Mars had a spring in his step as he walked out of the army base. He felt like he had accomplished much with just a few hours of work. The interview with Melissa had been illuminating in more than one way. Her fixation on revenge, her absolute conviction and pure hatred made her absolute perfect for Mars future plans. Because while he planned on using and working with the Cultivator, having a hidden dagger up his sleeve in the form of a Vengeance hungry Mage with that much potential and tenacity? It was a good card to have and Mars would not hesitate to play it if necessary.
He had no doubt Melissa would leave for Ambition soon and escape his grasp for now. But at least he would keep her alive for the time being until he could play her against the Cultivator if it ever became necessary to do so. Increasing her strength and making her indebted to him was a win-win situation for him. He had learned quickly that Melissa was a fanatic, a fool set in her path and as such easily guided.
Her story had been fascinating. The Cultivator apparently wasn’t the heartless maniac he portrait himself to everyone. He had a soft spot for pretty young women. Well, Mars could not fault the man for that. Melissa was a strikingly beautiful woman and Mars was sure the other girl was just as pretty. It told him a lot about the Cultivator that he had not just ignored them, but actively saved her from certain death. There was mercy in the man and that was an indicator that he was either easily manipulated or at least was not a completely uncontrollable loose cannon.
Mars had his doubts that he could learn any more from Merlin or Lisa and so he mentally went to the next step in his plan. He would never go out there into the forest where he could be ambushed and the cards were stacked against him. No, he would send someone in his stead. Someone young, pretty and female. Someone with a lot to loose and even more to win by doing his bidding. She would be his canary and he would send her into danger to see how much the struggle of the Tower had affected the Cultivator.
The Cultivator’s reaction to his little bird would be most revealing. He would have to think long and hard what he wanted to offer and what he wanted the cultivator to do to prove himself. But if his plan were successful at the end of the day he would have two new assets that hated each other. Melissa and the Cultivator in his debt would be all he needed to plan his return to Ambition.
Mars still worried about how to best control the Cultivator. But now it looked like he could use his weakness against him and test him and his abilities thoroughly. If he was weak to young pretty women, then the man would be very happy in his employ. He had hundreds of them in total. But if he was not inclined that way his mercy would at least keep him from killing the messenger and maybe he would do his bidding in return for his “help”.
When Mars entered his office Tex was waiting for him again and he did not hesitate to get the next step in his plan going.
“Tex, bring me a list of all of our prostitutes under the age of 25, pretty, but somehow deeply indebted to us. Debt or in need of a desperate favor from the district would be best.”
“Again, I am not sure how to gauge which of those women are ‘pretty’, sir.”
“If they are good at their jobs and have a stable clientele or good marks with walk in customers they should be pretty. But don’t include women who are staples in the business. I don’t want to put good work horses in danger if I can use a less useful mare.”
“Understood sir. Thank you.”
“You are very welcome.” Mars said and closed the door to his office behind him. He sat down and got a wreath of paper out of a drawer and went for his recreation of a ball pen. It was a marvelous writing instrument, miles ahead of a simple feather and quill, even the magical kind that were admittedly very useful.
“Oh and make sure whoever you select can read.” He shouted through the door and could hear a resigned “Yes, sir.” on the other side. His ears were still good even in his age and Mars smiled to himself.
Now. What did he want the cultivator to do for him? A demonstration of his capabilities. Not too hard and not too easy. Mars end goal was to train the man to take over Ambitions underworld for him. Which would require abduction, intel gathering, straight up combat power and a knack to scare the shit out of people. If necessary leave psychological scars that would not heal easily. He would use him as a deterrent, as an option to destroy his enemies leadership. Ideally he would keep it quiet. But he also suspected the cultivator was not ready for Ambition yet. Well he would see.
The Cultivator had shown all qualities he needed him to have so far, but he had no clear gauge of his abilities. So how to best test him. He wanted him to do something useful, something productive but also difficult enough to test him. He would first and foremost need another example of him taking powers from someone, best under supervision of someone. Then he needed to know how sneaky he really was. How great his ability to gain information was and if he was able to eliminate or better even extract people out of highly fortified locations. Now all Mars had to do was pick some suitable targets for 3 missions. He would pay him for the work of course, depending on the skill displayed and he would offer him to end the manhunt against him as sign of their alliance. He wanted, had to do that either way, so it did not lose anything from offering this to him. Yes, slowly but surely a plan formed in Mars mind and he carefully wrote down instructions on the paper.
