"All of you stop what you're doing! I'm the head of the guard paladins and I will have order!" The patrol leader yelled.
The thugs stopped struggling but neither Lyla nor Sariah relaxed yet. Some of the guard paladins had also attacked them having the supposed head of the guard paladins arrive now was suspicious.
"You, dispel your curses and you stop force feeding that paladin." He pointed at Lyla who gave him a nasty look before tossing the remains of a strawberry cake on the ground, but she remained on top of the pinned paladin.
Just as it looked like everything was calming down the thugs who hadn't been cursed too strongly tried to make a run for it.
"Hey! Stop!"
Bang!
They ran right into a large furry chest.
"If you try to run then I can't guarantee your safety." Growled Chronos as he towered over them in his werewolf form.
The thugs promptly about faced and walked back to the patrol leader hoping that he could protect them from the scary werewolf and those two crazy women.
This was supposed to be an easy job just grab the weak girl and run but that girl cast weak curses faster than most people could react and once you were weakened, she threw stronger curses at you until you couldn't move! Then when the paladins they had paid to assist them arrived, that crazy priestess started using martial arts on them and bent their armor in ways that looked quite painful!
This whole situation was outrageous and they had had enough. Going to jail for attempted kidnapping was better than dealing with these women and none of them believed they could escape a werewolf that already had their scent.
"Sir, we'll tell you what we know, just please keep those crazy women away from us." They said while bowing in unison.
The patrol leader looked like he wanted to yell at Chronos for doing something without permission, but he didn't want to look like he was ungrateful either. If Chronos hadn't been here it would have taken his men hours to track down these thugs with no assurance that they would find all of them.
Letting out a tired sigh he instead said, "All of you follow me including you guard paladins. I want all sides of the story before I come to a decision. Chronos, bring up the rear and make sure nobody tries to escape."
He might not fully trust Chronos, but Chronos's best chance to escape would have been during the confusion just now and he hadn't made a run for it. He was at least more trustworthy than the guard paladins who the locals insisted were helping the thugs.
Lyla finally got off of the one she was pinning down and walked over to join them. After being released the thugs and paladins slowly stood up and helped those that couldn't stand on their own.
Assembling into a small procession the patrol leader guided everyone back to the guard station with Chronos bringing up the rear as ordered. None of them would be able to escape under his watchful eye.
Arriving at the guard station the thugs were put into cells and the paladins who had tried to help them were kept under watch by other paladins. The patrol leader then gathered Chronos and his friends together to interrogate them first.
Putting the four of them on one side of a table and sitting on the other he began asking his questions.
"Alright, my name is Jeffery. Now tell me what happened that led to all of this."
Chronos turned to Gregory as he hadn't been there at the beginning.
"When I was going to join Sariah and Lyla, I was approached by two rogues who insisted that I meet with their leader. I wanted to refuse but when they threatened to kidnap my friends, I had no choice but to go with them. They took me to a rundown house near bakery street where I met with one of the leaders of the five-finger's criminal organization."
Raising his hand Jeffery stopped him, "Why would one of the leaders of the five-finger's want to meet with you?"
The five-finger's were a major criminal organization that stretched across the southern and eastern portions of the Leighla Kingdom. And they were involved in nearly every type of crime from drug and weapon trafficking to petty theft or fraud and worst of all slavery and organ trafficking.
Nobody was sure just how far the five-fingers influence reached but what was known about them was enough to scare most nobles.
"I have contacts in Gra Ulv that they believed they could take advantage of to set up a base there, but I don't know the details of their plan." Gregory said.
"I see, can you describe the man to me?"
"Yes, he was a fat man with so many folds of fat that I honestly wondered if there were any bones in his body. He has grey eyes and no hair, but I didn't see any other distinguishing features. He wore a bowler cap and suit and carried a cane with him at all times. He has multiple magic rings on his fingers, but I don't know what they do. I never found out what his name is."
He had magic rings!? Thinking back on it Chronos remembered seeing the rings, but they hadn't looked that impressive. Then his memory of the rings wavered, and he realized there had been a recognition interference magic cast on them.
Even if his senses allowed him to 'see' everything around him at all times that didn't mean he recognized what it was. He decided to be more careful in the future.
Nodding, Jeffery noted down his description and said, "That sounds like the thumb of the five-finger's. His appearance is well known but the man rarely shows himself, unless there's a great deal of money or influence to be gained. He's commonly known as Fat Man. Please continue with what happened next."
The nickname made sense Chronos thought to himself.
"Naturally I argued with him and thought I would struggle to escape. But as I made my preparations for a fight, I sensed Chronos nearby and calmed down. After that I tried to get more information from him but all that I got before being exasperated was that he was working with the first son of Earl Malric of the eastern plains. I don't think Earl Malric was involved in this kidnapping attempt."
"So, it was just Earl Malric's first son acting on his own?" Jeffery asked hopefully.
"No, several of the rougher members of the second Dragon Paladin order were also participating. It looked like it wasn't their first time assisting in a crime." Chronos interrupted.
Jeffery let out a tired sigh as he considered the implications of accusing an actual paladin order. His men might be paladins, but they weren't a part of any order and just worked as guards in the city to help keep the peace.
The only reason his men had been given some of the power of a paladin was because the city was closely tied to the Dragon Gods.
"Alright and I'm guessing that's when the fight started?"
"No, Chronos jumped into the room and pinned the two guards accompanying Fat Man to the floor. Everyone else was startled by his appearance but Roland seemed to be particularly upset about his presence. After trading a few insults Chronos managed to convince most of them to stand down, except for Roland."
"Why would they stand down just because of Chronos?" He was confused as one person shouldn't be able to stop a room full of paladins so easily.
"I'm the son of Margaret Beklaedning Ulv the Silver Spear Maiden. They knew that picking a fight with me was the same as declaring war on Gra Ulv and even Fat Man wanted to avoid that outcome. Although it did take a bit to convince him to give up on getting into Gra Ulv." Chronos proudly said.
An enlightened expression crossed Jeffery's face. Even he knew the stories of the Silver Spear Maiden of Gra Ulv, none of them ended well for her enemies.
"I see but if you convinced them to stand down then how did the fight start?"
"We don't really know what happened." Chronos said in confusion while gathering his thoughts.
"All that we know is that when the others put their swords away Roland flipped out and started belching miasma and swinging his sword around. Both of us retreated to the second floor and watched for a moment while deciding what to do. In the end Gregory went to get help, and I tried to contain Roland and well, you saw how effective that was." Chronos said in embarrassment.
It had been the first time he had failed to contain something he regarded as a mere beast. If Roland had at least retained some of his mental faculties that could be some sort of excuse, but he had completely lost his mind.