“You made a grave mistake trying to kidnap the young Jack of Bloodwall.” Mister White remained at the door, keeping the exit blocked with his body. He held no weapons, though the woman realised that he probably didn’t need it.

“It was a mistake that one of our associates made. We didn’t sanction it, we wouldn’t since it was the Chief’s son.” The woman raised her hands awkwardly, hoping he could hear the sincerity in her voice.

“Your group has become quite active in working against the nobility. Kidnapping the children, ransoming them back, even killing a minor Lord or two.”

The woman remained still, but her heart pounded. Cold sweat fell down her forehead. There was no way that he knew about their connection with the new organisation, right? Even she didn’t know about the connection even though she was the daughter of the boss. “Those kinds of tasks are above our pay grade,” she said as calmly as she could.

“I’m sure they are.” Mister White smiled wider, remaining silent.

The silence became palpable and merciless as the ringing in their ears began to pound. The shadows glanced between one another before finally looking at the man in the white armour.

“S-so what did you want to talk about specifically?” The woman asked. The other shadows almost cried with relief when their boss’ daughter finally broke the silence for them. The dread was too much for them to bear.

“Simply how you will compensate us.” He glanced between them all. “My boss, Chief Bloodwall, is a wonderful boss. He allows me to act at my own discretion once I have been given a task.” He tilted his head slightly, his smile becoming wider, as though it was threatening to tear his cheeks. “I clean up the mess in one of two ways. I come to a reasonable conclusion through the compensation, though it’s usually paid by blood.”

The other shadows tightened the grip on their weapons, though none dared to make a move yet. He had come to parley, and he was unarmed. The least they could do was listen, though one of the shadows was becoming a little antsy as his fingers twitched against the sabre in his hand.

“What compensation do you want?”

“Information.” Mister White’s reply was instant. “Your associate did not tell us much when she was… spoken to. It was an unfortunate… mess.”

“What kind of information do you want?”

“Who is pulling the strings behind the murder of nobles?” Mister White’s reply was, again, instant.

The woman sweat a little harder as she narrowed her eyes. The only person who knew the situation was her father, but there was no way she could admit their connection. “The only person who knows is the boss.”

“My, oh my. That is a shame.” Mister White sighed. “I am not so patient that I would wait for the boss to return.” He shook his head.

“W-wait! We can call the boss and you can meet to talk!” The antsy shadow clutched at his sabre a little tighter. “The girl is the boss’ da-“

His throat was cut as the woman shoved her sword through it, panic deep set into her eyes. She stared at Mister White as she pulled back her sword, understanding that it was already too late. ‘That fucking idiot!’

Mister White remained smiling. “It seems that I am unable to attain the information today, but with your assistance the information will come to me easily.”

‘Shit! Fuck! Shit! God damn it!’ Her mind raced as she stared up at Mister White. She knew the rumours, as did they all. If they really escalated this, there would be no chance, especially since there were only five of them remaining. “Let’s not rush the talks,” she said, slowly putting away her sword. “Why don’t I make us some tea.”

“I do enjoy a good cup of tea,” Mister White said.

“I’ll have to head upstairs to bring it.”

“Oh no, it’s fine.” Mister White reached down into his pouch and summoned a tea set, with a small red coaster. The top of the coaster was a red gem, one which would heat up, and the surrounding coaster was made of a darker gem which could resist the heat.

He stepped towards the table and placed down the tea set, and in that moment, the shadows all darted. “It’s a shame,” Mister White said, “I was looking forward to the tea.”

The first shadow managed to reach the door, and as he opened it, he froze completely still. The woman was right behind him, and she had frozen too, her hand clutching at his black cloak tightly, but she remained as still as death. The other shadows were all frozen in various different poses, two aiming their blades at the man in the white armour, and another right behind the woman, ready to shoot behind himself towards Mister White to assist his companions.

They couldn’t breathe as their throats clogged up, and the people above could feel the killing intent pouring out of the hole, causing them to freeze in place as well. One was just about to reach for the sword to check it out, but had frozen with his finger tips almost brushing the hilt. He regretted the decision and prayed to all the gods which could hear him in order to save his life.

Mister White placed down the tea pot as he eased his killing intent and focused it within the room, leaving the people frozen in utter fear. Two of them passed out, which was the best thing for them all things considered. He sat down as he poured the tea for himself, slowly sipping it. It was sweet, with a hint of citrus. His wife had gotten a hold of the tea leaves from the far east during their holiday. Of course, the merchant had tried to scam her, but Mister White had spoken to them.

His mana was slowly draining, but he had enough that if he wanted to fall asleep and continue the spell, he could do so. He continued sipping the tea casually, as though he wasn’t keeping five people pinned down with his intense killing intent and spell. It wasn’t exactly a spell, more like he was keeping them within his realm, but there wasn’t much difference when it came to those in the rank of High Iron or lower.

He finished drinking his cup of tea, placing them away. This kind of tea worked well with multiple brewing, so he was excited for tomorrow morning when he’d be able to have another cup.

He looked to the frozen shadows and then walked up to the first shadow, who was unconscious and frozen with his blade aimed towards where Mister White had been standing. He raised a finger and then walked past, a hole appearing in the man’s hand within the time it took for someone to blink.

He stepped towards the second shadow, who had done also swung his sword at the armoured man. Again, he shot his finger into their brain to kill them, and then walked to the next shadow. Once he was in front of the woman, he smiled towards he. He stepped in front of the shadow ahead and then let her watch as he slowly forced his finger through the living man’s head, feeling his skull cave in and then the mush that made up his brains.

The woman’s eyes were wide in shock, tears flowing down her face, and it seemed at least her bladder worked since her pants had become wet. He cut off their pinkies, and even did so for the man who had been killed by the woman. Then he swallowed their bodies into a gem, looking down at the blood on the ground. He cleaned it up and put everything where it had been.

Then he returned to the woman. “This will be relatively painless,” he said, cutting off her pinky. He smiled at her. “I will let you begin to move again. I’m sure you understand that I am more than capable of dealing with you if you choose to act up.”

The woman’s eyes were filled with terror, tears flowing down her cheeks. He placed a hand on her shoulder and she dropped to her knees, convulsing in terror before she finally vomited.

“…” Mister White realised he was going to have to clean that up. “Stand up, miss.”

She tried to do as he commanded, but her legs were too weak. “I c-c-c-c-cah,” she stuttered.

“I won’t kill you,” he said. “Not yet. Once your father meets with me, I will return you to him. In what state depends on his actions.” He rubbed her back gently. “I’m not in the business of killing daughters.” He paused. “Not tonight.” He offered her a potion, which she was forced to accept, and she drank it. She felt her strength returning to her and she stood.

He cleaned up the mess she had made, including the wetness since there was no need to shame the girl. He wrapped her around in his cloak and then led her up the stairs. There he saw his sword, unmolested. He knew it hadn’t been touched because he had sensed when the man had tried to reach for it, throwing him a quick glance so that they knew, and the fact that the sword hadn’t killed them. He lifted up the sword and tied the belt around his waist.

He placed down five more pinky fingers, each with the gems that the barkeep left of the counter top. “Once again, I am asking for your assistance.” Mister White smiled. “Oh, and this one should be sent to your manager.” He placed down the girl’s fresh cut pinky. “I hope to speak with him soon.”

“Yes, Sir.”

Mister White turned and led the woman out, but stopped. “Oh, and…” he looked back over his shoulder, “I’m no Sir.” He stepped out and disappeared into the night with the woman.