It took a while until Tex knocked and gave him a list of names of young women who were in considerable debt to his organization, almost 15 to Mars surprise. He read through Tex selection and soon dismissed a few who lived beyond their means. He suspected gambling or a drug problem and he ordered Tex to solve their issues by making sure the brothels themselves offered help and if that did not help, forced them to seek help or get fired. It was honestly a sign of neglect. Mars disliked junkies of any kind in his employees. They were unreliable and their loyalty was always more to the drug than him. Which might end up creating problems if a nefarious actor pushed those buttons. No, Mars disregarded them. He read through the others carefully though. Some had sick, chronically sick siblings or were supporting a big family and had gotten into significant debt. Others needed the district to do them some very big favors. Like one women wanted to go to Ambition to be with her family, but did not have remotely the funds to join a caravan or hire a group of climbers from Ambition.
There were other favors, political favors, but none of those he felt like were severe enough to risk their lives. The most promising ones were those who were in debt for others for sure. Mars paused at a name and his eyebrows rose.
“This one, Iris. She has accumulated 400 mid grade manastones in debt by buying others spots on caravans?” he asked incredulously his second.
Tex frowned, checked his notes and gave him a small information dossier after a short trip out of his office.
“Above average employee, stable customer base and highly rated. But a few years ago she started to borrow huge sums of money, first to let her little sister go to Ambition, then other young women. According to the caravan manifests they were all normal people, who had just found out they had no aptitude to become a vessel.”
Mars smirked to himself and looked at the debt. It was enormous. But doable if she kept up her figures and worked hard on her back for a few years. The woman was an idealist or maybe the woman just had a soft spot for young girls like her sister. Either way her actions had indirectly hurt his business a bit. Since a fair share of the young women without class came to work for him in some capacity. Be it as cashiers, waiters or yes as prostitutes. He employed a vast amount of normal people with relatively well paying jobs. But it was also not a secret that a fair amount of the prettier girls would end up working for him on their backs. It was the greed that drove them there in some cases. But for most it was true economic desperation.
Young men without any prospects as Vessels had it just as hard, but at least some were able to make a living by working for crafters and learning their craft the old fashioned way. They would never be able to compete with Vessels who had crafting classes, but there were options for men. Women on the other hand had it much worse. There were fewer spots open for girls, simply because most employers would rather have a young man who could use their physical strength to help them out, than a girl that was weaker and usually less useful. Mars had his own problems with the state of the Town.
His parents had insisted to teach him how to read and write when he had been very young and whenever Mars had met Earthers he had heard about their education system and how equal and yet unequal things were for girls in their world. It was better there for normal women for sure. But it only went so far. In many ways the Tower gave women more equality if they were able to become a Vessel or mage. In a way it was the ultimate way to escape their gender inequality. Nobody cared if a Warrior was a woman or a man after all. Their strength would be equivalent depending on their level, build and equipment. There was literally no difference in combat strength. And a mages power was based on knowledge and comprehension and as such was not tied to gender either. So there was this strange dichotomy of women who were mages or vessels being absolutely equal to men and women who had no talent for either being absolutely inferior to men.
Mars had thought about creating schools and teaching children at least some useful skills, no matter their gender. But there was some push back from the more conservative parts of the Town and it was even worse in Ambition. Normal people were seen as nothing more than an expendable workforce. They were seen as servants in Ambition, their lives worth less than nothing, their existence reduced to being subservient to Mages and in some cases Vessels. The absolute hold of the old mage families in Ambition had always irked Mars. Their wealth was beyond anything he could imagine. They owned the entire city and they held it in a stranglehold. The only reason why there was any chance for anyone to rise up in power and influence was because the old mage families hated and feuded with each other.
They did not want normal People to be more educated or capable. They wanted to have a persistent status quo and many of the institutions in the Tower were just the same. The guilds were like that in the Town. Held up by old men and women who had lived their entire lives with a societal order that they did not want to change in any way or form.
