"He didn't kill doesn't mean he was innocent. In the southern continent, the black one is seen with a woman. And guess what? Ghost also has a fiance who didn't go to the Nether Realm. She must have sneaked into Totonk manor and killed her," Mutrad explained.
"So you're saying Ghost is the Dark Lord?" Cassandra asked.
"Yes," said Mutrad.
"Then what about Noah?" asked Tomas.
"There is a little chance Noah might be the Dark Lord. However, I am certain this guy has some sort of connection with the Dark Lord," Mutrad said. Although Mutrad didn't have enough facts to connect Noah to the Dark Lord, his gut feeling said Noah was somehow related to the Dark Lord. Now all he needed was to follow Ghost and prove him guilty. But he wasn't going to chase down the Dark Lord as Tanulia did. The Dark Lord might be the trinkets criminal Mutrad had chased because all Mutrad had was theories, not evidence. Without solid evidence, he wouldn't be able to deploy all the resources at his disposal. A small mistake could result in a calamity for the Arctic Hall.
Unlike the Guardians, the higher-ups of the House of Halrid warned everyone about the Dark Lord and the threat he posed to the entire world. As a result, Mutrad was strictly ordered to investigate with utmost caution.
"I chose to share everything because of the same reason why Peyton chose you in the first. You three are the most power-hungry humans in the guild. You want to prove you're worth something. From now on, you three will work directly for me. As your reward for working for me, you will be placed directly under the ALpha guardian of your choice surpassing the position of Guardian Captain," The offer was beyond their expectation. Their eyes glistened, sparkling with excitement. Each of them would have done anything if Mutrad offered them a position of Guardian Captain, let alone a position under the Alpha Guardian of their choice. Being placed directly under an Alpha Guardian meant one thing, they could become the next Alpha Guardian one day.
"My sword is yours, Lord Mutrad," Cassandra was the first one to kneel down with her hands on her chest. Currently, Cassandra was tasked to monitor the nobles in Ozer which she considered a waste of time. She spent most of her time following nobles, watching them drink, harass people and commit all sorts of heinous crimes. Guardian Captain Gerard gave her some of the worst tasks in the guild instead of tasks that could solidify her chance to become a Guardian Captain. Since Cassandra wasn't from a prominent noble family, she had to put up with Guardian Captain with the hope that someday her luck would turn. After hearing Mutrad, she had a feeling this was her way to get to the top of the hierarchy. Moreover, this wasn't an off-the-books operation. Therefore, each of them must be given some sort of reward. And a man like Mutrad didn't have a need to give them a fake promise.
"It'll be an honor to work for you Lord Mutrad," Lado dropped to one knee and lowered his head like a loyal soldier. If someone made a list of the most racist people in the Guardian Guild, Lado would be in the top ten. He literally killed countless beastmen just because they weren't humans. His family was one of the biggest slave traders in Ozer. Yet his racism went out of the window before a golden opportunity presented by Mutrad. He bent his knee to Mutrad, a Sea Folk, without a second of hesitation.
Unlike Cassandra, Lado didn't hate the task given to him by Gerard. On the contrary, he loved his task of destroying goblin nests throughout Elon. Since his family was in the slavery business, he captured all the goblins along with any other nonhuman races and sold them to nobles for a hefty price. The weak goblins were the perfect replacement for dummies to test spells and attacks. In fact, many nobles preferred live targets such as goblins and weak beast men over dummies.
His family supplied thousands of goblins and beast men every year. Of course, the guardians knew about this but didn't care less about the goblins or the beast men.
If Lado could become the next Alpha guardian or even a Guardian Captain, he could use the connection and authority to send several teams just to capture nonhumans. In other words, he could treat the guardians like adventurers. The only difference was Lado wouldn't have to pay the guardians.
"I am yours to command, Lord Mutrad," finally, Tomas knelt down with his hand on his chest, like Cassandra. If Lado's family profited by trading in slaves, Tomas's family was in the business of mining and real estate. Even as a low-level guardian, Tomas used his status to force hundreds of commoners out of their lands. If a commoner decided to file a complaint against him or his family, they would simply disappear. Toman's family-owned atleast one mine in every kingdom in Ozer. Suppose Toman became a Guardian Captain, his family would own almost all the mines. They would be also able to expand their business to Elon at that time finally.
Putting the three of them to catch the Dark Lord was ironic. The three of them committed more crimes than The Dark Lord ever did.
