Deep in the woods, some miles away from the Capitol.
Sounds of laughter and celebration permeate the air as a group of burly men make merry around a campfire. One man leans on a tree a bit away from the rest; the way the other men regard him makes one realize that he is the leader of this group of ruffians. One man with a scar running across his face from his eyebrow to his other cheek notices a man sitting apart from the group with a serious face. He took a huge mug of booze and came over to the leader.
"Hey boss, what are you doing? We scored big on the last job. Come on, Ricci, loosen up." [A/N: The name is pronounced Richie]
"How many times have I told you not to call out my name? You're only to address me as boss," Ricci said, his attention on a letter. "Boss?" The man with a scar called, getting no response.
One of the men suddenly rushed in.
"Boss, Boss, we've got another mission, and it's bigger than the last one."
When this was said, the entire place immediately fell into silence, and everyone looked over.
"Huh, the hell's he talking about?" One of the men asked before taking a swing from his mug.
"Weren't you supposed to be getting supplies and gathering info?"
"Courier," Ricci said.
"It's from the Capitol," Courier said, taking a letter out of his bag and handing over the letter.
"This isn't the first time we've gotten a letter from the Capitol," Ricci said.
"It's not from any random person, it's from the prince," Courier said.
Everyone burst out laughing.
"The prince, eh? Yeah right," one man said.
"If that's from the prince, then the queen be writing me a love letter," remarked another.
Even Ricci couldn't help but smile. He looked at the letter and saw the royal seal on it. His eyes widened.
"How did you get this?" Ricci said sternly. The men fell silent.
"Wait, don't tell me it actually is from the prince," one man said, trying to keep the fun, but he saw Ricci burn the envelope and open the letter, reading it with a serious face.
"Holy crap, it is!"
The men gathered around.
"What's it say, boss? Boss?" One of the men asked.
"This is too simple a job for such a huge price. There must be a catch."
"And what of the price?"
"Says 50 million credits, but the price is negotiable."
"What!" The men yelled in surprise, although they couldn't help but have greedy expressions on their faces.
"Hell yeah, whose the bastard we need to kill?"
"We're gonna be rich!"
"Hahaa, someone's angered the wrong fucker!"
They were all in an uproar.
"Who's the target, boss?" the scrawny man asked.
"'Details will be discussed in person' is written here,"
"Then what are we waiting for? Let's start moving."
The leader just sat there in silence, thinking.
"Based on the information couriers gathered, the Capitol's very active now. Sasha and the new champion have taken temporary residence in the castle. I hear the new guy's pretty powerful, but that's to be expected; he was able to defeat one of the 5 blade gods. I heard he even defeated a dragon. The people he came with aren't any slouches either. That aside, the Archsaint Yukio is in the Capitol too. It's too risky to go at this time. For all we know, this could be a trap to lure us in. Then again, if they were able to contact the courier, then they must have connections in the underworld. This is big money though, and if things get worse, we could always bail."
The men saw Ricci deep in thought.
Ricci stood up and shouted,
"ALRIGHT BOYS, we'll be swimming in gold and women after this!"
"YEAH!" they all shouted.
In a restaurant near the King's castle, Sharone, Sasha, Lin, Koniko, Adrianna, Klara, and Yukio are enjoying themselves while chatting.
"I see, and he still hasn't come out yet?" Yukio asked.
"That idiot is taking too long. I'm sure he's just messing around in there," Koniko said angrily, getting to her feet and waving her fist. Lin pulled her back into her seat.
"Last time we talked, he was on the 90th floor, but we haven't been able to contact him since then; we think there's something interfering with the mana signals," Sharone said, patting Koniko's head as she angrily stuffed herself with cake.
"Honestly, how reckless can one be, making his friends worry like that," Klara spoke with mock anger.
"It can't be helped," Adrianna said with an embarrassed look. "Kojo's always been rowdy."
"Don't defend him. He went ahead and listened to his impulses without considering you guys," Klara said with a pout.
"If he keeps doing this, I'm going to go ahead and take my Adri from him!"
Everyone then laughed.
Sharone then looks at the Tower of Babel through the window of the restaurant with a faint smile, her thoughts unknown.
Later at night,
Rey walked back to the castle from the training ground, wiping sweat off his face with a towel. He took out a bottle and raised it to drink.
Just then, someone shouted, causing him to spill the water.
"What the hell! Which idiot left this out in the open?!"
"Billiam?" Reynold said, recognizing the voice.
"It came from the stables," Reynold said, moving in that direction.
"Please lower your voice, Your Highness; we have to leave here unnoticed," Cabolt said.
"Isn't this the Grand Councillor's voice?"
Reynolds thought with a raised eyebrow. He hid.
The figures of the two then come into view, and Reynolds quickly hid behind a dwarf wall.
"When we come back, I'll have that damn stable boy flogged," Billiam shouted again.
"Yes, yes, your highness," Cabolt said urgently.
"Yep, it's them. What are they doing sneaking out of the castle this late at night, and together at that?" Reynolds thought as he watched the two get on an ordinary carriage and leave the castle secretly.
Reynolds stepped out of his hiding place.