The group of boys sat surrounding a nearby tree as the matrons, who couldn't have been older then 16, kept a much closer eye on them then other kids. Somehow. Their watchful gaze became a soul searching glare the moment I started to approach them with Harold in tow.

Best to keep this quick before the Matrons decided to give me some "lessons." Which was really just an excuse to teach me the wonders of hanging out with the "right" crowd.

Sometimes I wondered if the city was really just a white suburban neighborhood in disguise. This was the reason I preferred operating in downtown or stayed in warehouses. It meant I didn't have to interact with the.... unpleasant richer class of people.

"So. I take your interested in my offer?" I asked trying to come off as coy, and failing miserably. I sounded more like a mischievous child.... which was fair considering I technically was.

God I couldn't wait for puberty. Which if you'd asked 16 year old catherine would have been utter madness bordering on blasphemy. However. Fuck 16 year she was a bitch anyways.

"Uhh yes?" One of the boys said. He was a tall wirey boy wearing clearly dirty clothes. Though not so dirty that they could be called filthy.

Note: Get these kids some proper clothes.

Note 2: Try not to get forced into being made to try on various dresses.

I shivered at the memory of what prompted Note 2.... so sooooo many frills. That had been a pink pastel nightmare, and I meant the nightmare part. Still, I wasn't going to have people working for me looking like gutter trash.

"Wonderful. I'll have you meet by the Knitworks tomorrow morning. We need to get you some proper clothes before I even think of letting you work for me."

"By the way what's your names? I can't keep calling you the boys in my head. That sounds too much like a boy band or some comic book group for my tastes."

The first boy stated his name was Jerick, another boy who had a chubby appearance stated his name was Teran. Finally the 3rd and fourth were both named Bob.

I was not having my men be called Bob.

"Bob's. Your names are now Tery and Markus."

"B-b" before Markus could finish Harold placed his green hands on the boy. Flashing him a smile that showed off his very sharp and pointy teeth.

"Markus is fine. It's a uh great name. Thankyoupleasedon'thurtme." The boy said gulping and squirming I'm a futile attempt to get Harold to release his shoulder. I nodded at Harold who finally let the boy go.

"Good. Glad we've come to something of an understanding. Now with that business over with I will need to leave you boys. I get the feeling the "Matrons" Don't think to highly of you lot."

So, I left the group to go do some of my excercises. I'd long since learned that push-ups were a useless endeavor. One more then 10 could leave me sick. For that same reason the matrons would just stop me if I tried.

I did find some exercises I could do. My body was surprisingly dexterous and running wasn't something I struggled with. So I did just that. Practicing cartwheels. Stretches. 100 meter dashes. And even laps around the park.

I still gave Harold envious looks as I noticed that he was currently on his 80th pushup. The boy was like 10! TEN! And he could beat most adults on earth. My agility and stamina excerises done. I began doing some very basic martial arts moves. I wasn't a master, I had money so I'd always just payed for body guards. Still I took a few basic classes just in case I had ever needed to defend myself.

I noticed the clear amusement on the eyes of the matrons. Which from their perspective I was just play fighting. I knew I could only do so many before said matrons would try to get the other kids to join in on the "fun" and so I always did the bare minimum to keep me from going rusty.

My real practice would be once I'd gotten home. Plus dad was more then willing to teach me a few non lethal moves. I knew for a fact that he was an assassin of some kind. I might have never been one myself but I had hired more then a few. So, I knew how to spot one.

I remembered having to hire twenty to take down an annoying vigilante. Bastard had somehow managed to cost me 35 million dollars in lost profit, while only using swords. SWORDS!!!!

I got angry just remembering that. Still, I wished he'd actually managed to get to me. That had been just before I started getting desperate. Just before I started offering my very soul for profit. Maybe things would have been different.

Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.

At least play was mandatory anymore. It was actually a pretty interesting child care system. Ages 3-7 would go through a period of mandatory play to help them develope skills and levels early on. At ages 8-11 it was mostly just as supervision and they were largely left to their own devices.

At ages 12-16 they would be brought to various apprenticeship programs while 2-4 of the women, because yay for casual sexism, would be randomly selected to act as caretakers for a week or two.

My musings were cut short as the matrons started rounding up the large menagerie of children into a large group so we could all be picked up by our parents.

My dad was as usual the first to appear. I was still annoyed the I hadn't managed to find out what his actual name was. It was one of those things were people just call him various iterations of "dad" if I was around. I'd once tried to tail him hoping to hear someone use his name. I had been caught immediately and dad had spent the entire day teaching me the proper way to tail someone.

