The assassin was a man in his late fifties with greying hair from the sides with a glum expression. He did look much cleaner than the last candidate, with a polished black waist coat, gloves, and a belt that bore the sigil of a roaring lion. In his neck was a big red gash.

“Assassin Dominic Blackthorn,” Place whispered in Kaya’s ear. “Killed after being captured in London during the rebellion in 1817. His soul has been drifting around for a long time but not a lot of goddesses want to accept him.”

“Tell me your purpose woman!” The assassin extended his hand towards her, then waited a few moments before lowering it. Kaya wondered if he was expecting a magical blade to appear under his sleeves. “I refuse to be belittled by these petty illusions!”

Kaya loved the old British accent, but that was all that she could love about the fellow. No wonder no goddess was willing to accept him.

I might as try acting majestic…

She picked up the cup of pomegranate and gave a gently sip, and then crossed her legs. “Welcome hero-”

“Skip the theatrics and get to the point!”

All right then asshole…

“You are required to slay an undead with vast magical potential. Since you are an assassin I assume you have the skill for it.”

He brushed his beard and scrutinized her. He waited for a long time, all the while looking into her eyes.

I’m going to count to ten, and then throw the cup at his face…

“So this is not a petty illusion,” he finally said. “It feels to real to be an illusion. Tell me you scantily clad stranger, where am I? And who do you think you are to order me around?”

Kaya felt her fingertips buzzing with magic energy. She could send spider, or give the man nightmares, actions always mattered more than words. But…

She recalled her stats on the table. She had accumulated enough Evil Points already.

I need patience.

She took a deep breath. “You are in the afterlife. I think you have enough brainpower to remember your own death. I’m the one responsible for your reincarnation. And your skills will be very valuable in your next reincarnation.”

“And what if I refuse?”

“Then you will be sent to the underworld, where your soul is burnt in hell and tortured for eternity.”

Ha! Have that.

Dominic reminded Kaya of the rich kids in her class. The ones that get down from a polished black German car and walked to the school like they were floating in the air. Even in class they would hang around their own clique, and ignore all of Kaya’s orders and act like their parents owned the school.

Pride was what those bastards and Dominic had in common. And now Kaya had ways to bring down that pride.

[Lies uttered. 2 Evil Points. 17 Evil Speech Points in total]

The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

Kaya groaned. Sometimes she wondered if the ranking system was controlled by one of her haters.

Dominic noticed her expression and gave a smile. “I think afterlife is better than being controlled by someone like you.”

Kaya gritted her teeth. “Place! Take this bastard away!”

Dominic still gave the crooked smile but before he could open his mouth he was gone in a puff of white smoke.

Kaya finished the glass of pomegranate in one gulp.

“Should I bring the next one my lady?” Place materialised beside her.

“No,” Kaya rubbed her eyes. “I just want to know how to do this. Tell me, how did goddess Persephone handle her heroes?”

“She mostly didn’t. She just questioned their basic skills and sent them to any world she wants. I remember a time when she sent a mathematician to a world where the Demon King declared a battle royale. He died during the first fight.”

“So she took a lot of bad decisions. I hope putting me in here wasn’t one of them.”

“Oh surely isn’t. I’ve looked into your old life my lady. From what I've seen, you are really good at handling tough jobs.”

She didn’t like a spirit she met a few hours ago probing into her past, but it felt nice to hear a compliment after all those evil system messages.

“You think so?”

“Of course my lady! In those visions I saw how you managed the entire summer sports festival on your own. You even managed to catch some students who were bullying a boy before the events. Even your teachers praised you.”

Kaya remembered that very well. His name was Toby. A freshman. Nancy and his gang had knocked him out then forced him not to take part in the high jump event so Nancy’s good boyfriend could win the medal. Kaya had found out, and somehow urged Toby to take part with a little backing from their PE teacher. Toby had been grateful to her ever since.

At least that was the good part. Guess Place never looked into the memories after the sports day when Nancy and her gang dropped a bucket of dirty water over the bathroom door while Kaya was in it.

“You should stop poking your nose into other people’s business,” those were her exact words.

She had gone home smelling like a kid who bathed in the mud.

Sometimes the morally right decisions were the ones that always fucked her up. When she helped Toby she knew Nancy wouldn’t let her spend the next few weeks in peace, but she wanted to do what was good.

And sometimes listening your own feelings could be a bad thing.

Kaya leaned back on her seat. “Place, tell me the main skills of our other two candidates.”

“The next one is the poisoned business lady. She is good with money, very smart, very cunning too. But somehow her love for her husband got her killed. The bus driver is the exact opposite, born poor, lived poor, died poor with a street pole piercing his lung. Fascinating fellow.”

Kaya didn’t find any of that fascinating. She knew the decision she should take, even if that meant it was handling someone she didn’t want.

“Is there any way we can summon the assassin back again?”

“Of course we could. But I believe he’ll still have memories of his previous encounter. It takes some time for the souls in the soul stream to have their memories erased.”

Great, there goes my options for starting the conversation anew.

“Alright, bring him in.”

Place disappeared, and the familiar white explosion brought back the middle aged man. He still held onto his grin.

“I believe I was on a one way ride to hell.”

“Hell is too good for people like you,” Kaya said through gritted teeth. “Tell me Dominic, how were you killed?”

“I don’t see a need to answer that question.”

“If I may, my lady,” Place whispered into Kaya’s ear. “He was once hailed to be a very dangerous assassin, but after he killed a certain rebellion leader according to orders from a nobleman his name became tainted. Soon he wasn’t running from other assassins but the people of the nation. He lost the reputation he once had.”

Kaya gave a grin to match Dominic’s own. Place’s words made the process much easier. “Lost reputation, isn’t it Dominic? No one loves when their name is tainted.”

“In very polite words, please go fuck yourself.”

His smile was gone, and there was a visible vein popping in his forehead. Kaya knew she had him.

“I can provide a way to un-” she stopped. She was about to say unfuck but the word would be a problem. She cleared her throat and started again. “I can provide a way to get back your lost reputation.”

“As an assassin?”

“As a hero. Not someone people look up to in fear or loathing, but with love and pride.”

His dark blue eyes stared back into her own, and this time, Kaya held on to those eyes, not backing down.

“Alright,” Dominick wiped his hands and sat down on the ground. “I’m listening.”

Ah ha! Kaya gave herself an invisible pat on the back. Then she started to tell the story - in the way she wanted.