"The reason why these people areing here to Inanis City may speak of fearlessness, a disregard for the fact of what we''re doing, or general recklessness," Lucius said.
"You think so?" Kiana asked. "Do you think that there are people who are reckless and fearless enough toe here even with the increased number of people capturing criminals?"
"It might be rted to the Gifts that they possess that would make them confident that they''ll be able to avoid the eye of those who areing for them. Without much criminal activity here, it''s more likely that they''ll see this ce as an open invitation to do their business here as they''ll have fewerpetitors than others."
"That… that does sound like a certain possibility, but they truly must not be thinking straight toe here." Kiana shook her head.
"On the other hand, it''s far more likely that there might be something that forced them toe here as well," Lucius said.
"Forced them toe here?" Kiana''s eyes narrowed slightly. "Do you mean that some enemies of ours sent their criminals to do the dirty work here? Did they not already know what happened thest time that someone tried to assassinate you?"
"It depends on what they''re after. They might not truly be here toe after my life, but for other purposes… or there''s simply a bigger problem elsewhere." Lucius said. "Do you recall what we''ve heard in Etara''s Cross before?"
"Huh? During the banquet or…?"
"When we were with Gellor and his team," Lucius said. "There was one person who took care of a group of Royal Army soldiers by himself and was able to escape undetected by others. If that type of person was around your vicinity and they''re looking for bloodshed beyond that of just the royal family''s army, there might be a reason for some criminals to choose to leave to avoid unnecessary conflict with that person."
"Then… is it that person then?"
"We can''t really say. I don''t know how many more dangerous people are out there, so it may be in fact,pletely unrted to that and I''m merely guessing. As we stand now, we don''t have any concrete answers as to why they''reing here, but I will be asking Leif to keep an eye on them."
"That makes sense…" Kiana nodded. She was now more alert than ever, thanks to Asher''s words.
''Whether these criminals are dangerous themselves or there''s a far bigger threat out there, I''ll make sure to protect Asher and the Inanis family. This strength I have now is… Epic Rank, but I need to get better... Stronger than ever.'' Kiana thought.
While Kiana was lost in her thoughts, Lucius himself was already writing down a note to Leif. It was only a short one and he asked the man only a few things.
"While Alessa and the brewery can wait until tomorrow, it''s in our best interest to send this right away. This is far more urgent, as I expect these people to move far more quickly," Lucius said as he handed the note to Kiana.
"Leif and his men are to watch out for these individuals and to report as soon as anything substantial happened." Kiana checked out the missive and pocketed it. "Don''t worry, I''ll get this to him right away."
"And Kiana?"<novelsnext></novelsnext>
"Yes, Asher?"
"It''s not all bad that these criminals areing here to Inanis City," Lucius said.
"It''s… not?" Kiana said uprehendingly.
''After everything that Asher has said about what the criminals are here for, somehow he still somehow says it''s not all bad? How can something be like that?''
"Yes, with these criminalsing in, and perhaps there are others already here that have remained unmentioned, I am sure that you already know that we can take care of these people and rehabilitate them, don''t we?" Lucius said.
"Oh, yes." Kiana realized and nodded. It was already in her thoughts before, but somehow everything that happened made her get caught up and lost in the details to see the big picture.
"This can be considered a boon especially once the nobles start hiring the Masked Legion." Lucius said.
"Yes, it will be… but what if the numbers aren''t enough?" Kiana asked uncertainly. "It''s not like we''ll have enough murderers, and other big criminals left and right who''ll perform heinous crimes, right, Asher? What if they''re not the ones with death sentences?"
Lucius nced at Kiana and assessed her stomach for this new line of thinking. He had the Mark of Loyalty on her and she was naturally attuned to it, but if he were to shock her enough and say something "outrageous", then it was possible that she might protest and attempt to fight back.
''I need to indoctrinate her even further than I do now. Her moral qualms are getting in the way, but if I do try to get more ''innocent'' people and turn them into Lost, then I am sure that certain individuals wille investigating. I''ve already dealt with the ck Rose Knights before and they were a pain even without them catching a whiff of this… imagine what they''ll be like if I turned to ordinary people?''
Lucius smiled and nced at Kiana.
"You do not need to worry about it so much, Kiana. We''ll cross that bridge when we get there."
"Cross that bridge…?"
"We haven''t even checked the number of criminals at the rehabilitation center yet, and you already know that one member of the Masked Legion can do an excellent jobpared to a single ordinary mercenary. If we exin to the nobles that the number of people they need is less than they''d expect, I believe they''ll actually see it as proof ofpetency than it being due to ack of numbers. You''ve seen me speak with them before. It''s easy enough to reason with them. Other than that…" Lucius said as he nced at Kiana. "We must sometimes do things that are necessary to ensure the growth of the Inanis Family. Haven''t we already decided that we''ll do whatever it takes?"
Kiana blinked and somehow, the memory of her making a vow to Asher rekindled in her chest and she nodded. "Yes, yes we have, Asher."