I walked up to Junior's club, something that had become almost a habit at this point. Honestly, I think I spent more time here than any other building since arriving in this world.
I was about to go towards the doors, but a large man standing to the side stepped infront of me. I blinked for a moment before looking up at him. "Excuse me?"
He didn't respond, crossing his arms, clearly set on preventing me from going inside.
"Um….Roman is expecting me?" I offered. "…..Wilhelm?" Again, he didn't react and it was hard to gauge his reaction. "Well, I guess I'm going through you then –"
"He's cool." Another voice snuck up behind me as in notice Miltia walking over. "Junior knows him." She said and the big guy just nodded, stepping to the side. She walked past me, going inside.
"Hey Miltia, how you doing?" I caught the door before it could close, walking inside. There were no other people visible, almost deathly silent.
"Tired, annoyed, and tired." She scowled, walking up to the bar.
"Not much sleep?" I took the same seat I had sat at before multiple times.
"It was supposed to be my day off." She scoffed, crossing her arms as she made her way behind the counter. "Junior calls me in, offers triple my rate, doesn't tell me what's going on, so I throw on whatever I had and come running and I look like a complete mess."
Well, she didn't look like a mess, but she clearly didn't put as much effort into her dress compared to the last time we met, but…. "You look good." I offered a compliment. She was wearing just normal jeans and a hoody with her hair in a loose ponytail.
"You're such a dork." She rolled her eyes, a small smile forming on her face. "I don't always dress up like a peacock, y'know?"
"I assumed it was mostly for your job." I replied. "Wouldn't say it looked bad, but you clearly were trying to grab attention in a crowded building. You can do casual just as well as dressed up." Just because I wasn't interested in her romantically didn't mean I wasn't aware of her appeal.
She huffed, crossing her arms. It seems her default reaction to compliments was to feign annoyance. "You were serious about before?"
"What, about being friend? Why wouldn't I be?"
"Most guys that say stuff like that are trying to get in my pants." She eyed me skeptically. "
"I am upfront about any of my romantic intentions." Probably wasn't a good idea to mention that I had three girls in my life right now….and possibly a forth in the future.
She snorted. "My job is to do rounds in a club, get guys to spend a bit more Lien in hopes of me taking them upstairs." She started rummaging for stuff under the bar, setting supplies on the counter. "I'm not a whore….but I do decide to spend a night with a guy every now and then."
"Are you trying to scare me away?" I raised an eyebrow.
She shrugged. "Most people don't like to hang around people like me." He took a few bottles out, mixing them with a decent amount of skill, though no where near the level of Junior. She pour me a glass, pushing it towards me.
I picked it up, taking a sip. "My mother was a prostitute." I stated, enjoying the taste. "I'm not going to think you're icky because you like to have sex with someone who catches your interest."
She just blinked at my statement, staring down at her drink before taking a large gulp. "You're annoyingly nice." She ran the tip of her finger around the mouth of her glass. "It's not just looking pretty. Me and Melanie also work as bouncers, making sure no guys get too frisky, or no one starts slipping anything in any drinks." She seemed to open up a little bit. "The occasional Aura-user comes make trouble too, so me and Mel handle those idiots."
"I should stop by some night." I offered.
"What, you want to come hang out, dance, maybe talk about boys with me?" She said sarcastically, but it lacked any kind of venom in her tone. It seemed like it was one of her default reactions.
"Sure, I'll be your wingman if you want." I smirked.
She looked a little amused by my comment, probably about to say something until the front doors burst open, a familiar orange haired man walking in.
"Kid, you made it." He exclaimed. Trailing a little behind him, a woman casual strode inside as well.
She had an eye-catching hair color, half brown and half pink, yet it seemingly worked quite well on her. She was rather short, even with the heels she wore, and a parasol in her hand.
"Let me introduce you to my partner in crime – Neopolitan, or just Neo for shot." His partner gave a little wave. "She doesn't speak." He added.
"Like the ice cream?" I raised an eyebrow.
The little girl smirked, and the area around her shattered, disappearing. I blinked for a moment, gripping my drink tightly right as another hand reached for it. The seat next to me shattered like glass, the girl appearing, trying to steal my drink from me.
"Huh, good instincts." Roman commented, earning a pout from his partner.
"Shorty." Miltia just scowled.
Neo turned to her, gestured with her hands and Miltia looked pale, turning away with a huff.
"Well…" Roman approached, leaning against the counter. "She hasn't stabbed you, that's always a good sign."
I eyed Neo who blinked innocently.
"If you're done drinking all my alcohol, we have a job to discuss." Junior's voice carried over the area, standing at the doorway into his back room
"Alright, front and center, kiddo, time to put your big boy pants on, you're about to hit the big times." Roman slapped my back as he went to the back, Neo giving me a wink as she skipped behind.
Technically, I havn't even done the small time stuff yet.
"Well, that was interesting."
"Be careful with Neo, she's a lot stronger than she looks." Meltia scowled. "Don't believe her innocent little girl act."
"Little girl? With those hips, she's definitely a woman."
Meltia stopped for a moment, looking at me in surprise.
"What?" I asked her in confusion.
Her lips curled up slightly. "Didn't expect something like that from such a dork."
"What, didn't expect me to admire the view?" I raised an eyebrow.
