It's only been a few days, but to Iago, it felt like an eternity since he last visited his sister.
Iago was the man's true name, but in Serial Slain, he was Thello, the archdemon of Polsius. In reality, he was twenty-six years old, relying on the salary from Telemachus Technologies to pay his bills and debts. Before then, he was unemployed, and he only managed to support his sister's education by running various errands for a local gang.
His nickname was the Courier.
Iago parked in front of a bright-colored mansion and got out of his car, smelling the scent of the flower garden by the front door. It was an aroma that could calm any anxious soul.
After Iago knocked, an imposing man in a white tuxedo opened the door. He gazed down upon the guest the same way that a cat would eye a mouse. Even the man's pupils seemed to be shaped like slits.
"Yo, Cyrus," Iago said.
"Good morning."
"Is my sister there?"
"EYYY! BIG BRO!!"
A blonde teenage girl dashed through the living room and burst forward in a flying hug, almost knocking down Iago. She was sixteen years old, but she acted like she was no more than eleven. Every time she spoke, her green eyes twinkled like emeralds, making her enthusiasm as contagious as a plague.
"WAZZUP!"
"Woah! Calm down, Bianca!" Iago exclaimed. "Geez."
Bianca pulled away from the hug and said. "You should come in! I baked some weed brownies!"
"What?!"
"Yeah! Some of the guys showed me how to make it!"
Iago glanced at Cyrus, who maintained an expressionless gaze. Sometimes, Iago wondered if that man was a robot.
"You may enter," Cyrus said with a nod, standing aside.
And so, Iago followed Bianca to the kitchen, where she handed her brother the tray of brownies.
"Pick one!"
Iago grabbed the closest brownie and took a small bite.
It was decent, all things considered. He wasn't much of a fan when it came to brownies, but his sister made them, so he had to pretend that it was the most amazing food in the world.
"Scrumptious," Iago said with his mouth full.
Bianca exclaimed, "I know, right!"
"Your track record with cooking is pretty bad, so I was reluctant at first. Remember that one pasta you completely screwed over?
"Hey! I told you to forget about that!"
"I don't think I could ever forget."
Bianca crossed her arms and pouted.
"Anyway," she said. "I'm glad that you knew the people in this place so that I could stay here. It's so much better than our old cramped apartment. The guys have been teaching me how to cook neat stuff, and just the other day, I learned how to fire a gun!"
Iago frowned. "Yeah. Sounds great."
"Why don't you come and live here with us?" Bianca asked.
This time, Cyrus spoke up, saying, "We cannot accommodate any more guests at the moment."
"But you have so many rooms!"
"Bianca," Iago said. "It's fine. The guys are already doing me a huge favor by letting you stay in this mansion, so I would hate to impose on them even more."
Bianca didn't look convinced, but she decided not to press the topic.
Then, an elderly man with a jeweled cane walked up to the group, accompanied by two bodyguards. They also wore white tuxedos. Despite the elderly man's age and wrinkled face, he still had a full head of hair that he wore proudly.
"Good morning, Iago," the elderly man said.
Iago nodded his head, saying, "Morning, Cassio."
"I believe that you know the reason I called you?"
"Yes, sir."
"In that case, let us talk in private."
"Alright."
Iago followed Cassio and his bodyguards as they led him to a soundproof room across the hall. Bianca and Cyrus stayed behind in the kitchen. Once the bodyguards closed the room's doors, Iago and Cassio each took a seat opposite each other on the two couches. A coffee table sat between them, containing a tea kettle and some teacups.
"I'll get straight to the point," Cassio said. "Do you have the payment?"
"Yes, sir."
Iago took an envelope from his pocket and placed it on the table.
With a slight sigh, Cassio took the item and opened it. He then proceeded to count the cash.
"You're still behind by two month's payment, Iago."
"I know. Sorry. But soon, I can get a bonus from work that should let me pay most of the remaining debt."
"I see. Good for you. You've been behind for quite some time, but I appreciate your diligence. Still, the deadline for the make-up payment is coming up in three days, you know what will happen to your collateral, right?"
Iago gulped. "Yes, sir."
"Good. I'm glad you understand."
