The last few days had not been easy for Alden. On one hand, he had to pay attention to the little street rat who knew some dangerous information, and on the other, the plots and schemes that they had been preparing for the main successors in the family.

As he stood at the same table before the young man from the Black Rose who was responsible for taking contracts, Alden was both livid and restless.

"Why is he still alive yet??" He said with a low guttural voice that scared the other party.

"Erm," The young man cleared his throat amidst the loud boisterous laughter echoing through the tavern. "Because of the recent incidents the guards have been very alert and so our movement was forcefully limited by them. But we still got the other kids and we've raised his bounty at the same time. Only a matter of time."

Alden furiously hit the table with his fist as he pushed himself toward the table even more, reaching a very close distance from the young man's face. "Listen," He said with a soft voice that carried immense rage. "I said, I want you to kill him directly. Not the guards, and not some bounty hunter. You, and I gave you the money."

"Well," The young man replied as he backed off slightly with a soft frown on his face as he narrowed his gaze. "Mr. Alden, you have to understand the issues we're facing as well. Not only is movement inside the city with our gear difficult, but the kid just randomly moves around the city...It's not an easy feat. Just now we've received intel that he had killed one of Silent Hand's small drug dealing henchmen in the manufacturing area, and we went there he was long gone."

Alden coldly retreated into the end of his seat, eyes still locked with the man from the Black Rose. A deep pondering look clouded his face, and after a while, he said, "Forget it. Dismiss your subordinates or whatever they are. I'll handle it from here."

The young man merely gave a slight shrug and a nod. "As you wish."

Just as Alden was about to stand up, he suddenly thought of something and asked, "Any information about him I am not aware of?"

"In the morning," The young man said with a faint smile. "There was a peculiar altercation between him and some captain guards in the Southern Cires."

"Captain Guards?" Questioned Alden with visible confusion. "What sort of altercation?"

"It's a bit complicated and I'm not entirely certain how true it was." The young man said with a strange expression. "But I heard that they ambushed him in a certain home, and he still managed to escape from the five."

"By himself?" Alden asked.

"Yes, indeed." The young man said. "There was only a black cat following him."

"But," Mumbled Alden. "How's that possible? He was but a classless slum rat a few days ago?"

"We don't know." The Black Rose guy said. "We think that maybe someone strong is helping him."

"No, no..." Alden shook his head. "If that was so then why is he still in the city with all of the guards following behind him? But at the same time how could he attain such an amount of strength..." Alden suddenly caught himself thinking too loud, and also opening a stream of questioning that might not be beneficial if known by others.

With a swift whoosh, he stood up, pushing the table with a creak. "Either way, as I said before. Your services are no longer needed, and I will deal with the matter myself." He said with narrowed eyes as he gazed down at the young man.

"Alright," The young man said with a chuckle as he raised a small wooden cup in a salute. Just as Alden was about to leave, the young man remembered something and stopped him, "Wait."

"What is it?" Questioned Alden with a scowl. Something that the young man found distasteful as he pulled back as well. His voice turned slightly more enthusiastic and cold as he said, "I have some very good intel."

"Then out with it," Alden urged.

The young man smiled and brushed his two fingers together, a well-known gesture for money.

Alden clicked his tongue in annoyance before he threw a plump brown pouch atop the table that landed with a thud.

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The young man's smile turned even brighter and his expression softened. "There is a weak link you can use to get to him."

Alden's face turned even more colder as he detested these forms of dialogue. "Go on..."

"He has a mother..." The young man continued with his cheeky smile.

Alden finally couldn't hold back and forcefully slammed his fists into the table, breaking it apart. The loud boisterous tavern came to a screeching halt as the bard playing music stopped, and all of the patrons got quiet as they glared at Alden with unkind eyes.

Needless to say, the young man was the most surprised of them all. His mouth was wide open as he stared back at the furious Alden with a curious expression.

"Just. Tell me what you have to say and let me go." Alden with a whisper that held unbridled rage.

"Alright, calm down." The young man said with a frown as he raised both hands in resignation. He eyed one of the men in the tavern and getting the cue, he began calming everyone and ordered the bard to continue the music.

"He has a mother," He said with a solemn voice. "But, she's under the main brothel of Silent Hand..."

"Was that so difficult?" Alden scoffed before he made way for the tavern's door and left.

...

