After the encounter with those goons at the tea shop, which had worsened my mood, I spent the remaining hours of the afternoon wandering about, during which I had happened to venture into the red-light district. Thankfully for me, someone ended up pestering me, so after terrorizing him for a bit, I left the district with my mood mostly better.
"Ptu. Disgusting." Spitting blood onto the ground, I grabbed my handkerchief, wiping my mouth; I made the mistake of drinking another's blood, and couldn't even blame the man for having bad-tasting blood. "That damn bastard, ruining my taste buds… I'm already addicted to your blood; it shouldn't make me incapable of consuming others."
Just thinking of that foul man irritated me; shaking my head, ridding myself of such thoughts, I stored the handkerchief and continued onwards, heading to a high-end restaurant to end the day.
When I arrived at the restaurant, a multi-story building, I stepped onto the red rug, entering the front doors, which two servants opened for me. "Hello, Madam. Name, please?" Standing at attention, an Elven woman warmly greeted me with a smile and a slight bow. "Vlad Mavis." "I apologize, Mistress Mavis, but I can't find your name in our bookings. Allow me to ask my manager."
With a troubled expression, she bowed, though before she could leave, I outstretched my hand to her, a platinum coin between my fingers. With wide eyes, she quickly composed herself and nodded, stuffing the platinum coin within her pocket, gesturing for me to follow. "Ah, my mistake, there was a smudge, your name is right here, Mistress Mavis."
Following the attendant, we climbed a few flights of stairs, reaching the topmost floor before she led me into a private booth. "When you're ready, just ring this bell, and a servant will arrive within a minute." Nodding, I gently waved her off while I grabbed the menu, scanning it before setting it down and gazing out the windows into the beautiful night sky.
'Even the night skies are different from those in Daemon.' As I gazed upon the three moons of Azarath, my eyes swept across the estate in the distance, where I caught multiple dark figures, causing me to furrow my brows as I watched from afar. 'Assassins? No, they're too weak to kill Alexander. Spies then.'
Deducing they must be spies, I ignored them. If they were simply spies, then they wouldn't cause any trouble; perhaps they'd steal some stuff, but nothing I needed to involve myself with… I was but a slave after all, I didn't follow Alexander out of my own volition. "It would please me to see him suffer a few setbacks here and there."
Grabbing the bell, I rang it, and not even thirty seconds later, a handsome young man appeared. "You called, Madam?" "Give me the spice-polished steak with a side of golden oysters and caviar. I'll have sparkling spring water." "Yes, Madam." Bowing, he closed the door and left, causing me to glance back out the window, though as I did so, I noticed the mansion seemed to be experiencing a small fire.
'A diversion?' Simply assuming the spies were using a diversion, I quietly watched, waiting for them to make their grand escape with whatever stolen object, yet they never did. Instead, the fire only grew, causing me to furrow my brows. "That's quite the diversion; now it'll be obvious someone snuck in… Perhaps they don't care?" Muttering softly, I removed my hat, brushing my hair back while I awaited the spies.
Yet even when the fire engulfed a quarter of the mansion, there were no signs of the spies escaping, making me frown. 'Those weren't spies.' Propping my chin up, I rhythmically tapped my finger, wondering what their purpose could be. 'Could they be a group of people who despise Alexander?' I nearly laughed at my own foolish assumption; Alexander was a good man, and having such enemies was unlikely for him.
"Assassins then?" While that was the only logical conclusion, it didn't make sense to me. Alexander's strength wasn't some secret; he was considered one of the strongest A-class adventurers within Cassandra, so there was no way any assassin guild they worked for would make such a mistake. If they worked for a private group or person, then it would make even less sense to send their own to die pointless deaths.
'Also, did they not do their research? Alexander isn't even Cassandra–' Instantly, the realization hit me like a punch, those assassins, they knew exactly what they were doing, because they weren't targeting Alexander, at least not directly.
