The crowd inside the church had thinned out, but those remaining clearly heard the worry in the guard’s voice.

Not good.

Fear of another beast attack rippled through them.

Zanyi raised his hands, trying to calm everyone.

"No need to worry," he said with a smile. "I’ll check what’s going on."

He pulled the guard aside to talk while William and the others finished distributing food to those in need.

"Don’t shout like that right now." Zanyi scolded the guard in a quiet corner. "You know we need to keep the community calm."

"Forgive me, Master Zanyi." The guard stared at the floor, ashamed.

"It’s fine. Let’s get straight to the point—what’s happening? More magical beasts?"

That was Zanyi’s first concern. Made sense, considering it was the city’s main problem.

But that wasn’t it.

"We’ve seen some strange movement in the region. Hooded figures. We believe they could be bandits or from another organization." The guard leaned in close, whispering. "Word is there are already some infiltrators inside the city."

"What!?"

Thinking about it, this wasn’t far-fetched. A weakened city was the perfect target for criminal groups wanting to seize control and take whatever wealth remained.

No criminal group had ever taken over a city permanently—the kingdom always sent powerful soldiers to clean up the mess.

But that didn’t stop them from robbing everything blind and leaving the city unable to recover for a long time.

Zanyi didn’t want that.

He’d already spent too much energy rebuilding what he could. Not to mention the connections he’d made with the people here.

"I’ll head to the gate shortly to talk with you all," Zanyi told the guard. "And I think I have the ideal people to help with this little problem too."

"Understood."

The guard left. Zanyi returned and reassured the crowd once more.

"Nothing to worry about. And now we have three very strong friends helping us. We’re safe."

Everyone looked at William, Lucas, and Thompson with admiration.

After the civilians left and only William and the others remained inside the church, they discussed what had happened.

Zanyi relayed exactly what the guard had told him and mentioned the help he hoped to get from them—if possible.

"Of course we’ll help." Lucas was the first to accept. "As if beasts weren’t enough—now criminals too? I’ll find those bastards. Leave it to me."

Thompson, who was fair-minded about most things, felt the same way.

William was a bit conflicted at first. His main focus was eliminating the portal threat and securing Zanyi’s help.

"Seems like to get his help, we need to make sure the city is safe from everything," he thought.

In the end, he offered his help too.

"We can split up. Someone stays responsible for finding the infiltrators inside, others can search the surrounding forest." William suggested. "If we work together with focus and minimal rest, we can uncover a lot by tomorrow."

Tomorrow was when they’d start investigating the mysterious portal the creatures were coming through. William wanted to deal with these criminals as soon as possible.

The person who stayed in the city to search was none other than him.

Zanyi questioned if that was the right call.

"Among the three of you, he seems to have the weakest combat power at the moment," Zanyi commented. "Shouldn’t someone else go?"

Lucas shook his head. "William is excellent at stealth. Not to mention he has mind control abilities. If anyone can find out who’s infiltrated, it’s him!"

William felt flattered hearing that from Lucas.

True, he could control minds—Lucas knew that firsthand, having been one of his targets.

But he hadn’t mentioned being good at stealth.

"Maybe he’s just talking me up," William thought.

Either way, Zanyi seemed to trust Lucas completely and quickly accepted the proposal.

"Fine. But try to be discreet. Let’s all go to the gate and talk with the guards to get the full picture. After that, we split up."

No one objected. Zanyi was leading the city through this crisis. Best thing to do was listen and follow instructions.

They walked together to the main gate, heading to one of the security towers still standing.

This tower was where guards gathered to observe the forest from afar—positioned at the top.

Being a restricted area—and protected by magical formations Zanyi had created—it was secure enough for private conversations.

When they arrived, all the guards bowed to Zanyi. They quickly prepared a meeting room at the tower’s peak.

"Give us all the intelligence you’ve collected. Now." Zanyi ordered.

"Understood!"

About fifty soldiers were responsible for reconnaissance around the city.

The goal was to spot magical beasts before they reached the walls. With the city under reconstruction, they needed that extra time to mount a proper defense.

In recent weeks, everything had flowed normally. The only thing soldiers spotted were tracks from magical beasts, and they quickly reported everything to the other guards—and Zanyi.

But this past week, they started noticing... something different.

Hooded men. Mostly at night. Watching the city. Observing its defenses.

These men seemed skilled—it had been difficult for the soldiers to even detect their presence.

William had to share his thoughts with Zanyi.

"I think these hooded men let themselves be discovered on purpose."

He crossed his arms. "The city’s been in this situation for a while now, right? News travels fast. If they wanted, they could’ve attacked before you built the new formations. I get the feeling their appearance is just a distraction. Maybe they’re waiting for whoever’s infiltrated to make a move."

Some soldiers in the room had no idea infiltrators were even a possibility.

"Infiltrators? Are you serious?" One soldier looked at Zanyi. "That’s impossible, isn’t it, Master Zanyi?"

"No. It’s not." Zanyi’s expression darkened. "During the reconstruction, we received help from all over. Outsiders entered the city. Villagers from nearby settlements sought shelter when beasts increased in the region. The chance of someone having bad intentions is high."

The tower fell dead silent.

The gravity of the problem finally sank in. Unconsciously, everyone in the room exchanged glances—suspecting that anyone there could be one of the infiltrated.