“And I’m telling you, the price is too high for the task at hand. Reconsider your price Nanami-sama, for we are aware of your reputation and that of the men who follow you. The task needs to succeed. We could not ask anyone else to do it. It is that important.”

“You come asking for the best, however, you are not smart enough to consider the cost of hiring someone like me and even dare to bargain the price? Give me one good reason I should do as you ask.”

“Well, you see, it would save one of the coastal domains from being utterly destroyed and that would grant you greater respect in the Coastal Domains, not only that, but you and your band of mercenaries would have a safe haven whenever you would wish to avoid the law of other kingdoms. I have here the scroll of the governors signed to confirm this. Furthermore, it would then improve your network and I can assure you that rich people will then seek you out.”

Nanami stared at the man long and hard, Rioga, her second in command stood beside her, his long black hair tied in a ponytail and he did not move a muscle. He knew well enough that this had already been discussed amongst themselves and they were just waiting for the great reveal. He knew that Nanami was a mistress of forcing weak people to show her all their cards so they had to make sure there would be no plans to betray the mercenaries once the task was done and that they did not expect them to lower their prices on a whim without any leverage. Now that they knew they would be safe and it would be a convenient task for them to do despite the price, he just waited for his Captain to make the decision for the band. He trusted her with his life, after all, they had been doing this for years ever since she saved his life and, in doing so she had promised to help him find his missing sister.

Nanami had a good look through the papers and even tested the seals and exposed them to the flickering light of the candle should there be any concealed text in them. She was not going to be ill used by anyone, besides she had her mercenaries to think about as well. She finally set them on the table and stared at the man hard, he seemed to be nervous but he did not flinch. He was not lying. She was wearing her comfortable black traveling clothes with a revealing neckline and her hair was set loose behind her shoulders, there was a beautiful brooch of a blue Sakura on one of the sides of her head. Her aquamarine eyes finally looked at the man, his two advisors however were blushing deeply due to the beauty of this fierce Captain. They had listful grins on their faces and it made her sigh, however she then said. “You have yourselves a deal, however, I must stress the importance of secrecy here.”

The man nodded silently and then said, “I am a man of my word, you will receive half the payment now and half once it is completed. I hand over to you these letters that you have examined and the two buffoons next to me will not betray this meeting...” He blushed, rubbing the back of his head as he trailed off before he finished, “… for obvious reasons.” Nanami knew what he meant, she had a reputation and people admired her but they also lusted after her. She smirked and then said, “Very well, Rioga, take the payment and the letters and store them in the secret place and tell the men we will be leaving at first light.”

Rioga bowed deeply, “As you wish, Captain.” He was not happy walking away and leaving her on her own, but he trusted she would reach out for him should she need any help. Nanami smiled for a brief moment as the man left, they really had become like family to her. She then shook hands with the man and discussed the last bits of the plan. She then returned to her secret hideout, the men were already getting ready for the mission at hand. As soon as she arrived Rioga greeted her and offered the reports needed to carry out their plan. Some men were already positioned in place as lookouts and they had the rota of the patrolling guards so saving the young prince of one of the islands will be easier than expected.

There was a catch. No job was ever easy and that Nanami learned after years of experience. Truth was they had offered them a good price for the job, but the men who hired them had no idea on who they were messing with. She did because she was not human, she was a demon and so her network ran deeper than any human network eer could. Apparently, a powerful demon who was daimyo of a demon territory on an island near Kutou was the one who had ordered the capture of the young prince to what end? Well, she did not know and was not too bothered to find out, after all, she was a mercenary. She did not investigate things too deeply or else she would enter the rabbit whole never to come back out and her main drive in this life was to survive and protect her men. She could tell the daimyo did not expect anyone to mettle on his affairs so he must be powerful indeed. The boy was still in the continent so that meant it would be easier to rescue him before he is transferred to the island than afterward.

