Clover Kingdom / Diamond Border (Black Die Underground City, Black Mansion): January 12th, 1016.
It was a ugly afternoon for the world. The city above had welcomed clover knights with forced smiles, polished church lies and enough staged order to make weak people clap at their own blindness, while the city below listened through walls, pipes, paid mouths, dice marks and the kind of loyalty that made secrets die before they grew legs. Yet if you were to look closely inside black mansion. To be more specific, inside a wide office full of maps, ledgers, route pins, half burned reports and one extremely irritated young man sitting behind a black stone desk. You could see the devil of the clover border staring at new pieces on his board.
The atmosphere calculating.
(David's POV)
"Clover arrived faster than expected." Said benjamin calmly while placing three reports onto my desk.
I stared down at the papers.
Then at the map.
Then at the little carved figures representing the church, clover and my own routes.
My eye twitched.
"Wonderful. As if one ancient immortal saint bitch wasn't already enough." I said calmly with a closed eyed smile on my face.
Nyx sat upside down in the chair across from me, her white hair spilling toward the floor, her breasts suffocating the life out of her as her tail swayed lazily back and forth an she asked "Can we kill them."
I glanced at her for a long moment and said very patiently with my infamous closed eyed smile not leaving my face "No."
Nyx clicked her teeth and asked "Can we scare them."
"No." I said calmly and very patiently.
Nyx rolled her eyes and asked "Can we rob them."
"After their dead." I said calmly with a chuckle.
Nyx grinned widely and said "Progress."
I rubbed my forehead and looked at benjamin and asked with my left eye opening "Who did conrad send."
Benjamin unfolded another paper and said with a serious look on his face "Captain doran vex. Onyx jackal squad. Known for irregular combat tactics, field infiltration, bait operations and surviving assignments that should have killed more normal men."
The study was silent.
I leaned back slowly and asked with a even wider smile "Status."
Benjamin nodded and waved one hand. A silver door opened beside him and a half dead informant was pushed through by two guards.
The informant bowed so low his forehead almost hit the floor as he said "Boss. I saw him. Captain doran. He found the west cellar mark."
"Did he look scared." I asked calmly while rubbing my smooth chin.
"No boss." Said the Informant man almost Immediately with sweat dripping onto the floor from his forehead.
"Good and annoying." I said with a sigh.
The informant trembled but stayed kneeling.
I stared down at him for a moment and asked "Did you draw a picture of him."
"Y…yes sir." Said the Informant man with a stutter as he took out a piece of paper from his coat and handed it to benjamin who then sat it on my desk.
I grabbed the sketched picture and raised one hand and a dice formed over my palm as I thought "Dice magic: fate reading"
The dice spun.
The air trembled.
A transparent screen appeared in front of me.
[STATUS]
[Name: Doran Vex]
[Race: Human]
[Gender: Male]
[Age: 39]
[Titles: [Captain of The Onyx Jackal], [Laughing Hound], [Outskirt Butcher], [Conrad's Dog]
[Strength: 901.4]
[Agility: 1,202.7]
[Vitality: 544.8]
[Mana: 1,977.3]
[Magic: Beast]
[Skills: [Swordsmanship: Master], [Mana Skin: Grandmaster], [Mana Zone: Advanced], [Tracking: Grandmaster], [Torture Resistance: Master], [Battlefield Reading: Master], [Stealth: Master], [Acting: Master]
[Spells: [Bast Magic: Red Road: Grandmaster], [Beast Magic: Bear Claw: Master], [Beast Creation Magic: Rhinoceros Armor: Grandmaster], [Beast Magic: Animal Call: Master], [Beast Magi: Howling: Master]
I stared at the status for a long moment.
The room went completely silent.
Nyx lifted her head and asked with her eyes squinting "Is it Bad."
"Not ariella bad.cBut not trash either." I said calmly as I rubbed my smooth chin.
Nyx sat upright and asked "So medium annoying."
"Very annoying." I says calmly correcting.
Jarred entered the study and leaned against the wall with a bottle and asked "Can I drink with him."
"No." I said calmly.
"Can I kill him after drinking with him." Asked jarred while chugging the bottle.
"No." I said calmly while staring at him barely keeping his balance.
Jarred sighed and said with a chuckle "Leadership has become boring."
I ignored him and stared at the screen again.
Beast magic.
Tracking.
Battlefield reading.
Conrad's dog.
That meant soran wasn't here to play hero.
