Chapter 330: Sergeant Chuck's Mission

The gnoll Chuck Broken Tooth opened his eyes. Throwing off the thick cotton quilt, he sat up nimbly. After tucking the covers around his still-sleeping wife, Chuck dressed, opened the bedroom door, and stepped into the living room.

A massive oak wine barrel sat beside the living room table, which was littered with leftovers from last night's rich feast: a picked-clean sea fish skeleton, a long-cold pork and radish stew... there was even a bare hare carcass. They were the remnants of last night's celebration.

The early spring morning was bitterly cold, and standing in the living room made Chuck shiver. He hurried over to the darkened hearth and used a large iron fork to rake aside the surface ash, revealing the glowing red charcoal buried beneath.

"Phew, good thing it didn't go out."

Chuck breathed a sigh of relief. He had drunk too wildly with his friends last night and had collapsed before he could bank the fire with ash. Needless to say, his wife must have cleaned up after him.

A surge of warmth swelled in Chuck's chest as he thought of his caring wife.

With the embers still alive, getting the fire going was much easier. Chuck added some highly flammable tinder over the coals, followed by a few sticks of dry firewood chopped last autumn. Soon, a warm fire was blazing in the room.

Feeling the heat radiate from the burning wood, Chuck fetched the iron kettle, filled it with water, and placed it on the iron rack inside the hearth.

It wouldn't be long before he could have some hot water to drink.

He still had time for his morning exercises before the water boiled.

As he pushed open his front door, the cold outdoor air rushed to greet him. Chuck Broken Tooth inhaled a sharp breath of the freezing air, feeling instantly refreshed.

The weather wasn't great. A few hazy gray clouds hung in the sky and would obscure the rising sun later, but this minor detail didn't dampen Chuck's good mood in the slightest.

Today was a good day!

Just then, another gnoll out for a morning run jogged past his house and spotted Chuck warming up by the door.

"Happy New Year, Officer Chuck!"

"Hah? Happy New Year!"

Chuck looked closer and recognized the neighbor who had moved in last autumn—Taru Frostmane.

He was a strapping young lad fresh out of military service, possessing the strength of an intermediate professional. After his discharge, the military had assigned him a clerical job at the Whirlpool Town Administration Office.

Whirlpool Town was an obscure little settlement on Puji Island in the Afiaiv Kingdom. Located on the island's western side, it was neither large nor small—a completely ordinary town that neither stood out nor lagged behind.

Honestly, a low-level clerical job in a regular town was somewhat of a waste of talent for an intermediate professional. After all, even Chuck, a police sergeant, was only an intermediate professional himself.

Yet Taru wasn't discouraged. Instead, he was full of drive, traveling to Puji City to fight for numerous benefits for Whirlpool Town. Word had it that the mayor thought very highly of him.

"Taru, let's run together!"

"Sure!"

A mature gnoll and a younger adult gnoll ran side by side down the street. Snow was piled on both sides of the Whirlpool Town streets, but the center was perfectly clean—a credit to the Town Administration Office.

Gradually, more pedestrians appeared on the streets, their faces beaming with festive joy.

"Officer Chuck! Happy New Year!"

"Happy New Year!"

As one of the six police sergeants in Whirlpool Town, nearly everyone knew Chuck. He replied to the enthusiastic townsfolk without breaking his stride.

Before they knew it, the two gnolls had completed a lap around the town.

"Ah, Whirlpool Town has really been getting better and better these past few years."

Slowing to a walk, Chuck observed the buildings on either side of the street.

"Did you know, Taru? When I first arrived eight years ago, Whirlpool Town only had two blocks and five hundred people. It was just a slightly larger village. Now we have seven streets, a population of over two thousand, and a lot more shops."

Walking beside him, Taru nodded in strong agreement.

"Yeah, it's not just Whirlpool Town; my hometown is the same. My older brother wrote to me last month saying that I probably wouldn't even be able to find our front door if I went back. Hahaha."

"Hahaha!"

The two chatted idly as they headed home.

When Chuck returned, the hot water kettle had already been taken off the hearth. His wolf ears twitched as he heard his wife coaxing the children out of bed.

Chuck poured himself a cup of hot water. A comforting warmth flowed down his throat and into his stomach, prompting him to exhale a breath of hot air.

"Ah! That hits the spot!"

Soon after, his wife emerged with three little gnoll cubs in tow.

