The day after meeting their fellow kin, Janet went under the cover of night to visit her workplace.

In accordance with their policy, one has to wear entirely black and make sure that nobody follows them. The black was optional, but it does make sneaking easy.

For Janet, it was customary. She gained Acquired Skills that helped her gain stealth far beyond normal capacities, something that even an Expert like her can be undetectable by Journeymen. The fact that Mikella somehow found her proved that she was definitely not normal even among them.

Janet meticulously traced each of her footsteps, keeping an eye out for any potential stalkers. This time, she kept a further eye out than normal. Just because she was on her day off back then didn't mean she could forgive herself for being followed by Mikella that time.

Even taking all of her advantages and opportunities, Janet still had her pride.

The guild was, following a certain saying, 'a tree hiding among the forest'. In other words, she traveled towards the very center of the capital city. Normally this would take hours of travel, but this is where one who has been part of the guild for a while proves their worth.

She swiftly entered into an alley, just around a few guards that were patrolling the area and were just about to turn there. Within the darkened alley, she spotted what looked like a grate meant for rain water to flow through. She first drew an insignia she recalled by heart on the surface of the grate, then when a faint glow appeared and disappeared, she pulled the grate off the hinges and ducked herself into it.

This is one of the secret passageways an assassin can escape through to not only return to the guild, but to make a quick getaway in case some troublesome followers came after them. The grate was normally impossible to take off, but with a careful tug at the runic scribings hidden on the surface of the grate, it can be taken off by an assassin even with middling Strength.

Once that was done, Janet followed the pathway designed for easier travel to the center of the city. She kept doing this pattern for several minutes, going after each passageway designed solely for the members of the Assassin's guild. The first time she went through this, she worried that she could get lost within the confines of the city for the rest of her life.

But after a while of doing this, it became almost like a chore to return back. Eventually, she reached the center of the city in just under an hour. Her high Dexterity with no guards to obstruct her made the entire travel easy.

Deep within the dark confines of the city's lowerscape, she walked across the stone passageway to see a seemingly empty spot near a wall. There were more passageways around and across, but assassins knew where the true entrance to the guild was.

Or rather, the elevator to where the guild was. After entering a different sign with a finger, the seemingly empty wall flashed into double-sided metal doors. Once she entered the code, the two doors slid open and let Janet into the small elevator inside. Once that was done, the door closed and the elevator lifted her off towards the guild.

She was just as surprised to find a literal elevator in another world, but she couldn't be any gladder.

Eventually the door slid open, revealing the true guild. This place was none other than the inner center building right between the noble quarters. And this building belonged to none other than one of the noble houses known as the Raven House.

On the surface, they're just a simple noble house that normally handles administration and processing of new people. It's a simple, monotonous job that the other noble houses wouldn't dare pick up. It was just boring, and they would never have the time to shirk off and do their own pastimes.

But House Raven took everything in here to create the Assassin's Guild. With all the information of every person in this pocket dimension, the house created a way to eliminate a disease before it took root.

The guild hall itself was nothing like the dreary kind you'd expect from a guild of assassins. Nor is it lavished with fancy decorations like you'd see in a noble home. Instead, it was a clean hall, stone covered the entirety of it all. It looked drabbed, but it had enough runes etched in that it could take a Master's spell without worry. A single portrait waited at the end of the hall, showing nothing but the darkness and a single purple-tinted raven flying across. It sent the message clearly enough that this hall isn't as simple as one would expect.

Janet walked across the hall, noticing that there weren't as many of her co-workers lounging around. She spotted one sitting at a table in the resting area of the hall, silently scanning documents. It was polite to never engage in small talk when someone was reading important paperwork.

She spotted another practicing throwing knives at a target range not too far away. However, rather than a target range, it's just a way to play with knives like throwing darts. The assassin grinned as he held the knife at the tip between his fingers and threw it ever so eloquently, landing it right at the center of the round target a few yards away.

She kept walking forward till she reached one of the doors that led to the near labyrinthian system of the assassin's guild. Even here, it was made so that if anyone were to intrude, they would get lost before eventually succumbing to the darkness of the guild.

By that, they really meant poisoning the hell out of the intruder with hidden gas tanks within the walls. They were very thorough with their privacy.

After a few more minutes of walking across the hall, she reached the room she knew by heart and opened it up. Inside was a simple office, furnished with shelves and furniture that are barely used. It's just to give off the feel of a simple office drone typing away at a desk, but what sat at the desk at the end of the room was none other than the one who gave her and Lyle the job in the first place.

"I'm here, Black Titan," Janet said, a sly smile rising from her lips.

