"..And so we can conclude, that the number of magic stones powering an object cannot fix a blatant malfunction in the object itself..."
Free me.
Nowadays, looking at Mr Albert's wrinkly face made Viv want to get up and punch the elderly, a dark thought he has been letting broil inside him for a while.
Ms Lilia was still not back from whatever she was busy from, and Viv felt to urge to almost beg her to stay and actually do her job more often. Or at the very least, let Director Emile teach.
Just hurry up and finish talking damn it.
Viv's head slumped to the desk.
—-
"Honestly, I'm surprised you haven't been caught yet."
"I-what?"
Viv turned around, his gaze looking suspiciously at Sid, who made the unexpected comment.
Wearing a slight smile, Sid shrugged and leaned against the couch, lazily folding his arms behind him.
"Oh, nothing."
"...Aren't you supposed to be working?"
Hearing Viv's question, Sid feigned pondering the question, before looking back.
"I mean, does everyone always work?"
"Forget I asked, just give me the letter for today."
"It's not a letter today, LM." John chimed in, as he reentered from the front door, coming back after running a quick errand.
"Who are you calling LM?" Vivillian's eyes narrowed from under his mask, as he turned to look at John.
"You, little monster."
A breath whispered in his ear, chuckling mischievously as a hand was placed on Viv's shoulder.
"..."
Viv harshly slapped the hand away without flinching.
"Don't call me that, and don't touch me."
"You won't tell us your name anyways, so we have to make do."
Sid shrugged, not caring about his reddened hand as he sat back at his desk, muttering under his breath. "I do feel as though you are getting more daring the more I go easier on you..."
"What."
"Hm?" Sid's eyes curled upward, his mouth in a straight line. "Did you hear something?"
"...Just tell me what you want me to do today." Clicking his tongue, Viv sat back down on the couch, across from John.
The process of investigation had been going rather unusually smoothly in Viv's eyes, whether it was due to Sid's extraordinary management abilities or some other factor, he didn't know.
But...
It was still annoying that despite all the hands at Sid's disposal, he made sure to give tedious tasks to him, like letter deliveries to all over the Eternal Night.
Somedays he even had to exit the Eternal night and go through the ordinary dark streets, hiding as he followed the directions on his map blindly.
Though, it was a cheap price to pay for Sid to even do all of this in the first place, so he could only swallow down his anger.
Just thinking of the night he had proposed his deal made him shiver, eternally scarring him to be more thoughtful in the future.
"Hm...little monster, can you still transform into animals?"
Sid asked, turning back to him. It felt like Sid already knew the answer to his question however, as an off putting gaze lurked in his eyes.
"..." Viv debated whether to redirect the question with another one of his own, or just answer honestly.
"...Why do you ask?"
After a long pause, he finally decided to go for option one.
Hearing his response, Sid's finger that was tapping the table began to quicken somewhat.
"I'll take that as a no." Sighing, Sid motioned towards Alamis, who was stoically standing in a corner like usual.
At his signal, Alamis seemed a bit reluctant as he grabbed a small box from his coat, and handed it to Viv somewhat unceremoniously.
"What's this?" Taking the box, Viv felt a light object inside, that shook with a jangle.
"You'll need to wear this from now on every time you go out." Sid said matter of factly. "Open it."
With his cue, Viv opened the box, revealing as black ribbon, laced with many very small jewels that shimmered uniquely underneath the candle light.
"I recommend tying it around your upper body." Pointing at the ribbon, Sid looked slightly impressed at the craftsmanship. "Ah, the people commissioned did better than expected. I'll have to order from them again in the future."
"Erm, why exactly do I have to wear this again?"
Obviously being suspicious, Viv picked up the slightly heavy ribbon, it twinkling softly in his hand.
"There's a certain animal sniffing around these parts as of late." Sid held a hand to his face.
"Honestly you might have some sheer luck to you, getting this far without encountering any trouble. Even though you may naturally just be a rat, it's a gift from me to help you and congratulate your successful survival."
"..Oi."
Has this fucker been sending him on dangerous side jobs all along...? And what's with the jagged compliment!?
"Anyways, it really is quite the item, if you don't end up wearing it I'll take it, LM." Chiming in at the side, John grinned as he rubbed his hands, his eyes staring almost hungrily at the item.
"...I'll wear it."
Giving in, Viv rolled up his sleeve, taking the somewhat stretchy ribbon and began to tie it on his arm. Even though he still disliked the whole situation, if it were an item that Sid gave, it was bound to be somewhat useful.
"..."
Sid opened his mouth to say something, but paused as his red eyes narrowed in on a small insignia on the inside of Viv's elbow.
