Ⅰ: Netherworld

The tendrils of The Seojin Empire’s Netherworld spread far and wide, hidden in plain sight. No one knew who established the system. All they knew was that anything unaccepted by the law could be found in the Netherworld. The Royal Family had long since given up on trying to eradicate the Netherworld, because there would always be someone to bring it back up again no matter what.

Of course, it only made sense that the place the Netherworld thrived most in was The Seojin Empire’s capital city, Tei. 

And in the city of Tei, there stood one nameless human in its Netherworld only talked about in hushed whispers–a killer in the midst who responded only to the highest paying customers. There were only two things known about this assassin: He was a man, and he never failed a job. Not even once.

To commission this well-sought after assassin, you had to request a meeting with a noble named Lord Sanai and enter his mansion. There, you would meet Lord Sanai himself, and he would offer two types of tea: “White Tea” and “Yellow Leaves Tea.” White was for the “easier” commissions, when most people didn’t even want the assassin to actually kill but just knock some sense into some dunces. Yellow Leaves was for the much more expensive kind, when people wanted him to carry out missions and wipe those of the upperclass out of existence, quick and silent as possible.

A select few, and very few, knew of the secret third type of tea, and that was the “Ceru Rock Tea.”

Jirou was one of them. After stating those words, Lord Sanai–who wasn’t actually a noble at all, but a man of the common class disguised as one–stood and bowed.

“Please follow me, Mister Jirou.” It probably would have been easier to skip the routine right from the start since they already knew each other, but as it was pretty obvious from all this, the man behind the system was the particularly picky type.

Sanai led Jirou out of the sitting room and down the hallway where there stood the statue of some Empress of the past. When its raised hand was pressed downwards, the wall behind it began to emit smoke as gears turned and creaked to create an opening big enough for one person to go at a time. Jirou began to follow the lord down the stairway that appeared beyond the opening, as per usual.

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Once they reached the bottom of the staircase, Lord Sanai immediately bowed towards his true master–the man who sat on top of a wooden office desk with his legs crossed, tossing a small gemstone in his hand absentmindedly.

“Well if it isn’t my dear friend Jirou.” At the sight of his guest, the man looked up and grinned. “Apologies for the lack of tea. The amount of times you’ve been here is practically enough to deplete Ceru’s precious resources.”

Jirou remained unfazed. He crossed his arms and got right to the point. “My master wishes you to take on another task. She was immensely pleased with the results of your previous work.”

“Another one? It wasn’t that long ago when I finished your last task, you know.”

“We have the money for it.”

The man raised his dark eyebrow. Few people knew what his face looked like, so to interact like this with Jirou was amusing indeed.

He decided to shoot a small jab. “I’ve been pretty busy these days, so you’re going to have to show a hefty sum to make it worth my precious time.”

“Alright.” Without any hesitation, Jirou stepped towards the man and took out a piece of paper with fancy lettering.

That’s–

The man’s eyes widened. If his clients didn’t have any coins, they would pay him with jewels and various precious heirlooms. Barely anyone had ever given him a cheque, especially with this amount.

As he stared at the number on the paper, Jirou continued speaking. “The south has gone unchecked for so long that my master only recently discovered the illegal tradings one of its lords has been partaking in. We’ve heard word that he is planning to set sail and seek asylum overseas with his family very soon to hide his wrongdoings. You will go to his part of the province and find out if that’s true. If it is, you must finish him before he succeeds.”

“Hmm.” The man placed his finger on his chin as he pondered. “The south is far and ridden with port towns, which means he may very well be on his way to another country by the time I arrive.”

“He won’t.”

“Fine. If that’s true, it will still take me a week to get there. This task also needs some time for surveillance if I am to give your master a detailed report as you said. I will need three months to accomplish this.”

“One month.”

“Two months at least.”

“One month and a half.”

“Two. Months. Do you even want me to find out if this guy is gonna run away or not?”

“...Okay then. Two months.”

“It’s a deal then. Give me the details of the location and person and Sanai will lead you out.”

After Jirou finished doing just that, he began to follow Sanai back up the staircase, but not before turning back one last time.

“My master will eagerly await your success, Lord Itsaya.”

Itsaya’s luminous eyes seemed to shine brighter at the mention of his name. “Of course.”