But as much as Mars wanted to change that, he was very far away from any of those problems. He just felt bad to put a woman with obvious morals in a bad position. But in the end those women were expendable to him as well. He would not cry over losing any of these women. It would not affect his business in any way. So maybe he was hypocritical about it. Still, Mars believed he was doing his best to change the situation for the better. When he had come here there had be no red-light district. There had been dozens of brothels and competing factions, small gangs and misfits. They had made the streets of The Town dangerous and the supply of any drug tenuous at best and risky for life and limb at the worst. He had swept away those smaller gangs, had cleaned house and leveraged his deeds with the guilds to create the agreement to give him his own city district to concentrate the inevitable dark side of any society.
Soon he had started supplying the mages of the Town, especially those with political influence with serums and alchemical goods that helped with learning magic. Then he reopened the brothels in the district and turned the whole area into a true entertainment district. He had brought rules, law and order to the chaos and he had made a fortune while doing so. But instead of hoarding his wealth he had leveraged it into influence in Ambition and information networks going even past the gap. But he did not have the power to contest any of the criminal organizations. He had the funds of some of the smaller ones, but he did not have his own army. But if he did this right, he would have something almost as good. A one man army.
So yes, Mars was willing to sacrifice one of his girls to further his goals. The time for mercy and cooperation was over. It was time to put the chips into the middle and start playing his hand. Mars pen flew over the parchment and he soon had a rough set of questions he wanted the girl to ask and three missions that would tell him more about the cultivator. In return the man would get protection from his people and an end to the manhunt.
Satisfied with his work he called Tex.
“Bring this Iris to my office please.”
Tex raised his eyebrows, but then nodded quickly.
“Of course sir.”
Mars read carefully over his missions and questions and did some edits until he was satisfied. Then he copied the whole thing on a new, fresh page and then he settled down to wait. It was time to see if this Iris really was the little bird he wanted to send on this negotiation.
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Iris looked into her mirror as she did her makeup carefully. It was subtle and simple, not too much and yet enough to hide some of her own imperfections. Once she was done and satisfied she applied a bit of the alchemical solution that would help against smudging her makeup during her work. She would get dirty in one way or the other, but with this little miracle solution she could wash her face and be clean and prepared for the next customer without having to apply a new layer of makeup.
She used a fair few alchemical solutions and helpers to ensure she looked, smelled and felt the best for her clients. It was encouraged by the brothel and the solutions were cheap since they were all made by district alchemists. It wasn’t like Iris enjoyed her work most of the time or that she wanted to be the best at what she did. But she did need to do a good job. Because Iris knew she was on thin ice.
Every customer counted. Every single shard was precious because if she did not deliver or attract enough customers and had more than just a bad day, but a bad week? Then she would be in deep, deep trouble. She did not know what they would do with her if she could not come up with the ridiculous amount of manastones she had to pay in interest just so that her debt did not rise, but steadily shrunk. But she suspected it would not include her having her own room in one of the better brothels in the district. Nor would she be able to set her own times or even be able to take a day off. She was sure they would work her day and night if she messed up.
“So don’t mess up.” she said to herself into the mirror. She gently touched a stack of letters she kept next to her mirror on the little table where she kept all her alchemical solutions and cosmetics. Letters from her little sister, working as an apprentice tailor in Ambition. Thanks to her. Her little sister Gwen was just as pretty of a girl as Iris was herself. Just younger and more innocent looking than Iris ever had. She had always seen the effect Gwen had on men. Some wanted to protect her, but most wanted to sully her. She had been able to see it in their eyes, the way they looked at her. But Gwen was not build for a life like this. She was a romantic and naive, so helplessly naive even in the face of all the shit the Tower had thrown at their family.
