[This chapter contains graphic violence and foul language. All characters, cultures, and events are purely fictional and intended for entertainment purposes only.

  Reader discretion is advised].

  Chapter 5.

  Tea With Executioners.

  "How much time has passed? How long was I asleep?" Elisa murmured, pushing herself up from the silk pillows. She stretched, her joints popping in the quiet air.

  But as the haze of sleep cleared, she realized something was profoundly amiss.

  She scanned the room, her brow furrowing. The portraits that had lined the walls yesterday were gone, replaced by unfamiliar landscapes. The very texture and hue of the walls had shifted, and even the heavy oak furniture was different. It was as if she and Sia had been spirited away to an entirely different room while they slumbered.

  "I am utterly confused," Elisa whispered to the empty room. "What is happening here? Since yesterday, everything feels... wrong."

  Knock, knock.

  The sound of Karlo and Margaret's voices drifted through the heavy wood of the door. "My Lady, are you awake? May we enter?" Margaret called.

  "Ye... yeah," Elisa stammered.

  "Greetings, My Lady. I trust you found your rest refreshing," Margaret said, stepping inside with a deep bow. Her eyes lingered on Elisa, a strange, flickering serenity behind her smile that didn't quite reach her gaze.

  "Ugh... good morning, My Lady," Sia added, sitting up with a wide yawn.

  Margaret moved with practiced grace, pouring steaming rose tea into a delicate porcelain cup. She set it on the side table alongside a plate of fresh cookies, their buttery scent suggesting they had been pulled from the oven mere moments ago.

  Karlo reached into his coat pocket and withdrew a small glass vial. He stepped toward Sia. The girl stiffened, ducking her head in a fit of sudden shyness as he approached.

  "What is that, Sir Karlo?" Elisa asked, picking up her tea.

  Karlo uncorked the vial, his expression as immovable as granite. "It is Holy Water, My Lady. It will mend Miss Sia's injuries instantly."

  Elisa nearly choked on her tea. She set the cup down with a sharp clack. Holy Water?

  The legends said Holy Water was composed of the very tears of the Goddess Kiana. It was an artifact of supreme rarity, guarded by the High Priests within the Holy Temple of the Holy Land. How could a mere mercenary guild possess something that even emperor struggled to obtain?

  "What do you mean, Holy Water?" Sia stammered, her eyes wide with terror and awe. "I... I cannot possibly use that. I am but a maid. It is far too precious—too expensive!"

  "It is a simple gift from our Boss," Karlo stated. "Please, accept it."

  Elisa let out a soft, defeated sigh. "Very well. Give your Boss our thanks."

  As Karlo handed the vial to Sia, Elisa's mind raced back to the histories she had studied. Decades ago, the Empire and the Holy Land had been locked in a brutal conflict over a divine heirloom—a gift from the God flemian to the first Emperor, which he had eventually bequeathed to his friend, the first High Priest. Greed had soured that ancient friendship, leading to a war of steel and sorcery. Thousands had perished before the late Emperor Titone ended the bloodshed by signing a peace treaty, though the two nations remained bitter rivals to this day.

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  The Holy Temple fears no Emperor, Elisa thought. Why would they grant such a treasure to a common guild?

  She watched as Sia drank the liquid.

  "Oh! The pain is gone, My Lady! Look!" Sia jumped from the bed, stomping her foot hard against the floor several times to prove her point.

  "Stop that! Are you a child?" Elisa chided, though her voice was thick with relief. "You'll hurt yourself all over again if you aren't careful."

  "I-I'm sorry," Sia mumbled, her lip pouting slightly.

  "My Lady, please refresh yourself and take your breakfast," Karlo interrupted. "Once you are finished, the Boss will receive you. Ring the bell when you are ready."

  ***

  An hour later, Elisa stood before the mirror, dressed in a fresh gown provided by the maids. The scent of roses clung to her skin, and for a moment, a genuine smile touched her lips. The people here are truly strange, she thought.

  She rang the bell. Karlo appeared shortly after. "Let us go. It is time to meet the Boss."

  He led her toward a door on the opposite side of the room—a door that Elisa was certain had not existed the night before.

  Teleportation magic, she realized as she stepped through the threshold. She felt the familiar, sickening tingle of a magic circle at work. While not unheard of among the high nobility, maintaining such a circle was an astronomical expense. For an investigation bureau, it was a display of staggering power.

  They walked down a long, opulent corridor. Elisa could feel the hum of magic vibrating through the very stones of the walls.

  Knock, knock. "We are entering, Boss," Karlo announced, swinging the door open.

