As the sky was engulfed by the gloomy grey clouds, the four wanderers encountered a young couple clothed in fancy ware. Apparently, the four were mistaken as nobles due to the elegant, clean clothes they wore. As such pieces of clothes were not normally seen in the world, who wouldn’t think they were nobles with weird tastes. They were invited by the couple to attend a small party that was being hosted during the evening.

“I really don’t want to change into these stiff clothes,” Igno spoke.

“Couldn’t you just morph your body to one that has the clothes on?” Sors asked.

As if a lightbulb ticked on, Igno’s face flashed with inspiration. Within seconds Igno’s body turned transparent and morphed, changing into one that resembles a female humanoid’s. Her clothes had also changed in the same manner. Once Igno’s transparent body became opaque what appeared was another world’s set of 1800’s detective gear. The clothes she wore consisted of a vintage smoking pipe, a white collar suit, a black vest and a brown overcoat along with a sleek, black tie to complete the outfit. For the fun of it she a picked up a nearby deerstalker hat and tossed it onto her head.

“What may be the problem madam,” Igno spoke while kissing Sors’ hand.

After changing her long coat to a shorter version, Sors sighed, “Its roleplaying again.”

“Roll playing?” Menor asked, “Weren’t we all detectives, mad scientist, monsters, witches, kings, evil rulers, dictators, gods, or destroyers at one point.”

“Of course,” Sors answered, “But the way It's acting now is a bit…”

“Annoying?”

“I can’t be,” Igno replied.

Rolling her eyes, Sors walked out of the dressing room. Menor who kept wearing his dull leather coat and blue jeans followed after. Igno stayed behind to light her smoking pipe. Taking a deep breath she began to fall into a coughing fit. Hitting her chest a few times, smoke fumed from her mouth.

“I don’t understand why people could suffocate themselves,” Igno mumbled, throwing away the pipe and running after her companions.

Outside of the room stood a servant in a black and white frilled skirt. Conducting a quick curtsy, the maid escorted the three to the ballroom, where the party was being held. Walking through the hallways of the grand mansion, the dark sky began to cry. With a sudden downpour, the roar of thunder followed suit. Due to the sudden explosion, the maid had jumped in fright. Falling into a state of shock, the maid had increased her walking pace. To the three guests, they did not mind as they would arrive at the party bit earlier.

Hearing the tapping of hollow wood on marble, Igno looked over at his companions. Seeing that Menor was shaking his head, Igno decided it was best to not point out the odd sound. Being unable to roleplay she could only let her head hang in despair. At least she understood that eating desserts before a meal would ruin anybody’s apatite, so Igno diligently waited for the main course, disregarding her starving curiosity.

Coming up to a fancy dark, mahogany door, the maid gestured the three to enter the room. As she was a maid she would not be allowed to enter the area, unless the servant was assigned as a waitress. Thanking the maid they entered. Igno flirted with the maid for a brief second telling her to not be nervous. Kissing the maid’s hand she bid farewell to her.

Entering the room the three saw only one or two guests, within the vast open ballroom. The floor had an elegant checker-board pattern of gold and marigold, reflecting soft yellow light from the magic powered chandeliers. With a long table of food off to the side, the room held the illusion of wealth. The pitter-patter of the rain outside echoed around as if it was a hum. Off on the far end of the ballroom was an elevated platform with lush violet curtains.

“From the looks of it, Desyra was probably taking her time,” Igno spoke.

“A hundred bits of currency if Desyra appears in her usual ware,” Menor replied.

“Not taking that bet, she’s always like that,” Sors replied, “She’s indecisive when it comes to those things.”

As if they were speaking of the devil, Desyra entered the room with a gloomy posture. Wearing the exact same coat and veil, she wore since the beginning of the trip, she was depressed. With a deep sigh, she walked up to her companions. Taking one look at Igno, Desyra raised a finger to say something but refrained from doing so. Noticing Desyra’s actions, Igno insisted that Desyra speak.

“Doesn’t that body…”Desyra began.