He was a good parent, and while he had his shortcomings he was far better then my old father. A memory came bubbling to the service.

"You'll never be happy without me."

I felt a cold sweat at remembering that bastards words. Words he had uttered before Simon had put a bullet between his eyes. I did everything in my power to shove that memory down into the darkest reccesses of my mind.

I knew in the long run I needed to deal with my trauma in a healthy way. Yet, didn't I deserve all the misery said trauma cuased? I had hurt a lot of people even if not with my own hands. Some had deserved it, many had not.

"Kitty, have a fun day?" The gruff voice of dad called out breaking me out of my self loathing. His face was a relaxed thing that never really gave anything away. His posture was always a loose and prepared. additonally he always made quick barely percseptable glanced at guards and various potential exits.

"Yes. Today was very productive."

He nodded at that and gave both me and Harold a hug. I attempted to squirm out of this particular daily ritual. It seems I was doomed to daily love and affection. I didn't really hate it to be honest, but I would take that secret to the grave.

It was only a 10 minute walk to get to our house. Not the nicest thing being mostly made from brick. The place was a 1 story building but the inside was still cozy. A fire had been started in the fireplace helping keep the living room toasty.

The place had 6 rooms. A comfortable carpeted living room. 3 bedrooms. A kitchen and my alchemy lab which had had once been an old dusty room used for storage. Now it was a mostly stocked alchemy lab warded to all the hells against literally any possible accident.

I dodged a strike aimed at my head and turned around to grab at the hand. Dad giving me an approving smile in response. I gave him a smirk, but felt Harold land a very light strike at my back while I wasn't paying attention to him.

The strike still sent me stumbling and I tripped onto the floor.

Must not pout. Must not pout. Must NOT POUT.

That Matra was becoming annoyingly familiar recently. I hoped to... whatever counted as God. Did this world even have a religion? I guess the system would be God? Eh, I was not going to pray to something that gave me [cute criminal] as a class.

"You've gotten better about watching your surroundings. However, you need to practice your focus... and your balance" he said the last part with a lighter more joking tone.

I simply nodded and headed into my lab. Really it was just a basic alchemy table and a box full of supplies. My dad would go out into the near wilderness and get me any supplies I asked for... with the exception of really dangerous materials.

Examples of such were Snakeleaf which if not prepared properly could easily turn into deadly vapors. Or Boomroot.... I don't think I need to go into what would happen if something wrong occurred. It's in the name.

Grabbing some Pedish root and Aragale flowers along with some mint for flavoring I got to work. I placed the various materials into a bowl and started mashing them together until they became a paste.

This was not the normal first step to creating a healing. The reason being was that I was not making a healing potion. No, I had something new I was excited to try out. My idea was to introduce pills into this world. It would be easier to use and it required less ingredients... hopefully.

I then pulled out a pot and a bag of sugar and started the process of making hard candy. It was a long ardues task that reward me 6 capsuls all designed with a hole of which I used an opening I'd prepared to slowly fill each one with paste.

That finished I almost tried one... before considering my actions. Should I or should I not just swallow this pill I had just made with no knowledge of the potential side effects of using a non liquid healing potion?

Yeah it was fine.... probably.

So without much hesitation. I popped the pill in my mouth. It took longer but I could feel the effects after about a minute or two. My body feeling less sore. Some cuts and bruises I wasn't aware of healing slower then with a potion.

Taste wise it still tasted like medicine. Although it was a lot more palpable then a potion was. It tasted more like a couph drop.

Now for the real test.

I gulped the pill. And felt a tremendous pain as my bowels necroded from the inside a poison that would kill me.

Nah. it just made the healing a little faster. Not a lot but noticeable all the same.

So, it was less effective then a typical healing potion in terms of it's speed. But it was easier to injest. Tasted better. Didn't require as much ingredients or prep time.

"This is gonna sell."

I decided after a bit and as if just waiting for the right moment a blue screen popped up right in front of me almost startling me and ruining my next batch of pills.

For advancing your knowledge alchemy you have gained 1 level.

Skill [Faster Preparation] obtained!

Well, that was a welcome surprise.

"Nice. Finally a level in alchemist instead of cute criminal."

For recruiting a group of people to do your nefarious bidding you have gained 2 levels In [cute criminal]

Oh come on! What I was going to ask them to do wasn't even a crime. Their was no FDA ergo no crime was commuted.

"Fuck you system!"

That's when I noticed my dad standing by the doorway.

Shit.