Chapter 561: Explain Yourself

According to Jake, everything seemed perfectly normal just minutes earlier.

About 50 workers, most of them young adults between 16 to 20 years old who had been hired through the Rising Phoenix Guild, were busy inside the factory making bread.

Some of these people were measuring out ingredients, some were cutting dough, some were very carefully operating the experimental prototype steam engine and waterwheel mixers, nothing out of the ordinary.

Jake himself had been teaching a bunch of new hires about different common recipes the factory used when all-of-a-sudden, a bunch of loud voices began shouting outside.

With the steam engine going, it was already quite loud inside the factory, so the fact that they could even hear these voices caused many to raise their brows in surprise.

Moments later, the distinct sound of metal hitting metal rang out, and Jake realized that something bad was about to happen.

He quickly ordered the low-level staff to drop what they were doing and gather in the back of the factory while he and a few of the managers went around shutting off all the equipment and bolting the doors.

Unfortunately, before they could finish, a small group of people burst through the entrance and began throwing torches around randomly, like they were trying to burn down the whole building.

These people were quickly subdued by the factory’s guards, but they were too late to stop them completely.

Jake had swiftly called out to the head guard and learned that all the attackers had either been captured or chased off, so he then rallied everyone to douse the flames before they could spread.

It was touch-and-go for a few minutes, but thanks to a lot of early prep-work, including keeping numerous large barrels of water in multiple places around the factory, they were able to extinguish all the fires before any serious damage was done.

That said, one of their flour storage rooms had been set ablaze and all the ingredients inside were lost, causing the burnt food smell that Eris and the orphan girls had noticed earlier.

"All-in-all, we were pretty lucky," Jake concluded, as things could have turned out much, much worse.

Jake had thought Tina and Lucas were being a bit pedantic when they both insisted so much fire-fighting equipment be set up in advance, but now he realized that they were just better at reading the future than he was.

Learning that everyone was okay, and that the damage to her Junior Sister’s business was only minor, Eris breathed a sigh of relief and then turned her attention to the culprits, asking Jake to lead her to them.

.....

"These are the people who wanted to set fire to the factory?" Eris asked incredulously as she looked at the scruffy, thin, malnourished individuals who were beaten and tied up in the front-yard.

Forget about agents of some secret foreign organization plotting to overthrow the Rockwell Kingdom, these people didn’t even look like they were part of a criminal gang.

If anything, they just looked like poor, desperate souls who had been conned into doing someone else’s dirty work.

In fact, Eris suspected that was exactly what had happened.

Still, that wasn’t for her to decide or determine.

She had come here first wanting to help, but second wanting to punch someone.

Now that it seemed she could achieve neither of those objectives, Eris suddenly felt a bit deflated.

Letting out a sigh, she was frustrated that she couldn’t help more, like Lucas and Christina always seemed to be doing.

What Eris didn’t realize was just how much her Rising Phoenix Guild was doing to help out in Misty City, and even in the broader Balfour March.

Her mere presence was also a boon to the Balfour Family, with the young girl’s positivity and lead-by-example attitude inspiring others to volunteer their time and effort to making the city a better place.

It was simply a matter of not being able to recognize one’s own merits and strengths, which wasn’t surprising considering how young Eris still was.

Nevertheless, with the situation at the bread factory seemingly under control, Eris turned to Commander Basil and asked him, "Do you sense any other enemies nearby?"

The middle-aged man immediately shook his head as he had been scanning the area constantly since they arrived.

Letting out a sigh, Eris was about to suggest they head back to the Guild and reconvene with her grandmother and Aunty Frey to figure out their next steps when one of the ’arsonists’ suddenly met eyes with her and began thrashing about wildly.

From Eris’ perspective, it looked like this rather frail man was trying to get her attention, or possibly to say something to her, but with his hands and feet bound and his mouth gagged, that obviously wasn’t possible.

The other captured criminals saw what this man was doing and also became agitated, but rather than supporting their ’comrade’, it looked more like they were trying to stop him.

"Hey! Quiet down!" One of the nearby guards who was watching over the prisoners moved to strike the struggling man, but before he could, Eris intervened.

Stepping forward, she signaled for the guard to wait before asking him to un-gag the man in question.

"Are you certain, Young Lady Eris?" The guard asked doubtfully, "I’m not sure there’s a point in listening to anything these scum have to say."

Hearing the way this guard talked, and seeing the looks on the faces of the others nearby who were nodding along, Eris couldn’t help frowning slightly. Somehow, seeing the look on this guard’s face and hearing him refer to the people tied up here as ’scum’ was off-putting to Eris, even though she knew they had tried to hurt people she cared about and damage her Sister Tina’s factory.

She knew these people were criminals, but something about them made Eris feel more like they were victims than vile thugs.

There was only one way to find out, though, so she swiftly order, "I’m sure. Remove his gag. I have some questions I want to ask him."

The guard still didn’t look convinced, but Eris was something like his boss’ boss’ boss’ boss, so he also wasn’t going to argue with her.

As soon as the gag was untied, the scrawny man flung himself to the ground, pressing his forehead against it as he screamed, "Lady Balfour! Please help us!"

"Huh?" Eris was stunned, not sure what to make of this sudden request for ’help’.

The other captured individuals were now making an even bigger fuss, many of frantically shaking their heads, shedding tears as they desperately pleaded with him to shut up.

This unusual behaviour caused everyone to frown and wonder just what was going on.

These people had seemed almost frantic when they were trying to set the factory on fire a minute ago, but now they seemed totally distraught, with one of them begging for help.

It was obvious to all of them that something was very wrong here, but with all the squirming, kicking, and struggling, it was difficult to get any real information out of these prisoners.

Fortunately, there was an easy solution to this problem.

Turning to Commander Basil, Eris solemnly asked, "If you wouldn’t mind."

Seeing this look, and understanding what Eris was asking for, Commander Basil snickered to himself, Heh, and people actually think she’s too soft.

Releasing his Cultivation Aura, the High-Rank Spirit Initiate shouted menacingly, "Quiet!"

The intense pressure instantly silenced and suppressed the prisoners, all of whom were just in the Body Tempering Realm and naturally incapable of resisting.

After doing so for a few seconds in order to make his point, Commander Basil withdrew his pressure before nodding to Eris.

Nodding back in thanks, the young red-head addressed the un-gaged man again, "Explain yourself."