"...I told you not to call me that outside of mission time," The man said with a disgruntled tone. "I fucking hate that codename."

Contrary to being put at the desk, the man she spoke to was a giant beyond reckoning. Standing clearly over 6 and a half feet tall, the muscle-riddled man wore black cloth similar to the assassin's guild motto of wearing dark clothes. Like she said, it's an option, but not only is it easier to sneak at night, some just prefer the color.

Riddled with scars from years of his missions, the man's face was defined like a statue made alive. His eyes were cold and narrow, and a stubble could be shown, revealing that he hadn't had the time to shave yet. His brown hair was, as usual, immaculate and delicately combed, showing that he had at least some time to look presentable.

Normally, Janet would still consider this man rather handsome, but his rough demeanor and scars made it hard to consider at all. Still, If he made an effort, she wouldn't be surprised if he ended up being the bane of every female target of the guild.

She showed a solemn expression as she dug around in her storage bag, and chucked the disembodied hand to his desk. The man raised a brow at the hand, then at the girl.

"You make a habit of throwing hands now?" The giant man named Maver responded, and Janet had to dig within herself not to comment on that phrasing.

"That belonged to the target. The deed is done," Janet responded instead, looking straight at Maver's narrowed eyes instead of the hand.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

"You actually did it?" Maver said, almost surprised beneath his gruff voice. "I thought you said that his partner is constantly by his side. How'd you manage that?"

"The target was at the alchemy shop just when I walked back in. He somehow figured out who was working with me and tried to attack Lyle. If it hadn't been for him practically drowning the target in poisons and acid, he'd never made it. He's still recovering right now, which is why I'm here. I took him down, but his body was already burnt off as it is, so I only got this one hand as a show of proof."

Janet and the others helped to create this story to avoid any form of confusion and to ensure that none of it connects to the fact that the target, Zeke Arcan, was still indeed alive. They also included in the little mishap that caused the store to get in trouble. The story about the drunk guy high on potions would be a clever way to disguise the 'assassination' that took place. Even so, her heart tightened when she saw Maver pick up the hand with no hesitation, and stared at it so hard she thought the hand would get a hole through it.

It was already tied up with bandages and cloth to avoid bleeding all over, but after a while it dried up completely. Maver even took off the cloth and tried to peer into the flesh. His eyes seem to glow with a faint purple luster, something that made Janet's heart sink deep into her stomach.

If it turned out that Janet tried to lie to complete a mission, not only would she be heavily punished, but Lyle would be included as well. But Maver whistled and looked over at her.

"Impressive as usual. This is the genuine article," Maver said, nodding approvingly before putting the hand into a storage bag used only for putting away body parts. Maver unfortunately had to carry the bag as the handler of the guild. "I heard what happened at the store. I'm glad that you and Lyle survived. Still, it's troubling that this Runist almost caught you."

"Considering how powerful he was, it's likely that he tracked me down with some rune or something. I don't know anything about that, but Runists can be pretty clever."

"If only they can get their heads out of their asses long enough to try," Maver said almost automatically, proving just how disliked Runists are. He shook his head. "Anyways, those fuckers and the alchemists can finally stop nagging at me for this."

"Were they seriously that pissed off over one single Runist?" Janet asked, and while she normally doesn't like small talk, asking for more intel was never a bad thing. "If one Runist was enough to piss them off, I'm surprised they still exist."

"You don't understand. A guild is just an organization. The ones that got real pissed off were the jackasses with giant egos. You know how it goes–when a Journeyman stalls or lags behind on their skill leveling, they pride over something they still have. If someone else comes along–younger, stronger, better looking, you name it; It'll be as if everything they worked hard for doesn't matter."

"That seems pretty childish," Janet said coldly.

"You still think people act like adults?" Maver chuckled, but it was filled with contempt. "Kid, you'd be surprised at how many immature old folks are around us."

"...Somehow I believe that."

Janet frowned at that. She sometimes hated his dour look on life, but that was how Maver had always been since he took them in. They were desperate to make a living, and with so many regulations and bureaucracies getting in the way to start a life, they had no other choice but to join an Assassin's guild.

Maver was the one that found them, saw potential in them, and let them join. He wasn't in charge, but he was known as the handler in the guild. He is the classic assassin whose good will dried up over the years, and the only thing on his mind is money and making sure the rules are followed to the letter.

"Good," Maver sniffed loudly, something that oddly reminded her of any old guy making a strange sound as they got older. "The more you learn about the side of reality nobody wants you to know about, the better."

"Oh Mavey, are you getting soft in your old age? Being a good ole' teacher for a little girl?"

