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Back Alley Dealings

Enigma: “I have to ask. How did you manage to evade authorities for so long? You stand out more than anyone else I’ve ever apprehended.”

Volpes: “Simple, detective. Before I started my own ‘enterprise’, there were others. They were so adept at ‘policing’ their own territories that the guards left them alone. When I started usurping them, those same guards were none the wiser. They never saw how the people were uniting under my banner because they didn’t care enough to look.”

Enigma: “That makes sense, but you didn’t operate exclusively in the poor, gang-run districts. I found numerous operations that occurred in the wealthier parts of the city.”

Volpes chuckles to himself.

Volpes: “Az wasn’t the only one among the guards, or the nobility, under my thumb. I had… have… a network. When I needed a back alley or hideout secured, I knew who to reach out to.”

Enigma: “Sympathizers among the nobility?”

Volpes breaks into a laugh.

Volpes: “None save the ones I created, either through my alchemy or by extortion. Power protects power, detective. The nobility doesn’t bend to a common man unless they’re forced to.”

Enigma breathes a heavy sigh.

Enigma: “And how.”

– excerpt from an interview conducted in the Magistrum City Corrections Facility

This beautiful piece from Kurero captures Volpes in his more villainous element. It’s also a good opportunity to do a bit more world-building in that interview style I’m growing more comfortable with.

Volpes may be one of the most well-known criminal masterminds in Oplentis, but he is not the only one. At least, he was not the only one. Of course, it’s normal for a titan to out-muscle the competition.