When Iris had been 16 the whole world had been alright. Back then her father had a respected Bakery that attracted always huge lines because of his cakes. Her dad had been a Vessel, who had decided to settle down here and just be happy with the trade class he had been given, instead of risking his life by climbing. He had been in love with his mother back when he had started out and they had settled down after they had married. Soon Iris was on the way and they had lived a fairly wealthy life with bread and cake to eat whenever they wanted. Iris had wanted to follow in her fathers footsteps and take over his Bakery. She and her mom had helped him and had learned how to bake from him. But they could never match him and his skills. He just knew the perfect time to bake bread, which was the ideal ratio of flour water and yeast. When Iris had been young she had copied all his recipes religiously. Had wrote them down and had then tried to replicate them. With mediocre success. She was never able to make a perfect loaf of bread and her cakes never looked or tasted like works of art, but she was solid. Just like her mother.
With 16 she was tested to become a Vessel or even a mage, but Iris, like many others had no talent. She had been heartbroken. But she had still tried her best to make up for it in the Bakery. With ingenuity, new recipes, with heart and blood and sweat. But everything changed when her father suddenly collapsed one morning. A heart attack the doctor had said. He had been dead by the time they had found him. With his father their Bakery lost their status, a majority of their customers and although Iris and her Mother tried their best, they could not compete with Vessels.
Their bakery went bankrupt 2 years later and suddenly Iris mother had lost their home, their source of income and she had debts. They tried themselves as street vendors, moved to the outer city, but it was all too much for her mom. She became sick and her treatment was expensive. Gwen was still young back then, but she had tried her best to pull her weight. But Iris had been frantic, desperate and she had kept up with three jobs, being a maid for a rich mage in the morning, selling bread in the afternoon and bar tending in the evening. That last job was how she was recruited to more lucrative work. Iris had refused at first, but when the debt to the guilds rose and she saw herself forced to either take out a loan with the district or lose their home, then Iris made a decision.
She became a prostitute because it was by far the best paying job for a young girl without power. Iris soon found out she was good at it. She had a rebellious phase when her father had still been alive, she had lost her virginity a long time ago and she liked flirting and men in general. Doing it for money had felt weird and disgusting at first, but she got used to it rather quickly. She was good at making men do what she wanted. Knew when to smile, when to act coy and when to take the initiative. She learned quickly from the other more experienced girls and luckily she was blessed with good looks. Her crimson hair, her freckles and her rather large bust had always made her popular.
She still had those features now, years later. Although she had grown out of her freckles and had to gently apply them to her face now with a special solution, she still looked young, attractive and her curves had matured with her. To her bust she had added a nice behind and poverty had kept her lean, although she was never thin in the classical sense. Probably thanks to all the bread she had eaten growing up. Still, when iris looked at herself in the mirror and smiled, she found herself attractive. Not the prettiest flower in the district, but she was up there. She wore her work clothes. A dark dress that left a deep cleavage and hugged her curves tightly ending in a little bit less than knee high skirt with white seams. She wore thigh highs in the winter and sleeves. The fabric was very stain resistant and washed easily. A necessity in her trade.
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Iris sighed as she put on the last finishing touches and then touched the stack of letters again as a good luck charm. When her sister had grown up and found herself just as talent less as herself Iris had feared for her. So instead of risking her falling into the same trap like her, she emptied out her savings and took a debt to send her to Ambition with a recommendation to a renowned tailor that took seamstresses without class. It had cost a small fortune. But it was worth it for her sister. But when she had almost paid off her debt she had met an old school friend of Gwen’s who was a few younger than her. The young woman was in the same shoes as Gwen and Iris and she was pretty, just like a few other women. They had come to her for help and Iris had helped them. Had taken another big loan and had smiled and assured them they could repay her when they were successful in Ambition. So far she had not seen a single shard, but she had gotten letters back. Letters she treasured and that got her through the dark hours of the night when she cursed herself for helping others. But they had nobody else looking out for them. Their parents dead or junkies. Runaways and young girls simply desperate for a better life. It had resonated with Iris.
But now Iris knew she was in deep shit. She could not even get sick or risk getting the boot from the district. The only reason they had fronted her that sum of money at all had been because she had already paid off a substantial loan and she had been able to demonstrate her skills. It was the most humiliating thing she had ever done, but it had been effective. But Iris doubted she would be able to use that tactic again if she fucked up.
