"Haahh..." "Hahh..." "Haahhh..."
In a particular rented gym was a girl lying on the ground heavily panting. She was covered in sweat and was extremely exhausted from the training she had gotten through. Beside the girl was her older sister, who appeared to be nonchalant.
It was as if her older sister was nothing more than an observer. There was no trace of sweat and exhaustion despite the hours of training they had gone through. The girl couldn't believe it, but she was starting to think that her older sister was a tank.
"Mer- I mean... Old Sis, shouldn't this be enough already? We have been training for hours and I think that it's already afternoon." The girl was Kiara, and the one beside her was her older sister, Mercedes.
They started training early in the morning after getting out of the campus. And when they began. Hell was let loose for the middle-school student. Getting attacked by her older sister and not even having a chance to fight back was torture.
She could probably die from both mental and physical exhaustion if they continued the training.
"Okay, okay... Though, it looks like your stamina isn't that good. It seems that you need more physical training before the self-defense training." Mercedes muttered and didn't bother apologizing for the torture training.
"Tsk!" Kiara clicked her tongue in annoyance and slowly stood up with a weary appearance. She navigated towards the locker room while barely having some consciousness while her older sister stayed behind.
"Noon hasn't passed yet..." Mercedes remarked while glancing at the clock. They had been staying here for a couple of hours and she had been doing the things the old man had done to her.
Obviously, that wasn't a good thing to do, especially in their relationship. The only reason that stopped Mercedes from killing the old man was his unmovable and boundless strength. Who knows what an angry Kiara could do to her.
"But it's all worth it. She's adapting to the training method well. Although, it's simply self-defense. She has talent in martial arts. It makes me wonder how high up she can go with such a talent." Mercedes squinted her eyes while staring at the door of the locker room.
Kiara, who was inside it, felt chills within her spine. She erratically inspects her surroundings only to see no one in the locker room. She sighed in relief as she felt a dangerous gaze staring at her. Maybe it was nothing more but a false alarm.
"Though... That damn, Old Sis! How could she torture me for hours? Is she this sadistic? Don't tell me she's losing entertainment so she plans on targeting people from now on. Am I her first and test target?"
Kiara was going through an unexpected mental storm regarding her older sister's intentions. After a short while, she sighed and calmed herself down. She was under mental fatigue along with physical exhaustion. It made her mind chaotic.
'Nonetheless, I won't forgive her for this. I will have my revenge.' Kiara thought to herself.
The tradition of a master gets passed down to their disciple. And as the disciple becomes a master of their own, will the tradition be passed again to another disciple. This was the fate of a master and a disciple.
After taking a short rest in the locker room, Kiara decided to go home after leaving Mercedes a gaze of undeniable contempt. Mercedes could do nothing but wryly smile as she turned her gaze towards a phone in her hand.
She furrowed her eyebrows since it was time to start her next operation. Now that all of the gangs in the district were gone. She needed to fill that power vacuum. The Striker Gang was the perfect and only candidate, so she picked them as her hounds.
But what will her hounds do? These were the questions that echoed throughout the gang. What does Lord Solace want from them? To answer this question was simple.
Mercedes needed others to protect the district in her name. Specifically her family. Obviously, she wouldn't display such intentions publicly since it would do nothing but endanger her family even more. So she decided to hit the biggest area.
The district.
The gang will become an organization that will protect the district from outsiders. After stability ensues within the district, the organization would start expanding outwards but that was for the future.
With this in mind, Mercedes decided to call for Abraham. The phone began ringing as the sound reverberated throughout the gym. She calmly waited while holding the vibrating phone. It didn't take three seconds before someone picked it up.
"Lord Solace, I have already given the orders you wished to be attained. The members have also been gathering in the desired location. They will be awaiting your presence."
Abraham uttered with a serious yet respectful tone. The gang has been going smoothly ever since the fall of the district's newly-emerged criminal underworld. One would expect them to be the new underworld, but their liege had different plans.
"Good, I'll be there in five minutes."
Mercedes replied and closed her phone as she walked towards the locker room. It was time to change her outfit, and luckily, she brought her special clothing with her. Having a rented gym of your own really was quite a tasteful.