Clicking my tongue, I aggressively tapped my finger; a small part of me wanted to just remain ignorant, but when I thought of the kindness that elf showed me, I ended up sighing. 'I've changed… To think an Elf could ever move my heart.'
Grabbing my hat, I opened the window, transforming into a bat as I flew off into the night, heading to the estate.
"Madam, I've arrived–Madam?"
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3rd POV
"Are the targets secured?" Wearing a white mask, a swordsman glanced behind at three others, each wearing a black mask. They stood within the burning mansion, bodies surrounding them as the man with the white mask sheathed his sword.
"Yes, Sir." Beside the black mask that had spoken were Chloe and Michelle, the mother and daughter duo, wounded, unconscious, and tied securely. "Good, we return."
Two of the four men picked up their prisoners while following behind the leader, only for Jackal, severely wounded and bleeding, to lunge out from a burning room, attacking the leader, driving his sword into his shoulder. "You ain't taking a single step further!"
Retracting his sword, Jackal slashed at the man once more, but the leader side-stepped, grabbed his arm and broke it, causing Jackal to drop his sword. As the leader caught it, he stabbed Jackal's chest while pushing him away, causing him to collapse to his knees.
"Let's go." Ignoring Jackal, the leader glanced at his wounded shoulder before continuing onwards. "S-Sorry, A-Alex…"
As the four walked through the mansion, bodies left in their wake, they eventually exited through a window, landing in a discreet corner of the estate. As they did so, they suddenly saw Mavis standing atop the stone wall several meters away. "Distateful." Before they were given the chance to retaliate, Mavis's eyes flashed a red glow, causing the four assassins to freeze.
"Drop them." Without any argument, they carefully dropped Chloe and Michelle, anger briefly flashing through Mavis's eyes as she glanced at Michelle. "Kill you-No. Alexander will deal you lot. Take them somewhere safe."
As the four mind-controlled assassins listened to Mavis's every word, she shifted her gaze to the burning mansion, her gaze flashing with annoyance. "I suppose I should put this out." With a snap of her fingers, reddish clouds gathered just above the mansion as blood rained down, quickly snuffing out the flames of the mansion.
"Lots more blood will be spilled." It was a smirk that graced Mavis's face, not sadness at such an idea.
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Alexander POV
Stepping into Cassandra after a multi-day quest, I smiled, stretching as we walked right past the guards, not even needing to flash our adventurer's license; we were famous in this city.
"You're in a good mood. Did returning to Cassandra cheer you up that much?" Poking my side, Jasmine leaned forward, flashing a smirk, causing me to shrug. "Maybe. I'm just excited to take a nap on Michelle's meaty thighs; it's like resting my head on two clouds." Just the thought caused me to lick my lips.
"My thighs are also meaty!" Removing her helmet, Yuki shouted while glancing at me, causing me to wryly smile. "Meaty and muscle are different, Yuki." "Eh, what does that mean?" "It means exactly that." "Hmph, you're probably just jealous because you have two twigs for legs." Snorting, Yuki folded her arms while shooting Vanye a glare, causing her face to aggressively twitch underneath her helmet.
"For the record, I have one thigh, and it's not even skinny." Scoffing, Vanye gestured to her legs, which were mostly prosthetic, not that one would be able to tell without careful inspection. "Smaller than my arm." "You're four times my size, you dumb Oni!" "I'm not dumb!" "I'm not skinny!" "Let us agree to agree. Two things can be true at once." Descalating the arguing, Lazuli stood between the two, though honestly, her words weren't all that descalating.
"My legs are the best!" Grinning proudly, Talis gestured to her bird-legs, which were, unironically, probably the best overall. "Mhm, now, if we're being honest, I have the best legs." Turning around, walking backward, I gestured to my legs, causing the five of them to quietly look at me. "W-What? At least say something."
"What the fuck!?" "Okay, t-that's not what I was expecting." As Yuki shouted with wide eyes, I rubbed my head, though I quickly realized she and everyone else were looking at something behind me. Turning around, I gazed upon our estate, only it looked terrible.
"T-The hell happened!?"