"You're back just in time. Food is ready."

Chuck and his three children gathered around the dining table. His wife brought out breakfast: a stack of fine wheat bread, a pot of black tea, and a link of cured sausage. This was the gnoll family's morning meal.

The three little wolf cubs ate while restlessly looking all around.

"Daddy, why are you called Broken Tooth?"

"Yeah, yeah, your teeth clearly aren't broken!"

"That's because my father, your grandfather, was also named Broken Tooth."

"Then why was Grandpa called Broken Tooth?"

"A long time ago, when our people still settled in tribes, our tribe's coming-of-age ceremony required breaking off a fang to make a necklace to hang around the neck..."

"Why break your own fang?"

"Did breaking it hurt?"

"Did Grandpa break his fang?"

"..."

Faced with the three little gnolls' chattering barrage of questions, Chuck felt a massive headache coming on.

Sitting beside them, his wife frowned. She put on a stern face and interrupted the cubs' endless questioning.

"Alright, eat your food. No talking."

"Oh," the three chimed in unison.

Chuck breathed a sigh of relief. Sometimes, he would rather hunt down the most dangerous murderer than face his three overly curious children.

After breakfast, the three little cubs swarmed out the door.

Chuck sat in his chair picking his teeth, watching their retreating backs.

"I really envy Murlocs. They just have to drop their eggs in the hatching pools and don't have to worry about a thing."

His wife, busy clearing the table, heard his muttering and raised an eyebrow.

"Then why don't we send Wuke and the others to boarding school too?"

"Uh... on second thought, never mind. If those three little brats were gone, I'd end up missing them."

Finishing up with the table, his wife sat down across from him.

"Chuck, how about we send them to the town's school this year?"

Seeing that his wife wasn't joking, Chuck seriously considered her proposal. The three cubs were still a month shy of the enrollment age, but school started in half a month.

Of course, being half a month short wasn't a problem at all.

"Alright. It'll give us some peace and quiet, too."

Chuck rested for a bit longer, then said goodbye to his wife.

"I'm off to work."

Due to the special nature of Police Station work, someone had to be on duty even during the New Year. They usually operated on a rotating shift, and this year, it just so happened to be Chuck's turn.

Chuck walked out of his house and headed toward the Police Station.

Pedestrians noticed his blue-and-white police uniform.

"Officer Chuck! You're working even on the New Year?"

"Duty calls."

"Thanks for your hard work!"

As a police officer responsible for maintaining public order and catching fugitives, Chuck always put his all into his job, which had earned him the recognition of the townspeople.

Exchanging greetings all the way, Chuck arrived at the town's Police Station. He found that his partner had beaten him there.

"Morning, Minna!"

"Morning, Chuck."

A Harpy was sitting on a wooden chair in the station, reading a newspaper. Hearing the familiar voice, she didn't even look up.

Chuck walked over to the innermost wall of the station. Noticing the old calendar was still hanging there, he found the newly issued calendar from yesterday and put it up.

"Year 15 of the White Tower Calendar, Day 1 of the Month of New Shoots."

Chuck returned to his seat.

"Here, this morning's paper."

Minna handed the finished newspaper to Chuck just as he sat down. Chuck took it and scanned the page, seeing several large words printed in the headline: Kingdom Prime Minister, Lord Gurgalu, Delivers New Year's Address on Behalf of His Majesty the King.

Several years ago, a major event had shaken the Afiaiv Kingdom: eight Mage Towers had sprung up in every major city. Not long after that, this new novelty called newspapers had appeared.

Chuck read the paper carefully. Reading the news was one of the very few forms of entertainment in this amusement-starved town.

After finishing it, he folded the newspaper and placed it on the rack for his colleagues to take.

Whirlpool Town was a typical agricultural settlement. Its primary resources were the various agricultural products grown by the surrounding villages. The people were living in peace and contentment, and crime was rare even on ordinary days, let alone during an important holiday like the New Year (National Day).

Because of this, Chuck was quite bored.

"Minna, did you hear? The White Castle Royal Theater troupe is coming to Puji Island. Is that true?"

"It is. Word has it that the higher-ups ordered the Royal Theater to go on a tour to enrich civilian entertainment."

Unlike a common gnoll like Chuck, Minna came from a major clan. Her surname was Ironfeather, and the Ironfeather Clan formed the upper echelon of Harpies. Moreover, since Harpies managed the kingdom's communication industry, Minna was always very well-informed.

