At other parts of Bolivar, a hooded person was slicing guards apart and she was accompanied by a giant of a man.
Ash and Shining were cleaning up the house and the Singas had outlived their usefulness.
"Hah, if these guys only focused more on taking care of the country. But due to the witch king dying, then Soleil and Luna being busy by stabilizing Leithanien, they got really loose." Ash sighed.
"Such a shame, now we have to cull them. Bad grass will sap nutrients from the land after all." Shining swung her blade and the blood on it went to the wall. Making it all shiny again.
"You sounded really profound there." Ash patted her head and she blushed. "S-shut up."
"Hmm, now that Vina and Glasgow got Pancho as the new leader of the government. We can be rest assured that it will be in good hands." Ash admired the old man's stubbornness.
Though he still thought that a muscly old man with dog ears is disgusting. So he won't be in contact with him often.
They then returned back to Dossoles and found Platinum giving the girls a lecture on what they could've done better.
"Ash! Help us! Platinum is educating us really hard!" Hannah lunged at him and begged for help.
Meanwhile, Vina and Cantabile listened intently to Platinum's critique.
"I guess I could just send you a written copy of your evaluation." Platinum shrugged and Hannah sighed in relief with Isabella.
They were fighters after all, so they left all that crap to Vina who was their leader.
"Come on, it was to be expected with your first big job that you are leading by yourself. Let's enjoy the beach, shall we?" Ash smiled at them and they nodded.
"And who is this little bird?" Ash saw Cantabile and Vina introduced her.
"Ahhh, she's one of the agents that Simon Singas entrusted with us. Though she was in a really bad shape and she's like one of those assassins that have no self preservation." Vina frowned and Cantabile nodded.
"Sir, please use me as you wish." She looked at him with her blank eyes and Ash sighed. "Another one of those kinds huh? Listen here." Ash crouched down and put a hand on her head.
"You're not there anymore, okay? Listen to me." Ash made her look at him in the eyes.
"Cantabile, you're free now. You can do anything you want. If you wish to be a civilian, you can be one. Just like Vina's other friends, they chose to have a peaceful life." Ash smiled at her and he sighed at what she must've went through.
Being an assassin was tough, and she looked like a noble lady. Not like an assassin at all. So she must have had terrible difficulties with her job.
"I can do... Whatever I want?" She tilted her head and he nodded.
"What do you want to do? There's tons of things you can do. Paint, listen to music, sew, watch movies, and many other more things." Ash patiently tried to get her out of that mindset.
"Anything... I want to continue my job for now. But I'll try to find something to do." She blinked and he nodded.
"That's an upgrade for now, but she'll need some help. At least it isn't as bad as Liz or Narcissa." Ash shrugged and they nodded.
Those guys were in a really bad spot when he found them. Especially Narcissa, she was just a child that got experimented on. Losing her brother and stuffing his soul into her brain.
"Come on, let's go for a little holiday for your efforts." Ash stood up and their eyes sparkled.
But when they got to the beach, they were met with an angry Ch'en and Lin.
"I already told you, I wasn't the one that destroyed the ship, why should I imburse the damages?" Ash raised a brow at Ch'en and Lin that were arguing with him.
"Y-you could have easily stopped Pancho and his mooks! But you left it to us! We would have won if you didn't enter the competition! And we should be able to use the prize money for the damages!" Ch'en huffed at him.
"That's right! We can't pay that enormous amount out of pocket! We aren't that rich!" Lin shouted in annoyance.
"I can just loan you some money, bow down to this Swire-sama." Beatrix had a smug look on her face.
"Well, you shouldn't have destroyed the ship if you didn't have the money to pay for it." Ash shrugged and he smirked at them.
"Kuu! You're annoying!" Ch'en bristled and he rubbed her horns, making her freeze.
"Now, now, the mayor didn't say to pay it. You just have to make an appeal and tell them that you destroyed it in an emergency." Ash gave them some advice.
