The Chairman was waiting for his Adventurer to be released from prison. He sat on a chair by the entrance, looking at his watch now and then. Luckily, the inside of the prison was air-conditioned, so the patience didn't wear thin as quickly as it would have.
'How long does it take to change clothes? It's been nearly 30 minutes…'
The warden approached him with a big, rectangular, black briefcase. He slapped the case with a big smile on his middle-aged face. "Here ya go."
Rising from his chair. The Chairman took the briefcase. "I'm assuming her weapon is in here?"
"Yuppie. Didn't want one of the guards to give it to her. Next thing you know, she starts shooting up the place," Andersen chuckled to himself.
The chairman opened the briefcase, revealing the weapon hidden underneath it. The weapon had a slightly curved metal handle, like that of a typical rifle, but it was long enough for two-handed use. The butt of the gunsword was slightly heavy to balance the weight. The metal knuckle guard was attached to the bottom of the cylinder with a trigger guard separating the trigger from the handle.
The weapon was as light as air to him as he lifted the gunsword from its case. He looked for any scratches on it. He wanted to smirk a bit.
' The quality of the Association's blacksmiths never ceases to amaze me,' The Chairman thought.
He pressed the catch, opening the cylinder of the gun blade. He noticed that the cylinder was empty.
"Did you guys take out the bullets?" Erwin asked.
Andersen shook his head, "Nuh uh. According to the enforcement, there weren't any more bullets in the chamber. It was only the one lodged in the man's skull."
"So she was playing roulette with her father's life?" The Chairman asked as he pushed the cylinder back in its chamber.
Andersen shrugged, "Possibly, but who knows? Maybe you should ask her yourself when she comes out."
The Chairman detached the blades of her gunsword before he turned the palm of his left hand upward. He grabbed the edge of the blades and pressed them against his left hand.
When he pulled back the blades from his hand, blood rose from his palm as he curled his fingers and spread them.
"Sharp," Erwin commented.
"Fuck did you do that for?"Andersen asked.
The Chairman nodded in approval as steam rose from his cuts and his flesh slowly knit back together. "I was doing some quality testing, that's all."
Andersen snorted as he shook his head, "You're a crazy bastard, you know that?"
"If I were sane, I wouldn't be chairman of the association." Erwin took out a handkerchief and wiped his bloody hand, but blood continued to fill his palm.
'Perhaps I cut too deep,' he thought as he clenched his handkerchief.
The doors behind the warden swung open. Nanaba was between two armoured guards, most likely to ensure she didn't do anything. She was wearing a simple black shirt, torn jeans and black leather boots.
Andersen took out a small black case from his breast pocket and opened it, revealing a row of cigars and a lighter. When the warden took out the cigar, Nanaba swiftly took a cigar before she swiped the lighter from the case.
Nanaba lit the cigar before she tossed back the lighter to the warden. "Thanks, old man. Tell your chefs to get better produce. The food was mediocre."
"This is a prison, not a luxury hotel!" Andersen shouted as he caught the lighter.
The Chairman placed the sword back in its case before he gave it to Gary. "Ready to go?"
"Aye aye, captain," Nanaba said before she exhaled the smoke from her mouth.
The Chairman shook his head before they walked to the car. Gary opened the back door for the chairman, who then said thank you and got into his car. Nanaba glared at Gary before saying, "You don't open doors for anyone else?"
"You could open the door for yourself. I don't give privileges to convicts," The chairman said, crossing his arms.
Nanaba scoffed as she opened the other back car door. "Oh, fuck off with that bullshit. Everyone in the whole association is a bunch of criminals. We just say that it's for the greater good to justify it."
Nanaba slammed the car door before she sat on the other side and lowered her window. Gary awkwardly started the car and drove from the prison.
Silence filled the inside of the vehicle before Erwin glanced at Nanaba, looking out the window as she smoked one of the warden's cigars. The remains of the burnt earthy smell lingered in the car even though the windows were open. Erwin pressed the button to lift and close the partition window as Gary started coughing.
The Chairman glared at the carefree Adventurer before he created a small pebble and flicked it, bursting through her cigar as pieces of tobacco fell onto her lap.
"Hey, I was smoking that." Nanaba flicked the remaining cigar out of the window. "Fuck was that for?"
"I don't think you understand the position that you're in," The Chairman said sternly. "You realize that you would be stuck in that prison if it wasn't for me?"
Nanaba chuckled as she crossed her arms, "I know. Who do you think called for the enforcers?"
The chairman looked out the window, looking at the passing farms and cattle. He asked, "Why did you call the Enforcement? You could have easily fled the scene and gotten away with it."
"Why would I? Aren't murderers supposed to go to jail?" she asked, looking at the ceiling of the car. "Thought we were the heroes or something."
The Chairman crossed his arms, "Of course. But you could've let him attack you, and then you could've made the self-defence argument."
"Wow, you're really trying here, aren't you?" Nanaba chuckled. "I never thought that the chairman wasn't a fan of the law."
"I am. I'm just giving you a way to use it to your advantage," Erwin shrugged.
" It wouldn't have worked anyway. Let's be real, an average metahuman beating up a licensed Adventurer?" Nanaba sneered. "It wouldn't make sense, would it?"
Nanaba looked at the passing rows of greenhouses outside the window. "So, who are going to be my teammates?"
The chairman took out his business phone: "A group of female members around your rank, with the leader being on the cusp of an A-rank."
"Really? Trying to keep me in line, huh?" Nanaba dryly chuckled, "Hmph, a group of femme fatales? How fitting…"
Erwin texted the team, notifying them that their new teammate would arrive soon as they made their way to the rendezvous.