"So, I hear Coco doll is in a pinch".
Within a dimly lit room with a round table that had 8 chairs, the chairs each had an individual seated on it. A few of these individuals were robed hiding their identity and there were a few who didn't bother, one of these individuals, the one who spoke was a man with a bald head, his skin a shade of brown and his stature was big with thick muscled arms, he had tattoos on his head, arms, and chest.
"Quite, you wouldn't mind lending me a Hand wouldn't you, Zero darling?"
Cocodoll, a man with a very feminine voice and physique, far away one would think he is a woman but once they get close the face would tell them otherwise, despite the lipstick and make up, his face was that of a man and the way he spoke was sultry and seductive much like seductress, Cocodoll was one of the 8 leaders within the organization known as 8 fingers , an organization that dabbles in various types of less than legal businesses, from gambling to drug trade, weapons trading to slave trading(legal) and prostitution as well as information brokering, and gambling, they also had a few merchants under their banner that posed as a front and helped smuggled things out and into the country. The organization 8 fingers was quite large, spanning the entire kingdom of Re-estize and even reaching the Baharuth empire and all the way to the Slane theocracy. Cocodoll himself was the leader of the slave trade department of the organization.
"Before I do that, I'm going to need some info and don't be surprised if my services are a little steep in price".
Zero stated while leaning forth from his chair and smiling widely, as the one who runs the underground security organization Six arms, he was also in charge of protecting the various business of his also underground business partners.
"Don't worry dear, my pockets are still deep, I'm just having a slight inconvenience at the moment".
"Glad to hear it, should I come to you or will you contact me".
"I'll have my people contact your people and take it from there".
Cocodoll responded, earning a nod from Zero, who then laid back on the back rest of his chair. With Zero's help the pest should be taken care of and although he'll have to inform Zero to capture them rather than kill them, they maybe ruining his business but beautiful women like the leader of blue rose would fetch a high price.
"Well moving on, this meeting was called because of the monthly progress report, so we may coordinate with each other if it seems one of us has an opportunity that might benefit us, we'll also be discussing the thing that happened to E-Rantel a month ago."
An elderly man with a bushy moustache and shining silver hair, spoke, he was wearing very civilised clothing that was reminiscent of nobility, this man was Noah Zweden a leader of the gambling department, his eyes looked at the other on the table with a competitive glint and a feeling of rivalry. Eight fingers as an organization weren't really a united company but instead it was more like an Eight headed hydra with each head doing everything for its own gain, only working with the others when there's profit to be gained, as such none of the leaders trusted each other or rather their trust was purely based on profit which for many was more reliable and secure than trust based on faith.
"Right, I do have something or someone that might interest a lot of you".
It was a woman who spoke, she had dirt blonde hair that stretched past her shoulders, her figure tall but looked to be frail and seemed weak with her skin being a tad too pale, she was average in her looks, but she had a certain a seductiveness to her that was alluring, even to the people in this room, She was Hilma Cygnaeus she was the leader of the drug trade department but also dabbled within the realm of prostitution owning a few brothels in the capital.
"Oh, you have something for us Hilma".
"Yes, recently a rather high-class client visited one of my brothels in the outskirts of the capital, they're very rich and have an insatiable appetite, they requested blonde and green-eyed women, so… Cocodoll what do you say?"
"Oh! Hilma darling, I knew you were looking out for me. Of course, I have plenty of those. Does he want foreign or from the neighborhood?"
Cocodoll asked in delight, such an opportunity was something he needed, his pockets are deep, but the nuisances that have been pestering him lately have stopped the cash flow of his business a bit.
"it's best the not be too foreign, he has an obsession with a certain Adamantite adventurer".
"Oh, how interesting. Do you think this client is interested in buying instead of renting?"
Things just took a turn for the better, just when he was thinking of having zero capture her, Hilma comes in telling her that there's a high-class client that has an obsession and would be more that happy to pay a large sum of money for her, today was his lucky day.