"Ugh, but that will take tons of time!" Lin quipped back and he nodded. "Not my problem, it was your great idea to make it go boom."
Lin and Ch'en looked sheepish for a second before they rembered once again that if he took care of it, nine of this would have happened.
"You're gaslighting us! It's not our fault that we had to save the hostages!" Ch'en argued once again and they were back to square one.
He had no problem in arguing though, he was enjoying their expressions and annoyance. And they can't do anything about it unless he agreed to foot the bill.
Ash just laughed at their attempts to make him pay for it. But it was going nowhere, so Lin and Ch'en just started grumbling.
The Lung checked her savings account and she winced. Her hard earned money was going to drained by the enormous amount of money that they needed to pay for the damages.
Lin also checked her account, but she didn't really receive much from the rat king. Because she needed to be independent.
The two of them got depressed and Ash patted their heads. "Don't worry, need a job? Paradiso is always hiring." He laughed and the two glared at him.
"Good going boss! They have unique skillets. Well, Lin does. But Ch'en is a swordmaster right? You think she can turn into a grandmaster like Shining and Degenbrecher?" Hannah had a smile on her face for the good catch.
"Who said that we'll be joining you?" Ch'en raised a brow and she grumbled that they thrashed Lungmen.
"Well, you'll meet someone that will. Later that is, how about we enjoy our time at the beach first? Isn't that right? Hoshiguma, Beatrix?" Ash smiled at them and they blushed.
"Don't! He's a schemer, don't be tricked by his good looks!" Lin tried to warn them.
"He's so tall and muscular... He also smells really good." Hoshiguma fidgeted around, it was pretty rare for her to see a tall guy.
And most of the tall ones that she sees are either criminals, ugly, or old.
"Ash, I would like to enter a partnership with you. The Schwire conglomerate will see it as an honor." Beatrix bowed at him and he rubbed her ears.
"Sure thing, send me the files. I'll review it carefully." Which he won't, but she didn't need to know that.
He could memorize anything with a glance and make a split second decision like frying beans with lightning.
He then checked out the ladies for now and he nodded. (pic)
"Looking good ladies, makes me quite excited." Ash chuckled as Ch'en hid her body while Lin and Beatrix flaunted theirs.
Ch'en then fired her water gun at him and he just looked at the water and it stopped in midair.
"I mean, do you really think that would work on me?" Ash raised a brow and Ch'en squinted her eyes.
"I won't know if I don't try." She tried to get that stupid smirk off of his face and take off his shades. But she had no such luck.
"Um, Ash-san. Do you really think I look good?" Hoshiguma put a strand of her hair over her ear and he nodded.
"Hmmm, that horn looks real nice and smooth. And you have nice, long legs." Ash smiled at her and Ch'en tackled him, not wanting Hoshiguma to fall for his evil wiles.
"Hey, hey, if you want to hug me that badly. Then you shouldn't be rude to Hoshiguma and wait." Ash picked up Ch'en like he was picking up a kitten and she growled at him.
"Hah, it's no use Ch'en. Just let it be and go with the flow." Lin took a floatie and she drank a mango smoothie that Ernesto prepared for them.
Meanwhile, Rafaela was fanning Vina's group who were under some parasols.
"Why are they here anyways? Not like I don't want them here. But aren't they exiled from Bolivar from now on?" Ch'en was confused.
"Well, they're in Bolivar. Think, who owns Bolivar?" Ash chuckled and Ch'en had an ugly expression on her face.
"So they're going to be your workers from now on?" Ch'en raised a brow.
"Ohh, no. Ernesto will be helping his dad with something. La Pluma though, she'll be with us. After all, a father will worry much more about his daughter." Ash kept her with them as insurance.
He wasn't an idiot, even though Pancho would rather die than put Bolivar in a bad spot, Ash still wanted some insurance. Don't trust strangers you just met.
"Umm, sir Ash. Can you put some sun screen on me? I'm pale you see?" Beatrix went up to him and handed him a bottle.
He then looked at her skin and it was pasty white. She was a true, rich lady after all. So she was always indoors. Leading to her skin tone being equal.