There was a short moment of silence. Then, Iago asked, "Is my sister...doing alright?"
"Yes. She's fitting in with my men just fine. They're already treating her like their own little sister."
Iago nodded. "That's great...yeah. But she said that she made weed brownies."
"Is that so?"
"Yeah."
Casso let out a short chuckle. "That was probably Roderigo's doing. I'll have to speak with him later."
"Okay. It's just that...I think my sister should be..."
"Yes, yes. I understand," Cassio replied.
"And one other thing," Iago said. "My sister said she learned how to fire a gun."
Cassio raised an eyebrow, but he didn't say anything.
"Sir, are you sure that—"
"Self-defense is necessary for this business."
"But..."
"She's already proving herself to be a worthy candidate."
"That wasn't part of our agreement!" Iago yelled, slamming his hands on the table.
The bodyguards drew their guns in response, forcing Iago to back down.
"It's alright," Cassio said to the bodyguards. "Put down your weapons."
"You better explain yourself," Iago said.
Cassio sighed. "Your sister is a beautiful woman, and she is quite skillful when it comes to martial arts. She may become a potent member of our cause."
"I don't want her joining a gang!"
"It's her choice."
Iago clenched his fist. "Our agreement was that you could keep an eye on her. I never said anything about her getting involved with this stuff."
"As I said, it's her choice. Besides, you only have yourself to blame for the situation. Maybe you didn't realize the ramifications that came with borrowing our money."
Cassio was right about who was to blame. Iago's parents ended up getting killed because of their involvement with the gang, but Iago himself still became a member despite the risks.
When Iago was on the brink of financial ruin, his only option was to borrow money from Cassio. Soon enough, the interest piled up, and he didn't think he could ever pay everything back. That was when Cassio took Bianca as collateral.
It's taken years to pay the debt, but after taking the job at Telemachus Technologies, Iago would be able to pay everything before the end of the year. He was unbelievably lucky that Virgil accepted him as a Tester.
Soon enough, Iago could finally free his sister from the mansion, and they could live together in peace.
Struggling for one's desired reality was no small task. Iago felt like Sisyphus, cursed to roll a boulder up a mountain forever, only to have it roll back down every time. But, by now, Iago was inches away from finally getting the boulder to the peak. Freedom was just around the corner.
"I'm done here," Iago said. "May I leave?"
"That's fine. But aren't you gonna stay with your sister a little more?" Cassio asked.
"Unfortunately, I can't. I've got work to do."
"I see. Well then, you're dismissed."
Iago nodded and left the room, allowing the silent bodyguards to open the door for him.
"You done with your meeting?" Bianca asked.
"Yeah."
"I started baking some muffins. Do you have time to stay and eat them when they get done? We can also play some chess while we wait."
Iago shook his head. "Sorry. I gotta head off to work."
"Oh. Okay. I'll see you later, then."
"Yeah," Iago replied, exiting through the front door. "I'll see you later. Stay safe, Bianca."
"Don't worry about me. Bye!"
"Bye!"
Once Iago made it back to his car, he drove off to the Telemachus Technologies building, where he got into the chair capsule and logged on to Serial Slain.
***
Upon booting up the game, Iago woke up in his bedroom. Much of the furniture had been destroyed, and various cracks lined the walls.
Iago hadn't taken lightly to the news of Ares's prison break.
Now that he had a calm head, it was time to think things through. In case Ares did manage to escape, Iago had pre-emptively created a countermeasure: a sacrificial circle around the entire capital city of Zweizen.
With a simple incantation, Iago could annihilate every citizen and absorb their mana for himself.
Of course, there really wasn't much of a point in doing that. Iago didn't need to get any more powerful.
But Ares was unnaturally sympathetic to the NPCs. There was no way that he would let an entire city be killed if he could stop it.
"How disgusting," Iago muttered to himself.
Non-player characters were just that: non-players. They had no soul, and they didn't deserve to be treated as humans. Claudia was a fool to think so.
Iago got out of bed and cast a voice amplification spell that would allow everyone from Polsius to hear him.
"Ares, the Hierophant, I have surrounded the entire capital in a sacrificial circle. If you don't arrive for a duel in the next hour, every citizen here will die."