Dragon Monarch System
chapter-685

The air was filled with anticipation, and the rich scents of a myriad of spices as the marketplace of Azure City came to life. All the stalls were decorated with colorful banners. All stalls were contesting for attention amidst the noise of bargaining voices and laughter.

The Emperor of the Istarin Empire and Nathan, the head of the Shadow Guardians, walked through the crowd while discussing the security measures for the upcoming celebration.

Both of them were wearing black cloaks and had covered their faces with hoods. This made sure that they blended into the crowd and no one noticed them. This morning, the Emperor made a public announcement. A three-day celebration of the Prime Minister's marriage was announced. For the next three days, the entire Istarin Empire was going to celebrate. On this special occasion, the Emperor also announced that a large amount of food would be handed out to the poor and needy ones of the Istarin Empire. Grains and meats will be distributed in every major city of the Istarin Empire. At the same time, the prices of certain commodities will be reduced. based on these sentences, add more words. As soon as the announcement was made, a large crowd rushed into the market. Currently, the marketplace has become the busiest and most crowded place in the Capital. Aditya and Nathan did not speak much while walking through the crowd. It was because anyone in the crowd could easily hear their conversation. This would expose their identities, or their plans could be exposed. Suddenly, without warning, the festive atmosphere was shattered.

Boooooom....!!!

A loud blast echoed through the marketplace. The blast came from a small stall that sold exotic spices from distant lands.

The moment the loud explosion took place, Aditya and Nathan instantly stopped walking. Both of them exchanged a glance.

"I will immediately go there." Saying that Nathan disappeared from Aditya's view. Nathan had disappeared into the shadow.

Almost at the same time, a wave of panic swept through everyone in the bustling marketplace. It took mere seconds for the busy, noisy place to turn into a scene of chaos. The blast had scared everyone so much that the whole marketplace quickly felt like a war zone.

Aditya felt like he was standing on a battlefield. Right after the noise, Aditya saw the fear in people's eyes. Shopkeepers and customers didn't know where to run; they just knew they had to escape. Within moments, the market that was once filled with the sounds of bargaining and laughter was now echoing with the sounds of footsteps and cries for help. Over a hundred thousand people were trying to move all at once. The market's narrow lanes were flooded with people, pushing and shoving to find a way out.

It was like nothing else mattered anymore.

People left their stalls unattended, their goods scattered on the ground.

Buyers forgot about their purchases.

Parents tightly grabbed their children's hands, afraid of losing them in the crowd.

Amidst the confusion, nobody cared about their belongings or the things they came to buy or sell. The only thought on everyone's mind was to escape, to find safety. Seeing this, Aditya knew that he had to stop the crowd. Otherwise, this chaos would only get worse. "Everyone, stop where you're." Aditya used Mana to make sure that the whole Marketplace heard him. And his voice worked perfectly. The Emperor's words were more than enough.

Everyone stopped running. But there was still panic on their faces. Everyone looked up to see the Emperor standing a few hundred meters above the ground. The explosion wasn't catastrophic, but it sent a shockwave of panic rippling through the crowd. From this distance, he could see the place where the explosion took place. 'Other than injured people, no one else has died.' Aditya sighed in relief, seeing this. "Everything is alright. It was a small explosion, and it hasn't killed anyone yet. There is no need to panic." The Emperor's words calmed everyone's hearts. Aditya ignored everyone's gazes and went to Nathan, who was trying to find out what happened. Aditya landed next to a few who were injured. At the same time, a group of Imperial troops has managed to push through the crowd and come. Aditya took out a few 3-star healing pills and gave them to one of the soldiers. "Feed them this." "Once they have recovered, ask if they know what happened before the explosion. Who knows, maybe one among them has even seen the culprit behind this." Aditya commanded. "Understood.....!!" "Your Majesty...!!" Nathan came up to Aditya. Nathan frowned under his mask. Who would dare do something like this in Azure City? This was the Capital of the Istarin Empire, yet someone had the balls to do something like this in a crowded place. "This looks intentional. It was an attack right before Spencer's marriage..."

