Ascension of the elder

Chapter 52: Smoke and mirrors

"Me I'm Darth Badass."

Silence...if silence had a sound this is the sound it would make. Maria looked to Dylan while Dylan looked away and pretended he wasn't involved. The guard captain was looking at these strange people before he spoke again.

"Can someone please explain to me what has been going on here?"

While the captain spoke his men dragged in the man who was face planted in the street. Seeing these men all together the guard captain had a look of realization cross his face as these were the men who had been disrupting his patrol area lately. Kyle decided to take the lead on this as everyone else was pretending to be invisible.

"I'll explain, we were out shopping and decided to stop here for lunch as our guard Dylan is a regular. While after we ordered our food these men came in and assaulted the barmaid so we intervened."

Kyle tried to keep his explanation as simple as possible so mystery of how he defeated these men would grow with gossip. The guards rounded up the remaining men many of whom were still unconscious before the captain looked at the former leader.

"You've been caught in the process of attacking business interests of the Powell family within their own territory which will see you jailed for 3 years do you have anything to say."

The leader said nothing and merely looked down avoiding eye contact with everyone. Kyle had an idea that he could use these men. There will always be an underworld to society, so if Kyle couldn't eradicate it he would instead control it through these men. They would be his shadow hand gathering information and removing problems which can't be dealt with using straight forward means. In order to bring these people to heel Kyle needed something else this being the slave seal and luckily these poor sods had given him an excuse to do this.

"Captain if I may, that isn't all they are guilty of. They attacked nobles of the Powell family namely Maria Powell wife of the clan head and Kyle Powell heir to the family."

The guard captain was confused for a second on hearing what Kyle said before comprehension dawned on him and he quickly bowed to him and Maria.

"I'm sorry my lord, to verify what you've said I'm afraid I need to check your identity."

Kyle was impressed by this man as even though he feared Kyle's status he still followed protocol. Kyle looked to his mother who took out a family token which showed their status in the family. These tokens were specially made using expensive and rare materials so only nobles would use them. On seeing the token the captain just sighed and said to the now scared bandits.

"Well you're done now, the punishment for attacking a noble is death."

The bandits began to struggle but as all except the leader were now bound they were unable to do anything. Kyle waited for a moment before he extended his devils bargain.

"I have another solution, if you men agree you can accept a slave seal and work for me."

When Kyle said this the captain was surprised but chose not to interfere as this was also an acceptable outcome for him. The leader raised his head and looked at Kyle.

"If we accept this what will you have us do?"

Although the captain was only a low level lieutenant in the gang he wasn't stupid, for Kyle to propose this meant he had something in mind. Although they had attacked the business they never intended to kill anyone this was strictly an extortion racket and dead people pay no bills.

Kyle could see the suspicion in the man's eyes and felt this was good and he would be able to work with this.

"It's good to be on guard but you have this option or death and I can't say what I will be requiring of you in public view."

Kyle looked around to emphasise his point as people from the market had started gather at the door and windows trying to see what was happening. Looking at these people the leader swallowed before praying that he was making the right decision not just for him but for his men, they had been together since they were kids in the slums and it's not like you have many options after being raised in that environment.

"Very well I accept we will take the slave seal."

The conscious men agreed so the captain had the guards take the men to the barracks to begin the procedure. As Kyle watched the men troop out he felt this had been a productive day but it wasn't over yet. Also he wanted to speak to the captain about this attack.

"Captain can I ask you if this is a common occurrence?"

The captain looked towards Kyle before looking out the door his line of sight on the portion of the market in view.

"It didn't used to be but in the last few months gangs have started to pop up left and right. They've attacked businesses all over the Powell territory as far as I'm aware."

Hearing the captain's response Kyle found this interesting. If there was a large outbreak of gang violence like this for one there would have to be a cause and two why hasn't the family head been informed. Kyle decided to get what information he could from this captain.

"Captain why hasn't the family head been informed and why haven't you been able to catch the men before?"

"We have informed the family, as per orders the reports are passed up the line but nothing had changed. Also we weren't able to catch them before because we didn't know where they operate from and they seem to know our routes even when we'd changed them."

"Do you think you have a traitor in your group?"

The captain became angry at this sentence and turned to Kyle but from his expression he could see no hint of accusation instead it seemed Kyle was merely asking a question.

"No I don't think so, I trust these men with my back and when I've spoken to other captains they say they've got the same issue. Some didn't even tell their men before leaving to patrol."

"Do you log you patrol routes before you head out?"

"Yes everyday we have to submit our planned routes to our superiors for verification and acceptance. I've already thought of this but our superiors only cover 3 or 4 different areas and they can't all be corrupt, can they?"

Kyle was thinking fast now as he found that in any hierarchical system if you go high enough you'll reach one man but there are other levels which information must pass through and there had to be someone who could see the routes for all the patrols.

The obvious suspect was his oldest uncle Harris who controlled the enforcement and protection details of the family. Even though Landon is the overall leader certain parts have been delegated to ensure their smooth operation.

This would take further investigation as Kyle's gut feeling was this was all related to his poisoning. By taking out the heir of the family and weakening their financial power they would become vulnerable and with the common people in fear of these new gangs, they would welcome any stabilising force.

"Captain would you be able to get copies of all the reports of these gangs from your records and from the other captains you've spoken to."

"It shouldn't be a problem, but if I may ask why do you want them?"

"I'm looking for a common theme or thread to these gangs, the fact they all popped up at around the same time is highly irregular add in the fact they can operate around our patrols show's me there is something coming."

The captain was watching Kyle as he was spinning his theory and was impressed by this young boy and decided gather as much intelligence as he could to help as he now believed that if Kyle took the leadership of the family it would be a good thing.

"Okay I'll get everything I can when should I get it delivered to you?"

"No don't deliver it, we have to keep this quiet, I don't want others to know what I'm looking into as that will only alert them and push them into hiding. Dylan my guard will come and pick up what you've managed to pickup in three days time."

Kyle indicated towards Dylan who nodded to the captain while he was hugging Mavis calming her down.

"Well if everything is sorted can I get some food I'm starving."