Vac had been called in by Vesta once more, and this time his granny was also in the room. Vesta nodded at his arrival and said, “I believe you've worked for nearly all nine gangs by this point. Only two are left. I believe it's best to put off working for the protection racket until the situation with that swordsman is settled, so it's time for you to experience the other one. It'll be useful in understanding what we talked about before.”

She gestured to his granny and continued, “It might be dangerous, so best to take your grandmother with you. You'll be working with the only gang that goes outside the city.”

They were led out the gate by one of Vesta's men, where a ragtag group waited. One thing Vac had noticed was that the gangs in the city he'd been around so far were largely homogeneous, but the group before him felt different.

The leader of the group, a lean and fairly well built man with a calm yet playful air about him, stepped forward to greet them.

“Hey, I'm Autolycus. The Balancer has informed me of you two. It's an honor. I understand you have some experience beyond the walls of this city already, so it shouldn't be a problem.”

The man frowned for a moment, and said, “There is one thing for you two to know. We'll be working with some followers of Pluto, a group of bandits.”

‘What?’

“Why would you be doing that!? I've gone up against those maledicti fures, and I can tell you they steal from poor and innocent people, and aren't exactly the kind of people you should ally with!”

A sarcastic voice drawled out from behind Autolycus, “How rude. It's not fair to put us in the same category. Even the followers of Pluto who are categorized as ‘the bandits’ aren't a monolith, you know.”

Vac looked over at the voice to see a group just outside the city, a step away from the gates. They looked a bit different, but he could still recognize them as the bandits.

Autolycus’s jaw tightened at the voice, but he nodded and said, “He's right, Vac. This group, at least when working with us, only targets the rich, and specific kinds of rich people at that. But I do understand if you want to stay out, kid. You're sent by the Balancer, the neutral observer. If you like, you could simply do the same, or simply stay out of it entirely. Same goes for you, woman. Though I assume you plan on sticking with him.”

Vac thought about it for a moment, and with a sigh answered, “Alright, I'll bite. I'll observe what you guys get up to. But if I see one thing that's out of line with what you claim to do, I will step in. So I should ask you, are you ready to accept that?”

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

To Vac’s surprise, Autolycus nodded. And so he and his grandma joined the group. Vac could tell the group from the city weren't particularly fond of the bandits either. As they headed out, he asked Autolycus, “Why'd you agree to what I said, anyway?”

The man frowned and answered, “You’re sent by the Balancer. It's part of the agreement we nine gangs have had for a long time. The Balancer has the right to send anyone of her choosing to observe the nine gangs, and most already have several of her men to observe. Regardless of how I feel about the Balancer, it's not something for me to fight against or stop.”

“What do you mean? Do you have something against the Balancer?”

‘This guy shouldn't know her identity, from what I understand, but it's certainly possible he pieces it together somehow.’

“I just don't like the idea of needing her. I don't know what she's supposed to be, though I've heard the rumors of course. But ultimately most of the residents of this city simply don't care, as long as they can enjoy the new lives they've set up here. It's only we gangs that seek more, for better or for worse. So I don't begrudge the Balancer her role, I simply dislike it, and the way it restricts my freedom. I came to this city to get away from all that.”

Not long after, they reached a spot close to the target location, and set up camp to make preparations. During this break, the loudmouth bandit who'd mouthed off earlier came to him with a grin and said, “Hey, I'm Sciron. I've never seen you among Autolycus's lot before. I must say, it was fun to watch you mouth off to him earlier. I just wanna say, I did mean what I said. We're thieves, not scoundrels. Well, not more so than many others.”

Vac shook his head and grumbled, “Whatever. What are followers of Pluto doing as thieves anyway?”

Thean laughed and said, “Oh, the two have a history. The minor god of thieves and the best pen to ever exist, Mercury, is said to be the only god to enter and exit the Underworld freely, and even occasionally guides lost souls there. We thieves have always understood what it means to be alive, and the true worth of the god of death better than anyone else!”

‘God of the dead,’ Vac mentally corrected, but he chose to stay quiet and walk away from the man, as Autolycus began to announce the details.

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Alexander followed the target carefully. He'd left the kid behind, tied up and unconscious in a carefully hidden location, with traps set up to kill the brat and anyone else in the vicinity in case of intruders. He had to be careful, since several of the gangs were looking for him.

But from what he'd observed it didn't seem like the Balancer had made any moves. It made sense, given what little he knew about their reputation, their inclination for doing just enough to keep the balance of power in the city intact and ensure the least losses. Their identity, their origin, their powers, all were unknown. There were rumors they were an immortal being, like a god, but that seemed ludicrous to Alexander. He preferred the theory his higher ups like Pisistratus believed, which was that it was a bloodline or hereditary role of sorts.

He also had to be wary of the bandits, who were his former people. It wasn't very likely or particularly logical, but he couldn't shake the fear that he'd be recognized. Alexander shook his head free of the thoughts and turned his attention back to the target as they neared a deserted area. He quickly closed in, alerting the man before him to his presence as he said, “Talos, I presume.”

It was all part of the plan. The plan to kill the Balancer, and bring the city under the Roman flag.