Curious by what Trisha meant, Carlos prodded further.

‘So you nearly caused the death of my benefactor?’

“Yeah. He was trying to find you. The guys at the bureau wanted to test him. I’m guilty of it too since I’m like a very inactive member of it and I was curious to see how far he could go. He took all that risk just to find you. A pretty heroic kid I think.”

‘Now doesn’t that attitude of his make him a good asset?’

“Sure does.. wait. What asset?”

‘How about we added that to the deal? Let’s use this chance to gain his good will.’

“W-what? You can do that?”

‘From your testimony and witness, I assert that it's possible if we plan it well.’

Carlos explained his scheme. The more she listened, the more she thought it would be a waste to not follow through with it.

Trisha wasn’t fond of taking revenge.

But if it could become the catalyst to gain the upper hand in regaining his favor, to help open up his worldview, then there would at least be some value to this. There’s no way she’d be able to regain this opportunity once lost.

Killing another angel in front of Avner could, though not healthy, possibly prod him to see the world in a different light. That was the point Carlos emphasized.

There were many benefits a fleet would gain if they had a member of the opposing camp. So if Trisha could get on his good side..

The benefits outweighed the demerits.

Avenging her ex’s, earning some pocket money from the bounty, removing this tumor of a fleet from the angel’s territory, and also building rapport with the anomaly that is Avner.

The demerit here was Trisha would have to sacrifice some of her karma. Not that she really cared as she could always build them up again.

She was ever so slowly inching closer to the edge.

“What would my fleet think of this?”

‘I can’t be too sure. An angel or demon, inside, everyone is still human. Though I don’t believe everyone will agree to this, I’m sure some will understand. ’

“That does make some sense.. hm..”

Trisha decided to only tell those closest to her after a thorough contemplation. The rest of her fleet was made unaware.

===

Trisha makes a reservation, takes a seat at Ducklings, and orders some snacks.

That would’ve been the sequence of steps if not for Lucifer’s interference, that is.

“Oh? So he’s part of your fleet?”

Trisha had hit yet another jackpot. The fledgling anomaly was under this benevolent demon’s care.

If she could pull a fast one on her, winning Avner over to join her fleet might be easier than she thought.

“I don’t know what you're planning but if you’re planning to hurt him, you better get lost,” Lucifer hissed.

“I’m not here to hurt him. I came to negotiate.”

Lucifer narrowed her eyes.

“He’s trying to find a pureborn, if you’re aware,” Trisha announced.

“I know.. so what’s that got to do with you?”

“I know where that pureborn is.”

He’s in her too-cute-of-a-cabin. Carlos, of course, said nothing.

“So you’re going to bribe him using that information?”

“Yup.”

{WARNING: YOU ARE BEING TARGETED}

Trisha raised her hands in arrest.

“I’m going to do it the legal way, relax..”

In what universe is blackmailing legal? Lucifer looked at her as if she were some crazy swindler.

‘I wonder what it is that makes this demon in such demand.’

Lucifer pushed Trisha out of the staff-only backroom after giving her a piece of her mind.

“Oh hello! Come in.”

Avner arrived at the perfect time.

“You haven’t ordered?”

“I got interrupted by that demon over there. Oh, is this your etler?”

“Nice to meet you auntie.”

“Do I look so old..”

In Alska at least, being called an auntie has an unsavvy connotation to it.

Trisha ordered her preferred food item, the full-house set. All the while grumbling in her heart about why this guy had to bring his etler over. Cute, brown twirly hair; big orangy-amber eyes. Xe looked like the kind of child who’d act like a role model in front of a stranger but would not, in the slightest, hesitate to backstab people when xe was alone.

“It’s troubling. Why did you have to bring your etler here, xe’ll think we’re weirdos.”

“For my safety.”

“I won’t try to harm you like last time alright? That was unintentional.”

Trisha read his text. The conversation continued, going awry in the middle of it.

“You said that you’ll bring him..”

“My bad. I needed to persuade you to come, you know?”

Trisha could tell Avner’s mood turned for the worse.

“I can help you get him. That’s the point I’m trying to say.”

Trisha was working her mind to the best of her abilities to connect the imaginary dots. She had to follow the script to the fake story Carlos came up to achieve the outcome they sought.

“A search party has already been dispatched. I’m not involved anymore.”

Think. What could Trisha say to drag the conversation back. At this rate he would just ignore her and the plan wouldn’t fall through.

“He’ll be killed if I ordered it.”

A gaze sharp as a knife was sent her way, realizing that she had said something ridiculous, she quickly followed up.

“D-Don’t be angry? It’s not like I will.. ahaha..”

Lying was difficult.

Venturing through a terrain filled with twists and turns, she somehow managed to convince Avner to take the bait, almost peeing her pants in the process. It was regrettable that the Miss Demon Supervisor Lucifer was being overly protective of that little, devilish fledging.

“Man.. that’s so inelegant.”

‘I can see why the demons say that angels are excessively honest.’

“He must be thinking why my rubbish talk doesn’t make sense by now. Did I do good enough? I’m afraid he’ll text me a bunch of questions later.”

‘If it comes down to it, I’ll handle the messages. Nevertheless, the crucial moment has passed, and you’ve managed to drag him into the plan. That itself is quite an achievement. All that’s left is to execute.’

“Speaking of which, about the commission. Are you seriously going to pay him 10,000?”

During the life and death conversation Trisha had earlier, it was Carlos who proposed the idea for the contract.

‘I would’ve had to pay him regardless.’

===

dotturndot: Just like in reality, our hypothesis and conjectures don’t really reflect the real thing.