“So don’t fuck up.” she told herself, took a deep breath and put on a genuine smile, thinking of her sister as she went out of her little room and into her “bedroom” where she worked. She went out and leaned against the balcony towards the common room of the Brothel. It was custom for ladies of the night like herself to present themselves like this in this establishment. Casually leaning and waiting for a John coming to chat her up. It was meant to give it a casual setting and give place for flirting and for men to find a woman they would like. So Iris smiled down at the common room, already filling with guests.
Some of the younger girls were down there partying and having a good time if the customer did not want to pay for that kind of service, but instead just wanted to flirt, maybe touch a bit and have a good time while drinking with company. But of course they could also take them upstairs or go upstairs themselves and pick one of the women waiting there. It had been a winning concept and many men had eyes for the pretty women upstairs like Iris smiling and making pretty eyes at the men.
Iris had her eyes on a well dressed man in his thirties she guessed. A bit portly, but more than wealthy enough looking. Probably an artisan, definitively no Climber. Those she could pick out of a crowd any time. Climbers were notorious for their enhanced physiques, warriors among the most prominent. It meant hard work for a woman as they would almost always have trouble holding back their superhuman strength and so almost anything they would do would at least bruise them. But Climbers were among the richest customers there were and well worth the pain as they usually tipped handsomely. Still tonight there were few here. A Mage flirting with a young thing in a skimpy dress was the only real spot of interest in the room downstairs. Mages were always rich and dangerous. Usually they were just normal men, but if they had a temper they could hurt you with very little consequence. But at least they would not kill you, because in that case the district would hunt that man down. No matter if they were a mage or not.
Iris had only seen it happen once in her 5 years she had been working here. A Team of Rogues had cut the mage down before he had been able to flee the district and nobody had ever said a word about the man again. So Iris usually did not engage mages. They were too dangerous and haughty for her. But Vessels of any kind were her favorite customers. They simply paid too well to say no to.
The pudgy man in the fancy clothes had noticed her and Iris gave the man a smile and a small wave that the man returned with a slight blush. She was about to send the man a kiss, when a man interrupted her flirting.
“Iris, the boss wants to see you.”
She turned around to one of the Enforcers that made sure people were staying on their best behavior in the brothel. His name was Nirx and he was a solid bloke, who did not overly ogle the girls and did his job well. Iris sighed.
“What does Nefeteria want this time?”
“Not Nefeteria. Her boss wants to see you.”
Iris blinked confused. Nefeteria was the brothels proprietor and she had never had much contact to who she reported to. So she cocked her head in confusion.
“Who wants to see me Nirx?”
“Dunno, but it comes from high up, you better go quickly. There is a guy outside to bring you to him.”
Iris felt a cold shudder run down her spine and she swallowed hard. She had not missed a payment had she? What was this about? Had they decided to collect early? But the district was not like that. They were tough, ruthless, but fair most of the time. It was why everyone liked working for the district. You got paid well and they did not cheat you, even if they were all criminals and did not shy away from doing all kinds of shady things.
“I’ll go get my jacket.” iris said quickly and ran into her room. She was honestly panicking a bit. Bosses were never a good sign for her. It meant trouble. Big trouble. She got her long coat and jacket she draped over herself and stepped into some relatively comfortable shoes. Her heart was beating in her chest and she honestly considered jumping out of the window. But Nirx had followed her into the room and was waiting patiently, with his arms crossed. Damn it.
So Iris followed Nirx down the back and out of the Brothel down the outer stairs that only employees used. Down at the end of the stairs waited a man she had never seen, wearing a red armband. He nodded to Nirx then to her.
“Follow me, please.” he said and hesitantly Iris followed the man into the approaching night. Lamps were illuminated and she knew business would pick up right about now, when most people came off from work and had time to visit the district.
“I am going to miss a full day of work.” she said in protest. But the man just gave her a look and shrugged. Iris flushed in anger, but she kept herself under control.
“So who wants to see me? Grisha?” she asked, praying to Emnu it was not the case. Grisha was head of the Casinos and the loan sharks. She honestly did not know who had control of all the brothels. She just knew the proprietors who managed the day to day. The man gave her another look and then shook his head.
“Then who?”
