Sebastian Fallmire. His face was freshly shaven, his hair was trimmed and he donned a new set of clothes. His current expression was one of exhaustion, he'd been coming to this restaurant for a whole week straight, waiting for the boy that may have been his brother, arriving in the morning and leaving when it closed. Before that, he spent a bit more than three months looking for "Ira", with some outside "assistance". Not counting Ms.Edda the owner of the restaurant, there were three people inside. Sebastian and two intelligence agents of the Kingdom, one male, and one female. They were part of the "assistance" mentioned before.
It all started after Avery Thynne murdered the Knights she was formerly in command of. Sebastian retreated back to the capital and decided to seek help from the Military. He reported the events of what happened, everything was easily confirmed as the bodies were recovered just outside the capital, and although there was no proof Avery killed them herself, her family carriage was seen at the gate by witnesses.
In exchange for some "protection", Sebastian had to tell what he knew to the Kingdom. He wasn't able to lie as an Arch Mage deployed magic that was able to detect lies, although there were loopholes in it. For example, a murderer could be asked: "Did you murder this person?" and they could respond "No." and pass, even if they beat the person half to death and left them to die in the woods, they were technically telling the truth, at least by the standards of truth magic.
So to combat that, a few highly skilled Alchemists concocted a truth serum of sorts. It left the target in a hypnotic state, which made it nearly impossible to evade the truth magic, though it wasn't entirely foolproof.
It may seem like going too far for one person, but if there was a chance to find out the truth behind the black pillar and a way to even weaponize it, nothing would be considered going too far.
As a result, Sebastian painted a clear picture. The Fallmire Family had a shaky history, they came from a line once famous archaeologists and researchers who were hired to locate remanents of the Old Kingdom and to decipher information, but eventually, their glory faded and became a memory. While the family was still wealthy, their prestige had long since disappeared into history books riddled with dust. George Fallmire continued in his ancestor's steps, still researching the Old Kingdom, and that's how he met Emily, who was a fellow researcher.
His parents happened onto an ancient book which was nearly indecipherable, apparently during an expedition into the ruins of the Old Kingdom, they spent months on end trying to decipher it, it went from a harmless interest to complete obsession very quickly. They began to recruit a few of his uncles and aunts into helping them perform a ritual, with the promise of immortality...Sebastian was no exception as even he became enraptured. Siegfried, his youngest and only brother was to become a vessel, a key part of the ritual.
Sebastian was to prevent the information from leaking out and manage the household until his parents returned with the secret to immortality. When his parents failed to return and instead a black pillar emerged, he destroyed all notes and records he had on hand of the event and spent his family fortune looking for any information he could find on his parent's and Siegfried's whereabouts.
Of course, the most important question had to be asked. What was Sebastian looking to gain if he did find Siegfried? "A chance to fix his mistake." was the answer his interrogators received, it was vague and open-ended, but it was the truth. Even so, Sebastian Fallmire couldn't be trusted so he was constantly put under watch, any suspicious activity would earn the Kingdom's punishment.
Finding Ira wasn't a difficult task. He had the makings of an urban legend, he beat Aldis Thynne in a sparring match at the Academy, defeated most of the deformed creatures made by Glen Marbot, and he even stopped a notorious gang boss who terrorized the slums. His eye-catching features made him easy to spot, so it was all a matter of finding his most frequented locations.
It placed his residence at a townhouse purchased by Avery Thynne, not too far from the MU and directly across from a restaurant, that he constantly visited. If there needed to be any clearer evidence, there was a table always reserved for him. The Kingdom's intelligence director decided to allow Sebastian "to greet his little brother", which was a nice way of saying "be bait". Based on the reported characteristics of Ira they didn't hope to catch him that was the last resort, they wanted to make contact with him through his brother and slowly rope him in.
Leading to Sebastian's current position. He clutched his head, right now he desperately wanted a drink. What would he say to his brother if they met-
At that moment, two people entered the restaurant.