  The office was a testament to luxury: heavy velvet curtains, the sweet scent of lavender, and gilded trimmings. A young boy—Dane, the one from the alley—sat on a sofa, casually munching on an apple.

  But Elisa's attention was instantly captured by two other sights.

  First, the girl sitting behind the massive desk. She looked no older than twenty, with shimmering green hair and a complexion like porcelain. Her eyes were predatory, sharp and calculating. Elisa felt a flicker of genuine apprehension beneath her curiosity.

  The second sight was far more gruesome.

  Two men lay slumped on the floor, their faces unrecognizable under purple bruises. Their fingers were twisted at unnatural angles—the silent testament to a brutal torture session.

  The girl rose from her chair, her green hair catching the light as she approached. "Greetings, Lady Elisa Nirvana." Her voice was a challenge, testing Elisa's mettle. "I am Lily. The Boss of this guild, known to the world as the Wild Dog Investigation Bureau."

  "Thank you for your hospitality, Lady Lily," Elisa replied, her gaze drifting back to the broken men on the floor.

  "Lady Lily," Karlo spoke up, noticing Sia beginning to tremble. "Perhaps you should remove these wretches. It is hardly a sight for guests."

  Lily smirked, a sharp, dangerous expression. "No. I believe it is necessary for My Lady to see. Our clients should understand exactly how we conduct our business." She walked to the desk and picked up a wicked-looking dagger. "Dane."

  Dane sighed, tossing the core of his apple into a nearby bin with a pout. "Ugh, I'm still hungry, Lily. We could have finished this later."

  He pulled on a pair of leather gloves studded with jagged stones—tools designed to turn a simple punch into a devastating wound.

  Thwak! Twak!

  Dane rained blows down upon the mercenaries. Blood sprayed across the floor as they groaned in agony.

  "Stop, Dane," Karlo commanded, his voice ringing with authority.

  Dane flinched. "But I was just starting to have fun!"

  "Finish it quickly," Karlo barked.

  Elisa and Sia sat on the sofa as the scene unfolded. While Sia huddled into herself, Elisa remained stoic. She had died in a gutter; she knew the sound of a fist hitting flesh. She knew the sting of a blade. This was nothing new to her.

  "Lady Lily," Elisa said, her voice devoid of emotion. "Might I ask what these men did to earn such a fate?"

  "They attempted to rape a fifteen-year-old girl," Lily said, her lips curling with fury. "Do you not agree they deserve a death paved with agony?"

  Elisa didn't answer. She merely watched the men, her jaw tight with a shared, silent rage.

  "Ugh, enough. I'm bored now. Move, Dane," Lily said, rising from the sofa and twirling the dagger with lethal grace.

  Dane stepped back, his white shirt speckled with crimson. Lily placed the dagger and a small vial of poison on the floor between the two men.

  "Ugh... My Lady, please," one of the men sobbed, pressing his forehead into the floor. "We made a mistake! Let us go!"

  "You rotten pig," Lily hissed. "What you did wasn't a mistake. It was a choice."

  "Do you not know who we are?" the other man suddenly shouted, his voice cracking with desperate arrogance. "We are high nobility! If we choose to sport with a filthy commoner girl, what of it? She should have been honored! How dare she refuse us?"

  "You bastard," the first man wept, his body shaking. "My Lady, I am sorry! Forgive me!"

  Rotten bastards, Elisa thought, her eyes narrowed. They deserve worse than death.

  Lily didn't hesitate. She drove the dagger deep into the thigh of the man who had shouted.

  "Ahhhhh!" His scream filled the room, jagged and raw.

  "I give you two choices," Lily said, her voice cold as a winter gale. "First, I can kill you with my own hands—a slow, agonizing process. Or, you can drink this poison. I cannot say what it does, but perhaps it offers a quicker end."

  The first man gulp but after a minute he scrambled for the vial, his hands shaking so violently he nearly dropped it. He downed the liquid in one gulp.

  "Ugh... purrr..." A thick, purple froth bubbled from his mouth. His skin turned a sickly black, and the sound of snapping bones echoed through the room as his body spasmed and died in seconds.

  "The poison seems more painful, wouldn't you say, Dane?" Lily asked, staring at the corpse.

  "No, I still prefer the dagger," Dane replied with a witty shrug.

  "Behead them both," Lily commanded Karlo. "Dump their heads on their families' doorsteps with a warning. Let the world know what happens to those who prey on children."

  Karlo remained silent, but his eyes softened with a brotherly concern as he looked at Lily.

  Lily turned back to Elisa, her blood-splattered dress a stark contrast to her beautiful face. "Now... let us hear your grievances, My Lady. Would you care for some tea?"

  Elisa sat in silence.