he saluted first and immediately handed me a scroll bearing the symbol of the Northern Association. It's from that old man again.

Rafael took it and tilted his head to signal the man to get out of the room.

"Now what does the Association Head want from us?" sabay bigay sa akin nung malaking scroll.

I read the whole thing and was particularly focused on certain words.

'Investigate the presence of unbalanced forces of nature.'

"Forces of nature..."

"Mana," Rafael gave me the answer.

I widened my eyes as I realized the content of this message. The Association Head is telling all high guilds to look out for illegal trade of mana.

Napahilot ako sa aking sintido.

"Mana can be traded?" I asked Rafael. He was more knowledgable of these kinds of matters.

He adjusted his monocle. "Not exactly. There are cases where skilled human mages or mystics share mana. But if we're talking about trade, we can't just imagine it as a living thing being used as a bottle."

"So this is not a matter of illegal trafficking then?"

"The Association Head is being vague on this. Well, given it's a coded letter..." he muttered. "Still, did he write all this while being drunk?" he let out a sigh.

That old man is as playful as ever. He likes to make things harder for us. He's probably out drinking right now! This is a serious matter but knowing him, he'll still make sure we crack our heads open until we understand what this all means.

Sa baba pa ng message—'I like booze and women.'

Nandilim ang mga paningin namin.

Yun lang yung pinakawalang kwentang part ng message. He wasted an official golden scroll, stamped it with the Association seal, and he placed 'booze' and 'women' at the end of it.

He's either an asshole or a lunatic. The Northern Association Head is both at this point.

"What shall we do with this, Captain?" he asked.

"Have our men eye the black market and the trading warehouses," I stood up and got near the chimney. "Also, make sure to inform the Duke of this matter. I'm pretty sure he'll cooperate with us. Besides, this mana irregularity we're talking about concerns his citizens."