"Ah! Ira..." Ms. Edda called out.
Sebastian looked over to see a handsome teen dressed in black equipped with a sword, with pitch black hair, radiant yellow eyes, and a black tattoo on his left hand entering the restaurant with a small adolescent girl also dressed in black, whose black roots contrasted the rest of her pale blue hair, along with a set of hauntingly pale blue eyes, between those eyes were three black dots.
"Something wrong?" The teen inquired.
Ms. Edda then began talking in a low voice, Sebastian couldn't hear, but guessed it was about himself.
"Oh!" The teen exclaimed with a smile.
"I hope you don't mind letting Harper order her food here, I'll go say hello." He said as he patted the adolescent girl on the back.
"No problem." Ms. Edda responded as she retreated into the kitchen, the sound of cooking utensils being used filled the previously silent restaurant.
The couple in a dimly lit corner briefly looked at the teen and then to Sebastian, as they continued their "romantic" dinner.
The teen approached the table which held Sebastian with a smile.
"Brother." He smiled cheerfully which was slightly eerie to Sebastian.
..........................................................
"Brother." Ira smiled before he undid his scabbard and hung it on the back of the chair. He sat down in a relaxed manner.
"You order yet?" He chuckled as he looked at a menu. Sebastian looked at Ira with a dazed expression.
"Yeah, I usually stick to the basics. Steak and roasted veggies, hope you don't mind." Ira put the menu down as he looked at Sebastian.
"Well, you gonna say something?" Ira asked curiously.
"You, it's really you, Siegfried I-" Sebastian began talking.
"Don't call me that." Ira said coldly. A sense of fear arose in Sebastian, the Kingdom informed him of Sieg...Ira's strength, they estimated him to have a rating of at least A-.
His information in the MU wasn't available as he wasn't registered to directly receive jobs request, which let the employer view his job history and combat rating.
"Y-yeah...Sorry...Ira, mom and dad where are they?" Sebastian asked as his palms grew sweaty.
"Dead." Ira replied indifferently as his eyes scanned over Sebastian, who felt uncomfortable under his prying gaze.
"...How?"
Sebastian worked up the nerve to finally ask after a few moments of silence. He unconsciously sent a glance over to the couple in the corner.
Ira laughed loudly as he slapped the table.
"Funny thing. I don't seem to remember you." He said as he looked Sebastian over again.
"I'm not misleading you, Sieg...Ira. We're brothers." Sebastian hurriedly explained.
"Oh, I believe that. I just can't remember you on account of all those memory wiping spells." Ira waved his hands calmly, to clear up the misunderstanding.
"..." Sebastian's expression grew apologetic and guilty.
"Ah, so you knew?" Ira lifted his eyebrows in realization, before leaning forward with a smile.
"Ira, I'm sorry...All those years ago I shouldn't have gone along with it. We all...did a terrible thing." Sebastian spilled his heart out emotionally as tears welled up in his eyes.
"I came here to correct it, but so many things happened...It all got so...I used everything I had to find you...And then when I finally arrived some woman claiming to be your fiance...she murdered her own men...and I...I just...I've been having...these nightmares about it and about you...I just can't..." Sebastian's tears fell as he got lost in his emotion and buried his face in his hands.
"Terrible thing? What they did wasn't terrible..." Ira said in a warm tone and shook his head as he placed a hand on Sebastian's shoulder. It looked as if he were comforting him.
"No, it was worse than that..." His tone changed abruptly which caused Sebastian to look up at him.
"What-" Sebastian couldn't talk as a hand clasped his throat before he could react.
"Your pitiful fucking apology won't change just anything about that day." Ira smiled, as he stood up and lifted Sebastian into the air by his throat. The "couple" in the corner looked up and grew tense, but they didn't say anything. A bit of hostility was to be expected, they wouldn't move if it wasn't life-threatening.
