The situation outside the City Hall was not great. We could tell so even without having taken a step outside the gates yet.
"Alright, boys, stay calm and vigilant, be prepared for any escalation."
Raghav advised us as he reached for the gate and swung it open.
The loud yelling from the crowd entered our ears as we looked out at the situation at hand.
The City Watch had barricaded the area around the City Hall, separating the protestors and the captured criminals.
However, the protestors were in no mood to respect the boundaries set up by the City Watch, and they were trying to push the barricading open.
To prevent the barricades from being breached, the Special Force officers were pushing back, creating a stalemate between the two parties.
I scanned the entire premise looking trying to see if I could find the leader of the pack.
As I was crossing over, I noticed Raghav was doing the same.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Raghav do a double-take, and I instantly looked where he was looking, and I assume he was able to spot something by enhancing his vision.
So I asked him what he saw.
"You got something?"
"I think so. There, next to the man near the right side with the sign reading 'Go Back to Marne. This is Plied.' You see that man with the hooded cloak."
It would have been easier if he had pointed at him, but that would have spooked the man.
Nonetheless, with a little effort, I saw the man, and yeah, I must agree he did seem like a local; he wasn't protesting, he was just observing the situation. I then looked away to the far right as I suggested something.
"We should look away now, otherwise he will know we are watching."
"Agreed."
After agreeing, Raghav and Shin both turned to look at the far left, but we still kept an eye on him from the corner of our eyes.
That was when I saw something coming at me, and Raghav quickly stepped to the right and reached out, grabbing whatever it was that was headed right for my face.
Of course, I was here flinching and covering my head like a child.
Because I thought I was going to get hit, but thankfully, Raghav had my back, so as I peeked out from behind my arms, I saw Raghav holding a rock in his hand.
Both of us looked at the rock and then out into the crowd, where we saw one man had climbed the barricade and was standing on top of it.
I was about to say something, but the sound of something being crushed interrupted me as I looked down, seeing Raghav had crushed the rock with his bare hand, turning it to dust, before letting it drop out of his hand.
We looked back at the man, and now I saw his conditions; he was dressed like a factory worker, covered in dust and sweat.
A grin plastered across his face as he jumped onto the Special Force Officers, happy that he had gotten over the barrier.
But that was when things took a turn for him. The Officers grabbed him by the arms and the legs and threw him back over the barricade.
His brothers in arms, who were protesting alongside him, instead of helping him land on his feet, also grabbed him and started shoving him to the side of the officers.
Who in turn did the same, and now here he was, a poor man stuck on the barricade being shoved back and forth like a volleyball stuck on the net.
"Look, he's dangling in the middle."
Shin commented, and after just a few seconds watching the scene, Shin and I could not control our laughter, and when I looked at Raghav, even he had a small smile on his face.
He turned to look at us, and for a moment, he lowered his head as his smile grew a little before it died down, and he looked back up with a serious expression.
"Shin, Jacob. Go after that cloaked man. I will address the protestors and ask them to disperse. Approach him in a pincer formation."
"You got it." "On it."
Shin and I responded respectively and immediately.
Then Shin and I crossed paths, going past each other, as I went to the far left side of the City Hall and he went to the far right.
Meanwhile, Raghav walked straight out, stepping off the steps and onto the roof of a carriage, then, in a loud booming voice, he called out to the protestors.
"Good Morning. My Brothers and Sisters of Plied."
Without effort, his voice overshadowed the protestors' yelling.
The entire plaza froze for a few moments as everyone was captivated by Raghav's Presence.
"What are we doing here?"
By now, I had made my way through the barricade and slipped inside the crowd of protestors when one of them spoke.
"What does it look like? We are protesting against this oppressive misuse of authority by The Duke in arresting The Count, our Count."
Oh, someone actually responded. That was unexpected.
I tried looking for who was speaking, but could not find him.
So I turned back to the task at hand, bringing the cloaked man in for questioning.