"Is this the place?" Melvin whispered as he gazed at a big mansion in front of him.

As they stood at the end of a row of houses in the northern-east part of the city, a vast grassy expanse stretched before them, culminating in the presence of a majestic house.

The grandeur of the house was accentuated by the imposing cement fencing encircling its perimeter, manned by vigilant guards stationed at regular intervals. The incessant barking of numerous dogs echoed in the air, adding to the aura of security, something that made Jing anxious as he was afraid of dogs.

Neatly trimmed bushes lined the pathways inside, guiding visitors toward the entrance with precision. Brick pathways meandered through the meticulously landscaped grounds, leading towards the opulent fountain centerpiece, where water danced gracefully amidst the tranquil surroundings. Towering trees adorned the estate, their lush foliage casting dappled shadows over the meticulously manicured lawns, completing the picture of elegance and splendor.

"Yeah, this is it," Firrol said with a solemn expression as the last rays of the sun fell down upon him.

"I think this is gonna be a difficult one, right?" Melvin questioned, and it was especially because he didn't have the time to write another rune. He merely wrote his first Illusory Rune which he was infinitely impatient to try out before the time of the meeting arrived.

"That would be true," Firrol said with a snigger.

Melvin glanced at him and asked, "What's so amusing?"

Shaking his head, Firrol said, "I just feel like things have been moving a bit too fast in the last couple of days."

"Well," Melvin said. "You know the deal. If you don't want to help you can always stay here."

"Oh shut up," Firrol scoffed. "Who said anything about leaving? You're always so quick to tell me to leave, do you want me to leave?"

"No, I'm just saying," Melvin said with a shoulder shrug and a snort of amusement. "I just don't want to be responsible for whatever might happen you know. If you want to enter inside it has to be of your own volition."

"I feel like you're just saying this because you don't want to owe anyone," Firrol commented from the side with a bemused look of his own. "I am doing this to help you, otherwise what would I be doing in some corrupt priest's house?"

Melvin's eyebrows shot up in astonishment, realizing that the reason stated by the cat was absolutely correct. With a huge sigh, but a faint smile he said, "You're right." A silence of a few seconds later, he continued, "Thank you."

"See?" Firrol teased, "Was it that hard?"

"Alright," Melvin frowned at the cat. "Don't get cheeky now little cat."

"I am neither a cat nor little," Firrol said. "Hell, in cat years I am even older than you little brat."

"I thought you weren't a cat?" Melvin said with a smile.

"I meant in my species, I just said cat so that your little slum rat ignorant brain could conceive of such a complex concept," Firrol said with a smug look.

"Quite arrogant are we now?" Melvin said as he leaned against one of the houses.

"Where are those two guards anyways?" Firrol said in a whisper after a middle-aged man just passed by them.

"They said we will meet at Dusk," Melvin said as his gaze moved in the western direction. "And this is dusk alright."

As they were talking, two tall and well-built cloaked men approached them from the side. Their faces were hidden, and they walked with the same rhythme.

Melvin stood upright and alert, afraid they may be some bounty hunter. Although he didn't have the chance to go through any News Board, he was certain that he would be accused of killing his small gang of children as well, and thus a ridiculous increase in bounty was certain.

When the two men were but a few paces away, they swiftly removed their hoods upon noticing Melvin's wary disposition, revealing themselves to be the awaited Borus and Evarius.

The familiar brown sparrow descended from the skies and landed on Evarius's shoulder with a chirp as it gazed at the cat with unfriendly eyes.

"Sorry for the tardiness," Borus said with his usual smile. "We got held up at the station."

"Oh?" Murmured Melvin, "Did something interesting happen?"

The two exchanged a knowing glance, and just as Borus was about to say something, Evarius interjected and said, "Don't worry, just some issues with new criminals and all. Let's start, we don't want to lose any more time..."

Melvin frowned as he did a double take. How could he not see that something was amiss, he figured it must've been some information that wasn't available to the public and Evarius didn't want to divulge it.

"So," He dismissed those thoughts and asked. "How should we go about this?"

"Don't worry," Borus said. "We have studied this plan for a while and we can somewhat guarantee its success?"

"Somewhat?" Melvin said with a wry smile.

"Somewhat is the best we could do," Evarius joked as his brown sparrow chirped in agreement as if it understood their conversation.

"I see," Muttered Melvin with a slight dejected look. "So, what's the plan now?"