The Saga Of The Emptiness Harbinger - Chapter 7 Capital Roaming

She lived in my hometown nearly fifteen years ago. We have some sort of common history. She was my first crush, but I never had the guts to approach her.

And now I forgot her name.

FUCK!

This kind of thing happens only to those hated by anybody that controls luck distribution over the populace of the universe.

Her beautiful eyes looked into mine and the temperature in the room rose slightly.

“Surprised to see me here, Max?” she asked.

“Max?” The feeling this name brought with it made my mind hazy.

‘Could it be my name? Max?’

“Hmm? You seem surprised by the name. Could it be true that they erased your memories?” she seemed surprised by my reaction. But I should burn in hell if I didn’t know better. I never approached her because she was known as the bitchiest of the bitches in our school. She was cold and angry at the world for no reason except it being incomprehensible by her. Looks like she updated her operating system.

Actually, I had a crush on her because of her alluring figure and rare sweet moments she had. That side she had was far more likable to me than her cold one. Guess she got rid of it.

The only thing is, we never talked much to each other since I kinda stalked her around the school a little.

But now she happens to start calling me by my old nickname now, and she never did that before. She always used my full name.

Well then, let’s play a little.

“Haha, got you there. Of course, I remember it all, my luck ain’t that bad to lose my memories.”

Her expression dimmed a little and I thought:

‘Got ya. Trying to outplay me, heh?’

“Well then, what’s my name?” she grinned like she guessed my thoughts.

‘Damn.’

I gathered my thoughts and memories of more than twenty years ago. She moved in from Argos Maximus. The most common Argosan female name was Lucia if I remember correctly from the mission briefing I got from the Core. Her name was different. It should be more like the names from the neighboring Landygian Empire. Their favorite female name should be Ann or something like that.

Got it.

But as I wanted to speak, a knocking sound rang out of nowhere. I ignored it and spoke:

“Your name is Anna, right? It’s been a long time so I needed some time to recall it.” I spoke hurriedly.

“We’ll continue later, my dear.” She said with a vile smile. She then put on her mask and went to the wall opposite the window. She just pushed it and a door opened. I sighed.

‘So it was that simple? I should’ve knocked her out and searched for the exit myself.’

A man came in. He too was a Nameless. But his mask was a little different as its color is slightly red.

“Did you have fun with him, boss?” He teased her.

“One more word and it will be your last. Now, what is it?” Anne threatened him.

“The job has been updated.” He said in a low voice, but I was still able to hear him clearly.

“What!? They cannot do that, it’s against the Organisations’ business rule.” She roared without hearing the rest of the story, which had to exist. She then added:

“Keep an eye on this bastard. I need to speak to the Emperor.”

“This situation is getting more and more complex as the time passes. I think I’ll resolve it before I get bored.” They started to annoy me. I am supposed to be their mission, but it looks like they have other plans to play with me.

No no.

I’m the one that plays with people, not them.

I kicked the newcomer into his chest and, while he was trying to breathe, I reached for my pocket and took out my pen and transformed it within the same move. I stabbed my spear in his chest with so much momentum that it pierced all the way thru his abdomen.

He died.

Anna then took out her gun and shot in my knee. A metal sound rang out. I laughed at her flabbergasted expression as I transformed my spear into a sword and tapped on my knee.

“Metal knee. Remember this for our next meeting. M’dear.” I said with a smirk as I walked past her exiting the room. She just stood there without moving and apparently not breathing.

‘Will she die from shock? Nah, she’ll just revenge her subordinate in the future. Or not. Bitches deserve to die, and she is a dangerous bitch.’

I noticed that I’m now in a room without any ornaments or windows, There ain’t much furniture either, two chairs and a table.

‘The office, wouldn’t it be interesting if I end up meeting more of the Nameless? It would be bad for their branch office tho since that would be a great loss of manpower.’ I thought as I went through the only doors in the room. Behind the doors, there’s a hallway which I followed to another door. Behind them, the middle capital of the Imperium.

The Imperium of Pangras has three capitals:

Argos Maximus, Argos Medius and Argos Minimus.

They are all great cities with the most ancient history among all of the imperial cities across Gronos.

Main capital, Argos Maximus, was built by the Argosian Empire even before the middle ages. The city was then occupied in a civil war which the ruling dynasty had lost. The Gargonovs changed the way that this country was going. Which was the one of self-destruction, renamed it and became its sole ruling family up to this day. That’s more than fifty thousand years ago if I remember the history classes correctly. Ghargonovs have been exiled a few times in the meantime. But they always had cousins in the other great Empires and Kingdoms of Gronos so they always somehow get back to power.

