The Barons face went fully red and you could almost see the steam pouring out of his ears. The dark skinned man behind him face palmed at the idiocy of Gelei. Rulo crossed his arms and started tapping his foot waiting to be addressed. "Why wouldn't you tell me that before I introduced myself!?" The Baron practically screamed at Sol. Sol looked back and forth between everyone in the room. The general energy that every exuded was like they were dealing with an idiot in a position of power. Sol went to apologize but the Baron cut him off and started directing his attention to Rulo.
"I apologize for the misunderstanding. I hope it won't effect your decision to work with me. I only went to him because he was wearing such flashy clothes and, well, you're wearing something quite... Subdued." Gelei said while rubbing his hands together. He gave off the energy of someone who had sinister intentions but hid them very poorly.
Rulo closed his eyes tightly trying not to roll them. When he opened them he wiped the look or 'I wanna hit you to death' off his face and replaced it with a polite smile. "Of course it won't, Baron Gelei. Our organization relies on your support to do our jobs. I look forward to you choosing our services in the future as well." Rulo blabbed in a super kind sounding voice. Sol shivered a little at the sudden change in demeanor.
"Could you please tell us more about the job you requested? I heard a few of the details from the maid but would like some clarifications. You're asking us to clear out some ruffians, right? Who is it that you need taken care of? What kind of trouble have they been causing? Where are they located?" Rulo asked the questions so fast that Gelei started sweating a little. He began backing away from Rulo in a nervous manner.
"And how quickly do you need them eliminated?" Rulo asked as he intimidated Baron Gelei up against his desk. The Baron's face went completely white and he scurried around his desk quickly. He sat back in his chair.
"Uhm," The Baron cleared his throat before continuing. "The people in question are thief's. They have been ravaging my- the towns wealth by stealing important goods that were meant to be traded to other territories lords. It's been detrimental to Wormwood's earnings." The Baron said. He corrected himself mid sentence making it clear to everyone what his true intentions were. The man with cornrows rolled his pale brown eyes. "They call themselves the Vicious Squirrels...?" Gelei said questioningly.
"The Vicious Hare and The Volatile Turtle. Meaning that they are fast and vicious when they steal and that when they leave the situation will always take a turn from bad to worse. Even if it happens slowly." The man standing near Gelei said in a somber tone. He glanced over at Gelei then shook his head in disappointment. He turned his eyes to Sol. He looked Sol up and down stopping at points of interest. He stopped at Sol's collar bone. He pulled his monocule up, placing it on his right eye.
Rulo watched this whole thing happen while still holding conversation with the Baron. He watched as the Baron's associate stared at Sol's collar bone. Rulo glanced at Sol's eyes and saw that the yellow and auburn colors were once again fighting. This time however the yellow seemed to be winning.
"What about their location? Do you have any clue as to where their centralized?" Rulo asked. Rulo looked back at the blonde haired man and by the time he looked the man had closed his eyes. But Sol had seen the look on his face before hand. The corner of his mouth had risen into a subtle smirk. Then the look dropped off his face and he closed his eyes. The heat that had been building in Sol fell at the same time.
"He's the one. I'll have to tell her about this. I can't believe that the perfect being fell into my lap. It was almost worth working this horrible job." Sol heard in the voice of the man who had been staring at him. He blinked and the feeling of hearing someone else's voice inside his head dissipated. Sol started rubbing his temples as a headache set in.
"They've been seen in the Eastern region quite recently. The sooner their gone the better." The Baron said. Rulo hummed in response. "I think I know the group your talking about. By the way who is that guy?" Rulo asked, pointing lackadaisically to the man with pale brown eyes. Baron Gelei glanced at him. Sweat started to form on his brow plastering his orange hair to his face. He took out a white handkerchief and started patting at his face.
"This is my financial advisor, Masae Fugel. Please go ahead and introduce yourself to these fine people, Mr. Fugel." Gelei said. Masae nodded his head, turning to the group.
"As you've heard, my name is Masae Fugel. I'm a financial advisor and accountant to many. I've been helping Baron Histeria with managing the commerce and budgeting. I hope we'll get along well." Masae said while bowing with one hand over his heart. Sol noticed that Masae had galaced up through his eyebrows at him. He checked to see if anyone else had seen it but no one was paying attention. Rulo had moved in front of Gelei's desk and started negotiating pay. Masae joined the conversation with a subtle look of anger on his face. Sol sat there with nothing else to do but watch as the 3 argued over what would be an agreeable amount for the task at hand.
Sol observed the look on Masae's face and could see twitches of annoyance under his disinterested face. They argued for close to 30 minutes before Rulo slammed his hands against the desk. "We won't take anything less than 15 Grass each! So 3 Seed coins! If you can't pay then we're not doing this job!" Rulo practically screamed. Sol watched a look of satisfaction flash across Masae's face and then disappear. Gelei's deep orange eyes started darting around the room nervously. Masae leaned down and whispered in the Baron's ear. The Baron's face went paler than it had been before and he started sweating profusely. He nodded but looked utterly terrified.
After they finished talking, Maridax the maid, led them outside. Once outside she bowed to the two. "Please do your best to solve this issue. The Lord will be pleased if you do." Maridax said. Rulo clicked his tongue.
