*Tap* Faust put a roll of metal wires on his office desk. *Sigh*
"I'm tired. This is the third time someone ambush me."
" What do you want to drink sir?"
"A cup of hot tea please."
Faust lean his head on his chair backrest.*Sigh*
'Today is gonna be the last day they come one by one. The next time they come will be in group of two or more.'
Faust was tapping his fingers on the desk.
'It is time to use those.'
"Alex how is the preparations that I asked for last week?"
"It is done sir. Just waiting for your activation."
" Tell the kids to stay in the basement for the next week. There are foods there enough for a year, clean water and place to sleep. There is also a library and a makeshift playground."
"On it sir."
'The level is high now.'
In the night, on top of a rooftop of an abandoned tall building. Faust was sitting on a chair in front of a campfire. He was burning marshmallow on a stick while sipping hot chocolate milk in a mug.
A group of teenagers ran on the rooftop of the houses and building. They were parkouring their way towards Faust. They were dressed in all black and wearing a white mask covering their face.
"You guys have arrive right on time. Come sit first. You guys must be tired."
"No it is okay sir. We have been doing this thing everyday so we are still full of energy."
"Well whatever you guys say then. The parcel. Did you guys manage to deliver it?"
"Yes we have put it around Inside."
"Nice."
The leader of the group seems to hesitate before asking a question to her boss.
"S-Sir is it okay to put that around Inside? We are concerned that they will trace it back to us."
"If they manage to trace its origin, they will trace it back directly to me so don't worry. Can I request another thing? Just one thing."
"Boss. You are our boss. You gave us place to live so we will do any jobs boss want."
"But I make this group for you guys to be independent of me.*Sigh* Here. Take these needles and stab it on the ground anywhere in the Inside. It will be better if you can step it near any parcel. Remember immediately abandon everything if it seems to be too dangerous and quickly run away from there. If you are caught tell them I force you or threaten you guys."
"About the last part.... Yes we will absolute do the job. We Runners will done the job silently and undetected."
"Yeah, see you guys two weeks from now. Stay alive alright."
"You too sir. Let's go!"
They then jumped down the rooftop.
"Really fearless. 'They' can't trace the sender anyway. Such a worry wort. They will try to trace the drone, machines, or any technologies they assume the sender use to deliver the parcels. But they will not expect human courier. Ruga might has some sort of inkling about it but the inspector and investigator at The Circle are all full of pride. They will not listen to Ruga suggestions."
Faust face crumpled.
"But they are not stupid. Sooner or later they will get some sort clues. I need to settle this fast. Time to use the old tactics."
Inside an abandoned house somewhere in The Outer. A group of people wearing weird clothes were gathering. Their faces show irritation, annoyance and anger. A woman walked onto an elevated platform.
"I am very grateful to you guys for coming here."
All the people in the room looked at the woman.
"We are all here Mercenary on the same job. Hunting the bounty of Faust. This week three of us die miserably. They attempt to take on Faust solo. Sadly they died. I have a suggestion. We form small groups and ambush Faust at his place all at once."
"Then what about the bounty reward. Do we have to share among all of us here? Or among the people in the same group? Is it still first come basis or something?"
"The management just send some early news to me. The requester just increase the bounty to 500,000 CP. The management also told me that if we don't manage to complete the job within three days, they will send it to the big organizations. Do we still have an option?"
"There are 20 people here. Seems good to me. I'm in."
"I'm out. I'm going back to The Inside."
"I'm in"
"Out"
"Absolutely in."
"Out"
The woman looked around the room as people started to stated they are in or out. She was satisfied. She really needed the money but she is not really good in combat. Usually she acted as a support to a small Mercenary group. Her Artifact was really not good for combat. So she pondered. How can she still get the bounty reward without doing any fighting herself?
She came to a conclusion that she must incite the Mercenaries taking the same job as her to team up and split the bounty reward. At first, she was afraid the plan would failed but suddenly an opportunity came. Three people died fighting the target alone. She then used their death as a stepping stone for her plan.
The bounty increased but it came with a condition. Condition that the job must be done in three days. A disturbance in her plan? Not really. She was not worried one bit. To her, the bounty reward is already in the bag when the Mercenary started banding together.
Unbeknownst to them, Faust already knew what was happening here. Mercenary banding together to kill him. They didn't expect to be walking towards their death.