“Belong to?” Igno tilted her head.

“No, you’ll never go as far as taking the body of one of my followers.”

With a slight grin, Igno said, “And what if I did?”

Desyra silently looked at the false detective, the feeling of hostility shine from her eyes. Even if she initially had no interest in about what would happen to her followers after they parted ways, it never felt right to see someone else using their skin. Especially Igno, who had countless bodies she could switch from and thro, at will. Desyra gave it some thought before, accepting the enviable she knew there was no possible way for her to pay Igno back directly.

Soon after the four arrived a flood of guests entered the room. Contrasting the four vagrants, and their modest clothes, the other noble guests wore extravagant and flamboyant wear. The man wore stiff overcoats, with various detailed designs, on top of their pure white shirts and tights. Their hair was combed back with an exaggerated amount of gel. For the woman, they wore large, overly-decorated, dresses of various colors, with enough frills to mimic a cotton field.

Watching from a far corner the four held no desire to take part in such extravagance. To avoid being approached they dimmed their presence. Beginning to discuss their future plan, they carefully decided how to act from now on. They could not carelessly act as they had to prepare for the possible future they had guessed. Igno, on the other hand, continued her quest for consumption as if the previous incident did not bother her.

Although they did not desire to pull attention to themselves, a young noble had noticed them. Walking up to them, the young noble spoke attempting to interject himself into their conversation. Sadly he lacked the knowledge of the language the four spoke. Having only his pride, the noble stood there for a few seconds in hopes of being noticed.

Seeing that he was being ignored, he coughed, “Excuse me, I’m Dallis, heir to the Sterlin household.”

Turning to look at the noble, the four stared at him in silence. As the heir to one of the current marquees household, Dallis was forced to memorize all current nobility from dukes to baronets. Because he did not recognize the four, he approached them with curiosity. Hearing that they spoke a language he could not comprehend, he figured they were some foreign nobles. Due to the chance that they could have been of higher standing, Dallis retained his composure while giving off a gentle smile.

“Do you need something?” Desyra asks, putting on her salesperson persona.

Being taken back by the informal way of speaking, Dallis replied, “May I know who you four are?”

With a slight grin Desyra looked at her companions, she spoke, “I believe there is no need for such greetings. In truth, it’s better if you didn’t know who we are. Especially since we aren’t known… here.”

“…”

Feeling an ominous shiver, Dallis took a step back. With his instincts playing the correct move, he quickly spoke some pleasantries before turning to leave. Yet, how humans’ desires override instincts was something he could not foresee. Even though she failed her race, Desyra was still a demon. With her unique nature, how could she let a great catch run away? With a few words, she casted out unbearable bait.

Speaking to her companions, Desyra blurted out, “I’m telling you, we can’t leave those diamonds sitting around. If we could get rid them would be a bit convenient. Having such treasures disappearing isn’t great. If we could do it cheaply…”

As a shiver ran down Dallis’ body, he froze. As a noble, he knew how much power gems held. A gemstone as rare as diamonds, which was not really true, could produce endless amounts of wealth. With riches comes power. As they say, money runs the world. How could a young foolish noble not fall to the demon’s temptation? To seal the deal, Desyra “carelessly” took out a beautiful diamond that could put all other gems to shame.

“May I interrupt?” Dallis asked, “I believe that the Sterlin household could provide assistance to your problems.”

“Oh?” Desyra insisted Dallis to continue.

“You see, my domain is originally known for its production of gems and jewelry. There is a plentiful amount of mines that are under my family’s name. So we have a constant stream of valuables. If we come to an agreement I believe we can help each other.”

Holding her chin for a few seconds, Desyra spoke to her companions in a language Dallis could not understand. The reaction Desyra received consisted of sighs and words of apathy. A literal translation of what Desyra said was: “Look at this fool, he’s like a fly to a flame. He doesn’t even understand the first step of scamming. Not only that, he didn’t even second guess my words and even believed this gemstone has worth. Oh, what a horrible merchant he would be. I’m so going to drain all of this world’s assets.”