"Just tell your Lord to have our money ready when we get back." Rulo said. Then he turned on his heel and walked out the front gate. Sol trailed behind him, giving one last look at the manor. He jogged to catch up with Rulo. "Where are we going?" Sol asked.
"Hm? What do you mean? Obviously we're going to clean up the trash and get our payday." Rulo said. Then he turned to Sol. "Unless you don't want to get payed. I thought you needed the money especially if your going to the capital." Rulo watched as Sol's face twisted with emotion. Sol sighed then nodded slowly. "If things are this expensive here I'll never make it to the capital with out some sort of income. And there's still that glow from the day I left home. I started this hoping that maybe I could learn more about it. I've gotta see this through to the end." Sol thought with a sour look on his face.
"Alright. Let's get going then." Sol said walking in front of Rulo. He grabbed Sol by the back of the collar and stopped him mid stride. "Not that way. Not when you're wearing that much gold. You'll get robbed of all your possessions before you blink." Rulo said. Sol looked up in the direction were he was walking and saw that he'd nearly strided into an alley full of shady looking people. A chill went up his spine. He started wondering if he'd just been cursed to almost get robbed in broad daylight or closer to dwinding light at this point. Sol loosened his shirts collar and started following behind Rulo.
**********
Inside the manor Masae looked out the front facing windows watching as Sol left through the front gate. He placed his hand on the glass. Through the reflection of the window Masae saw his own reflection with a twisted smile on it. He put a hand on his face and pushed at his facial muscles until the look warped into a kind smile. He turned around to face Baron Gelei who was sitting on a plush looking couch in one of the manor's sitting rooms.
"How are you going to get the money to pay them?" Masae asked Gelei. Gelei started looking nervous again. His chubby fingers started swiping at the sweat on his face. He reached forward and sipped from the tea cup he had on the table.
"I don't-don't know. I just need them to get rid of those thugs!" Gelei said. "They've been terrorizing me for months. I haven't been able to make any money since this shit started. Those bastards are only targeting me! The amount of money I would have made could have bought a couple mansions!" Gelei shouted. His voice going coarse with rage. Masae covered his mouth in what looked like a thinking pose but behind his hand he was grinning.
"This fool is so gullible. I know exactly why the boss wants me to keep this guy close. He's such a wonderful guinea pig." Masae thought. Then he glanced at Gelei. "Closer to just a pig." Masae thought and then he put on a kind smile. He moved his hand before speaking to the Baron.
"You know... There is always the Madam. You could take out a loan from her. She'd most likely let you. You know how kind she is with her clients. So long as you have the will to pay it back that is." Masae said with a sinister under tone in his voice. The Baron started to nod his head slowly. "Yes- yes I think you might be right. The Lady has always had an abundance of both wealth and compassion." The Baron said with a small nervous smile on his face.
Masae smiled brilliantly and Gelei felt like he had just been given a golden opportunity. The truth though was far more sinister that you'd be led to believe.
**********
Sol and Rulo had arrived in the Eastern region of Wormwood only a few moments before. They were now looking around the for the supposed hideout of The Vicious Hare and The Volatile Turtle gang. The two strayed down an alley towards the edge of the Eastern region. A few haggard buildings started to show up as they moved further out.
"What exactly are we looking for?" Sol asked, glancing at Rulo. He shook his head and shrugged. He walked in front of Sol and then turned to face him. "From what I've heard... The Hare and Turtle gang are a group that only targets the wealthy. They go out of their way to avoid targeting common folk. I don't think we'll have any trouble luring them in with you around." Rulo said. He looked Sol up and down then nodded like he was confirming what he said as true.
"It makes sense that the Baron would want them gone but what do I have to do with this?" Sol asked. Rulo just gestured to Sol in his entirety and Sol looked down at himself. "Is it the amount of gold I'm wearing? It's not even real is it?" Sol thought but kept it to himself. He followed behind Rulo as he began snaking through the abandoned looking buildings.
The two slid carefully through the alleys with little to no small talk. As they walked Rulo could hear the sound of another set of footsteps following behind them. He gestured to Sol to follow as he ducked into an adjacent alleyway and got prepared to fight. "I hope he actually knows how to fight. I forgot to check that." Rulo thought as sweat formed on his brow. "Well, he's their child so I'm sure that at worst he could just brute force it."
Sol ducked down the alley behind Rulo and the two went back to back. Sol put his fists up in front of him, waiting for whoever was following them to attack. A tall figure in a rabbit mask walked out in front of Sol and a shorter one jumped down from the building next to them in front of Rulo.
Both of the rabbit masks were a flat white color. They were also both wearing brown long sleeved shirts that were tight to their skin. They had black pants that fit in the exact same way. The one in front of Sol had a chain in his hand and was gently swinging it back and forth. The one in front of Rulo was brandishing a knife, partially crouched with a hand on the ground.
"What's your business here?" The man asked. There was a tone of viciousness in his voice. Sol and Rulo shared a look of questioning. Sol raised his eyebrow asking nonverbally what they should do. Rulo raised both in an 'I don't know' kind of way before he went to speak. The moment he fully turned away from the girl however she dashed the short distance between them with her knife raised. It happened so quickly that neither of the could react.