"Alright, go on and lie down on this mat for me." Ash produced a mat and Beatrix lied down on it, undoing her swimsuit, baring her back.
Ch'en and Lin immediately went up to them and they stared at him intensely.
"What? Want to be next? Sure." Ash shrugged and he warmed up the sunscreen on his palm.
He then glided his hands on Beatrix's back, making her groan at his warm palms that touched her skin.
"Indecent..." Ch'en blushed as her friend enjoyed herself.
"Ohh? You have a little knot here, let's take care of that." Ash rubbed her lower back and Beatrix moaned in pleasure at the impromptu massage.
"H-hey! It's just a massage." Lin looked at Beatrix suspiciously. Because he really was just massaging her normally.
Not knowing that Ash was stimulating her nerve endings to give her a better time.
"How about that, come on ladies. I told you, I won't do anything untoward." Ash shrugged and they looked at him vigilantly.
Lin was the first to go, because she wasn't as shy as Ch'en.
Ash did the same thing and Lin's eyes widened. "Hmm~ W-what was that?" She looked at him in surprise.
"Nothing special, I'm just that good." He winked at her and Lin slowly nodded. She then let him do his thing.
Right after, Lin had a pleased smile on her face and Ch'en thought that it really was just a good massage.
"Eh, what's the worst that could happen." Ch'en shrugged and she lied down. Though she stared at him who was on the side.
"Why the intense stare? Come on, I'll let you relax." Ash started and Ch'en bit her lip.
"Y-you! What did you do!?" Ch'en barked at him, but she didn't really want it to stop, feeling her tired muscles relax and feel amazing.
"A secret." He winked at her and she clicked her tongue, but she still let him be.
Ash then prepared a nice barbecue, giving them a taste of his cooking that is always perfect due to his memory and reflexes.
And while they were looking at the sunset, Ash sat down besides Ch'en. "W-what? Do you need something from me?" She raised a brow, but she was a lot more soft spoken.
"Do you want to see your sister? Talulah?" Ash suddenly brought it up out of the blue.
"T-Talulah? I see... She's still alive? Thank you for sparing her..." Ch'en looked on the ground, a heavy frown on her face.
"It wasn't Talulah's fault, she was being controlled by duke Kaschey from Ursus." Ash sighed and Ch'en snapped her head to him.
"R-really? Talulah wasn't at fault?" She was shocked by that. Thinking that she was only alive because they were torturing her at Paradiso.
"Yeah, the prick used some kind of arts to pour his soul to her body. And at a moment of weakness, Talulah got taken over." Ash explained and Ch'en furrowed her brows.
She gritted her teeth hard, thinking that Talulah became a tyrant that she needed to stop. But all this time, her sister was being controlled by another person.
"I-is she fine now?" Ch'en asked, almost pleading to know.
"Well, what's your definition of fine?" Ash was being secretive and Ch'en got paranoid.
"She's alive and well, healthy too." Ash added, though there was a but there.
"But? But what?" Ch'en furrowed her brows and she was getting impatient.
"She's hollow, like she abandoned her will to live and just continues on to be Paradiso's attack dog." Ash revealed to her and Ch'en almost broke into tears.
"I... I want to see her." Ch'en pleaded and she grabbed his shirt while tears streamed from her eyes.
"Okay, we depart tomorrow morning. You know, I don't blame her... But I sometimes think that she deserves it. For losing to Kaschey, but I'd be kidding myself. Talulah was my friend, Reunion was." He showed her their picture together.
Talulah was smiling and Ch'en couldn't help but cry at her sister's expression.
"I would say that she trusted me even more than you. She told me about you, Ch'en Hui-chieh. Her estranged sister. The constant reminder of her father's death. But she didn't fault you for it." Ash sighed.
"I... I need to talk to Talulah." Ch'en hardened her expression.
"You do." Ash then left her behind for now so she could be alone with her thoughts.
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Thanks for reading everyone, ciao.