“You’ll see.” the man said and Iris felt really, really apprehensive now. Had they determined she was of no use to them anymore? But then she would be unable to pay off her debt. It made no sense and the further they walked the less sense it made as they exited the district and walked straight towards the nice part of the Town. The guild headquarters loomed in their full opulence over her, marble pillars, frescoes and statues lined the way and the man led her to her surprise not past the guilds but towards a small side door. There a well dressed man in a suit waited for them, writing on a notepad with a strange pencil. He studied iris for a moment, but Iris was far too nervous to smile back or work her charms. The man nodded to her guide and the man turned back around.
“Follow me.” the man in the suit said and Iris followed and soon figured out who she was meeting. She saw the alchemist guilds crest on the walls and above doors and suddenly knew she was not just meeting a boss. She was meeting the boss. Of the whole district. Mars Ventros himself.
Iris felt like she was going to be sick. Why would the big boss man want to see her? She did not understand. Could not comprehend what was happening. Maybe the man had a thing for redheads? She had that happen before. Being carted off to a mage who wanted a redhead delivered. It had not been the worst night she had spent, but being reduced to her hair color had been an...experience. But at least she had understood that. This? She had no idea what was happening.
The man in the suit led her into a very nice office and knocked on a big door.
“Come in.” a man called out in a voice used to be obeyed. A voice full of authority. The man in the suit opened the door and Iris stepped into an even bigger, well furnished office with some of the richest and most luxurious decorations she had ever seen in her life. Behind a big oaken desk underneath a row of crystal clear windows showing part of the night sky sat a man clad in white. He had salt and pepper hair, the gray shining through more than the black, but the man’s face looked far younger than she had expected. The man smiled when he saw her and the deep creases in his face showed his real age. He looked affable and friendly and yet Iris knew he had ruled the criminal underworld with an iron fist since he had come here. She swallowed hard and felt her stomach turn and she felt like she was going to puke.
“Thank you, Tex. Please sit down Miss.” Mars gestured to the soft looking chairs in front of his desk and Iris hesitantly peeled herself out of her thick coat and sat down in her dress. She was nervous, scared to death, but she still knew how to present herself. She crossed her legs over and then looked up at the Boss.
“So, Miss Baker, how is your mother?” Mars asked with a smile while she heard the man in the suit close the door behind them. The sound made her flinch but she recovered and tried to smile. Tried to relax and not let the man show how much this entire invitation unsettled her.
“She is doing better, thank you for asking.”
“Your grandparents were Climbers, yes? From Earth? Which is why your mother called you Iris? I can call you Iris, I hope?” Mars said and smiled his affable smile that made him feel more like an old man just chatting to pass the time than one of the most dangerous men Iris had ever met.
“Yes, my grandfather was from Earth. I was named after his mother, sir.” she eventually said, trying to relax her shoulders and let her natural charms do the work. She was glad she had makeup on and was clad in her dark dress. It was classy, but also sexy and revealing. But if it had any affect on the man, she could not see it.
“Hah, well Earth had a significant influence on the Tower for the last 100 years. My own parents were from Earth.” Mars said with a smile and continued.
“So, how is your sister faring in Ambition? I hope the gamble to caravan her up there paid off for her.”
Iris broke out into sweat. The man knew seemingly everything about her. She felt like she was naked in front of him. Like she had no secrets. His eyes were dark and they were not smiling as he questioned her. She felt another shiver run down her back.
“She...is doing well. Thank you, sir.”
“I am glad, its rare to find someone willing to do this much even if it is for a relative, especially if someone is willing to do the same thing for strangers and incur even more debt than before.” Mars raised his eyebrows and then he chuckled.
“Apologies for my nosy questions. But why would you do that for strangers after it took you two years to pay off what it cost for your sister?”
“I...My sister Gwen knew them. They grew up on the same street as us. They did not have any talent and no prospects. I knew I could help them, offer them the chance of a better life.” she looked up at Mars in slight defiance.
“I did not want them to go through the same thing as me. I want them to have a chance to fall in love, to marry. To live a better life.”
Mars smiled at her and nodded along to her explanation.
“And yet, now they are gone and you are barely able to put food on your families table because of the debt. Even with that, would you do it again?”
Iris looked at the man and somehow felt like this was an important question. She swallowed and then said with all her courage.
“Without hesitation.”
