"Thank you for saving me!" Yanda bowed to the group when they returned to their accommodations.

  "Don't mention it!" Ren shook her head, smiling, "It was not a problem, and your father asked us to look for you."

  "How did you end up as a sve?" Isha asked curiously, looking at the boy, interested in his scales.

  "Well…" He sighed, shaking his head, "It was just two days after I arrived at the Kingdom's territory. Right after leaving the first city, I came across bandits who managed to surround me. I was hoping they just wanted to rob me, so I gave up the valuables I had on me to avoid further trouble... But then they decided to kill me to leave no witnesses behind. That was when I fought back!"

  "I guess you lost?" Isha raised her eyebrow.

  "No, I killed them all."

  "Oh? Then?" She tilted her head, surprised at the outcome.

  "Just after the battle came to another group... They were waiting for the whole ordeal to end, and then they beat me down after I exhausted myself. They put a colr on me, saying I'll be a fine product. The rest is history! I was brought to a warehouse, cataloged, my mixed heritage inspected, then thrown up at an auction for the wealthy, where that bitch bought me."

  "Guessing from your reactions, she wasn't a good owner." 01 chuckled.

  "No, she wasn't. She is selfish and irate, not to mention a complete pervert."

  "That would be a big scandal if the outside world gets a whiff of it!" Isha grinned, elbowing Ren, "We should spread it."

  "Nobody would believe it." She rolled her eyes, smiling.

  "Probably not. Anyway, I just want to get away from here as soon as possible!" Yanda shook his head, sighing again. "I want to leave it behind me as soon as I can."

  "Well, we are still staying, and I can't let you travel alone, not after what happened." Ren answered, smiling at him, "You will be escorted; I hope you understand that. Also, you are talented; you should come to our sect in the future after we take you home!" She added, quickly expining who they were.

  "Yes, I would gdly do so!" He nodded after hearing everything. "But first, I want to meet with my father and apologize for leaving. It was… a stupid thing to do; I can see it now."

  "Sure! 01, 02, escort him back to the Rorik Kingdom; when you are done, return to us!"

  "Yes, Master!" Both of them bowed immediately.

  After a full meal, Yanda couldn't wait to leave, and soon he was sitting behind 02 as they rode out with their horses, leaving Isha, Lacuss, and Ren behind. They had just left the city's premises when another group arrived, missing each other... Which was a blessing, as the new group's first act was to visit the Finance Minister's vil.

  Jarkat was in his study, reviewing various documents, ensuring everything looked perfect in case an inspection came from the Royal family. He never noticed when they arrived, but once he looked up, a group of people looked back at him with a smile that made him shiver.

  "Who are you? How did you get in here?! Do you-" but before he could say anything more, a whip snapped loudly beside his head, tearing off his ear, and he could only scream in agony as he held onto his bleeding head.

  "Easy there, Ortis!" their leader chuckled, raising a hand. "He has no strength to speak of. If you accidentally kill him, what are we going to do?"

  "Sorry, it was by reflex~!" He pulled back his whip while Jarkat colpsed on the floor, trembling, holding the cut-off ear of his.

  "We are here to talk... I hope you will honestly answer everything we want to know." The bald man smiled, stepping on Jarkat's table, crushing it into pieces so he could look up at his scarred face, and Jarkat's only reaction was fervent nodding, his mouth trembling.

  "Good, good! My name is Gilgan. I hope we can get over this quickly... for your sake."

  When his questioning began, it was simple and straightforward, cutting straight to his connections, the previous deals with the assaulted base, and everything that could shed light on what happened. Jarkat, fearing for his life, immediately told them everything, including where to find the other ministers, what role they pyed, and what benefit each of them gained from it. Doing business under the table was lucrative, but even with his reserves, he would find it hard to repce the lost ear... He did not want to lose any more critical pieces of his!

  "We don't care about your benefits or the money you pocketed." Gilgan shook his head as Jarkat began making excuses, "We are here to find who put their hands on our people. I heard all I wanted from you, and I thank you for your swift cooperation." He smiled, looking at Ortis, "Your turn!"

  "W-what? I-I told you everything!"

  "Yes, but we need to be sure. Under torture, it will come out if you lied or not." He smiled, walking up to a cabinet, taking out a bottle of wine, and sharing it with others while Ortis went on, doing what he does best…

  It was already deep into the night when they left the vil, and the mutited, fleshy carcass of Jarkat was withering in the study, still alive but barely recognizable as a human, only as a meaty stump.

  "Should we visit the others he mentioned?" Seq asked, who acted as the second-in-command, carrying his poleax on his back.

  "No need. These idiots are clueless and only worry about possible monetary or political fallout that would affect them. They are afraid they may lose their position or go to jail… Heh! They wouldn't have the balls or power to act against us." Gilgan replied, lighting a cigarette.

