32: Mercenaries
Beatrice looked at the S.E.C.R.E.T. guild’s member badge that her bodyguard showed her with a tinge of sadness. Rank “C”, huh? Beatrice thought. I wonder if the ranking is similar to my skill rankings.
“What’s the lowest rank in that guild?” the succubus asked.
“F-rank,” the redhead answered and put away her badge back into her robes.
“H-how—" Beatrice stopped her own question. She was about to ask “How long have you been a part of this guild?”, but got a feeling that she might not want to know the answer. Instead, the succubus recovered with a different question. “How does the S.E.C.R.E.T. guild determine the ranks of its members?”
“Part of it is peer review,” Ember answered as she and Beatrice proceeded forward. “But the final decision is always with the guild’s Inspectors.”
“‘Inspectors’? No doubt that’s a dream job for many around here,” Beatrice smiled.
“Wait!” Ember said suddenly and stopped. She extended her arm in front of Beatrice and the succubus walked straight into it, boobs-first. Beatrice almost let out a moan from how her nipple pressed through the thin cloth of her bra into Ember’s open palm.
About fifty feet in front of the two girls five figures appeared one by one out of a connecting tunnel and slowly walked toward them. Three men and two women. They stopped about thirty feet in front of Beatrice and Ember. Standing side by side, the five-man group completely blocked the way forward.
“Ha! I told you she’d be here!” the scrawny guy said. “In your face, Bob!”
“Alright, alright, you don’t have to rub it in, Garry,” the bulky guy with a neck-beard said as he drew his loaded crossbow.
A fight already? Beatrice thought, slightly worried. I had hoped to avoid any combat, at least for now.
Ember stood next to the succubus and carefully observed the newly-arrived group.
“But how can we even be sure that this is that “Savior” chick we’ve been sent for?” The tallest of the two girls in the group exclaimed. She looked like she was in her early twenties. She had long green hair and a fragile frame. Most of her skin was exposed as she wore several pieces of green cloth that roughly formed a very loose idea of what mage’s robes would look like if designed by a pervert. And while none of her private parts were completely exposed, the mage’s outfit left very little to the imagination.
“Are you kidding!? Look at her!” The shortest of the group screamed. She was a girl in a dark-blue ninja outfit with bleached hair tied in a high ponytail and long bangs falling on her face. In contrast to the scantily clad, skinny mage girl, the ninja had almost none of her skin exposed. Even her mouth and nose were covered by a dark-blue cloth mask.
“Do you know of any other women in this entire godforsaken city with a huge dick between their legs!? Or have you finally lost your sight along with all your other senses you fucked away?”
“Hey!” The skinny mage protested with a pout.
“Well said, Olivia,” The tallest of the group said with a nasty smirk. He was in his early thirties, and was good-looking, with a square jaw. But his entire demeanor emanated a malevolent intent of somebody you did not want to meet alone in the dark. He wore nothing but black pants and an open vest, revealing his shredded abs. “For once, luck is on our side!”
“Oh, I knew you could do it, Sebastian!” the mage instantly changed her demeanor from a pouty girl to an overly-supportive lover. Although the mage was nearly two heads taller than the ninja, Sebastian towered over her. She wrapped her skinny arms around Sebastian’s giant biceps and kissed it. Then she looked up lovingly at the man who did not even bother looking back and cheerfully said, “This will finally restore your relations with young Julius!”
“Hey, stupid! You’re not supposed to reveal the name of our boss!” the ninja girl screamed at her female companion.
“What does it matter, Olivia?” The girl pouted. “They’re as good as dead anyway!”
“The slut is right,” Sebastian said. “Their luck ran out when they ran into me.”
“Oh, come on, Sabby! You know I like it when you call my name!” the mage pouted again. “Ta-bi-tha. Remember? Now, how about I tell them who exactly wants to kill them and why? I found it quite funny and I think—”
“Think?” Sebastian interrupted Tabitha and snorted. “I do not keep you around to think! I’m amazed your cum-addled brain can still form coherent sentences!”
Garry and Bob laughed, while Olivia kept her eyes on Ember and Beatrice. Tabitha did not react in any way to Sebastian's remark or her teammates' laughter, though for just a split-second Beatrice noticed the mage’s eyes glaze over.
“But damn, she’s a looker!” Bob pointed out. “Do we really have to kill her? Like right away? Can’t we have a little fun first?”
“Seriously? Again with that crap? You’ve been in the S.E.C.R.E.T. district for the past week! Haven’t you had enough?” Olivia seemed repulsed.
“Nah, Bob is right on this one,” Sebastian said and scratched his abs. “She’s a ten out of ten!”
“Hey!” Tabitha pouted again.
“That’s just how it is,” Sebastian said coldly. “That doesn’t mean I plan to keep her though! As long as we bring her head to Julius, nobody can blame us for having some fun.”
“Hey, if her dick works, maybe have her fuck her friend?” Bob suggested. “We could take turns taking her from behind while she does it!”
“Nice idea! I like it,” Sebastian said and smirked again.
Nope! I am not getting done in by these rejects! Beatrice decided. But I really don’t want to fight either. That would mean investing in my Combat or Mischief skills. And I don’t even know how high leveled these guys are. If this is a standard wish-fulfillment setting, I should be able to mop the floor with these losers and brush their teeth with my cock! But I better play it safe, for now.
Beatrice threw a glance at her bodyguard who’d been standing beside her all this time and calmly listening to the exchange of the five-man group. She’s calm and focused—that’s a good sign, Beatrice thought. So far bluffing hasn’t failed me, so no reason to stop now!
Beatrice raised her chin a little, straightened her shoulders, puffed out her impressive, barely concealed breasts, and asked in a confident, slightly dismissive tone, “Who the hell even are you? Some wannabe mercenaries?”
“We’re not just any wannabe mercenaries!” Tabitha shouted and took a step forward. “We're Golden Daggers! And Sebastian is the greatest mercenary in the entire kingdom! And his cock is the girthiest of them all! He's just been slightly unlucky lately with lousy jobs, that's all!”
The ninja girl audibly groaned as her eyes rolled back into her skull.
“You really have no idea who you’re messing with, do you?” Beatrice asked. “Honestly, you’re beneath me! I might as well let my friend toy with you and not bother dirtying my own hands.”
The succubus took a couple of steps back, past Ember. As she walked past Ember, Beatrice whispered, “You’ve got this, right?”
Ember simply nodded and took a step forward.
“Why don’t you surrender peacefully?” Bob asked and aimed his crossbow at Ember. “I have lots of ideas about what to do with you and very few of them involve impalement by an arrow.”
“Sure, let me think about it,” Ember said sarcastically as she raised her hand.