Chapter 22 Mia & Tia & Miat interlude

Mia slowly edged forwards on the thick house beam she was crawling on, getting ever closer to her desired spot. She felt more than she saw her twin advancing at the same pace as her.

After a few more minutes of carefully moving through cobwebs, oppressive silence, dust and all manner of insects, they finally reached their destination. A spot where the house beams intersected directly above a small table that had a middle aged man sitting at it, a single candle illuminating the scroll in his hands. The only words she could make out were Happy Time, due to them being written in large bold script at the top of the paper.

It triggered some sort of memory in her young mind. They'd been given a lesson about secret substance distribution, with the drug ring surrounding HT being given as a remarkably inspired example. However she quickly banished the thought, and scolded herself for her focus on the not immediately relevant. They weren't here for the scroll or the drug, or whatever...

She pouted and glanced at her twin, who had apparently had the same idea, her pout turned into a smile as their green eyes met.

A few quick hand signs flashed between them, deciding the course of action.

The time of reckoning was upon their target.

They both silently righted themselves up into a crouching position, drawing their ninjatos, the whole interplay seeming as if it was completed by one person in front of a mirror.

Mia shared one last nod with Tia, before they let themselves fall, descending upon their target.

Not even two seconds later Tia had been on the receiving end of a kick to the stomach, sending her hurling backwards across the floor into a dilapidated bookshelf, breaking the entire thing apart and covering her in the broken pieces. Mia meanwhile, found her neck grasped roughly by their target, who, snorting upon gazing at her face for a moment, threw her in the same direction that he'd thrown Tia in. Suffice to say she crashed into her.

A moment of silence descended upon the room, only to be interrupted by the twins groans as they disentangled themselves from one another and from the broken pieces of furniture they were lying in. They limped over to the small table, where the man was once again sitting on the floor and reading the scroll in his hands, while occasionally glancing up at the two girls with furrowed brows. As if making a hard decision.

The twins sat down on the ground in a kneeling position, and after a small bow, greeted the man.

“Greetings Father, you called for us?” They said in unison.

The only thing they received was a brief nod, before the man once again went back to reading the scroll at hand. The two sisters waited patiently, the adrenaline in their bloodstream from the short encounter slowly dissipating, and the resulting shakes disappearing. A few more minutes passed, only silence and the three, one could almost say stereotypically roguishly clad people, occupying the room. The only detraction from the stereotype was the girls' golden hair, which was done up in a fashion that reminded any observer of a pineapple.

Miat sighed as he laid down the scroll, his now freed hands immediately going up to rub at his temples. The Black Alchemist responsible for the creation of Happy Time was finally willing to discuss the price for the recipe. Now this was something that would usually be celebrated. Their group had been trying to get their hands on the recipe for several years now after all.

The problem that Miat had determined, after his joy at the possibility of owning the drug had finally lessened though, was that the Black Alchemist was not an idiot. The man obviously knew that he was holding all the cards at the moment, and had therefore simply stated his demands and amended that if they could not be met, he would bleed their organization dry of as much money as he could in return for the recipe.

It wasn't much of a discussion when the other party was in a good position, while he himself had several parties breathing down his neck to finally get a hold of the damned thing, or else.

The Black Alchemists, the Distributors, the Treasurers, the addicts...

No matter his frustration however, Miat had to give his congratulations of a scheme well planned to the creator of the drug. The man had been supplying the thing to the market just long enough to make it an indispensable luxury good, and had stayed completely anonymous during that entire time. Hells, the only thing really known about him was his gender.

The fact that the black Alchemist was anonymous meant he would receive none of the backlash if he pulled out the production.

The Underground on the other hand...

His hand was being forced to a truly ridiculous extent.

While giving the Alchemist a few trustworthy subordinates may not seem like much, it all depended on the man behind the plan, and the man behind the plan had already shown himself to be in possession of quite the frightening intellect.

His stomach ached at the dangers involved. What if the Alchemist did something outrageous and drew heat to the Underground, what if he got his agents killed, what if he used the very tools they would provide him with to harm the Underground.

He had to send someone trustworthy, someone who would be capable of discerning and acting upon any plans that might involve bringing harm to their own.

