Arcadia I Chapter 4: The Syndicate(1)

Read chapter 4 of Arcadia I by I_live_in_your_walls on NovelPedia.

Since the Mercury syndicate was the type to prey on the weak, I began my search where the deaths caused by them likely occurred. The alleys. After entering a damp, dark alley, I grabbed the first ghost in sight. I put all my focus on the soul. Instantly fractured images and disconnected words flashed through my mind. “—-buy food,” a voice echoed, stepping out of a house. “— —I’ll take a shortcut.” Then, a scream: “—— Help!” A sharp pain brought me back to reality. It seemed this soul was already too far gone, its consciousness decaying into fragments. Knowing that I consumed the soul and moved on to the next. The second ghost had a slightly better complexion, but the results were just as disappointing as the first. “Watch this——” a young voice laughed, followed by a sickening crunch. “—-gah!” a death from a stupid stunt. ‘Useless’ Repeating the process of searching souls and consuming them throughout the alleys, most were either too decayed to read or only held mundane memories unrelated to my goal: finding a Mercury outpost of some sort. By the time I’d consumed my twentieth soul, I finally found a promising subject. The soul of a young woman, mostly intact, with her face smeared over, drifting aimlessly. ‘This is the one.’ I thought, rushing down the alley, quickly grabbing her, and peering inside. This time, the memories were clear. A girl looking up at her, “Sister, you’ll be back by dinner, right?" “Yes, I will!” a woman replied. The scene shifts to an alley. “I didn’t want to go this way, but I have to be back quickly…” Suddenly, a small group of thugs stepped out from the shadows. “Look what we have here.” After a brief, desperate struggle, she falls to the pavement. “Look what you did! Now she’s unusable,” one of the thugs yelled as her sight slowly faded. “Just bring her to the storage in the knife shop a few blocks from here. What a waste—” The memories ended where her life did, bringing me back to the real world. “You get something?” the mage asked, “Yeah, I found the location of one of their store rooms.” The mage’s face darkened slightly. Seeing his reaction, my eyes narrowed. “Is there something I should know?” “It doesn’t matter right now,” the mage sighed, “You’ll know soon.” Hearing that, I gave the mage a hard look, but seeing he wouldn’t budge, I gave up and looked for the knife shop. After circling the area around the alley, I located my target. It was a bleak, dingy shop with a rotting wooden sign that read: ‘David's Knives’. Behind the counter, a single guard dozed off, completely oblivious. I searched the area for any other souls. No other enemies. I settled into the shadows, waiting for the right moment to strike. Thirty minutes later, three men burst into the shop with black bags. “Hey, Harold. HAROLD!” “Gah! No need to yell!” Harold grumbled. “Just drop the cargo. I’ll take it to the back myself.” The moment the men left, Harold retreated through the employee door. Once the area was empty, I slipped inside the shop and into the rear room. The air smelled of blood and rot; the floor was slick with grime. There, Harold was quietly rearranging multiple black bags. I pressed my dagger against his throat, drawing a bead of blood. “Having a nice day?” His voice hitched, hands flying up. “Y-you know who I work for, right? You don’t want to do this!” “Who you work for doesn’t matter. Where are you taking these bodies?” “If you kill me, the syndicate will skin you—” I pressed the dagger deeper, cutting him off. “Agh! Stop! The processing post! The bodies are being taken there, four blocks off the eastern circuit!” I watched his body for any signs he was lying, and after confirming his truth, I dropped the knife and silently snapped his neck. ‘I’ll verify by searching his soul.’ I reached out and absorbed his soul from the collapsing body. Reading his fading memories, there was indeed a processing post where he said there was. Knowing my destination, I turned my attention to my preparations. I already had a wea