"It has been days! How do you not know if he is dead or not!" a skinny man hidden in a cloak shouted while sitting at a table in a dark room.
"Calm yourself, Cancer. If he hasn't made an appearance yet, then he must be dead," a woman's voice was heard from another cloaked person.
"Shut it, Virgo. If I didn't know you, I would say you caught him and are keeping him as a plaything," the man known as Cancer said.
"Enough, you two! Fighting between ourselves will only give him a chance to attack," a tall man shouted in a deep voice from under his cloak, and horns could be seen protruding from the sides of his head.
*sigh* "If the raven is still alive, we will find him. He can't have gone far," he continued.
Cancer and Virgo turned away from the tall man.
"Right, sorry, Taurus," Virgo said.
"Tch. This is why I told you not to use those unity howl fools of yours. They only understand how to kill normal people, not S Classes," Cancer complained.
Virgo scoffed and said, "From the report, they were killed by the orcs, not the Raven. He should have been killed at the beginning of the attack thanks to the poisons and barriers we used anyway. There is no way he survived."
"Let's hope you are right," Cancer said, annoyed.
"Regardless, we completed our missions. Let's return to the base and report to Leo," Taurus said.
They all stood up, and Virgo pulled out a crystal, smashing it on the ground, and they all disappeared into mist.
~~~~~
"Princess, what are you doing?" Sophia asked through the door. "We only just got back to the castle, and you already ran off and are doing who knows what."
Elisabeth put down a painting she had taken off the wall in her bedroom, ran over to the door, opened it, and said, "I have something important to do. I will talk to Father when I am finished."
She then closed the door, and Sophia sighed and walked away, thinking about what to say to the king.
Elisabeth ran back to the painting she had taken down and opened the hidden cupboard that had been behind it.
She pulled out a blue stone, put everything back the way it was, and sat down on her bed.
"Miss Shade, are you there?" she said while holding the stone close to her mouth.
After a few seconds, an annoyed female voice came from the communication stone.
"I thought I told you not to contact me unless it was important and at night only," the woman's voice said.
"I know, Miss Shade, but this is important! I need you to look into 3 people for me."
"Do they pose a danger to you or your family?" Shade asked skeptically.
"1 is, but the other 2 are just as important!" Elisabeth said, excited.
"I can do the dangerous one, but the other 2 are a no," Shade said.
"Awe, come on," Elisabeth whined. "I will pay you double!" she said hurriedly.
Shade hesitated for a second, sighed, and said, "Fine, who do you need me to investigate?"
Elisabeth smiled and said, "Count Orvian Virono, the head of the Virono house, Miranda Rondo, the head of house Rondo, and finally a child by the name of Jack Dravos. He used to live in the village of Thornbranch before its destruction."
"Why them, and what specifically?" Shade asked.
"Some things in Orvian's domain aren't lining up with the reports. Miranda Rondo somehow knew about the attack on Thornbranch the day it happened, so I want to know if she is involved. As for Jack, I—"
"Wait, wait, hold on. Communication stones. Couldn't Lady Miranda receive a request for help with one of them?" Shade asked.
Elisabeth smiled and said, "I thought so too, but turns out the village didn't have any. Plus, she said they were told about it by Jackson, but he arrived at their mansion a few hours after the attack when it should have taken 3 days. It's too convenient for something in the background not to be happening."
Shade paused, then said, "Understood. Continue."
"I want you to find Jack and where he lives and keep an eye on him. I want to know where he lives, what he is doing, and what his goals are. He could become a powerful asset to me in the future when I take the throne," Elisabeth said.
'How did I forget how scary she can be?' Shade thought to herself.
"All right then, I will see what I can do," Shade said.
"Thank you, Miss Shade. I knew the Nightshade Assassins Guild was the right choice," Elisabeth said and ended the communication before Shade could say anything else. She put the stone away.
"I wonder how strong you will get, Jack. I hope you accept my proposal when we meet again. Let's just hope you don't kill the Assassins when they are just scouting," Elisabeth said with a creepy smile.
~~~~~~
(warning, gore ahead)
In a forest, an Orc standing 8 feet tall was leaning against a tree, waiting for something.
"Sorry to keep you waiting, Warlord Abarok," a young human girl said as she happily skipped toward the hulking Orc.
As the orc turned to her, he could see her black hair tied in a bun, wearing a white dress with pink dots at the bottom, and a short blue stole around her neck tied with a red bow.
"Did you find him?" Agatha asked.
"No. He got away," Abarok responded in a gruff voice, clearly not liking the girl.
She huffed. "I gave your chief that poison and the location of his house so you could capture him. How did you fail?! Did you forget where he lived, or use the poison on something else?! Is that the reason he sent you and didn't come himself?"
The Orc, annoyed, said, "The chief sent me. I found his home and almost got him, but he surprised me by attacking me and running away. I tried to find him, but he was too fast."
Agatha stared at the Orc intensely, mentally debating what she would do, but instead, she squealed, "Awe! I knew he was a strong fighter, but to think he could beat one of the strongest Orcs in the Red Hand makes him even better!"
The Orc stared at Agatha in confusion, but when he heard her insult him, he lashed out and grabbed her by the neck.
"Watch it, girl! He didn't beat me! He ran away like a coward!"
She placed her hands on his, trying to get him to let go, and wheezed, "I'm sorry."
The Orc grunted and let her go, coughing.
"I'm not one to leave debts unpaid. Tell me where he is, and I will find him and bring him to you," he said.
When she caught her breath, she looked up and smiled.
"How will you do that when you are dead?" she said while holding up her hand, revealing a needle tipped with poison.
The Orc looked scared and immediately started panicking, trying to pull out a potion but dropping it in the panic.
"Don't bother. It's already too late," she said as a gurgling sound came from his throat.
Abarok reached around and grabbed 2 stones: a communication stone and a strange one with symbols carved into it.
"This one is an experiment combining wyvern poison and a potion designed to explode after being shaken too much. I wonder how long you wi—"
Abarok was ignoring Agatha as he tried to use a spell with the stones, but just before he finished, he said, "Anna, Orin, I'm sorry." A tear fell from his face.
Suddenly, Abarok exploded in a mass of blood, bones, and guts originating in the heart.
Agatha got drenched in blood and ended up with some bone shards and muscles stuck to her face and hair.
She shook her head in disappointment.
sigh "Happens too fast for the effective fear factor. I will have to adjust the dosage range again. Oh well, I have other test subjects."
Suddenly, she realized, "Oh, I should also find someone else to kidnap him again. Hopefully, the next person will do better than the last few attempts. Although, having the Red Hand work for me was a good way to handle things... hm, I will have to fix it later."
She smiled and started skipping back home, still covered in blood, with a crazy smile plastered on her face.
~~~~~~~~
In his office, Michael was sitting opposite a man with a black face mask.
"Can you complete the job?" Michael asked.
"So long as you have the coin, we will deliver," the man said with a smile.
"Good, here is your first payment." He placed a small bag of coins on the table.
The man opened the bag and checked the coins. When satisfied, he nodded.
"Good. Now get out and don't come back until you find it!" Michael said as the man left.
*sigh* "How can the brat go missing at this time? If only he could understand what I am offering like an adult. He was supposed to be smart, but I guess he's just as stupid as a kid." Michael said as he stood up and left the room as well.