The next morning began with a crisp breeze carrying scents of river water and distant farmland. Erian walked with steady steps toward the regional compliance office where Halden Creel worked. The building sat between two tall warehouses near the western docks. It looked ordinary, worn from years of salt air and trade traffic. The symbol of the Beast Trade Authority hung above the entrance. Yet Erian sensed something false in its quiet exterior. He entered the office and found a clerk sorting papers.

He introduced himself and asked to speak with Creel. The clerk’s eyes widened for a moment. She stammered that Creel was not present. She offered to send a message but Erian declined. He asked instead for access to Creel’s recent inspection logs. The clerk hesitated. She explained that she needed authorization from Creel himself before releasing any documents. Erian showed her his insignia and a sealed directive from the crown granting him cross-departmental oversight. Her objections faded. She retrieved a stack of ledgers and placed them before him.

Erian opened the first ledger. The entries were neat yet oddly shallow. Many inspections were marked as complete without notes. Several dates were left blank. Some signatures were smudged as if hurried or tampered with. He compared the entries with the official registry logs from the main office. The discrepancies were clear. Shipments Creel approved did not align with the arrival records. Some beasts marked as inspected never appeared in the central registry. Others appeared with forged lineage seals bearing Creel’s signature.

He needed confirmation. He asked the clerk whether Creel often performed inspections personally. She admitted quietly that Creel rarely visited warehouses or transport stations. He preferred to handle paperwork from his private office. Her tone suggested she knew something was wrong but did not dare say it outright. Erian thanked her and asked where this private office was. She pointed to a small door at the back of the building.

Erian approached the door and tried the handle. It was locked with a simple mechanical latch. He asked the clerk for the key. After a long moment of hesitation she fetched it from her desk and handed it to him. He unlocked the door.

Inside he found a cramped office with dim light filtering through a single window. Papers covered the desk. Several maps hung on the wall pinned with colored markers. At first glance everything looked like messy administrative work. But as Erian stepped closer he recognized the routes. They matched the suspicious supply lines from his analysis. Each colored marker represented a shipment code. The arrangement showed connections between northern capture points, mid-route storage centers, and final distribution hubs. The network was mapped out clearly, yet none of this appeared in official reports. Creel had full knowledge of the illegal supply chain.

He examined the documents piled on the desk. Several letters bore symbols of trading guilds. Some letters contained payment records. Large sums moved in irregular patterns. Enough to bribe inspectors or silence handlers. A small box held several forged lineage stamp plates. They matched the false seals he saw on the young Stonehide Calf at the market.

Erian took careful notes. He needed physical evidence for the next steps. As he opened another drawer he found a set of sealed envelopes marked with a sigil he recognized from the overheard warehouse conversation. Vorrek’s emblem. Inside the envelopes were detailed lists of beasts requested for underground arenas. Rare, powerful, or volatile species. The kind that attracted high stakes.

He placed all evidence into separate packets for official sealing. As he did he heard hurried footsteps outside. The clerk’s voice rose in alarm. A deep shout followed. Erian stepped out of the private office calmly. Halden Creel had arrived.

Creel stood in the main hall with two heavyset men behind him. His expression hardened when he saw Erian holding sealed evidence packets. He demanded an explanation in a loud voice. Erian responded with measured calm. He stated that he had uncovered fraudulent records and unauthorized activities tied to Creel’s office. Creel denied everything and claimed Erian overstepped authority. His denial sounded rehearsed, as if he expected the accusation.

Erian asked Creel to explain the forged seals, the payment logs, and the match between his maps and black market routes. Creel stepped closer. His voice lowered into a threatening murmur. He accused Erian of disrupting a necessary part of the trade system. He claimed that without supplemental sources from “unofficial channels” the markets would collapse. He painted his actions as pragmatic solutions to high demand. Erian recognized the familiar argument used by corrupt officials across every industry. They justified exploitation as necessity.

He responded firmly. He explained that the market was collapsing precisely because of illegal supply lines. Ecosystems were failing. Protected species were vanishing. Falsified documents destabilized enforcement efforts. By feeding the black market Creel had endangered the kingdom. Creel refused to listen. His anger rose.

The two men behind him stepped forward. Their posture revealed intent to intimidate. Erian remained calm. He raised his insignia and declared that Creel was under formal investigation. The men hesitated. Confronting an inspector bearing a crown seal carried heavy consequences. Creel clenched his jaw. He ordered the men to stand down and told Erian he was making a mistake that he would regret.

Erian instructed the clerk to deliver the sealed evidence packets to Mira and the central office. She took them with trembling hands and left through the side door. Creel watched her go. His eyes flickered with calculation. He knew the evidence was out of his reach now.

With no other option Creel attempted to frame the situation as misunderstanding. He insisted he could explain everything if given time. Erian refused. He asked Creel to accompany him to the central office for questioning. Creel stalled but eventually agreed. He had no choice. Erian led him out of the building while the two men stayed behind to avoid further suspicion.

The walk through the western district was tense. Creel attempted several times to justify his actions. He spoke of economic pressure and political forces. He warned that the northern routes were too dangerous to cut off. He claimed the black market syndicate held influence even nobles feared. Erian listened without responding. He understood that Creel was trying to instill doubt. But Erian believed in the data. The evidence was clear. Corruption, not necessity, drove Creel’s decisions.

At the central office Mira met them with enforcement officers. Creel’s posture stiffened. The officers escorted him to the interrogation chamber. As Creel disappeared behind the heavy door Erian turned to Mira. He asked her to prepare orders to audit all regional compliance offices connected to Creel. She nodded.

Erian then requested access to the northern frontier records. Mira hesitated. She explained that reports from the frontier had become irregular. Some messages never arrived. Others came with incomplete data. She suspected interference but lacked proof. Erian did not hesitate. He stated that after stabilizing operations in the capital he would travel north.

The frontier held answers the city could not provide. It held the source of the black market’s power. It held the truth behind Vorrek’s operations.

The fight was only beginning.