I think quickly, reacting to her words and decide to go along with what she thinks this intruder may be. If she thinks I'm from the Association without me having to lead her to believe it, that's even better.
Stepping forward, I activate my Hush Skill and let it expand just large enough to encompass both of us. The light sounds of magic items clicking together, boxes being taped, and people moving around vanish from our audible senses.
I deactivate my stealth skill, and activate my mana manipulation skill to summon two humming pink daggers in my hands.
The ring of concealment along with my skill makes me look as if I'm just some random man with two high-level assassination skills. A noise-canceling perk, along with some ability to conjure knives that don't leave a trace.
The pink glow from my hands lights up the room just slightly, and in the same moment, I see the tips of Bri's fingers flicker with white light as well.
I speak up.
"Well, there's been a change of plans."
She stares straight ahead, standing up from her desk without a drop of fear.
"That's not how things work. We had an ongoing agreement. No messing with me or my business, it's part of Rodrigo's soul pact."
I step closer but stop in place at her last line. Rodrigo is her brother, the A-Class hunter that was the head examiner of my C-Class advancement event. To date, that's the strongest hunter I've ever seen in my life. Hearing his name brought up here is a bit confusing.
"He doesn't matter. This is about you."
I continue to step forward, letting the pink blades in my hand glow brighter and brighter before continuing to speak.
"Would you like to make a deal? Hand over the names of just one of your high-paying clients. We'll need a time and date to seize illegal products on their premises, along with their past order numbers. A lot of people in Vice City have been getting far too comfortable in the shadows away from the law."
Bri's hands glow even brighter white, now illuminating the full backside of the room.
"You're not allowed to ask a favor like that of me. No one below a regional director rank should even be standing in this facility. We had a 0 tolerance interference policy. The only way you could be showing up here now is if Rodrigo either betrayed you, or he's dead-"
Her eyes widen for a fraction of a second as I jump forward and put both blades right up to her neck, reflecting a pink glow off her body.
Even in her moment of hesitation, I'm impressed with her reaction time as she counters by moving her left hand hot with light magic toward my waist and her other hand grabs a knife from her desk.
However, I have the high ground and the closer hand to the kill shot.
I reply.
"You give up one client, and you keep your life. A simple exchange. We'll even make it look like an accident, and compensate you for long term business losses."
Her eyes remain fierce, and she grits her teeth.
"Piss off. I'd never give up a single client unless they themselves backstabbed me first. On top of that... I'd never help the Association after what you did to my family.
I bring my blades even closer, just millimeters away from her neck.
"Is this really how you want to go? All I ask for is a simple name. If you're doing this because you're worried about your brother, I have nothing to do with him. Our meeting here is only about you."
I let my blades pulse pink, and all I get in response is her resolute stare. She continues to charge up her left hand with more and more light magic, bringing the room we stand in to fully lit.
"So you're from one of the special units?"
Her expression changes to anger.
"He can take care of himself, this is more personal."
I nod, keeping a straight face, but smiling inwardly.
"Last chance."
"My answer is no. I'll never go back on my word. Kill me if you can."
I feel a warm sensation hit my stomach. It's a light magic attack that's easily deflected by my many layers of dense mana shielding.
I don't budge, and based on Bri's reaction, she expected this. Her blade in her right hand immediately becomes covered in a layer of mana shielding and swings up and across her body to bash the two pink daggers in my hand away.
On contact, I deactivate my manipulation skill and let the blades shatter into a glimmering pink glow while airstepping backward and putting my hands up in the air.
I can tell she's surprised it was so easy. It was clear in her mind that I was a much stronger opponent since the second I walked into the room.
"Good. You passed."
As Bri runs at me glowing with light magic all over, and pulling even more items out of a small item box, I take off my ring and deactivate my concealment skill to reveal my regular form.
She stops mid-stride with a look filled with shock, and before taking another step a wave of understanding washes over her.
"J-Jay? You're alive?"
Her blinding lights dim, and she takes the weapons aimed at my vital points down, releasing her tight grip.
I reply, taking out the sword and dagger she crafted for me from my item storage for a moment, then put both the weapons away once she confirms they're really the ones she made.
"Yes, it's really me. Sorry to alarm you, I just wanted to get a genuine reaction before I decided to fill you in on what happened to me."
The green mist of the lie detector skill still radiates off of Bri, telling me every word she said was the truth. She'd rather die than give up her clients to the Association.
She lets out a long sigh, and walks back over to her desk and sits down.
"Never a dull moment when you're around, is it? You know, you could have just knocked. I have truth detector items and bonding agreements if you were really that in need of a definite answer."
I shrug.
"Well, how was I supposed to know that? At least I heard what I wanted to hear my way. What do you say we get down to business?"
I walk over to one of the cushioned seats in front of her desk and take a seat. She replies.
"Give me a moment."
She takes a deep breath in and out before organizing things on her desk and looking straight up at me.
"You may have known that was just a test, but for me I was sure a ranked up assassin from the Association's Black Ops Unit just came in to kill me."
She breathes in and out one more time, wiping all worry from her face entirely. I'm impressed how unphased she is by all of this. Or, how good she is at hiding it.
"Anyway. I take it with an introduction like that after coming back from the dead, you didn't just come over to say hi?"
We chuckle at her statement, and simultaneously, I take out the 5 pieces of paper from my item storage with regional order details on them.
"It's a bit of an urgent request actually, and a very big one at that."
My Hush skill is still blocking out everything not on this floor, and the only noise hitting my ears is Bri's accelerated heartbeat and fast breathing the moment her eyes meet the details written on the page before her.
Over a minute goes by as she flips through each of the pages and examines each item order very closely.
Finally, after an awkwardly long pause, she speaks.
"How did you possibly get a hold of these lists? Does this mean what I think it does about the rumors going around about the Sector 2 Leader being missing?"
I slowly nod.
She looks at me straight in the eyes, then back down to the papers.
"Impossible- But- I guess it's not..."
There's another long silent pause before she speaks again.
"So, what exactly are you asking of me?"
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Author's Note:
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