Glenn stared at the old man sitting across the desk, one of the most important individuals in the whole Fringe. Manalok Calopea Truant. He hardly could have imagined that someone in this part of King's Rise could be an Archmagi, a Mana user with six Circles. After all, it seemed pretty clear that individuals above a certain power level were brought to the Bourgeoisie or higher by the Royal Inquisition, to maintain some kind of balance.

And yet, here he was, an Archmagi, hanging around in the Northern Town. The blind old man smiled and crossed his arms.

"So, I believe you're more interested in the private job, instead of becoming a Cleaner. Is that right?"

Glenn nodded slowly, wondering what that mission was about. And why did it require his presence in particular? With the increasing appearances of very powerful people, much more powerful than him, it seemed strange to need his help, a True Initiate who had yet to (technically) break through the Wall. Truant passed his hand through his white, long beard, his thoughts undecipherable.

"Are you sure you don't wish to become a Cleaner? It'd be a one-year contract, with exciting advantages. We even offer paid vacations!"

Glenn restrained a sneer and shook his head.

"I apologize. I wish to remain free of my movements, and becoming a Cleaner would come in the way of that wish."

Manalok Calopea Truant waved his hand dismissively, before opening a drawer and setting a tin box of biscuits on the desk.

"Hah, freedom... Freedom is all but an illusion, my young friend. Care for a biscuit?" The old man smiled gently and pushed the tin box toward Glenn. The young man glanced at the biscuits and shrugged.

"...Sure, thanks." He served himself and bit into the biscuit. It took all he had to restrain himself from grimacing. These biscuits were so dry they were probably made of sand. Truant rubbed his hands together.

"You like them? My wife made them."

Glenn moistened his lips, debating lying for a second. After a short deliberation, he slowly pushed back the tin box.

"They taste like they're made with a lot of love," He said through his teeth, before adding, "...But please, serve yourself. I wouldn't want to be the only one "enjoying" these biscuits."

Truant chuckled and took a biscuit, eating it whole without a complaint. A few seconds of silence passed until the old man coughed and hurriedly took a water gourd out of nowhere, quenching his thirst.

“Cough, cough... Dry as ever... As you said, Glenn, they're made with love. Unfortunately, that's the only thing they were made with. A pinch of skill would no doubt have been appreciated..."

Glenn smirked but didn't reply, instead leaning back in his seat and waiting for the Head Cleaner Director to get to the point. The old man sighed and closed the tin box before pushing it away.

"Right, let's get to it. Here's a seal that will stop you from revealing the contents of this mission to uncleared individuals," Truant took out a scroll and handed it over to Glenn. The young man frowned, reading the document rapidly. It appeared like a classical NDA, only with the magical twist of "your heart will burst into pieces if you reveal the content of the mission "INK-DEF".

Whatever INK-DEF meant.

"...So, I just channel Mana in the seal and it'll be applied? What about my teammates?" Glenn asked hesitantly, wondering whether he should accept this deal. Having a bomb wrapped around his heart didn't seem too fun, after all. It was already hard to survive the world, so why add another thing that might kill him at any time?

Truant passed his hand on the table, getting rid of the biscuit crumbs.

"As soon as you input Mana into the scroll, the seal will be applied. The scroll is reusable, and we have hundreds of those, so you can just keep it so that your teammates may sign it as well."

Glenn looked at the scroll for an instant, pondering.

"...Is there no way to even have an idea of what this..."INK-DEF" mission entails to? I have many goals, most in the Bourgeoisie, and I already made those goals wait long enough."

Manalok Calopea Truant picked up his tinted glasses and cleaned them with a black satin cloth.

"Hmm...You'll mostly be out of King's Rise, but you should have more than enough time in the Bourgeoisie to assassinate as many nobles as you'd like."

Glenn nodded slowly, before realizing what the old man had said. His blood froze in his veins and his heart raced as he tried to force Truant's Mana away.

"What—what do you mean?" He hissed, wincing as he failed to get rid of the magic pressure. The old man's eyebrows creased.

"It doesn't take much to add two and two together. Baron Howard is suspected of being a serial killer, slavery, kidnapping, and many more crimes."

Manalok brushed his white beard, smiling with a hint of mystery.

"I'll come clean with you, Glenn. Due to many restraints, the majority being Royal ones, I can't Clean most of King's Rise garbage. But..." He leaned forward and smiled widely, showing a strangely perfect set of teeth.