With a polite voice, Desyra agreed to the deal after displaying an act of hesitation. With a firm handshake between the two, the world’s economic value on the dimensional scale plummeted. Before they could talk further, the room’s light dimmed.

From the elevated platform, a single light is shown down. Standing majestically was the pair of nobles that had invited the four. Their sleek brown hair glowed, under the yellow light. With their skin glowing a tint of gold. A grand voice that welcomed the guests to the party. Yet, unfortunately, they had to mention the sudden downpour. The unsuspected change of weather, caused many of the guests to be absent. Without further problems the party would also remain as scheduled, accommodating the guests and continuing for the next few days.

After speaking, the couple descended down to the hall as the lights slowly returned to their original brightness. With that, the social gathering officially commenced. As if the couple’s words were a signal flare, Igno had raided tables of food, while hiding her presence to avoid being interrupted. While Desyra walked off to talk to other nobles, continuing her plan to bankrupt the world. Sors and Menor stayed where they were watching the scene in front of them.

Sipping a bit of wine, Sors spoke, “Any second now.”

“Who do you think will be the first victim?” Menor asked.

“The choice is obvious, that one over there.” She pointed.

As if Sors directed the scene the lights died as she pointed towards the butler. The lights continued their duty after a thud resounded through the room. The surrounding nobles looked over to the source of the thud. Finding the butler’s body on the ground and soaked in a pool of blood, the nobles froze. In a matter of seconds, a shriek resounded through the room.

Being drawn by the scream, other nobles walked over to the scene. Some people fainted, while others were struck pale. There were quite a few people who were red with rage too. The hosts were not spared the surprise either. As the hostess fainted and her husband was left speechless. Contrasting everyone our group of four non-nobles had unchanged reactions. Desyra, who was tempting people clicked her tongue

“Seven or four?” Menor asked throwing a small snack into his mouth.

“Hmmm… Probably four.” Sors replied refilling her drink.

While the two were conversing the host demanded all the exits be barricaded. No one was going to escape. Seeing the scene Sors sighed, commenting that it would be the correct action but it was a little to uncreative. Cutting off all the exits was fine but there were some places no normal person could reach.

Looking up Sors snickered. With lazy eyes, Menor followed her stare. Sors had quickly figured out how the murder was committed. Seeing how the assassinations were set up, both of them complimented the killers on their creativity.

One of the flame red nobles quickly ran to the fallen and checked the butler. Announcing that the person was killed with two quick cuts, one on the stomach and the neck, everyone paled. There were rumors going around telling the tale of the two-clawed assassin. The trademark of the assassin was a clean cut on the neck and the stomach.

As the nobles demanded to know the answer, thunder shook the room causing the lights to die once more. It had been exactly four minutes since the last blackout. In a few moments, the darkness disappeared, leaving another victim. This time the victim was a young lady in a light green dress. Conveniently Desyra was standing next to the girl, with a “scared” expression. In a sudden panic, a few male nobles sprang towards the fallen girl while sobbing. They were saying that she could not leave them no matter what.

Pushing aside one of the boys, Desyra kneeled down next to the girl. She quickly placed her hand on the girl’s neck and drove a bit of heat energy through her. While she did that, she commanded one of the boys to take off their coats and wrap it around the girl’s stomach. Because they were in confusion, the boys were unable to react before Desyra took off her own jacket. Muttering with curses, she bandaged the girl’s stomach. After a minute, Desyra removed her hand from the girl’s neck and helped her drink a potion, healing the wounds she had.

“Now that I think about, this could be Desyra’s ploy to sell healing consumables,” Menor spoke.

“That could be true, she is well into the trade market. She just claimed this world.” Sors added.

Because Desyra had taken her jacket off, her slim and alluring curves were revealed. Even if Desyra had a long sleeved shirt on, due to her battle ready nature it was nearly skin tight. Multitudes of gulps could be heard the moment eyes fell onto her body. To Desyra, she didn’t mind, this situation had happened all the time. Sors and Menor shook their heads in disapproval, it was an obvious tactic to entice the crowd.