"The troupe will arrive on Puji Island in six days."

"That's wonderful. When the time comes, I definitely have to take my wife and kids to see a show."

Chuck sat in his chair, chatting idly with his colleague. Not long after, a kobold wearing the same Police Station uniform walked in. This was a station officer, a subordinate of Sergeant Chuck, coming to report in after finishing his patrol.

"Lokin! How did the patrol go?"

"Thankfully, nothing much happened, other than helping a lost child get home."

"Mhm. Do one more patrol after lunch, and then you can head straight home."

"Thank you, sir!"

Chuck nodded. According to Police Station regulations, officers were required to patrol three times a day. However, during holidays, they could patrol just twice with a sergeant's permission. Chuck knew the kobold's wife was pregnant, and Lokin must be eager to spend more time with his wife and unborn child.

Chuck wanted to do the same, but his responsibilities wouldn't allow it.

The officers out on patrol gradually returned one by one. They came from many different races—kobolds, Harpies, and, of course, gnolls made up the majority.

Thanks to their keen sense of smell, gnolls had a natural advantage in professions like policing. Not just in Whirlpool Town, but across the entire country, gnolls were the backbone of the police forces.

Because the station's logistics staff were also on holiday, the officers had to pitch in and cook for themselves. The many officers on duty worked together to whip up a lavish lunch, bringing out the welfare provisions sent down from Puji City for the on-duty staff—dried small fish, braised turtle eggs, and various other snacks.

A joyful feast began.

In the afternoon, Chuck sat in his chair, flipping through old newspapers to kill time. Suddenly, sensing something, he glanced out the window. Directly opposite the station was Whirlpool Town's tallest building—the four-story Town Administration Office.

At the very top of the administration building stood a slender pillar crowned with a small Harpy statue. This was the Guidance Totem.

The Guide Totem was a magic tool crafted using shamanic technology. It resonated with the magical wooden badges carried by Harpy couriers, allowing them to pinpoint the exact location of the town office and deliver messages promptly, even in heavy fog.

Every intelligent race settlement in the Afiaiv Kingdom had such a Guide Totem. It was a crucial guarantee that the kingdom's communication channels remained unhindered.

News and arrest warrants from Puji City were also dispatched via Harpies.

Just then, a Harpy descended toward the Town Administration Office. Minna also noticed her descending kin.

"A courier at this hour..."

Chuck understood what Minna was getting at. The scheduled communication time between the town and its governing city was in the morning, and the Harpy courier had already visited. For another to arrive in the afternoon meant that the message carried was for a sudden emergency.

"Don't worry, maybe it's good news."

"I hope so."

The courier's landing cast a shadow over the hearts of the two sergeants on duty, and they kept glancing toward the Town Administration Office.

A moment later, a familiar figure ran out of the Town Administration Office. It was the clerical worker, Taru Frostmane.

Seeing Taru's hurried appearance, Chuck's heart skipped a beat. Although the chances were slim, missions like hunting down murderers still popped up a few times a year.

It couldn't be that coincidental, could it? Today was an important holiday!

Taru rushed into the sergeants' office and saw Chuck and Minna inside.

"Sergeants, this is an urgent document from Puji City."

Chuck snatched the letter from Taru's hand and saw a Bloodstained Longsword and a Dragon Head Round Shield stamped on the envelope.

The Dragon Head Round Shield meant the recipient was the Police Station, while the Bloodstained Longsword denoted the hazard rating of the document's contents.

Within the Afiaiv Kingdom's police system, task hazard ratings were divided into four tiers.

A red glove meant general danger; a Bloodstained Longsword meant life-threatening danger; a skull stood for extreme danger; and the final tier was a blood skull—when that appeared, the Police Station had to evacuate the civilians.

Whirlpool Town was a remote place. Let alone skulls and blood skulls, the Bloodstained Longsword had only appeared three times during Chuck's entire eight-year career with the force. This was the fourth.

His heart heavy, Chuck tore open the envelope. Inside were two things: a portrait and a letter.

Minna took the portrait while Chuck unfolded the letter.

The first line of the letter read: Evil god priest—Daixunna. Dead or alive.

"Taru, on your way back, pass a message to my wife for me. Tell her a friend is throwing a New Year's party and I won't be coming home tonight."