Thankfully this entire transaction wasn't made up of only negatives, there were positives involved as well. Ignoring the gain to be made from finally getting their hands on the recipe. They could forge deeper connections to a Black Alchemist, who in addition to being high levelled in an auxiliary Class, also seemed to be in possession of a combat Class. An impressive achievement. Completely disregarding the fact that the man was apparently capable of sneaking into the beginner dungeon while being an older, and undoubtedly powerful individual.

The security of that place was quite thorough.

It was after all the safest option for people with no backing to enter the adventuring life, and had therefore become the beloved property of the numerous lower classes.

This unknown mission was also an opportunity for the agents sent to gain some experience under the leadership of what he assumed to be a decent enough tactician and strategist. They promised to gain from the endeavour.

Which was why he was considering sending his own daughters. Do not let fertile water flow on the land of the neighbour and all that. They were also naturally trustworthy, quite competent, for their age, and just maybe they could rouse the interest of the Black Alchemist.

He could make quite a fine addition to their family. It was becoming time for his girls to settle down anyway, before they became too enamoured with the ninja lifestyle.

Shink had said that the black Alchemist was quite the pervert though... Well to be fair Shink had said a lot of things... Whatever, geniuses tended to have their irregularities.

“As a part of a lucrative business transaction, I am transferring command of a few agents to another party until an undisclosed mission has been completed within the beginner dungeon.” Miat started speaking. “The attributes necessary for this mission are trustworthiness, discreetness, and being in possession of the adventurer rank of iron. You are my daughters therefore you fulfil the first requirement, the second one is simple enough, your stealth capabilities are acceptable, and I trust you will manage to pass the adventurer exam on your own. Although you may have to hold back in the assessment to receive the rank of iron.” He finished, watching as the two exchanged happy glances.

He couldn't help but hope, despite the very thought making him feel disgusted with himself, that they would experience enough hardships to make them turn away from the lifestyle they were choosing. It was an unforgiving one, especially for women, and the deeper they sunk into it, the unlikelier it became that he'd ever get grandchildren.

“May we know more about the other party?” Tia asked. One could differentiate them by the colour of hair bands holding up their ponytails. Tia had a green one, Mia a red one.

“A Black Alchemist, level unknown, but his main creation has been stumping our own Alchemists for years now so it's at least 40. He's strategically intelligent. He is in possession of at least one combat class, you know how rare that is. In addition to that he should also be fairly high level in it, as he is apparently capable of disguising his age to the point where he can gain access to the beginner dungeon. As you know the sentinels there are no laughing matter. His class is probably a rogue sub-Class, and we all know the synergy effect a good Alchemist can have on a rogue’s success. He is currently masquerading under the adventurer rank iron.” Miat said seriously, hoping to impress the importance of this information onto their minds.

Information was king, and he and his council has spent a long time determining the previously said to be the most likely.

His daughters looked unsure at the information given however. It truly wasn't much in hindsight, but Shink had been unwilling to divulge anything, another point in the Alchemist's favour.

Shink was a prickly man at the best of times, he himself wasn't always capable of controlling the eccentric Assassin, and the fact that the anonymous Black Alchemist apparently could. So effectively as well, made him sincerely wish for a drink of the more stiff variety.

“Is that really all?” Tia asked with a doubtful look, her sister smiled sincerely meanwhile, a smile that only occurred when one of them thought of the same thing that the other had uttered. They were always so happy when they seemingly read each other's thoughts.

“In the terms of information, yes, that is all. I would like however, to impress upon you how important this mission is. Happy Time is a goldmine to be perfectly honest, and our Alchemists could learn much from it. Therefore,” Miat gave a bitter sigh, “I feel forced to say, that while the mission is under your discretion in terms of when it is to be abandoned, I would very much like if it were to be completed, even if some unpleasant things were to happen. It’s my fault for coddling you, you’ve never killed anyone before, but, it might be necessary and I would like for you to not hesitate.”

Mia and Tia exchanged disquieted glances with each other. “Is the guy trustworthy?” They asked.

Miat nodded, “we wouldn’t be doing business with him otherwise.”

The twins nodded. “We’ll do our best.” They said in a serious tone that the people under his command always used when accepting orders that might turn out to be unpleasant to complete.

It broke his heart to see the line between daughters and subordinates blur in his mind, but it was time for them to go out and experience the harsh reality of a rogue.

After his girls had left Miat slumped down on his table, wondering if he had done the right thing. It was times like these that he missed his wife the most.