Mars smiled at her, genuinely smiled and Iris relaxed a bit and smiled back.
“A remarkable thing, but ultimate stupid. You left yourself no margin for error. What if you hurt yourself? What if you can’t work for a significant amount of time? Even potions can’t heal everything as you know very well. To me it looks like you backed yourself into a corner and you are desperately fighting to get out of it right now.”
Iris did not say anything. She knew it had been stupid. But she had done it anyways. As much as she feared for it, she at least wanted to have some good in her life. She still did not know what this was about, but she had the feeling this was a job interview. He wanted something from her and it was not like she had initially suspected her body.
Mars stood up and started to pace behind his desk as he looked at her and eventually he put a piece of paper in front of her.
“You have learned how to read and write, correct?”
Iris nodded.
“Excellent. Well. As much as I admire you and your tenacity and willingness to sacrifice your own happiness for others, it puts you in a bad spot.” Mars nodded to the paper.
“Do you know that man?” he asked her and Iris leaned forward and inspected the piece of paper.
To her surprise it was a wanted poster, one she had seen around town a couple of times. Bounties were not enforced in the district and so they were kind of useless to her. But she had at least seen it before. It was the face of a young man, grinning and she read it silently. Wanted: Dead or alive The Cultivator. She frowned and looked up at Mars.
“I have seen the wanted posters before, but I have never met that man, sir.”
“Mhm, but you know who he is, know his reputation?”
“Yes, sir. Its hard to escape the gossip and for a while he was all the Climbers were talking about.”
“Indeed, this man has given the whole town some major headaches, even me. Until yesterday that is.” Mars stopped pacing and looked her in the eyes.
“Yesterday a man matching that description kidnapped one of my enforcers. A man of considerable strength for this floor. He interrogated him and then… He took his powers.”
Iris blinked and knew this was not information she should have. This was information worth manastones. Information people got killed over and the casual way Mars told her the story made her skin crawl and her heart beat faster. Especially at the last sentence.
“He stole his powers?” she asked and scolded herself for asking Mars bloody Ventros anything.
“Indeed. Specifically he killed the Spirit inside of the Vessel. The very source of power all Vessels posses. But he did it not to anger me or for some sort of revenge. He did it to send me a message. He wishes to talk about an alliance, cooperation between him and my organization.” Mars started to once again pace up and down and Iris was really not sure what was happening anymore.
“Now I am inclined to agree to his request. But I don’t know the man. Nobody does. He is an unknowable variable. I would love to hash out the details and get the measure of the man. But unfortunately the Cultivator has escaped the Town unseen. He has set a meeting spot east of the Town in the wilderness. But as you can imagine this puts me in a bit of a bind.” Mars sighed and pointed out at the Town that started to glow like stars as lights were lit and lanterns hung outside.
“The town has suffered tremendously under the manhunt. We need Climbers to go past the second and third floor up to the fifth so that the economy can recover. It is in my best interest and in the Town's best interest to end the hostilities and make an agreement. Not in an official capacity of course. The guilds would never work with a criminal. But I, well that is a different matter altogether.” Mars looked her straight in the eyes and smiled.
“But to do that I need to talk to the man, or communicate at least. The problem is I won’t go out there into the wilderness when I can’t trust this Cultivator to hold his word. I can’t send a Vessel out there either. Since he can apparently kill spirits.” Mars scoffed and shrugged his shoulders.
“I could send an army of course, but how would that look for a negotiation. The Cultivator would just flee or even worse would slaughter them. So I can’t send anyone important.” Mars raised a finger.
“But the Cultivator has a weakness. He is inclined to show mercy to pretty young women, just like yourself. He has even saved one such maiden before. Well admittedly he almost killed her before that, but still. The fact remains that he is not inclined to kill innocents, like yourself.”
Iris felt cold. She understood what Mars wanted from her. She swallowed and looked up at the man.
“You want me to go there in your stead.” she said softly.
Mars clapped his hands and nodded.
“Exactly. Now I will not sugarcoat it. There is a chance that the Cultivator will be unreasonable or furious that I did not show myself and he could decide to kill you.” Mars shrugged apologetically.
