Strongest Nova: Path of Vengeance

47  To the Mansion

"Really? Blake's father?" one of the Defenders that questioned him couldn't help but feel bad when they heard the situation.

"He had the power to learn stuff from my blood. He could copy my brother's fighting style and could go toe-to-toe against me," Bradley explained. "As for the woman, she had the power to bring us so much pain that we just fall unconscious."

"Did you see the woman's face?" someone asked.

"No, but she should be in her 30s if not 40s," Bradley said. "We should assume that she is also the mother of someone that was a Defender and died. I don't see why else she would agree to help the man."

"Hmm, this is serious," the trainer named Jerry said. "They must be working with people that were spreading the rebel ideas. We should inform the mayor."

"I'll go explain everything right now," Bradley said. "You guys should go and find out about the man. We should know which house he lived in, right?"

"We'll look up the info and go check," the Defenders said.

"Alright, I'll leave as well," Bradley said and started walking.

"Brother, wait. I'll come with you," Stanley said.

Bradley stopped and turned around. "You should remain here and rest. I'll go up and come down quickly," he said.

"You've lost a lot of blood. What if you fall unconscious on the way? Let me help you," Stanley said.

"Take your brother," Old man Sam cried out. "I'm not going to treat you twice this late if you end up hurting yourself."

After that, the two brothers left the headquarters and walked up the straight path to the mansion.

This was Stanley's second time climbing up these roads to go to the top. Walking between the 1st and 2nd quadrants at night, alone in the street with nothing but lamps showing them the way to the top.

They walked until they arrived past the final line of houses, standing outside the gates that were placed in between the massive walls that covered the mansion.

It was dark, but Stanley could still see the large building in the distance. It was lit up with warm lights from the inside.

Some guards quickly came forward, each one of which looked nearly 10 years older than the two brothers.

"Defenders? What's your reason for coming here this late?" one of the guards asked.

"We have urgent news for the Mayor. Please relay this message so I can go talk to him," Bradley said.

"Hmm? Aren't you Bradley?" one of the guards recognized him. "Hey, wait here while I go tell the mayor. He knows this kid personally."

The man ran away, leaving the other guard behind.

'That's the place I had been to before,' Stanley thought to himself while looking inside through the gate. He couldn't see much due to the darkness, but as he looked around the mansion, he saw some dim light going in and out for some reason. "Brother, do you know what's up with that light over there?" he asked.

Bradley looked up as well and saw it. "Oh, that's the lookout tower. It blinks on and off like that to let the people working here know that someone is there," he explained. "People stay up there to make sure no one sneaks into the mayor's mansion without being allowed to."

"There's such a thing as that?" Stanley couldn't help but ask.

"Of course," the remaining guard spoke up. "Don't you know how important this place is? Half of the town's grains are stored here. The power station that lights up the entire town is here. The flowers that go into becoming colors grow here. Hell, even coins are constantly getting coated here. If they don't put someone on the lookout, the town would be in shambles the very next day."

"No, I understand that," Stanley said. "I was just surprised that there are people at places other than the gate to guard."

"Yes, we have to," the man said. "We don't know much of many people's power after all."

"That makes sense," Stanley said.

The other guard quickly returned with approval from the Mayor to let Bradley in. But, only Bradley.

"Stay here, I'll be back soon," Bradley said and walked in.

Stanley waited for about 10 minutes outside in the dark while talking to the guard about various things regarding the mansion.

"So you haven't seen the entirety of the mansion either?" he asked the guard.

"It's very strict here," the guard explained. "Each person has a specific task and they have to stick to that task and that task alone. The regions inside the mansion are separated as such as well and an individual is allowed to go into only a few places."

"How many people do you see each day?" Stanley asked. "Are there a lot of people working inside?"

"On the contrary," the guard said. "There are barely any people working in there. But, I can't tell you the specific numbers, even if you are a Defender."

"That's understandable," Stanley said.

"Yeah, well I hope the mayor decides to employ more people soon," the guard said. "Even if it's just for his sake. He's so old that I don't understand why he's not employing people just to take care of him."

Stanley thought he knew the answer.

'Well, that's because he's not going to be a mayor for long, isn't it?' he thought. He imagined his brother as the mayor, living inside this mansion, and commanding the city.

'That would be great for him,' Stanley thought. 'I can only hope he beats George and Yasu somehow.'

If he were to be honest, George was probably most fit to be the mayor than any of the two. Even with his twisted personality, he truly cared about the town.

'Still, I have to support my own brother,' Stanley thought.

As for what he would do in the future, he had no idea just yet.

Bradley walked out of the mansion with the guard after informing the mayor, and the two brothers walked back down to the Defenders headquarters.