He was here to sniff.
Sniffing was more dangerous than charging because charging men usually died quickly while sniffing men found doors you forgot to lock.
I looked at the map and said calmly "No attacks on clover."
The room went quiet.
Nyx frowned and asked "None, did you eat ass again last night or something. I bealive I'm going dead so please repeat yourself again."
"None. No direct contact unless I approve it. No stolen horses. No poisoned drinks. No dead knights in alleys. No one breathes wrong near them unless I say so." I said with a serious look on my face.
Jarred raised his hand.
I glared at him.
He lowered it slowly.
Benjamin nodded and said calmly with his eyes closed "You want them watching the church."
"Yes. Ariella wants the city above. Clover wants answers. I want both of them looking at each other while I count who blinks first." I said with a slow grin forming on my face.
Nyx's scarlet eyes gleamed as she said "So we feed them hints."
"Not hints. Useful truths with missing teeth." I said while grinning as I glanced at her.
Benjamin's remaining eye narrowed slightly as he said "The mana suppression routes."
I smiled.
"Give doran proof that the church lied about one route. Not all. One. Enough to make him doubt the white banners. Not enough to make him understand the city." I said calmly.
Nyx grinned with crazed eyes as she said "That's dirty."
"That's politics." I said calmly.
"Same thing." Said nyx while rolling her eyes as the grin dropped from her face.
Correct.
Unfortunately.
I tapped the edge of the map near the western wells and said "Let doran find three living witnesses. Not ours. People who hate the church more than they fear us."
Jarred scratched his beard and said with both of his eyes narrowing subtly "That's a short list."
"It's longer than people who like you sober." I said calmly with a wave of my tight hand that turned into a middle finger.
Jarred looked wounded. He clutched his chest with his left hand.
Benjamin adjusted his cuff and said calmly "The witnesses can be arranged by tonight."
I nodded and said "Good. No lies. Lies rot too fast. Truth with direction lasts longer."
A soft knock came from the office door.
"Come in." I said calmly.
A young runner entered, panting so hard he looked like he had raced death and lost his dignity halfway and said "Boss. New report. The aqua deer captain is rumored near the border. Julius novachrono."
The room went absolutely silent.
My smile vanished.
Nyx noticed instantly and asked "What."
I stared at the runner.
"Repeat the name." I said quietly.
The boy swallowed an said "Julius novachrono, boss."
My fingers slowly curled against the desk.
Future wizard king.
Time magic.
Cheerful smiling bastard.
Potentially one of the most dangerous men alive.
I started laughing under my breath.
Nyx stared at me for a moment and pointed and said "That sounds like your bad laugh."
"It is." I said honestly with w sigh.
Jarred blinked in confusion and asked "How bad is this one."
I leaned back in the chair and covered my eyes with one hand and said "Bad enough that if he smiles at me too kindly, I might stab the furniture out of instinct."
The room stayed quiet.
Even jarred had enough sense to not laugh.
For once.
Benjamin was silent but he said calmly "Should we prepare a false route for him too."
"No." I said calmly.
Everyone looked at me.
I opened one eye and said "If julius enters my board, we don't feed him what we want him to see."
My grin slowly returned.
Ugly.
Sharp.
"We show him something true and make him misunderstand it." I said calmly with a chuckle.
Nyx tilted her slightly and scoffed and said "Why not just kill him now."
I stared at her for a very long second and said "Because I enjoy living, shitty booty."
"Coward. I spot a coward." Said nyx Immediately with gritted teeth.
"A coward that is still alive." I said calmly with a shrug.
Benjamin bowed slightly and said "Then the plan changes."
"No. The plan grows a spine and finally walks." I said calmly while looking back at the map.
I stared at the clover marker.
Then the church marker.
Then my own black dice token sitting beneath them both like a disease.
"Doran gets a dirty truth. Julius gets a beautiful one." I said softly.
Jarred squinted and said "That sounds very challenging."
"It will be." I said calmly .
Nyx grinned and asked "And that smaller titty bitch, ariella."
My smile widened as I said with both of my arms lightly spread "Ariella gets to wonder why her prey suddenly has an audience."
The office went quiet.
Benjamin bowed.
Jarred took a drink.
Nyx's tail swayed once.
And beneath a city that had become too crowded with monsters, saints, captains and devils, I began studying clover's eyes before they could fully open.
If only that were the case for what's to come.
…
THE END…