After drinking the potion, the noble girl’s cloudy eyes began to clear. When the girl had fully grasped the situation she began to cry with joy, she had thought she died. Hugging Desyra she thanked her over and over. At the position she was in, she could barely see underneath Desyra’s veil. Even if it was only a small portion, Desyra’s revolting attractiveness was still in effect. So another person fell for the failed succubus.

“Ah, those boys have my condolences… That’s just great. Another one to be killed by your offspring.” Sors nudged Menor a few times.

“It’s their fault for being infatuated with her. If only they weren’t blinded, so they can take a step back.” Menor replied, watching Igno run into the pantry.

Desyra stood up and greeted the noble girl’s family. With a few pleasantries, she struck a deal for selling the potions she had. Given the fact that they were the Duke and Duchess of the kingdom she was in, Desyra had hit the jackpot. Taking back her coat she quickly washed off the blood with a special gel-like substance. Which she somehow struck another deal.

For the third time, the lights flashed with another person targeted. Then after another four minutes, the lights went out once again. The cycle continued a few more times after that. Revealing that she held the ability to heal people from critical injuries, Desyra was targeted. Unfortunately, the assassin somehow kept attacking the wrong person. Appreciating the actions of the assassin, Desyra quickly curried favors from many noble families.

“I know corrupt business people use many nasty means to get what they want, but… isn’t this…” Sors spoke with a conflicted smile.

Sighing, Menor replied, “You can’t really blame her, can you? It’s in her nature to do such things. I just feel sorry for the assassins.”

With the words of sympathy, the lights went out once more. When the lights were relit, no one was injured. Sors and Menor who was watching the entire turn of events smiled gently. Their smile was directed at the two individuals who appeared beside them. The two held a stiff smile, they tried their best to act ignorant, but the atmosphere had become awkward. With one of them having long black hair and the other with medium length hair, they could have been mistaken as nobles.

Taking a step forward, Menor spoke. “Twins, who would have expected. Well, it was obvious if anyone looked up.”

In front of Menor stood a pair of twins in a dress designed to blend in with the noble’s party. Above them on the ceiling were multitudes of pieces of paper with an integrated design. Knowing how magic works Menor had figured that the pieces of paper allowed anyone under them to become as light as a feather. By jumping up and down while with the weight of a feather, they could drop into the middle of a crowd without a sound. This allowed the assassin, or assassins, in this case, to quickly kill anyone in the ballroom. If on the off chance they were too slow in returning to the rafters, the dresses they wore allowed them to blend in.

Due to Desyra’s actions, the twin assassins became irritated. They were unable to move to the next step of their plan. They wanted to kill a few people first to set an example, but Desyra interfered. Not wanting to keep playing the game of cat and mouse, they decided to attack two people. So they targeted a pair people away from the group. How would they know that they would be quickly disarmed?

Right before the next lightning strike, Menor had put his arm around the twin’s shoulders preventing them from escaping. With a smooth voice, Menor told the two, that he would pay tenfold of their original payment if they worked for him. He even added a generous increase if they continued to work under him. To seal the deal, Menor corrected what he said earlier.

“When I said twins,” Menor whispered into the two’s ears, “I meant triplets. You two are doing a great job distracting everyone here. I wonder if your sister will be fine taking the treasure and stealing back the heirloom.”

With a single line, the girls felt a long, cold shiver run down their spines. No one had known the twin claw assassin was not a single person, nor did anyone know they were triplets. Also, he had figured that their employer’s demand was the treasure stashed in the mansion, well it was a bit obvious with a great intuition. The heirloom that Menor mentioned was a personal goal for the girls. The heirloom was lost generations ago, and they desired to take it back even if their bloodline was dying. For certain, there was no logical way for Menor to discover their desires.

“Think well, this is offer will never happen again.” Menor finished, disappearing into the darkness.