The plan was simple, they had dones themselves with uniforms they had stolen from the daimyo and had hired a boat, five of them would go on the mission, one of them being Nanami. Rioga would be the one dealing with the men who had kidnapped the boy and were expecting orders. Nanami would lure them into a cave with her charms where some soldiers would be waiting to capture them and take them to the local authorities for the kidnapping of a prince and then Rioga would pretend to take the boy, along with the other three mercenaries to the island. Once they were as far as possible from simple sight, they would change the course of the boat and sail back to the island where the prince resided. Along the way they would receive the rest of the money and Nanami had spies on the island ready to let them know in case they decided to betray them at the last minute. She was ready for everything, she had seen everything.

Something nagged at the back of her head but she ignored it for now. She knew that the powerful daimyo would not sit idly and allow the prince to be kidnapped, that is, as soon as he found out he would probably make use of his own network to find the people responsible for such defiance and she feared her men would be in danger. Rioga had insisted she did not join them on the boat trip, but she could not stop herself from riding on a horse along the periferia in order to keep an eye out for them and alert them should there be any unexpected danger. Maybe she was overreacting, as surely the main people responsible for this were the advisors on the island who wanted their prince back, but many people sought revenge against the people who did the first work and she did not wish to lose any of her men in the process. She had promised their families that she would keep them all safe, what kind of a Leader would she be if she did not fulfil this promise?

She knew it would be a whole day’s trip on horseback, but she could not sit idly until Rioga and the men returned after successfully completing the mission. She did trust her men, after all, she seldom trusted people and knew they were the best in their areas of expertise but she would feel better if she could oversee this task, as it concerned a demon and her kind was rather cunning and devious. She had lost her people before, and it had broken her heart, not this time. Now that she was older and stronger she would do everything at hand to keep them all safe.

And so, after taking the occasional break, by midday she reached the border of the continent and could see the smallest form of land due to the distance to the island. Albeit, unable to see what was transpiring there and then, she did not see or hear the sound of a commotion or a nautical battle so she assumed everything had been done according to plan and she smiled. She could see her men returning the boat and getting ready to go back to their hideout. She would give them a raise after doing such a good job she smirked, she would picture Rioga keeping the morale of the group. He was like a big brother to everyone in the group, she feared the day he found his missing sister would be a rather bittersweet one for everyone. Maybe he would stay with them. However, if his sister was unable to look after herself Nanami did not have the heart to make her join this way of life, after all she was only seventeen. No, the life of a mercenary was hard. She had experienced it first hand.

With one sigh she spun the horse around and urged him into a canter, she was one more place to go to at the border before she returned to their secret hideout. She dismounted near the smithy and tied the horse’s reins securely before she walked inside with a smile, “Yaisuke-san, how is the business going, you still won’t let Yui-chan to give you a hand with your work?” Laughter could be heard from inside the smithy as an elderly man smashed a blade with a hammer, surprisingly, his daughter Yiu was helping him. Nanami was impressed and she smiled at them, “Took you long enough, old man.” She smirked as he said, “Young people must wait until they are old enough and mature enough to handle things around a smithy.” Yui laughed softly and then embraced Nanamy for a moment in order to greet her. She returned the embrace in kind and moved to sit beside the old man. She placed a pouch of money beside him and he eyed the poach and raised an eyebrow, “You know, you don’t always have to pay extra for my work. The orders are always running.”

Nanami smiled at him, “I know that but, you have always been like family to me, under such circumstances is it not normal for a child to leave some extra money behind?” The man chuckled and then said, “I’m nearly done with this order, I have the sets of armour and weapons you requested all finished in the storage room if you wish to have a look.” She smiled at him and then went to the room and examined some of the blades and armour, she smiled noticing he had used the logo of her guild of mercenaries, he even went through the trouble of ordering some matching cloaks, she was glad she always gave him extra money.

She packed everything nearly on the horse and after having some tea with the both of them and catching up she got on her horse, she then paid for the items to be delivered, she still had one more thing to do before she returned so she wanted her men to get ir of their old armour and gear and be ready with the new armour on by the time she returned. They would celebrate a job well done. She reached a small mound and dismounted for a moment. She had that build in commemoration of her lost family. She removed the old and dried bouquet and placed a fresh one. She felt the sorrow of losing her family once more and could still hear their screams at night, but she decided to move on and survive just as her mother had begged her to. She closed her eyes in an attempt to catch up with her deceased family and sat there for a couple of hours overlooking the pier before she turned to get back on the saddle of her horse and be on her way back.

