"Damn plant." I curse quietly as I got up while rubbing my bleeding head. Shaking it a couple of times before I stumbled up the stairs. A groan of annoyance quickly leaving me once I was beholden to the mess. Those aelenvari had made quite a mess of the place.
My boys down here were dead and the other aelenvari were stumbling cluelessly about. And as I tried to leave this disgusting place, I shoved them out of my way. Making it up halfway before a gun was suddenly pointed at me. And, with a lack of amusement, I growled at the boys staring down at me.
"S-Sorry, Bossman!" they let out as I got out of the dungeons and came out into the light.
"Breakout?" I asked as I played into the pain that throbbed throughout my head. It did genuinely hurt and I would need a moment when I could. But I still needed to make it clear no betrayal had happened.
"Yeah, two of the aelenvari just came up and started flinging spells!" one of them explains as I wobble by a chair. Smirking knowingly before I dropped into the seat.
"Alright, make sure the others don't escape. We'll go out and sort those two out soon enough." I groan as I tear off something to cover my new head wound. A hiss left me near instantly while the sensation below the torn cloth made me queasy.
"Bossman, you going to need a?" one of the boys asked as he stared at my bloodied head.
"No! Just do as you're told." I tell him before I glanced upwards towards the Madame's office. On the inside, I prayed and prayed and then I got up. A gun in my free hand as I made it clear that I would check the office.
And with a tsk, I came to survey the mess those aelenvari caused up here. Just beyond this wrecked lounge was an even more wrecked office. Yet, there was no sign of the Madame. A detail that made my heart pound with excitement.
Then, as I walked to the broken glass, "Hope the hounds tear you apart." I spit out once I saw a bloodied corpse in what appeared to be a dress.
After that, I just took a moment to sit in one of the still whole chairs. A tired sigh then left me before I then just fired my gun at the body. Something I repeated until it was empty of all bullets. I was also, however, left with a bunch of guys surging up here to check the noise.
"Bossman!?"
"Never mind me, just venting." I answer as I toss the heated, empty gun away before I got up.
"Right, Bossman." they nod with a lack of certainty before they went back to doing whatever. And in the brief moment of peace I was now afforded. I went about the corpse's office and took my choice of the gifts it held. Anything I could not put in my pockets went into the spare jacket I had in here.
With full pockets, I then left the office and headed downstairs with a distinct jingle. They did not notice, though, and I quickly made it out through the back door before I dumped it all. With a quick gesture as well, I turned on one of the pieces of equipment I did take from the warehouse. A confident smirk on my face as I turned back towards the establishment.
I still had an act to perform and right now, that meant pretending to give a damn about revenge. So I patted the shoulders of those I walked by and brought them into the briefing room. And after they all sat down, I chugged down some alcohol I snatched on the way. Some of which I just poured straight onto the wound.
"AAAAAHHHHHHH!" I loudly groaned as the magic-dense liquid both exasperated and dulled the pain.
"Well, Bossman?" one of the boys asked as they checked their rounds.
"As you all are probably aware, those two new aelenvari have done us in. Killed yer pals and wrecked your prospects of employment. So here I am with a lovely solution. We're going to go and find them, and of course, pop their heads open." I explain to them before sadistic cheers filled the room.
"Now?"
"Not for the moment..." I tell the now disappointed crowd as I gestured to my injury, "It's personal, see."
"Then what do we do in the meantime?"
"Just patrol the town and its outskirts, grab everyone else once downstairs is sorted out and find them. Then, come back to me and we'll sort it out."
"Can't we just do it while we're out there?"
"What part of 'it's personal,' did you miss?" I asked him sarcastically. In truth, I just wanted the building quieter as Ivahstar and Heiya did their thing. But it also gave me an opportunity to just dump the place without a batted eye. After all, personal vendettas were done with clouded judgement...
The boys I'd take with me just might, hit a particularly bad case of death. And now that I thought about it, I also needed to distract those who would get left behind. But I suppose the Union might suddenly stumble upon our plans. They didn't like it when problems involved themselves, after all.
"What about the Madame?" one of them then asks. And I stopped, briefly unsure of what to say as that was a big one. I have seen her corpse and could've potentially actually been the one to kill her.
"She made it out," I lied as I brought out my pipe, "her escape hatch had been opened."
"There's an escape tunnel up there...?" one of the boys questioned.
"Yeah, and why would she or I let you know about it?" I asked him as if he were stupid. And, he bought it, he felt stupid. Then, with that out the way, I left the building and went for a walk. Occasionally making sure I wasn't being followed throughout.
Even if there wasn't much to be worried about, it only paid well to have some paranoia right now. One bad trail and this plan I worked out with the other two would become undone. So I needed to act as if I belonged in the Union's great drama institutions. Needed to achieve that dream I never had!
"Ah, who am I kidding, just give me someone to be annoyed at and that's that." I comment openly before I lit the contents of my pipe. Smoking it with a happy sigh as I walked down the busy street without a care in the world. A lighter soul now dwelt within me, and I was feeling a lot better. Finally, I was done with that woman.
So maybe I should prepare a thank you of some kind for those aelenvari? Were it not for them, I would not have had this opportunity. Well, I probably would have anyway knowing Ivahstar's skills. But, it was those two that did it for me this time.
But what did aelenvari even like? I honestly could not answer and my view of them was skewed the wrong way. However, knowing this was all over a child, I did figure something out. So I headed on down to a shop I knew dealt in that.
With a little bell announcing my arrival once I disposed of the pipe contents, I looked about. Frowning in confusion to the worried glances of those shopping alongside me. It was somewhat amusing, but I did not get hung up on it. I was however focusing a lot on the softness of it all.
"Damn brats..." I complained as I was quite partial to the soft touch of some things every now and then. But, most of it was only ever for little kids and their thin easily cut skin. And that thought made me smile, given my current circumstances. That was enough shopping, however, so I just picked a toy up and went to pay for it.
"Children can be quite the handful, can't they?" the girl serving me joked as she stared uncomfortably at my injury.
"They're more trouble than they're worth." I answer, even if I was speaking about something she had no idea about. Like, she could not even begin to grasp what I had been putting up with recently.
"And somehow, that smile makes it all worth it." she thinks she jokes knowingly as we sort the transaction out. And, with a swift about turn, I went back outside and prepared my pipe once again.