"Good," Mutrad nodded. He knew the history of every single of them. To be honest, he couldn't care less who they were and what they did. Instead, all he cared about was catching the Dark Lord and killing him once and for all.
"Rise," Mutrad said. He then turned around to look at the Ghost's portrait on the whiteboard.
"The Guardians should have given Peyton more resources and protection. She almost cracked the case," Mutrad admired Peyton. He almost felt pity for Peyton. Given more time, resources, and protection, Mutrad had no doubt she would have proved Ghost as The Dark Lord.
"If she weren't getting close to the Dark Lord, he would have let the guardians continue their goose chase. But, instead, he went to such lengths and took risks to kill Peyton and destroy Tanulia's warship," calmly said Mutrad.
Just to be safe and create a controlled environment for his investigation, Mutrad hired reapers to kill everyone on the suspect list. The Reapers killed everyone except one, Ghost. Now that Mutrad picked Ghost as his target, he would dissect everything about Ghost. Several moments later, Mutrad turned around and issued his first orders to each of them.
"Cassandra, the Sunrise sect is hiring teachers. Get the job," Mutrad handed over a golden parchment to Cassandra.
He then turned his gaze to Lado,
"Get your family to become one of Ghost's biggest customers of Majestic. When the time comes, represent your family and meet him,"
"As you wish, my lord," Lado bowed.
"Tomas," Mutrad looked at Tomas,
"You're to leave for the Southern continent and establish yourself as a pirate under Pirate Lord Corey. Take this," with a flick of his wrist, Mutrad took out another golden parchment from his space ring before handing it over to Tomans. The latter opened it to see the map of Gisel and a cross,
contemporary romance
"You will meet my contact there. He will give you all the necessary tools to survive,"
After issuing orders to them, Mutrad gazed at them.
"If you have any issue, you can back out now,"
As Mutrad expected, none of them dared to open their mouths.
"Remember, under no circumstances you're to approach Ghost or the black one in the southern continent. The last time guardians underestimated him, he played you for a fool, destroyed your headquarters, and killed one of your best," Unlike Tanulia, Mutrad didn't dare to underestimate Ghost. Until Mutrad was sure Ghost had no way to escape, he wouldn't make a move against him.
There were still too many things he didn't know about Ghost. In fact, none of the guardians had any idea what he was capable of. Without knowing every aspect of his power, he wouldn't be able to catch the Dark Lord.
"Moreover, if a single word of what I said went out, I will wipe you and your family out of this world. Trust me when I say this, I don't make threats. I make promises," Mutrad's voice became colder to the point the three of them felt shivers running through their spines. His eyes glimmered as they could see the murderous intent in Mutrad's eyes. Because Elon and Ozer were still affected by Hydra's cry, no one was able to see Mutrad's cultivation level. They would be startled by his Fusion stage level 10 cultivation if they could.
"We wouldnt dare, Lord Mutrad," Cassandra sternly said.
"Now leave. Make sure no one follows you," Mutrad said and waved his hand as the whiteboard disappeared from the hall. Afterward, Mutrad left the manor before the three. He wanted to meet his elders and get their blessings in the crystal ocean before officially starting his case.
"Do you really think Ghost is the Dark Lord?" After Mutrad left the manor, Lado asked the other two.
"What he said made sense to me. But I didnt get why he feel Noah had something to do with the Dark Lord," Tomas answered.
"Whatever it is, I am pretty sure we will figure it out soon. I heard the seal folks are smarter than us. Now I know it's true," Cassandra admired Mutrad.
"He has more resources and authority than Peyton or we ever had. Do you think Guardian Captain Gerard would let us do anything without a pile of paperwork and shit like that?" Lado complained.
"Speaking of Guardian Captain Gerard, rumor is that he stopped cultivating and starting to drink too much ever since Peyton died? What's the story with that, huh?" Cassandra asked.
"Don't you know? He was in love with Peyton. One of my servants saw both of them together in Ruby cuisine one day in Thusia," said Tomas.
"Oh shit. So he was in love with her. Now I know why he agreed to Peyton to start the off-the-book operation in the first place. She was his sweetheart," chuckled Cassandra.
"That's not all. After her death, he was drinking and blaming Noah for her death at nightshade one day. I dont know the full story, but we can expect Gerard to go against Noah soon,"
done.co