Asroth had learned some time ago that women were trouble, especially demon women. his mother, Shinako, had left when he was fifteen. Yes, it was true that there was no real love lost between himself and his mother, and being forced to fight his father to the death had ended up having an overall positive impact on his life, but he would have preferred to take out his father on his own terms, and not because the old man was foolishly sentimental. He sometimes wondered where his mother had gone, and what sort of things she was getting into. He didn’t miss her, mind, he simply wondered if she was going to make herself a pest by getting in his way at some point down the road.

And then there was his little pet. Yukiina. She was lovely, yes, and strong…and her escape still made him angry. He would get back at her some day, and show her what happened to those who crossed him. He stared down into his crystal goblet of eine, thinking as he swirled the dark red liquid absently that he would have to try and track her down doon. The last thing he needed was her to pop up after all this time and get in his way once more, especially now that he’d secured an alternate way to gain power. All he needed was for his men to hurry up with delivering Prince Kaitou.

His plan was elegantly simple… Though to be fair, most of his plans were. He would…persuade Kaitou to be loyal to him, and once any injuries were properly healed up, he would ship him back to the mainland. He was a handsome, charming young prince, and surely one of the Princesses would agree. Young human women were so easily swayed by kind words and a pretty face. Of course, as Kaitou;s close, personal friend, he would finally be able to spend time with the princesses, and with a few expertly placed charms and potions,,,

He smirked as he sipped from his goblet. This would be his easiest plan yet. He looked up sharply when the door to his private study opened, and one of his men rushed in with his head down. Asroth scowled. His men knew better than to enter so rudely. “This had better be good, Ren. To enter without knocking, you know you take your life in your hands.”

The demon looked up, eyes wide and fearful. “Oh! Forgive me, my lord! I just… Well, I heard from the group who went to retrieve our guest, and…” He hesitated.

Asroth waited a moment to hear what he had to say but he soon scowled when the answer didn’t come as quickly as he’d like. “As my patience grows short, so does your life expectancy. What did the men report?”

“They… were unsuccessful, my lord. The prince was rescued and taken home safely.” Ren flinched when Asroth growled, throwing the elegant crystal goblet to the floor with more force than strictly necessary. He crossed to Ren in a few long strides and grabbed up the shorter man by the throat, ignoring the choking sounds.

When the demon lord spoke again, his voice was dangerously calm and quiet. “What do you mean he was rescued? Rescued by whom? I want to know everything.”

Ren made a choking sound, and Asroth dropped him to the ground so he could catch his breath enough to speak. After several deep breaths, Ren clambered to his feet and dusted himself off, trying to look presentable once more. “I do not have all of the details, my lord, but it appears that the group sent to detain the prince were intercepted by a group of mercenaries, presumably hired by his advisorts to ensure his safe return. They were well led, my lord, and worked almost seamlessly. I’ve been led to believe that our men didn’t stand a chance.”

Asroth scowled. “My highly trained men defeated by a bunch of worthless human mercenaries?!”

Ren cleared his throat. “I did a bit of digging before I came to see you, my lord, and I have reason to believe that the leader is not human, but rather, I believe there is evidence that she is a demon…”

That made him pause for a moment. A demon mercenary could come in handy, especially if her men were as well trained as they seemed to be. He was still furious at the loss of the prince, but…one loss often led to another gain. “Send Yu and anyone else capable and available. I want this woman captured and brought to me immediately.” he thought about it, then shook his head. “No, on second thought, lock her up in the cell in the west wing. Ensure she’s unconscious, and that her eyes are blindfolded, and use every precaution we have to hold a powerful demon at bay.”

“The west wing, my lord? Are you sure you want her so close to your personal chambers?”

Asroth smirked. “Yes. If she can escape, I wish to talk business with her, and if she cannot…” He turned to look at his broken goblet, using a little magic to repair and refill the glass, and summoning it to his hand once more, before taking a sip. “I am sure I can find some use for her.”