When the chandeliers regained their glow, instead of the two assassins disappearing, Menor and Sors had vanished. Being left dumbfounded and in fright, the two left prematurely during the next blackout. They quickly tossed their dress in favor of their skin tight clothes for easy mobility. Under the darkness of the cloudy night, they ran to their sister.

“Ah, how the natural instincts of worry are easily manipulated.” Sors chuckled.

“Looks like it’s going to give up soon,” Menor replied watching the rain clouds disperse, “A bit anti-climactic don’t you think?”

“It can’t be helped, due to Desyra’s irritating ways. Mysteries, actually anything, to her is just a way to promote her business. Well, you are preparing too many pieces. It won’t be fun later on.”

“Liars, liars everywhere,” Menor waved changing the topic, “Let’s just watch where the stream leads those seeds.”

Under the dissipating rain, the two existences with specialties consisting of then and after, watched the two twins scampering through the halls. Both of them could not help but smile, they would enjoy the reactions the triplets would have.

In a dark room light by a dim oil lantern, a short-haired girl in a maid uniform was carefully picking a lock. Every so often she would look over her shoulder at the closed door in case anyone walked passed. She had already retrieved what her employer wanted, but her true aim was her family’s heirloom. The next chance she would get to obtain the heirloom was uncertain. As the mansion was owned by the Duke’s branch family the security was high. She and her sisters could only enter the premise while being disguised as nobles.

Knowing the tight security they made a bold plan, on the night where the security would be tripled. The main part of the plan was to cause a disturbance during the party by creating distrust between the nobles. They had bargained with a high standing magician to create the strong downfall and the weight reducing talismans. To sneak the tools in all of them wore hollow wooden shoes. From there they would improvise for the next few steps. Their plan was able to knock two birds with one stone, as they could trade in bounties for killing certain nobles. But some unexpected things occurred…

Click.

With the sound of the locks undoing, a safe slowly opened. Within the safe were four rings encased in a chunk of ice. Before the girl can grab the piece of ice, her sisters quietly entered the room.

“What are you two doing?”, “What about the party?” asked the short-haired girl.

“Sis we need to get out of here now! The assassinations failed and someone had figured us out.” Spoke one of the sisters.

Hearing her sister’s warning the short haired girl quickly pocketed the piece of ice. But before she could take the iced rings, it disappeared. Seeing that she was fooled she escaped with her sisters, full of bitterness. They were so close, but they missed the chance and could not risk staying any longer. As escaping was easier than entering, the triplets were able to quickly leave the premise and into a nearby town.

In the town, the short-haired sister brought the treasure to the rendezvous point. Quickly trading what she stole for a great sum of cash, she returned to her sisters. After splitting the reward, she listened to her sister’s short story of the odd nobles.

“What a bummer,” the short-haired girl sighed “If it wasn’t for those three we could have been rolling in gold and regained the heirloom.”

“Yes, I don’t recognize them in the noble or merchant listing.” Spoke the medium haired triplet.

“It’s unfortunate that we couldn’t get our-“

Knock, knock, knock! “Room service!” a female voice resounded.

Being interrupted, the triplets hid their cash and papers. Their current location was in an average inn. They had requested for their meals to be delivered to them, to prevent their faces from being recognized. When the long-haired, triplet opened the door she staggered back a few steps before falling. Seeing the two in front of them she could not help but feel endangered. The people who stood there were the ones who found them out.

“See, they always fall for it,” spoke Menor, “Before you do any rash actions, here.”

Throwing a block of ice to them Menor entered the room with Sors. Pulling a chair to sit, Menor gently smiled. The triplets were stricken with fear, they could not understand how they were quickly found and how Menor had their heirloom.

“I have a job for you three,” Menor continued “Same conditions. It’s not that hard, you just need to deliver a letter. I’ll also help you to thaw that ‘eternal ice’.”

Hearing the contents of the request, the triplets could only hesitantly agree. Because of the extravagant reward they could not shake the bad omen they felt. When they learned who the recipient of the letter was the instantly understood.