"I assure you that The Duke did not misuse anything when arresting The Count. The Count was involved in a scam regarding the eradication of the Wildlife in the County. The Operations conducted yesterday by the City Watch and the Special Forces from Marne are related to that as well, apprehending those involved. Now I understand your worries, most of the people involved were your employers, some were your friends, but I need you to understand that all was done within the capacity of law and with proper evidence."
No one interrupted him, and this gave us the chance to slip close to the man.
He was now just ten metres ahead of me, and I could see Shin another nine or so metres away, closing in fast.
That was when that person suddenly frowned and whipped his head in my direction, and our eyes met.
His face hardened as he clenched his teeth, turning away from me and started walking directly towards Shin.
I increased my pace, trying to push forward as the crowd got more congested as I drew closer.
He must have seen Shin approaching as well because he immediately booked it away from us and out towards the back of the crowd.
Shin and I gave each other one look that told us that we were both thinking the same thing.
We are gonna chase this man to the ends of the Earth, or Paneria in this case.
Whatever Raghav and the protesters were talking about now fell on deaf ears as we escaped the crowd and saw the man running away into an alleyway.
"We can't lose him."
I told Shin as he was engulfed by a black glow, jumping up onto the building next to us.
He began running along the edge of the roof. As soon as he reached the alley, he crouched down and motioned me to go in.
Well, shouldn't he be the one going in ahead of me? He is the one who has superpowers.
But still I walked into the alleyway, there he was, facing the wall at the end of the alley.
When I called out to the man, empty air escaped my mouth as the words were stuck in my throat, refusing to come out of my mouth.
I looked up, seeing Shin shadowing me, and that gave me the confidence boost to call out the person.
"Yoo, raise your hands and turn around slowly. I just want to talk."
Almost said we instead of I, that would have given away Shin's position.
However, the man did not respond. So I got closer to him and placed a hand on his shoulder.
Keeping an eye out for any micro movements that could be seen.
When I felt safe, I turned him around, and in doing so, he collapsed to the ground.
I felt a shiver go down my spine as I kneeled next to the man, and turned him over and almost shat myself then and there.
He had turned a shade of blue, with red veins ready to burst all over his body.
His hair had fallen out, his eyes had burst open, and his teeth had all shattered into pieces.
The cause for this sudden change was quite obvious, a syringe jabbed right in the man's chest.
Half-filled with a blue liquid.
I pulled out my handkerchief and shook it down before placing it on the syringe and grabbing it.
Just as I was about to pull it out, I was shoved out of the way to the side by someone.
Looking up, I saw Shin run out towards the exit of the alley.
Even I ran after him, only looking back to see the arrow embedded in the wall, right where my neck was.
Running after whoever Shin ran after, The Syringe was still in my hand, and I guess it was what almost got me killed.
I had barely made it out of the alley, where I saw a Mana Slash heading towards me, so I just slid feet first off the sidewalk, letting the slash go over my head and struck the corner of the building, leaving a giant dent in the wall.
Down the street, Shin and a mysterious woman were locked in a scuffle; the woman spared no effort when it came to trying to take Shin's life.
He, however, was completely on the defensive.
Some carriages and wagons came to a halt around these two, not wanting to get too close, creating a traffic jam.
I reached inside my coat and pulled out a single-handed crossbow.
Taking cover behind the carriages, I slowly approached them until I was right at the edge of the carts. I turned to my side to make myself a smaller target and raised my crossbow at the woman, aiming for her torso. My heart was pounding as if a gorilla was beating my chest due to all the adrenaline.
The fact that I was standing like Jotaro, with one hand pointing out towards her, made me feel cool and eased my nerves slightly.
She was using small daggers in both hands, and Shin had a Katana that he was wielding with both hands.
I was waiting for my opportunity to take a shot at her, and soon the moment came, and when Shin took a strong horizontal swing at her, to block which she had to use both daggers crossed together.
That was when I closed my left eye, and once she was in the crosshairs, I took the shot and immediately reloaded the crossbow, ready to take the second shot.