It appears that the money she had looted from the warehouse of those damn criminals never disappointed her.
After wearing the special outfit and placing the demon fox mask on her face. Mercedes disappeared from the darkness of the rented gym and headed towards the gathering place. The place was a humble warehouse that was owned by a peculiar company.
It was a company that was falling into debt, so she bought it with no hesitation.
The company's name was Daedalus and they sold simple agricultural products before the acquisition of Mercedes. They weren't popular and went under the radar for most people. It was the perfect company to use as a shelter and vessel.
The crowd of members gathered together with curiosity in their faces. They patiently waited and gazed before the concrete stage in front of them. It didn't take much time before they heard echoing footsteps in the background.
The atmosphere turned cold and their hearts started to become restless. The bodies shuddered for an unknown reason as their vision began to blur. Most of the members were confused, but Abraham understood the situation.
"Lord Solace has finally appeared." Abraham was a bit fanatic regarding their current leader. After all, the leader was what he dreamed of becoming. Someone powerful yet not so arrogant to conquer everything alone.
But subconsciously, Abraham wasn't confident that his ego wouldn't affect his thinking process. But that doesn't matter. He revered the Lord of Solace. And he wanted to be a loyal follower before the powerful and mighty being.
Seconds later, the members saw a figure on stage clad in a jet-black cloak. The figure wore a familiar demon fox mask and the aura emanating from it was undeniably sinister. The figure, or what they call Lord Solace, gazes at them, making the members shiver.
"I am here to declare our current plans for the future. And there is one utmost thing all of you must remember. We are the Daedalus, and we are the architects of wisdom and authority. I don't want any of you acting like rats. Think of yourselves as warriors instead."
"""WE ARE The DAEDALUS! THE ARCHITECTS OF WISDOM AND AUTHORITY!!!"""
The crowd gave a thunderous roar that caused the warehouse to vibrate. Abraham looks at them like a father proud of his son. Meanwhile, Mercedes stares at them with satisfaction. There were many things going through her mind.
But most of them were positive thoughts.
She was delighted that no one from the group seemed to be problematic. It looks like the Striker Gang was a different kind of gang than normal. It was more leaning on a brotherhood fellowship rather than a criminal syndicate.
"Now... Let's start with bettering yourselves of your current circumstances. As Abraham had said, I want all of you to get a job throughout the district. You need to be my hounds and ears. I want you to gather information while working on the job."
"After concluding your shift, you are required to report to the Daedalus Temporary Branch. All of you will also be trained in the arts of weaponry, information-gathering, and anti-intelligence."
"I believe that all of you will become my great hounds. So don't disappoint me."
"I'm someone who doesn't want to be disappointed."
Without any hesitation or delay, Mercedes left the concrete stage and went to meet Abraham. The crowd of members started dispersing as they conversed about the orders they had received from their leader.
All of them felt that they were becoming bigger. While they were small for now, the members understood the potential of Daedalus and the Lord of Solace. And to become a part of something greater, they were willing to be the hounds of Solace.
Mercedes stood in front of Abraham in a cold atmosphere. Abraham raised an eyebrow wondering what was going on. Was Lord Solace planning something in mind? Was it dangerous? Something cataclysmic?
"Abraham, I want you to tell me all of the wealthy families within the city. Specifically, the ones having financial problems." Mercedes ordered, which made Abraham curious.
"Does Lord Solace intend to plunder them of their wealth?" It was obvious that it was easy to plunder the weakening wealthy families. So Abraham wasn't wrong about his conclusion.
Mercedes, on the other hand, glances at him with aloofness.
"Yes, I am intending to plunder them. But don't misunderstand me, Abraham."
"I don't desire to plunder their wealth. Such things don't interest me."
"Instead, I want to plunder the entirety of themselves."
It was then at this very moment that Abraham realized... Lord Solace was an extremely greedy being. But not in a pitiful way. No, no... The Lord of Solace was the epitome of Avarice.
In the mind of their leader, there's no need to take the golden egg when you can conquer the golden goose itself.