One week after the Thousand Tongue was spotted entering the Salaqa Region, Royal Capital General Amaru managed to sweep across the entire Regional Capital with a small force of a thousand soldiers. It was a direct order from the Four Families themselves: find the mage and put an end to his long march, dead or alive. As long as the Four Families still lived, Amaru would obey, and now that the great Warlord of the Northeast was within his grasp?

  He banged on the door of the Salaqa Manor, his heavy ant chitin armour shuddering with the motion, and he managed only three knocks before a young lady pulled the door open.

  Judging by the distasteful look on the lady’s face, the Salaqa Household wasn’t too keen on a small army of a hundred soldiers knocking on their door bright and early in the morning.

  “... I am Royal Capital Inspector Amaru,” he said curtly, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a heavy bronze-layered scroll, flicking it open before the lady. “Four Family Writ dictates the Salaqa Region is to be combed through for traces of the Thousand Tongue. We have reports that he passed through the northeastern gate of Salaqa Ik’Balam, and he was last seen descending into Red Plaza Street before disappearing into Zocala Tavern—both matrimonial properties of the Salaqa Household.”

  “And I am Machi, Steward of the Salaqa Hearth,” the lady said, curling her lips. He immediately figured he was talking to the presuming head servant. “My lord does not appreciate anyone knocking on his door uninvited. A Four Family Writ is not high-order enough to warrant such intrusive behaviour. Leave quickly, and I may forget to mention this early morning encounter to my lord once he awakens.”

  “I have more than a Four Family Writ,” he said, pulling out another scroll. Machi narrowed her eyes at the gold-layered scroll stamped with the seal of the Empress. “This is a Capital Writ stamped and approved by the Divine Attendant herself, who acts only at the Empress’ behest. Her will is the will of the empire—allow us to enter your manor for a comprehensive search, or we will enter regardless.”

  If nothing else, he had to commend the head servant for her loyalty. She didn’t move out of the way, and she didn’t look like she was going to. An ideal steward. Dipping his head for a quiet prayer, Amaru put a hand to the hilt of his sawtooth blade, ready to unsheathe and cut her in half.

  But heavy footsteps from behind the head servant had both of them looking, and Amaru stayed his blade as the Salaqa Lord trudged down the stairs by the foyer, still dressed in his flowing evening gown.

  “You… are Tunich’s first son, are you not?” the Salaqa Lord said, stifling an exaggerated yawn as Machi stepped out of the way, letting him stand in front of Amaru. The old man was well over half a head shorter and far less muscular, but Amaru couldn’t help but shiver nevertheless; he’d heard of the Salaqa Lord’s many exploits in the far southern war against the Swarm back when he was just a Royal Capital Guard trainee, and they scared him still. “What brings the son of an old friend to my doorstep, fangs and blades bared? Tell your men to step off the fields in the courtyard. I will have them make reparations for every flower they crush.”

  Amaru tightened his throat. Raising a single fist, he ordered his men to step off the fields and onto the cobbled roads instead. “Good morning, my lord. I am Royal Capital Inspector Amaru, and I have with me a Four Family Writ as well as a Capital Writ to search—”

  “I am aware it is a capital offence,” the Salaqa Lord said, smiling wryly and taking a step back, beckoning him in with a wave of his hand. “Anyone who assists or harbours enemies of the empire will be met with divination in the Dawn Temple, and I am no exception. I would have preferred you came at a later hour, but please, feel free to step inside with your men and turn my manor upside-down. You will find no traces of the Thousand Tongue upon my sacred abode, I promise you.”

  Disregarding the unease in his stomach, Amaru snapped his fingers and called his soldiers forward.

  For the next hour, while he stood in the foyer and entertained the Salaqa Lord, his soldiers went through every nook and cranny of the manor, questioning every servant and retainer in the household. He’d given them permission to be a little rough on the manor itself—there was no doubt the Regional Lord had special shelters and tunnels built deep underground that could only be accessed by special contraptions, so suspicious-looking levers, switches, and buttons were on the focus list. They were a hundred men, half of them former scouts in the far southern army. If they could root out a brood nest hundreds of metres underground, they could root out any shelter the Salaqa Lord hadn’t told them about.

  But by the two hour mark, Amaru started tapping his feet. Entertaining the Salaqa Lord with news regarding his father was boring him, and the fact that his soldiers were reporting nothing of note to him, still, made him beyond irritated. There was no way the Salaqa Household had nothing to do with the Thousand Tongue’s mysterious disappearance in the Red Plaza Street. Nobody could get in and out of the region without the Salaqa Lord’s knowledge. He was the most powerful of the outer region lords.

  Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

  “... Do you not tire of being a Royal Capital Guard, Amaru?” the Salaqa Lord said, leaning back in his chair as Amaru waved off a few more soldiers, whispering for them to check the kitchens and check again. “If I recall correctly, you graduated from the Royal Ayapucha Military Academy at the top of your class. You could have gone into any branch of the military. Hell, I believe you had a shot at being the youngest Spore Knight candidate since the last batch three years ago—why join the Royal Capital Army and slave away as a mere inspector?”