"...If you happen to Clean said garbage, I will handle the consequences. Many powerful people wish for King's Rise to become what it once was, and are willing to support such acts. Of course, my support comes with the assurance that you will participate in the INK-DEF mission."

Glenn's heart continued to race, but not with dread. No, this time it was excitement. Other people wanted to "Clean" King's Rise, then?

'Wait...Would that mean that there are that many fuckers like Howard deserving to be executed?' The thought was like an ice shower and had the effect of killing his excitation.

'I don't want to throw oil off the fire, but he did say "nobles", right? I think he might be aware that you're also on Count Mortelli's trail,' Diamanes said in Glenn's mind, barely hiding his excitement. The young man clenched the edge of the desk, unable to stop himself from grinning.

Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

Things were taking an enjoyable turn. Manalok smiled as if he could see Glenn's grin.

"In the future, there's an almost guaranteed certainty that missions of the same kind as the INK-DEF mission will appear again. What do you say about this?"

The Head Director Cleaner leaned forward and extended his hand out, the black ocean of Mana he exuded momentarily appeared in reality, visible without the need for Mana Sight.

"For each of these missions you accomplish, I'll assist in your Cleansing. One garbage at a time."

Glenn gulped and looked at the extended hand. The sight overlapped with the memory of when he first met Diamanes, strangely, and shook the eldritch's hand, sealing his fate. If shaking Diamanes' hand was a forced action, this time...

This time he was more than glad to accept the deal.

The young man shook the hand energetically, grinning from one ear to the other.

"This is a deal, Sir Manalok."

The old man smiled.

"Excellent, Sir Glenn. Now, there is only one thing left."

Glenn looked at the sealing scroll and drew a deep breath.

'Do you think you could get me out of it if needed?'

Diamanes laughed loudly in his host's mind, discarding his worries.

'I already broke much stronger than that a year ago. Go ahead. Just know that breaking the seal will break the scroll, meaning that this old monster will be aware of the breach.'

Glenn ignored a bead of sweat pearling down his forehead and clenched the scroll. Without further ado, he sent his Mana in the scroll and activated the seal. As soon as the Mana powered the scroll, Glenn felt something wrap around his heart and coil up comfortably, while still being able to kill him at any moment. Glenn gasped and let go of the scroll, clenching his chest in awe. After a short second, the sensation disappeared, but Glenn knew it was still there. Nonetheless, since he could break out of the seal at any moment thanks to Diamanes, it was less worrying than it should be.

Manalok Calopea Truant chuckled and extended a thick, black tendril of Mana toward Glenn. The young man tensed up but quickly relaxed once he saw the insignia of the Blood Cross fly out of his dimensional pouch.

"...Dimensional pouches are supposed to be opened only by their users though, right?" Glenn muttered unknowingly. The old man took the insignia and crushed it to dust.

"Let's just say that you can bypass some of these restrictions in some specific situations. An item created with a specialized bit of magic can be pulled back by their creators if they so wish..." Truant explained while manipulating the dust that came from the crushed insignia. Whatever he was doing, Glenn couldn't understand what it was. It looked like magic, but he couldn't exactly see how.

Truant smiled softly before throwing the processed item at Glenn. The young man instinctively caught it, giving it a closer glance. What was once a Blood Cross insignia was now a simple, black metal cross, with seven characters carved into it; INK-DEF.

"This is better than the Blood Cross. With this, you have the authority of a Senior Cleaner and can command Junior Cleaners, Cleaners, and Recruits. You can also create requests for Fixers, but you'll have to offer reasonable rewards, while also paying the Workshop's tax and the Kingdom's tax, which is approximately 55%. I'm telling you this just in case, even though I don't think you will make use of this feature."

Glenn looked at the small cross for a moment, wondering.

"...Why do you need me specifically?" He finally asked, truly puzzled about this. Manalok was giving him a lot of support, a bit too much actually. Well, Glenn wouldn't complain about free stuff, but it felt like he was being rewarded for murdering Blorg, which didn't make sense...

Glenn paused and stared at the blind old man in front of him. Why...Why did it really feel like he was being rewarded for murdering Blorg? This was all working too easily; in exchange for going on some weird mission, he wouldn't have to deal with the consequences of murdering Blorg, would get the benefits of a Senior Cleaner, and assistance in getting rid of King's Rise "trash".