"...I'm...Sorry..." Sebastian squeezed out his words as he could barely breathe. Both his arms grabbed onto Ira's arm, but couldn't shake his grip in the slightest.
Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author's consent. Report any sightings.
"I'll skip the boring parts and sum it up for you." Ira tightened his grip.
"They used a poisoned dagger to carve my skin." He said while tightening his grip, causing Sebastian's face to grow redder, by now the "couple" stood up to stop Ira, but they were blocked by Harper, or more accurate to say Harper's phantom. Contrary to their looks they proved to be skillful as they fought with experience. Ms.Edda ran out of the kitchen when she heard the sound of combat and was shocked in place.
"Then, they stabbed me. But oh no, not just once, they did it more times than I care to count." Ira's hand applied, even more, pressure while he smiled as if nothing were happening. Sebastian's eyes bulged as veins surged all over his face, his arms weakly clawed at Ira, but it could do nothing to stop him.
"Then they watched me die...So no, I won't take your worthless apology." Ira whispered with a smile as he tightened his grip.
The sound of Sebastian's neck breaking reverberated throughout the restaurant.
"...I guess I did the same. Watching you die, I mean." Ira said as he dropped Sebastian's limp body onto the floor, before turning around.
Everyone stood speechless, except Harper was busy looking curiously at the couple who fought off her phantom. Ira looked at Harper and then at Ms.Edda before nodding.
"Don't kill her, Harper...and get our food." Ira hurriedly said as Harper left behind a blue trail.
She quickly dashed straight over the counter and punched Ms. Edda in the face, knocking her out cold before she had a chance to scream. Harper then stepped over Ms.Edda's body and walked into the kitchen.
"Alright, you two." Ira looked at the man and woman.
"We're agents of the-"
"I don't care." Ira cut the man off.
He appeared in front of them and placed his palms on both of their heads. A shock went through their heads, knocking them unconscious.
"Harper." Ira said as he stood over the unconscious man and woman.
"Yeah?" Harper responded as she balanced a dozen plates in her hands.
"You can create illusions, so can you make it look like they tried to rob Ms.Edda?" He asked as he waved his hand a dropped a brown duffle bag filled with weapons. It was what he retrieved from Romelyn's hideout previously.
"I can try." Harper said eagerly as she placed the plates down on the counter.
"Hmmm. For now, make it look like the place is closed." Ira said as he alternated his gaze between the man and woman on the floor. He reached over and placed his hand on the woman's neck.
He bent it at an unnatural angled before he waved his left hand over her body. Leaving no trace she was ever there. Harper's eyes flashed blue as she held up her hand and aimed toward the entrance, outsiders would now see a dark restaurant if they happened to pass by late at night. After she was done she looked at Ira with confused eyes after noticing him kill the unconscious woman.
"Two robbers seems a bit unlikely." Ira shrugged as he shuffled through the bag before pulling out a loaded crossbow and shooting an arrow near the kitchen door. Harper decided to wait for him to finish, he'd probably explain it all after he was done.
He then tied a small pouch of crossbow bolts to the man's leg and tossed the crossbow over the bar counter, he briefly stretched his arms as he went over to Sebastian's body and waved his left hand over it causing it to vanish, he then affixed his scabbard onto his hip and tidied up the table up. He then returned to the bar counter and began eating. Harper sat down next to him and ate too.
"So here's what you'll do..." Ira said as his arm flashed past Harper and took a piece of steak from her.
"Hey!" Harper shouted as her phantom appeared and reached for one of Ira's plates. Ira caught the Phantom's hand and pulled it toward him, slamming its head against the countertop and broke a few empty plates and glasses.
"That should help too." Ira said as he chewed the steak.
"Useless!" Harper cursed at the phantom.
"Things are bit complicated since I can't just kill good ol' Ms.Edda if I did that they'd probably close the place down for a while and we'd have to eat somewhere else until it reopened if it ever reopened at all." Ira said casually in a very reasonable manner, while Harper nodded in understanding finding no faults with Ira's logic.