Argos Medius is positioned in the geographical center of Pangras, which makes it the most usual last stand if one is needed. The plain around it was one of the rare plains on the planet that wasn’t suitable for farming. There isn’t a single water source in the twenty-kilometer radius around the city. Which was always a headache for its attackers since the city itself had a few water sources within its walls. It must be known that this city has a population of one and a half billion, and its surface is about five hundred thousand square kilometers. It takes several days to walk from the south part of it to the northern part, same goes for east-west.

I took a stroll down the main street.

Civilians. And a lot of them. Heh, who would think that I’m nervous around civilians? Well, it makes sense actually. I didn’t see a civilian in more than five years, during which I’ve constantly been on a battlefield where everybody tried to kill me.

After a five hour walk, I decided it would be nice to eat something. I checked my pockets to see if I have some money. Fuck. I better go directly to the palace and meet the Emperors before I die from hunger.

So I continued to walk down the street.

‘Such a nice view.’ I thought.

Traditional Argosian and Pangrasian architecture hundreds of thousands of people minding their own business could be seen through the window. And then there is the police. Hundreds of policemen walking up and down the street. They usually talk among themselves not paying much attention to people passing by. Except when they startle a group of citizens, completely frisking them. Since there are very little contraband goods on Gronos in general, there weren’t many situations where people would end up in prison. The usual reason for imprisoning is armed robbery and murder. But the people they frisked weren’t robbers or murderers.

They were assassins.

Not the nicest job to do (as we saw earlier), and not the worst. Actually, if you are licensed you can work free of worry. It’s legal as long you charge the job enough money to compensate the country for your doing. Most organizations have a lot of paperwork and data in their main offices, well all of them.

But such rules do not bother the Anonymous too much. They simply do not exist in the population of Gronos. They are the only international assassin organization that is present in every single country on Gronos. They wear masks in order to make their members Anonymous. In addition, they destroy or delete all existing proof of the existence of their members.

Back to the city description.

The city is heavily walled. Its walls are several thousand kilometers long, reaching the height of about a hundred and fifty meters. They are thick enough for two fully operating cannons to be put one behind the other, with enough operating space. Depending on the type of cannons used in defense, this number can go up to six cannons lined up. And for those who don’t have a single fuckin’ idea about cannons, it is around seventy meters wide.

As I go deeper into the city, there are more and more Imperial Guards. That means that I’m nearing the Palace.

‘Finally, I’m starving.’ I thought as I saw the Palaces iron-tiled roof. The roof was literally covered in iron, nobody really knows why the greatest of the dynasties uses iron and steel for large scale ornaments.

Well, Ghargonovs are an extremely aggressive and militaristic dynasty. That is the sole reason why they always preferred cold steel over gold, silver, and gemstones. All those precious materials ended up in the military funding.

Hehehehe.

Typical.

Suddenly, I bumped into a shield. Yeah, a shield.

Imperial Guards’ main weapon was not a gun. It is a spear or a pike, depending on the situation, and of course a shield. A good old aspis. Solid steel, ancient design and a sturdy man behind it. With a pike, in this case, a five-meter-long pike to be exact.

“Oy there. Watch your steps, pal.” The one holding a shield spoke.

“Let’s check him in. I didn’t see him in the neighborhood before, he might be a troublemaker.” proposed an ordinary looking guy in Guard’s armor from the back.

“I didn’t mean anything bad, sir.” I tried playing dumb. Not that I expected it to work but I was bored and hungry, and let me be damned if this ain’t a good way to solve both problems. From what I’ve heard from Jay’s and Arnold’s stories, Imperial Guards are usually friendly to everyone. Until one become hostile to the dynasty, that is. I don’t have an intention to insult the Emperor. Yet.

“HAHAHA!!” They all suddenly burst out laughing. After some time of laughing out loud, they finally calmed down, and one of them asked me:

“You look bored, pal. Wanna come with us? We just got dismissed for today, that is the advantage of having over two million guards in your service. So, wanna tag along?”

“Actually, I have a meeting with the Emperors. Unbelievable right?” I said with an awkward smile.

“Looks like we will have to check you up anyway, huh? And there I hoped to go drink a barrel of beer tonight. Damn you.” He frowned and pressed an invisible button on his spear, which shrunk to the size of a pen. He placed it in his pocket and grabbed my upper arm pulling me with him.

I could easily overpower him.

But I don’t want to die, so I’ll stay obedient.

If you are being escorted by the Imperial Guard do not resist if you don’t have a good plan.

It’s as simple as that.