Janet's skin began to crawl as she felt a presence closing in on her. Particularly on her left shoulder and right upper torso. Before anyone can ask, she dashed away with the mix of her wind spell and her Dexterity. She dashed away just fast enough to avoid the owner of the new voice's arm reaching around her neck.

The man in question looked over at her with a faux look of betrayal. "Janet, baby, how could you? Do you really hate me that much?"

Janet refused to speak any further. Instead, her glare was the only thing she offered. The man who so casually tried to be all friendly with her was the only one in the guild she couldn't stand.

While the assassins in the guild aren't friendly by any means, they knew when to keep their distance. She can respect that. This man, however, was the opposite. If anything, he's probably the flashiest assassin she had seen. Wearing simple common folk garb of a silk shirt and trousers, his blond medium length hair was styled up and near standing. His near tanned skin glistened, as though he just took a bath. Finally, a sleazy smile spread across his lips despite him trying to look so hurt just earlier.

Maver held the bridge of his nose and frowned even more than usual. "Tack, enough. I don't want you scaring off another girl out of the guild."

"Ain't my fault," Tack, the new arrival, said with a grin. "They should've known how the real world works, and they thought they could be different. Why are you bothering teaching her anything? She's just gonna flake and fall apart when a man sweeps off her feet and makes her betray all of us. That's how it always goes in those novels the noble tramps always read when they got nothing else better to do."

Another thing that Janet despised about the man is not only his flirtatious attitude and his unwanted 'skinship'--he was a borderline sexist with no shame whatsoever. Not once as Tack recognized Janet's skill, believing it all to be her partner Lyle's doing, or worse–she just lied to look good for the guild. However, Janet could never really argue back.

This man was at the near peak of Journeymen, barely reaching level 90. Not only that, he was far stronger, and perhaps more dangerous, than any other Journeymen she ever met so far. Being an assassin clearly paved the way to him almost reaching Master, but he was always flighty about such things that the path seemed nowhere in sight. Perhaps that's a good thing, in Janet's opinion.

"Forget about that crap for a second and tell me actually something important," Maver said, his tone implying to keep it short for all of their sakes.

"Yes, yes, I did the dirty deed. It was pretty easy, totally not worth the amount of intel the guild paid. Once you figure out how the man ticks, all it takes is to pluck out the things holding him together. After that, it was so easy, it was basically child's play."

His words were clever, and his tone certainly made it seem professional–but Janet knew better. She scowled at this man, knowing exactly how he plucked out the things.

In other words, Tack is the kind of assassin that kills those closest to the target, forcing them to slowly and painfully lose themselves in their grief and despair.

Normally, this sort of thing goes against the Assassin's guild's core principles, but just like any old and dirty organization that lived too long for its own good, they have no way to replace Tack, his skills truly impeccable in taking out the most troublesome targets.

But if Janet was to be called a monster for her work, then she was glad that she was nowhere near as bad as this absolute piece of shit in front of her.

"Did you at least make it clear that they were all accidents?" Maver said. Now his voice was cool and almost monotonous. Tack ignored that tone and simply waved his hand.

"You know me, of course I did! Anyways, what about this Plague Doctor guy? Did the baby chick actually finished him off? Did he finish her off, if you know what I'm sayin'?"

At this point, the cruel assassin bit was gone, and now the plain old sexist Tack was here. Janet clenched her teeth as she stared at Maver, begging for the sweet relief of getting out of here. Maver shook his head ruefully as he stared at her.

"Janet, I'll send you the money later. Your mission is a success."

Janet thanked him with an incline of her head, and as soon as he said it, she turskly turned around and tried to leave.

"Leaving so soon?" Tack said, stopping her in her tracks. "Don'tchu wanna stay around, catch up a bit? I got some free ti–"

"I'm busy."

Janet immediately said before disappearing in a blast of air, leaving the room completely.

…..

Maver watched as the girl disappeared like she found out her house was on fire, and Tack was just left standing there with none the wiser.

"Maybe she's just shy," Tack said with a grin. He was so used to this that he literally made a game in his head on how long the girls would last being in his presence.

Maver didn't care about that. He only glared at Tack because of one thing. His personality was so shitty that everytime he visited his office while someone was here, they instantly wanted to go away. Because of that, the state of his office was a mess thanks to Janet's winds, causing some of the documents and parchment to fly about everywhere in a cascade of raining papers. Not that he can blame the poor girl, however.

"Get the hell out already," Maver cursed before Tack laughed and left the room. The moment he did, Maver swore to inscribe some runes to ensure that he is notified when Tack is appearing to get the other person out without question.

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