Country of Ruwei was previously governed by monarchs. King Johannes IV, the 27th ruler of the country, committed atrocities and emptied the kingdom's treasury for his own pleasures had placed the country in dire straits. James, his younger brother, usurped the throne and established constitutional monarchy to divide the power and balance out the governing system of the country.
The Reis, the family of the previously governing monarchs, was reduced into symbolical figure heads with minimal power. After hundreds of years, the country continued to flourish.
Siero City, capital of Ruwei.
Ember was now in the capital city of Ruwei and was fascinated on how bustling the place is. Eversince she was adopted by Jac, she never got out of the headquarters. She was fully immersed on training that time flew by without her being bored. But now that she's out, she can't help but be curious to everything.
Even if she acted like a country girl right now, the truth is she's also trying to familiarize herself with the place so that she can utilize the terrain during their mission.
The main protectors are still the royal guards, however, they received an information that someone wanted to use the life of the prince to let the people see how helpless the monarchs are in the current government and change back to absolute monarchy.
The hired killers are said to be from the underworld, therefore, they needed their organization's cooperation since they're more familiar on how these kind of people work.
They were commissioned as an extra layer of protection and were not allowed to make a move unless things get out of hand.
For the the organization, escort missions are looked down upon, however, they needed to take it seriously as any change in the government threatens the exposure of their business. Although they can change the place of their operations, the inconvenience is not worth it.
She continued exploring the place and unknowingly got separated from the rest of the team.
She ended up in the slums.
Even prosperous places cannot eliminate its poverty. The world is balanced and there are always two sides of the coin.
She didn't try to find her way back yet and decided to continue looking around the place since she's already here.
She minimized her presence as to not attract unnecessary attention. She also used the shoe function to change her costume to a rugged one to compliment the environment and covered her face, thus, no one really paid attention to her.
She was about to turn into a corner when suddenly she encountered an interesting scene. She hid herself and observed how things will play out.
...
A boy in his late teen is blocking an old lady from a bunch of rogue guys. He lacks flesh and looks like a weakling but his noble temperament is apparent.
"Heh, trying to act like a hero to an old woman, what a crazy boy. You see I'm in a good mood right now, so I'll let you with only a few blows, but I need you to scram so that I can proceed with my business with that old lady" the boss of the thugs started to warm his knuckles.
"Extortion is against the law and you shouldn't bully the elderly. Let us go and I may request your sentence to be reduced" the boy said righteously.
The man together with the rest of the group laughed when they heard him.
"What if I said no, you're a naive kid if you think you'll be able to get out of this place alive. I'm just being lenient to you but you're testing my patience" the man sneered.
"Boss, there's no need to talk to that kid. He's clearly loaded, let's just take his money and skin him alive" one of the goons suggested. Their hands is already itching to strip the kid of his riches.
The boy is dressed in fine materials with some gold articles, if they sell those, they'll be able to drink 'til their stomach burst out and play with the finest whores in town.
"You can't do that, you'll never get away if you tried to touch me" the boy said indignantly. Then he did something foolish, he grabbed the old lady's hands and tried to run away. Unfortunately, he was immediately surrounded by the thugs and was kicked to the ground.
"You leave me with no choice boy. Kill him" the boss finally snapped and let his cronies do the work.
The boy writhing in pain knew he outdid himself and fear flashed in his eyes. He struggled to get up but was kicked the second time. He closed his eyes expecting a third kick to land him but instead he heard grunts coming from the thugs.
He carefully opened his eyes and saw a girl younger than him giving those thugs a taste of their own medicine. She moves swiftly making them fall one by one.
The boss was left dumbfounded with the scene. Everything had happened so fast that before he can react, his guys have already been eliminated.
"You- how dare you!" the boss was clearly angry and frightened but he dashed towards the lady brandishing his knife.
The lady smiled dangerously and before he knew it, his knife was taken away and was now threatening to cut through his throat. He didn't dare breathe. He can feel the chilling sharpness of his knife. A small movement will immediately take away his life.
"Relax, I didn't kill any of your people, but you should know that you're now at my mercy. So what I want you to do is to forget everything that happened today, stop extorting people, and live your life honestly. If not, hmm, you can sleep well starting today" the soft voice of the lady is like a devil's whisper. The boss can't help but sweat excessively like a pig.
"What say you. Stop sweating it's gross" the lady became irritated.
"I will do what you say, I promise I will be living more than a saint, I'll be good, please spare my life" the boss said frantically while tears started flooding his face.
Satisfied with what she saw, Ember kicked the boss aside and faced the awestruck boy.