"Don't be greedy, but I'm doubtful".
"Alright, alright, I won't be, I am looking forward to our partnership. How much would be your cut?"
"I believe about 25 percent of the profit should be reasonable".
Cocodoll, pondered for a bit before accepting the terms, 25 percent was quite the sum but at the same time he understood that he was in no position to haggle and complain, if he did that would show case that his pockets weren't as deep as he claim and that is a weakness, he must never forget that these people were not his friends and no matter how friendly they appeared, they would happily screw him over any day of the week.
"Now then, moving on. E-Rantel, I'm sure you all are aware of what happened there a month ago."
Noah moved the topic of conversation now that there seemed to be no more business deals that needed to transpire, of course he felt a bit jealous as his own business has been sort of stagnant these past months.
"of course, there was an undead army of some sorts that nearly destroyed the city. A few of my brothels were affected, but it was hardly anything to worry about."
Another man spoke with an overweight face and had the look of an honest merchant. He was a bit heavy set as there was a thick layer of fat around his waist. The man was Christopher Olson, and a leader of the department focused on smuggling things in and out of the country.
"what's there to discuss then? One city being nearly destroyed shouldn't be enough to affect our businesses."
Zero stated that what he said was true, as an organization as large as they were a single city that was nearly destroyed was not something that would halt their operations.
"That is true, Zero, darling, but that incident may be a business opportunity for all of us, considering that now the city is at its weakest and the people are desperate."
"Cocodoll is right. However, at the same time, E-Rantel is being closely observed, and entering and leaving it has become very strict, so we need to find a way to properly seize it without much fuss"
Hilma explained and gained a few nods from the silent members on the table, for the most part leaders of this organization were content with making profit illegally, however there was the problem of having to constantly move and change places when they were discovered where they were operating and that uses up resources and money, but the organization as a whole has the necessary man power to undermine the military power of the kingdom, and knowing the nobles they would never begin to ask for help from Baharuth and the theocracy not to mention that both the holy kingdom and the dragon kingdom don't have the manpower to spare, making it easy for them to take over E-Rantel with the only adversary being the kingdom itself without anyone to help it, However for the time being their forces are spread out throughout the country and cannot act as a unit.
"it's as Hilma says, as such we'll use some of the information, we have on the nobles to blackmail the viscount in charge of the city, that should allow our forces to infiltrate however there's a problem that we need to take care of first before all this could happen."
Noah explained and mentioned something that got the attention of everyone in the room.
"I assume you're talking about the dog of the princess, the swordless swordsman."
"Yes, that little wretch of a princess has been a thorn to me ever since that whole debacle of trying to ban slavery, while she failed, she still manage to have a lot of restrictions imposed on it, it would have been fine if she remained a princess with little to no power but now that she has a pawn I'm sure she'll use it to its fullest capability."
Cocodoll expressed his voice switching very quickly from feminine to masculine as he spoke with clear hatred for Princess Renner. Due to interference from Renner, the king got the bright idea to decreased the amount of debt a person can get before they can be considered for slavery and out lawed the idea of using children as collateral for the debt, before one can be a slave they are given the opportunity to pay around 50 percent of the debt if they want to stay free, however the king lowered that to 25 percent and added an extra six months for the indebted to collect the funds, these are things that struck a blow to Cocodoll's steady cashflow, not to mention child slaves were the most profitable.
"Yes, according to the rumours not only did he hold off an army of undead with relative ease by himself, but he took down a skeletal dragon and some of our spies in the royal castle say he is considered to be much stronger than Gazeff Stronoff."
"So, we either get rid of him or have him join us, is that it?"
Zero surmised and the other members gave him silent nods, however personally he felt he needed to take a crack at him first and understand his true strength, zero believed himself to be stronger than Gazeff Stronoff as such this dog of the princess should make for good challenge, although he will have to finish up his business with Cocodoll before that.
....
A/N:Anyone watching Kaiju No.8? Or Mission: Yozakura family?