  “Because the enemies beyond the empire are not as damning as enemies within the empire,” he muttered, receiving reports from two, three, four more battalions; no news from any one of them. “The Swarm is the Swarm. They are unruly, unintelligent beasts. Steel and swords will cut them down, but people like the Thousand Tongue and the Worm Mage are capable of dividing men and conquering hearts. Humans should not be fighting humans. My duty as an inspector allows me to root out the empire’s most foolish enemies.”

  “Are you certain you are looking under the right hollow if you are looking for a bug, though?”

  Amaru pursed his lips. The Salaqa Lord was as carefree and nonchalant as ever, but old age hadn’t claimed that light in his eyes—the knowing look he gave to someone when he was certain he knew more than they did.

  It was that look, Amaru decided, that made him realise this entire search was pointless to begin with.

  They’d combed through Salaqa Ik’Balam as quickly as they could without arousing too much suspicion, but it’d still taken them a week to put on a good enough display of fairness—if they’d went straight for the Salaqa Manor, the Salaqa Lord could accuse them of conspiracy against him—so there was no doubt about it now. The Thousand-Tongue had been here, but was no longer. The Salaqa Household had more than enough time to send the man away.

  Amaru didn’t know where the man was sent to, but there was simply no point continuing this search anymore.

  Clapping his hands soundly once, he recalled his soldiers all across the manor, watched all of them shuffle out of the front door, and bowed to the Salaqa Lord. He would’ve bowed to Machi the head servant as well, but she wasn’t here anymore. She must’ve slipped away without him noticing.

  The Salaqa Lord didn’t bow back.

  “... Apologies, my lord,” Amaru said, closing his eyes slowly. “Reparations will be paid in full for any damages my men may have caused to your manor. For the time being, we will pull out of the Salaqa Region and return to the Capital. We may return again if we have reason to believe the Thousand-Tongue is on this sacred earth.”

  “You are more than welcome to return alone for dinner,” the Salaqa Lord said, smiling softly. “But the Thousand Tongue is not here. I make it a point not to bed with any bug.”

  Amaru didn’t really know how to follow that up—the Salaqa Lord’s behaviour was definitely that of a man with many secrets, but he’d be hard-pressed to get anything useful out of the old man.

  He may as well shoot his shot before taking his leave, though.

  “By any chance, you would not know anything about the Thousand Tongue’s whereabouts, would you?” he asked.

  “I hear he may have given up on his long march to the Capital,” the Salaqa Lord replied half-heartedly, showing him to the door. “He may have gone to the northeast, or he may have gone to the northwest. Finding him would be like trying to find a needle in a haystack. You Royal Capital Guards are better off giving up while you have yet to expend too many resources on this futile manhunt.”

  He bowed one more time just for courtesy.“That is for the Empress and Her Four Families to decide.”

  With that, he withdrew from the Salaqa Manor. Servants, household guards, and caravan drivers watched them like hawks as he led his soldiers out through the front gate. All of them had that same look in their eyes—ones that said they wouldn't give up the Thousand-Tongue even under duress—and while that in itself could be grounds for bringing them into the Capital for intensive questioning, he felt it wouldn’t be the best use of his time.

  The Salaqa Lord had made it explicitly clear the Thousand Tongue was no longer in this region, so if he wasn’t here, and if he wasn’t in the Capital, then he had to be either in the northeast or the northwest.

  He could lead his thousand soldier search party to the northeast, but while the Thousand Tongue may not be known to kill humans who stood in his way, the Warlord of the Northwest—that ‘Worm Mage’—would be more than happy to shoot any Royal Capital Guard on sight.

  Tch.

  So it’s not the northeast.

  He must’ve gone northwest to meet up with the other warlord.

  He didn’t have permission to pursue the Thousand Tongue to the northwest. None of the other inspectors and their search parties did. The northwest was currently… tumultuous, to say the least. Between the local warlord, the increasing rate of Swarm infestations, and the disruption of all but a few railways, heading to the northwest in search of the Thousand Tongue would be nothing short of suicide for only a thousand men.

  And the Capital most certainly won’t give me any more men. They don’t have more than a thousand to spare for each inspector.

  The Salaqa Lord had won for now.

  But Amaru would be standing guard by the borders of the Salaqa Region, because whatever the Thousand Tongue was doing up in the northwest, he’d eventually have to come back down if he wanted to enter the Capital—and he didn’t believe, even for a single second, that he’d just given up on the Capital after two years of wreaking havoc in the northeast.

  … Still.

  Why did the Salaqa Lord ask if I was looking under the right hollow?

  Additional note: Apologies for the delay, but those 10k words of content that are supposed to be added to the final chapter of Volume One aren't done yet. I've been pretty busy the past week, so I'll let you guys know when it's up!

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  See you guys next Wednesday!