"So here's what you'll do..." Ira began explaining his plan to Harper.
........................................
"Ugh.." Ms.Edda groaned as she clutched her heavily swollen face, she was currently on the kitchen floor, sunlight poured in through the windows outside. The last thing she remembered was-
"Ah!" She shouted as she sat up and looked to her side.
There was a man with a kitchen knife stuck in his throat and a crossbow a few feet from his body. She began to recall what happened, just before she closed up a customer drew a crossbow and attempted to rob and kill her, he fired the first bolt which luckily hit the kitchen door and not her.
He climbed over the counter knocking over her dishware and chased her into the kitchen, a struggle ensued as he chased her frantically which caused him to drop the crossbow. She tried to run out the back but he pulled her hair, ripping some of it out, and slammed her to the ground. His punches repeatedly rained down on her face before he decided to choke her, she almost lost consciousness, but somehow she grabbed a fallen kitchen knife and stabbed the man in his throat, pushing him off of her before falling unconscious.
As she remembered the events that transpired she touched her hands to the bruised area around her neck. Something felt slightly off about the situation as she felt a strange desire for steak, but she assumed it came from the shock of killing someone for the first time. She struggled to her feet and began to shout.
"Someone help! Someone help!" As Ms.Edda shouted, a few passerby's heard her and rushed in.
It didn't take long for the news to spread of an attempted robbery, who was killed by a brave widow who sought to protect her restaurant. In a few days, it would become a story that helped shake away some of the fear that the citizens in the Capital felt, and increase the popularity of The Bluebird.
The Kingdom's Intelligence Agency could do very little investigating into the matter because of the story spreading rapidly. Launching a full-blown investigation would cause panic to take over once again, and repeatedly questioning the owner could be seen as harassment earning the people's distrust.
Her story seemed to add up, her injuries were very much real and she showed no hesitation as she repeated her story with ease, but those with the Intelligence Agency knew things were very wrong. Both Sebastian Fallmire and a female agent were missing from the restaurant and haven't been seen since. The boy referred to as Ira, was now directly in their sights, but due to his possible connection to the Thynne family things needed to tread very carefully.
...............................................
The morning following the "robbery", Ira and Harper were inside of the Mercenaries Union lobby.
"Harper, you really should've eased up a little, I mean she cooks your meals." Ira said as they stood in line.
"But, you told me to pull some of her hair out and to punch her in the face." Harper said defensively.
"Yeah, but you really went for it." Ira raised his eyebrows with exaggeration.
"I mean you really punched the hell out of her face." Ira continued as he chuckled.
"But! You told me to!" She stomped her foot in a frustrated manner.
"Yeah, but still...You really messed her up pretty good." Ira added once again, his eyes widened as he recalled how much Harper punched the unconscious face of Ms.Edda, even though she held back she still managed to hurt Ms.Edda badly. Though if Ms. Edda knew the other option was being killed, she probably wouldn't complain.
"Ira!" Harper shouted while pouting.
"Alright, come on." Ira ruffled her hair and stepped up to the to the counter.
"I need to update my status card and register a new Mercenary."
Ira said to the young, female receptionist, as he handed over two status cards, and 200 Gre. He suddenly noticed the receptionist's name tag read Samantha.
"Hey, you registered me the first time I came here! How have you been?" Ira shouted in realization.
"I've been well, I'm surprised you remember me. Has it been going well for you?" Samantha responded politely and professionally as Ira began to speak. She recalled how shocked she became when she first met the boy standing in front of her. She was willing to bet now that Ira couldn't shock her anymore.
Half a year ago, she was still inexperienced in handling some matters, but now she corrected her behavior hoping to possibly become a handler for some of the top Mercenaries. What was the significance in that? Handlers were tasked with managing and advising the strongest Mercenaries. Samantha couldn't help but think of everything that came with being a Handler, daydreaming while Ira continued talking. She moved her hands to register the information and update his status card while her mind wandered elsewhere.