What game was the Head Cleaner Director playing?

Truant's lips curved upward and he took a black, closed envelope from a drawer, which he then handed to Glenn.

"You see, Glenn, this is an investment. Similar to the investments the Maron Company is putting in you, I wish to bet on your future. And trust me when I say that this is a small cost to garner a bit of favor with you."

The old man sighed and picked his tinted glasses up, aligning them with his blind eyes as if to verify that they were clean.

"King's Rise is moving, and a lot of those changes are centered around you, Glenn. Many deities have cast Their gazes upon you, and yet..." He chuckled, "...and yet you're still alive. Once you go to the Bourgeoisie, head for the District N°XIV, and search for the Cleaner's Office there. Just hand this letter to one of the clerks, and everything will be taken care of at that moment. Now..." He took out a pocket watch and appeared to look at it, despite his blinded eyes. The old man sighed and shook his head.

"It was a pleasure, Glenn. We'll meet again, for sure."

Truant then placed his glasses back on his nose, and suddenly sneezed.

"Gnh...work...thing..." He mumbled, glancing around the room with a lost look, before shrugging and disappearing in the darkness. Glenn remained seated for a moment, a little at a loss.

'All in all, it went pretty well, don't you think?' Diamanes commented with a laugh. Glenn pinched his nose and looked at the black, closed envelope. There were no distinct signs of what it could contain or where it came from, and there didn't seem to be a wax seal as is usually the case.

“...To the Bourgeoisie, then...” he muttered, laughing nervously. So it was time to finally discover what lay behind the massive gates separating the Fringe from the Bourgeoisie, to see what these brass and bronze structures were that he'd barely glimpsed when Baron Howard had come to harvest the Northern Town.

Glenn took his head in his hands and sighed deeply. The unknown of the Bourgeoisie, of the nobles, and simply the general mystery around that Circle of King's Rise was exciting but also terrifying. Would he have to fight more horrible creatures, and more twisted humans that were worse than monsters?

Probably.

No, certainly.

King's Rise was this kind of place after all. The whole world was this kind of place.

Was he sufficiently prepared? No, clearly not. He needed Nelg to wake up and reach the Fourth Circle of Mana. He needed to become stronger, strong enough to contend with individuals like Truant or Laurance.

'Well, that's a problem for later. Now, maybe you should get back to your team and tell them of the news?' Diamanes suggested, pulling him out of his trance. Glenn moistened his lips and stood up, leaving the small meeting room. When he passed the threshold, funnily enough, he landed straight in the Dormitory.

"...Thanks for the ride, I guess..." Glenn muttered as he went to the Dark-Gold floor and into his suite. The black cross with INK-DEF carved on it was pinned to his chest, gleaming gently in the magical lights.

His team was still where he left them, talking and enjoying drinks in the living room. Liara and Javier were both silent, as always, while Sahro and Milena were in the middle of an intense discussion about... kids?

"I'm telling you, more is better than not many! Imagine that, an army of Sahros fighting for their father! We could conquer the world!" Sahro exclaimed, making Milena laugh haughtily.

"Hah! You say that because you have no idea how painful birthing a child is! No, one, maybe two are enough. Quality over quantity!"

Liara laughed, tears forming in her eyes, while Javier contented himself with eating some dry meat. Glenn rubbed his eyes at the nonsensical discussion and announced himself by clearing his throat.

"Alright team, got some news! We're going to the Bourgeoisie, that's more than certain!"

Sahro and Milena shouted in excitement, while Liara simply smiled widely. Javier...There's no need to tell what Javier did, was there?

Glenn bit down on his lower lip and took out the sealing scroll.

"....But, since there's a but..." He sighed and placed the scroll on the coffee table. "This is a sealing scroll. If you wish to accompany me on my mission, you'll have to—" Glenn didn't even have the time to finish his sentence that Sahro had grabbed the scroll and infused his Aura inside it. Glenn blinked and reached toward him.

"Wait—"

Milena then stole the scroll from Sahro's hands and infused Mana inside it, also activating the seal. Liara and Javier quickly followed, not giving the time to Glenn to dissuade them. The young man rubbed the back of his neck, flabbergasted. Sahro laughed and threw the scroll back at Glenn.

"Well, when are we leaving?"