“But more likely is that he will listen to you and even negotiates with you. Now I am not an unreasonable man myself. So I have an offer for you.” Mars sat back down and twirled his mustache before he looked at her.
“Your debt including interest. If you do this for me, it will be gone. I will cut it entirely and from tomorrow on you will be debt free. In the unlikely, but possible scenario that you perish while negotiating, I will even promise that your mother will be taken care of. You know my reputation and I hold my word. So In case you die, I will make sure your mother will have everything she needs.” Mars said and looked her into the eyes.
Iris had held her breath, but this was so much more generous than she had expected. She had expected maybe 50 mid grade manastones or no interest for a year. Not the entire debt gone. It was a substantial number. But it was clear Mars was wealthy. He could afford this easily. But still the prospect of being free of the burden she had around her neck for years was...liberating. It was more enticing than she would have liked and yet she was afraid. She studied the wanted poster and thought back to her worst nights. To the biggest creeps and perverts that had paid for her. She had serviced killers before. But this was different. This had a real chance of her death. Was more than just dangerous. It was suicide. She had heard the stories. Heard of the man who killed in ambush, who flew through the air, who hunted in the dark and was almost immortal. A boogie man, but real. He could do things she did not even know were possible. Kill the spirit of a Vessel? That was impossible. And yet, Mars believed it.
So what should she do? What could she do? Could she even say no? Was that an option? Did she even want to?
“Now, you do not have to decide right now if you want to do this. Either way I want you to sleep on it, before you make a decision.” Mars said gently, before he put some papers in front of her.
“But in case you want to do this, I want you to read this. These are questions I want you to ask the Cultivator. Questions I want you to bring me the answer to. When you talk to him, if you talk to him. I want you to find out what kind of man he is. Does he look at you often, is he attracted to you? How does he react to your advances. And yes, if you accept I also want you to seduce him. I think for this kind of remuneration those services are included?” he asked with a small smile.
Iris swallowed and then nodded quickly.
“O-of course.” she read the first questions and then looked up to Mars.
“So...you want me to negotiate with him?”
“Yes, this here is what I am willing to offer, what you will be able to offer him.” he pointed on a section of the papers.
“The basics are simple. We will shelter him from prosecution in the district and I will call of the manhunt within a week. Everything else would be on your discretion. I don’t just want a messenger, I want you to negotiate and get a feeling for the man.”
Iris nodded slowly. She was not sure if she could do this, if she wanted to do this, but Mars continued and pointed to the last three pieces of paper.
“This here is what I expect from the Cultivator. 3 Missions. They are not important because of what he does, but how. It will show me what kind of man he is and what he is capable of. You can read it I do not mind.” Mars said with a smile, but then he turned serious.
“Of course if you tell anyone anything of what you read or heard here…then it will not end well for you or your family.” Mars said coldly.
“I would never.” Iris said quickly and Mars nodded slowly.
“Think about it Iris, a fresh start and all it takes is a little conversation and maybe a fuck in the outdoors. It is the best offer you will ever get.”
Iris nodded, but then she hesitated and asked.
“Why me, sir?”
Mars studied her for a moment and then shrugged.
“You fit the man’s tastes and quite honestly? You are expendable. Your morals and willingness to do things for others are great attributes to have. You are a brave young woman and I hope he finds you to his liking. But that is basically it. You can do the job and you are not really in a position where saying no is appealing. Of course, if you decide against doing me this favor, I will understand and find someone else. It should be your decision. But I am who I am and so I have stacked the deck against you.” Mars said with a sad smile.
“Now, go home, sleep over it and give me a decision by tomorrow morning.”
Iris felt him dismissing her and she stood up, grabbed her coat and then bowed to him.
“Thank you for the opportunity sir.”
Mars nodded at her and she left the room feeling like she had been at the job for hours. She was exhausted. In her head she went over everything he had told her. Secret information, damaging information and yet she did not once consider betraying the district. It was suicide she knew. And not like the choice she had to make. It was truly a bad idea to go against the district. She walked out of the alchemist guild hall like she was in a dream. But even before she had left the central district she knew she would accept Mars offer. She would do as the man said and sleep over it. But she knew the opportunity was too good to pass up.