Trust was never something Pax learned to value lightly. In his experience, trust wasn't freely given; it was spent, and once squandered, it rarely returned at full value.

The morning unfolded like any other in the small courtyard that quietly served as the heart of the Grey Veil.

To the outside world, it appeared to be a modest soup charity funded by sympathetic donors, a place where thin bowls of broth were handed out to hollow hands without too many questions asked.

Steam rose from iron pots, wooden benches creaked under weary bodies, and voices murmured softly, blending into a dull hum that would hardly catch the attention of any passerby.

Yet beneath this calm facade, something had shifted.

Pax sensed it long before any tangible evidence reached him. It wasn't panic or fear; it was a subtle imbalance, like a missing note in a familiar melody or silence where there should have been sound. Information that should have arrived by midmorning had not.

A word that should have traveled through their network had stopped midway, as if someone had cupped their hand around it and stifled it before it could spread.

Pax didn't react immediately,he never did. Instead, he carried on as usual.

He walked the perimeter of the courtyard, nodding at familiar faces and exchanging brief pleasantries while offering nothing more than he always had.

His expression remained calm and unhurried, almost dull. To an observer, he appeared simply as another organizer overseeing the distribution of charity.

Only when the soup pots were empty and the benches cleared did he retreat into the narrow back room, closing the door behind him with deliberate care.

Inside was sparse,a single table, a stool, and a small wooden ledger known as the Intelligence Ledger.

Pax placed his hand flat on its surface and exhaled slowly. Something had broken,and broken things left unattended always cut deeper later.

He began reviewing information flow from the past two days,not by reading names but by tracing patterns.

Pax had never believed in overloading one individual with importance; everyone within the Grey Veil held only fragments,routes, faces, habits, places.

No one knew the entire picture,not even those who joined early on. It wasn't paranoia; it was design.

Yet even fragments formed paths,and one path had gone quiet.

By midday, Pax identified where things went wrong: Joren.

A thin man with a crooked spine and eyes that rarely met another's gaze, Joren was among twenty recruits from their earliest days.

He wasn't loud or bold; he seemed ideal, quietly observant and careful with his words. He knew well the western alleys bordering dock-side markets where information changed hands faster than coins.

And now something from that quarter had leaked, not major secrets yet, but enough for Pax to know someone had betrayed them.

Joren stepped into the courtyard just before dusk, just as usual. There was a stiffness in his movements, and his steps were more deliberate than usual; his eyes flickered around, betraying a hint of anxiety. Pax observed all of this without acknowledging any details outwardly.

As Joren approached, Pax greeted him in the same manner he greeted everyone else.

"Sit," he said calmly, gesturing toward the stool in the back room.

Joren hesitated for barely a second before complying. The room felt smaller now that another person occupied it.

Pax kept his voice steady and did not raise accusations or threats. Instead, he opened the ledger and turned it so Joren couldn't see its contents.

"Tell me," Pax asked quietly, "how much is peace of mind worth to you?"

Joren swallowed hard. "I,..I don't know what you mean."

Pax nodded as if this response had been anticipated. "That's fine," he replied smoothly. "Then answer this instead: Who spoke to you yesterday near the salt warehouses?"

The color drained from Joren's face.

Silence enveloped them, thick and suffocating.

Finally, Joren let out a weak laugh. "Lots of people talk there. You know that."

"Yes," Pax agreed evenly. "But only one of them offered coin."

Joren's shoulders sagged in defeat.

When he confessed, it wasn't dramatic, no raised voices or desperate pleas,but rather a resignation to his fate as he explained how an agent for a minor merchant had offered him a handful of silvers,barely enough to last a week, in exchange for rumors about the Adventurer Guild's internal workings and mission reliability.

He had convinced himself it was harmless, just rumors, just words.

When he finished speaking, silence fell once more between them.

Pax listened intently without interruption; his expression remained unreadable. When Joren finally looked up, his eyes red-rimmed and hollow with dread, he braced himself for anger or punishment, consequences that loomed large in his imagination.

Instead, Pax closed the ledger and simply said, "That will be all."

Joren blinked in disbelief. "That's… that's it?"

Pax nodded calmly. "Yes."

No threats or lectures followed; no retribution awaited him.

Dazed, Joren left the room uncertain whether he had been forgiven or condemned.

Only after the door clicked shut did Pax mask slipped. He placed his palms on the ledger and bowed.

If he claims he isn't disappointed by Joren's betrayal, he's not being honest. The truth is, he's deeply hurt by it. It's not like he hasn't faced betrayal before or even betrayed someone himself; this time feels different.

He was entrusted with something significant, a responsibility that meant a lot to him, and it was the first time in his life he had been given such an important role.

Yet, despite this opportunity for growth, betrayal struck early on. This realization made his heart race with fear and left him questioning whether he could continue moving forward.

--------

It didn't take long for him to moved through the courtyard to speak quietly with three individuals, not issuing orders but making simple adjustments: changing routes, closing access points, removing names from circulation without ceremony.

By nightfall, Joren still roamed the city as before,still begging and listening, but valuable information no longer reached him.

It simply stopped flowing his way. The Grey Veil didn't collapse; it adapted instead.

The next morning, Pax gathered the core recruits,those who had demonstrated consistency, patience, and restraint.

They stood beneath the shadowy archway of the courtyard, their expressions a mix of wariness and curiosity as they watched him.

"There was a breach," Pax stated plainly.

A wave of tension swept through the group.

"I won't name anyone involved," he continued. "Not because it doesn't matter, but because fear isn't the foundation we're building upon."

He paused to let his words sink in."Fear breeds traitors," Pax said steadily. "Stability fosters loyalty."

Some shifted uncomfortably while others nodded in agreement.

"We're not an organization that thrives on punishment," he explained quietly. "We endure because we are predictable to one another. We don't turn against our own. If you betray the Veil, you won't be hunted down; you'll simply be… excluded."

He allowed that thought to settle in. "The world is already cruel enough," Pax concluded. "We don't need to add cruelty to prove our strength."

That night, the Grey Veil remained united. Whispers continued to circulate through Greyvale,unbroken, rerouted, refined.

Pax understood that trust was rarer than gold and far more fragile; yet for the first time, he felt he was creating something capable of withstanding betrayal without falling apart.

As he closed the ledger for the night, a single thought crossed his mind, quiet yet resolute and heavy with significance.

If this is to survive… it must be better than the world that created us.

A/N: Three bonus chapters will be uploaded. Two for hitting 200 Golden Tickets and one for entering the Top 100 of this month Golden Tickets Ranking.

Thanks for the support.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.