Now, I don't know if she knew it or not, but she stepped to her left, causing Shin to come between her and the arrow.
Which meant that the arrow struck Shin in the butt.
"Ahhh."
He yelled out as he pushed the woman back by several feet before he looked back and saw me with the crossbow.
The flash of anger in his eyes told me, and it was at this moment that I knew I fucked up.
Reaching behind himself, he pulled the arrow out from his butt and threw it to the ground before returning his eyes to the woman.
Who had already started to run away, prompting both Shin and me to chase after her.
"Sorry about that."
I apologised between breaths, only getting incoherent grumbling noises in response.
This woman was certainly athletic. We ended up chasing after her for a few minutes straight down the main road.
It was a new experience running between oncoming and outgoing traffic. I felt like any moment I was about to get hit by one of the oncoming horses or be run over by someone coming from behind.
The fact that Shin and the woman were running too fast for me to keep up with them left me all alone.
However, this loneliness did not last for long, as the rift came into sight, I saw Shin and the woman re-engage in combat.
He had shoulder-slammed her to the ground, where the two of them rolled until they hit the hip-high stone wall, overlooking the rift.
The woman was quick on her feet and spun around trying to stab Shin in the throat, but he was not slow either.
Just getting his head out of the way and retaliating with his Katana.
Legit, they were fighting on the ground, rolling around like kids, and I was struggling to get a good shot at her.
She must have realised my predicament and got just enough distance from Shin to be able to fire a miniature Mana Blast in my direction.
Now I kid you not, these things move faster than bullets, so if Shin wanted to stop it, he would need to travel just as fast, and the shockwaves would kill me.
The only words I was able to get out were.
"Wallahi, I'm finished."
The next thing I knew, someone blocked the blast with their palm, and a strong gust of wind struck me, blowing my hat off.
When my eyes opened, I saw Shin with a look of relief on his face, a few feet away from me. I looked down to see a hand and the sleeves of a brown jacket, so I knew it was Raghav.
Then I looked up, towards the woman and saw her standing on the stone wall, facing us.
Shin, having seen the expression on my face, also whipped his head around.
"Oh, lady, are you out of your mind?"
Both Shin and I yelled out to her, causing her to grin.
"I AM OUT OF MY FUCKING MIND!"
Then she jumped back and fell into the rift.
Making the three of us run towards it. Shin and I stopped at the edge, but Raghav casually climbed on it.
The three of us looked down, finding empty air, with no trace of her ever being there.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Shin also look up at the sky, and unironically, I also looked up, finding a cloudy sky.
"Zameen kha gai ya asmaan nigal gaya?" (Did the Earth eat it or the sky swallowed it?)
Raghav spoke the popular phrase, looking at the two of us, and it made both Shin and me laugh a little.
Easing the tension that was in the air between us.
"You understood that?"
Raghav asked me with a slight smile on his face.
"Of course, my wife knows both the old tongues, Sanskrit and Hindi, she taught me as well."
Raghav nodded as he turned around, stepping down from the wall.
"It was a welcome sight when I learned that those were the true languages spoken in this world before English. Whenever I first brought up the words from these two languages, people often asked me what they meant."
A soft chuckle escaped his mouth.
"At first, it was confusing, but then I understood they were just making sure that the words meant the same thing, to avoid a misunderstanding. Which I appreciated."
Good, he forgot about the man we were after.
"By the way, I only took one look at the cloaked figure, but I was certain it was a man, so who was this woman, and where is that man?"
I gulped audibly, and Shin sucked in the air through his teeth as he made the Michael Scott wheezing face from the office.
We looked at one another and pointed at each other, then ourselves.
Raghav was waiting for us to figure out who was going to answer his question.
"Gents, normally I would not do this, normally, but we are under special circumstances. Just tell me what happened, and I will understand."
Hearing those words gave me the courage to speak about it.
"So... it's best if we show you."
Raghav nodded and gestured towards the road.
"Lead the way."