She shrugged. "You came off as the goody two-shoes type, didn't know your brain could even think like that."
"Wow, do I really give off that vibe?" I was honestly surprised.
She let out a laugh. "Come on, choir boy, Junior's waiting."
***
"Alright, Ladies and Gentlemen." Roman clapped his hands, grabbing everyone's attention.
I looked around the room, it was me, Roman, Junior, Melanie, Meltia, and Neo all sitting around a white board.
"The name of the game is robbery." He swept his gaze around. "Anyone who doesn't want to be involved, get the fuck out now."
No one moved, but Melanie made a noise to draw attention. "Who is he and why is he here?" She gestured to me.
"Actually, that's a good question." I agreed, much to Melanie's bemusement.
"Alright, that's fair." Roman nodded. "Kid here is a distraction. Honestly, anyone could fill his role, but it's hard to find someone with his specialty."
"Punchable face?" Meltia offered.
Roman smirked, snapping his fingers. "Right you are."
"Yeah, yeah." I rolled my eyes. "Can you explain properly."
"Buzzkill." Roman moved on easily enough. "Alright, so kid here is going to be our patsy to draw attention in the Mistral Tournament coming up. We're going to Rig the thing up until the top 16, giving him a free win each time. I chose him, because he looks about the right age and within arms reach, I had blackmail, and he seemed smart enough not to fuck it up, which admittedly, is a low bar that many of our minions can't seem to clear."
"That's going to be a lot of attention on him." Junior noted. "I hope I'm paying for more than just some spectacle."
Ah, was Junior bankrolling this heist?
"That's part of the plan, and where I need you lot to come in. See, you all are going to promote him."
Junior looked unamused. "What?"
"Promote him, put up fliers, tell everyone about the kid who came from 'your' club that's going to compete." Roman flourished his hands for added effect.
"Why?" Junior asked.
"We need Lil'miss Malachite's spies to notice and give the boss lady time to contemplate." Roman explained.
"Mother?" Meltia looked confused.
"Wait, mother? You want to fuck with their mom?" I interjected.
"Oh, we're doing a job that's going to piss off 'that woman'?" Melanie picked at her nails. She tried to look uninterested, but the look in her eyes betrayed that.
Not the reaction I expected with their mother came up, but I can't exactly toss stones from my glass house over here.
"Righto, stop skipping ahead." Roman gave me a look. "So, Malachite senior still has spies around to watch us, obviously they can't really do anything in your turf, Junior."
Junior just grunted and I realized that he was probably the 'boss' around these parts and not merely an information broker.
"As I was saying." Roman continued. "Promote him enough to grab her attention. She'll be focused on why you—" He pointed towards Junior. "Would bother with a nobody like him." He then pointed towards me. "Of course she's going to investigate since her spies will no doubt reported to her that I've been walking in and out of here a lot more recently."
"So, you want mother's eyes on you, why?" Melita asked.
"I'm glad you asked." He snapped his fingers, pointing towards the white board. "Neo, do your thing." The area around the board shattered, and was replaced with pictures and such all over. His cane slapped at the top corner. "The kid is going to give a signal, one that would force the spider bitch to act. At that time, we're hitting her two biggest stashes while all her people try to grab the one who pushed her face in the mud for the whole world to see."
Ah, she would be forced to act to save face.
"YOU KNOW MOTHER'S STASHES?" Melanie stood up, clear surprise on her face.
Roman took out a cigar, lighting it up with a smirk. "Honey, who do you think I am?"
"Where do we come in?" Melanie asked, clearly still excited at the prospect.
"Muscle" Roman said bluntly. "Believe me when I say, this is going to be a hot exit. Malachite senior holds half of Mistral by the balls, you better believe she'll ground all outgoing bullheads to stop us. I need you both to keep our getaway clean of pests."
"Fine." Melanie sat back down. "My cut better be worth it."
"How far away is the Bullhead from the stashes?" I asked, earning everyone's attention.
"Good question kid." Roman nodded in approval. "The answer is – too damn far."
"How long can she ground all the bullheads?"
Roman looked thoughtful. "A couple hours, give or take."
"Wouldn't it be better to just go to ground for a bit, wait for her hold to wane? Even if the authorities are in her pocket, they can't keep inter kingdom flights grounded too long, wouldn't that open up issues with other kingdoms to make comments?" I wasn't too aware of interkingdom politics, but it seemed unwise for Mistral's government to get any kind of flak due to her personal issues on an international scale.
"Me and Neo would be fine, the sisters would be fine too, but you'll be all alone, kid."
"Can she even touch me while the tournament is going on?"
"Very unlikely, too many cameras, and the government would come down on her hard for such an overt move on her part. Hell, if the tournament is seen as 'unsafe' by other Kingdoms…." Roman just laughed at the thought and I could fill in the gaps.
"There you have it, just let me have a go, worst case I'm fucked and you can get out of there without me." I mean, the absolute worse case, I could always just portal back to Vale, but I didn't want to really reveal that at the moment.
Roman gave me an appraising look. "You got balls, kid, I'll give you that." He chuckled. "Alright, if you want to play it like that, it's your ass." He shook his head. "Alright, the big picture is painted, time to settle the details."
***
Neo arrives, and MC is going to have some fun in Mistral.
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