  "Still, we should visit them; we can't be sure, and someone needs to leave a message for the others who come after them." Ortis chuckled happily, still dripping with blood, his arms soaked up to the elbows.

  "You just want to have more pytime..." Algat rolled his eyes, the member with the repeating crossbow on his back.

  "That's just an added bonus!" Ortis nodded, smiling sheepishly.

  "Algat, go with Ortis, but finish before daybreak," Gilgan commanded all of a sudden.

  "Me? Why is it me who should accompany this sicko?!"

  "Because the Leader said so." Seq looked at him, and in the end Algat just shrugged, looking at the grinning Ortis as shivers ran over his body.

  "At least act like a man… You are creeping me out with this girly pose and the other shits you pull all day long..." He grumbled, leaving with Ortis, heading towards the next minister's home.

  "Oh, come on, I know you like it~! Why be so uptight about it? We could go for a round if you want; I'm not against doing it with a smaller guy; I'm not like the other girls."

  "Because you are not a girl! Fuck! Just… let's move on, okay? With this pace, you wouldn't be able to skin every one of them by morning..."

  "Oh, oh, you are right; let's hurry!" He cpped, sucking back up his saliva when hearing his words, disappearing.

  When the two left, Gilgan and Seq aimed at where Lulu lived, quietly flying and descending at her pce. When she saw the arriving figures, she was stoic and just sat on her balcony, smoking and drinking wine, clearly already under the influence, as dozens of empty bottles littered the ground.

  "What? Is this the new method of greeting and meeting with the daughter of the crown prince? Why the fuck was I not notified, huh?" Lulu chugged the wine down, throwing the empty bottle at the arriving Gilgan, who caught it before it could hit him.

  "Mmm,.. pretty strong wine you got there." He smelled it before taking a few sips from what remained in its bottom.

  "And? So what? What is it to you? So? What do you want now, huh? Fuck off!"

  "I get it... We are not the first to visit you?" Seq asked, catching on quickly.

  "No, you are the second group. The first one stole my pet!" She grumbled, close to slurring her words.

  "Interesting… We are also here because someone stole ours." Seq added as Lulu looked up at them, unimpressed.

  "If you are here because of what happened a few days ago, then I may be able to help you out."

  "We would greatly appreciate that, Miss. We wouldn't want to y our hands on someone with your kind of backing~!" Gilgan chuckled, but Lulu wasn't intimidated in the least.

  "Hmf, at least you recognize it, even though you have an eyepussy on your face! Bitchmade fuckface!" She snorted, getting really angry that they thought she would be afraid of them, just because they were stronger. Fuck them. Fuck both groups in fact! Go, kill each other! But she didn't say that part out loud. "There were five of them. They flew down like I should look up to them! Pretentious bitches, just like you two!"

  "Geez, I am gd we sent Ortis away, Leader… he would be already at her neck," Seq whispered in a humorous voice, finding the drunken girl to be hirious.

  "I see, I see." Gilgan nodded, turning a bit serious at the information that there were five experts who were now potential enemies. "What happened next? Can you give us a description of them?"

  "Yeah, sure, why not!" She chuckled and recounted everything that had happened before, including how they took away Yanda, giving vivid descriptions of their appearances, especially Ren's. At the end of her monologue, she was red as a tomato again, seething with rage, standing up, and kicking away the empty bottles. "I want my Yanda back!"

  "Well, Miss," Gilgan spoke with a friendly voice, "We are from the Ironcws. You purchased our product! Usually, there is no warranty for events like this, but as it seems your robbers are in the same group as the one we are after, if we find them and deal with them, we will bring back your pet."

  "Really?" She asked, suddenly no longer looking drunk and not swaying.

  "Promise."

  "Good, you can do whatever you want; I'll cover for you if you cause a mess. I don't care; I just want my Yanda!" She said, her voice scaring even Gilgan.

  "We appreciate it. Wait for our return!" They cupped their hands as they left, while Lulu just fell back into her chair, looking up at the night sky, a weird smile slowly creeping across her face, already pnning what she would do with Yanda after she got him back. "And if not..." She added, slipping her hand into her panties, "At least some of these motherfuckers will die... It's a win-win."

  "Should we search for them now, Leader?" Seq asked with a serious expression after they left Lulu's home.

  "No." He muttered, thinking through it, "We wait for the other two, then go for it... We are expecting five Harmony-level experts. You heard the drunken whore, no? I don't want to step into shit, and drag it around everywhere, so we'll go together... But by daybreak, we scour the city. If we find them, we ask no questions! Kill them all, that's it."

  "Ortis won't be happy about that." Seq licked his lips, getting excited.

  "He can have fun tonight... The enemy is strong; we won't be able to py around, so prepare for an all-out battle."

  "Yes, sir!"

  "Good. When the sun comes up, we bathe this city in blood."