Aditya nodded. He also shared Nathan's views. Aditya's gaze was icy as he observed the damaged stall. "We need to find out who's behind this. Check for any more casualties first." His tone was calm, yet under that calmness, there was a storm of anger and rage building inside him. As the initial shock began to dissipate, everyone in the marketplace began to murmur and whisper about what just happened right now. People in the crowd started coming up with wild theories that completely had nothing to do with the explosion. "Everyone, please stand back." The other imperial guards made crowds step back and create an open space. Meanwhile, Aditya and Nathan approached the stall owner.

The stall owner was a middle-aged man with a face smeared in soot. The middle-aged stall owner was in shock.

He looked heartbroken by what happened. While holding his tears, he was trying to salvage what remained of his goods.

"Are you hurt?" Aditya asked the stall owner. His voice softened as he addressed the vendor.

The middle-aged man shook his head. He still looked like he was in disbelief.

Everything happened just too suddenly. "It happened so fast, Your Majesty... I saw nothing," The vendor shuttered. "My spices... my stall..." In the end, the middle-man was about to break down. This stall was his everything. Now, he will never have enough money to buy exotic spices from foreign lands and restart his business again. "Don't worry. Everything will be okay." Aditya patted the middle-aged man's shoulder. He then took out a small leather pouch that was lying in the corner of his storage ring. This was one of the many leather pouches that he took after killing a group of mountain bandits. Aditya did this around 9 to 10 months ago. Back then, the Istarin Empire was still small and needed money for future plans. Fortunately, a lot has changed since then. These small leather pouches were lying in the corner of his storage ring. Aditya decided to give one to the middle-aged vendor. "Take this.....!!" "There should be more than enough money to restart your business." The vendor almost kneeled to the ground, seeing this. But Aditya stopped him in time. "It's alright."

Nathan crouched beside the stall's remains and examined the charred remnants. "This was no accident."

"The magic device used here was unprepared but still effective. It seems someone wanted to cause panic, not destruction." Nathan informed Aditya. Aditya nodded his head. "We'll find those responsible," Aditya cannot overlook this. First, someone tried to take Mana hearts from the corpses of the Istarin troops; second, the mysterious death of the prisoners, and now this. All of this has to be connected in some way or other. "Gather the witnesses. We need every piece of information. Although this attack was a minor one, this could be a preparation for something larger." Aditya ordered Nathan. Aditya wanted to capture the culprit as soon as possible. 'The masterminds did not want to kill anyone. He could have gone for the more powerful explosion. This shows that this explosion is merely a warning or signal. Something like a head-up. Whoever is doing this is definitely playing a mind game with me.' Aditya thought in his mind. Nathan nodded. He began moving to carry out Aditya's orders. "We'll get to the bottom of this," As the chaos settled and the investigation began, Aditya continued standing amidst the recovering marketplace.

His mind was filled with possibilities and suspects. This seemingly insignificant attack could disturb the peace of his empire if left unchecked. This was something that he would not let that happen—not under his watch.

Soon, An investigation team from Nathan's division came to help with the investigation. All of this happened in the presence of the Emperor. The investigation, along with Nathan, began their search for clues. Within 5 minutes, one of the investigators, a young woman named Lira, found something.

"Captain, I have something here...!!" Nathan, Aditya, and others all gathered.

Lira found a piece of cloth buried under a charred piece of wood.

It's a distinctive fabric, that was richly dyed and woven in a pattern that's uncommon in this region.

"Does anyone know where this fabric is from?" Nathan asked. "I have seen similar kinds of fabric in the very northern part of the Westnia." "Mainly from the Aurion Empire."

"Wait, what did you say?" Nathan asked again, fearing that he had perhaps misheard. "The Aurion Empire." Hearing this, Nathan and Aditya looked at each other in surprise. In the capital, there was one person who came from the Aurion Empire, and he was Silas. ----------------