The salary was incredibly high and it gained them a lot a prestige within the Mercenaries Union. They would sometimes interact with leaders of the Kingdom when negotiating and planning the jobs of the Mercenaries they handled. Some would argue that skillful Handlers were just as important powerful Mercenaries. The biggest obstacle was that hundreds of people were in competition to become a Handler for any of the highly ranked Mercenaries. The top 100 Mercenaries weren't all housed in the capital, they were spread out and a sizeable amount of them were too paranoid to let others select their jobs. The most vied for Mercenary was, Rhys. The enigmatic, silent, and masked Mercenary who held the title of number one and stayed within the capital. While at the Mercenaries Union, she never spoke and was never seen without her mask, she also wasn't affiliated with a guild, she was always working alone to complete all of her jobs. Samantha set her goal in becoming the handler for the person who held the title of-
Name: Ira Rating: S+ Growth Capacity: SS+ Bloodline: Unknown Blessings: Unknown, Keeper of the third moon (Ulta Majoris) Mana Capacity: Low Passive Skills:
Supernatural: Strength, Agility, Reflexes, Senses, Regeneration, Endurance
Predatory Instincts
Kinetic Vision (Inactive)
Greater: Metabolism, Beast Manipulation, Night Vision, Physique
Self-Adaptation
Temperature Regulation
Aging Immunity
Bloodline Resonance
Genetic Mutation (Inactive)
Lunar Force Empowerment
Partial Lunar Force Control
Advanced Swordsmanship
Expert Martial Arts
Primal Awareness
Active Skills:
Short-Range Teleport, Call of the Third Moon (Inactive), Run Amok (Inactive), Nothingness(Sealed), Matter Alteration, Gravitational Alteration, Quickdraw
She shouted as she stood up in a flustered manner."Number one?!"
"Yeah, that's an odd way to put it, but, yeah." Ira raised an eyebrow and Samantha's outburst but decided to roll with it.
"...What?" Samantha re-read the status card and still couldn't believe it.
"I'm engaged. I suppose it's similar to being another person's number one." Ira raised his left hand and flashed his wedding ring.
"...What?" Samantha asked again as she tried to process what happened, the glass information screen began flashing. Notifications were sent in special cases such as this one. This particular notification was from the current head of the Grenitian Mercenary Union.
"We just talked about it. Curses. Pastries. Being engaged. Ringing any bells? Harper, you heard me, right?" Ira asked as he turned to Harper.
"Yeah." Harper nodded.
"Would you mind coming with me? Your situation has gotten the Union Head's attention. " Samantha stated as she returned the cards to Ira. She tried her best to replicate her previously professional temperament.
"Ok." Ira shrugged his shoulders, he didn't plan to do anything today except register Harper and maybe browse a few jobs, but small jobs were no longer on his mind.
Samantha closed out her receptionist desk and led Ira to the lift.
..................................................
Meanwhile, the second floor clamored as a big change occurred. The glass pillar which had the names of the top 100 Mercenaries shifted. A name unknown to almost everyone was placed at the very top, causing everyone to only pay attention to the top 3.
1. Ira 2. Rhys 3. Carter
Amidst the confusion, one party of Mercenaries that was present knew the name very well.
"You think it's really him?" Gerald asked as he stared at the ranking pillar.
"Who else goes by the name, Ira?"Sarah asked with complete surprise.
Lance was rendered completely speechless as he looked at the pillar, Ira's growth simply wasn't fair. While they trained in the academy for a few years and clawed their way up to become a B+ party, Ira jumped ahead with what seemed to be a very little effort in his eyes. A crowd gathered around the pillar, its size slowly increasing and increasing, it appeared that everyone Mercenary in the Union building would see it soon, some Mercenaries left the second floor to go inform others. Under the loud noise and frantic commotion, Lance squeezed out a question which no one heard.
"Just how is that fucking fair?"
............................................................