It was a golden diamond symbol, the proof of contract that Viv had gotten when he had signed the agreement with William Slachal all those months ago.
As Sid swallowed down his words, a strange look filled his eyes.
"...?" Noticing this, Viv felt annoyed or wronged, maybe both actually. He had clearly followed Sid's instructions, tying his weird gift around his body and ignoring Sid's sarcastic, pointed congrats over his still intact life.
However, Viv had no time to even complain inwardly, as he was handed a suspiciously shaped packaged and kicked out with a map to do yet another delivery.
"...Tsk!"
——-
Once the little problem in the room was gone, Sid's expression turned more neutral, as his eyes shifted toward a more easy going look. His over the top behavior turned down as well, mainly only using that facade around LM.
"Alamis. You said that you captured a spy lurking?" He asked as he turned to look back on his desk.
"Yes, my Lord. He is right now inside the basement."
Alamis bowed, as John let out a sigh.
"You should visit him soon, he might die because of...Memphis's work." Rubbing his head, John thought of the grisly sight he saw below there. It was a bit too dirty for his liking.
Sid nodded, and tilted a book in the corner of the bookshelf. As it soon made a rumbling sound, as a tunnel appeared, leading to a moldy smelling dungeon.
The rust on the iron guardrails leading down was so substantial that Sid didn't even dare to use such old things as support down the stairs.
When he got to a floor, he proceeded through a winding tunnel, lit by dim magic lamps and soon stopped in front of a wooden door.
John preferred not to come visit the dungeon again, while Alamis loyally followed behind, keeping his appearance orderly despite the weird stenches around him.
Seeing that nothing at all had changed since the last time he came down here, Sid shrugged and raised his leg, and kicked open the wooden door.
"A-Argh!"
A shriek was heard as a green haired young man jumped in shock at the sudden intruder. His mess of green hair was like a nest that covered his surprised yet shifty looking pollen colored eyes.
"C-Can you at-least knock..."
A annoyed curse escaped under Memphis's breath, as he shivered unhappily at the unexpected entrance. He draped the dirty and stained lab coat around him, looking especially unsightly.
Unlike the rusting dungeon that Sid had past through to get here, beyond the wooden door lay a very modern like setting, with easily cleanable white floors and bright lights that almost hurt one's eyes if left staring at it for too long.
It looked very similar to the Slachal Empire's royal hospital, taking inspiration from its very unusual design.
"Did you just curse at me..?"
Sid asked lowly, his eyes darkening as he walked forward, and promptly kicked Memphis to the wall like a dog.
"A-Agh, n-no..." Memphis quickly lowered his head, stuttering as he muttered something that couldn't be heard under his breath.
"...Good." Sid smiled as he lazily tied up his white hair, not wanting it to get dirty from the questionable substances splattered all over the place. "How is the spy that was brought?"
Still twitching, Memphis slowly pointed a finger at the operation table, snickering under his breath as he responded.
"Keke, if you want to talk to him, he's got 10 minutes left..."
"Hm, I thought I told you to leave more time...Memphis." Giving the crazy bastard a warning, Sid clicked his tongue as he gazed upon the operating table.
Memphis flinched, knowing not to push his limits any further, as Sid commented at the sight.
"Disgusting."
...
It was just near the end of 10 minutes, did the poor remains of a person on the table choked and sputtered with his last few breaths.
"...please....end...k-kr..misery...."
"Fine."
Nodding his head, Sid was satisfied with the information he acquired, as he lifted his hand, and snapped the man's neck like twig.
Immediately, Alamis strove forward with a handkerchief, which Sid gratefully took as he wiped his hands.
"Don't go too crazy, Memphis." Sid muttered under his breath, as the crazed 'doctor' began to clean up the corpse.
Memphis Ray, a mentally ill dog that Sid had coincidentally encountered during one of his business trips. He was a former student at a medical school that got expelled from unethical surgeries and operations, and invented many twisted theories that no one dared to try.
Keeping him under Sid's wing was a risky but one of just many amusing things that Sid did during his time of ruling Black Hydra. However he eventually grew tired of entertaining such a disobedient guy, and threw him into the dungeon to torture any poor soul that found itself in there.
In Alamis's and John's eyes, LM was just another passing fad that Sid would soon lose interest in as well, so they didn't protest too fiercely with the strange things that Sid wanted to do.
After all, if Sid was truly interested, why would he send LM time and time again outside when the OakRidge family's fearsome hound was hunting down their people?
John was wondering this to himself while he was upstairs on the couch, waiting for the two of them to get back from their visit.
"The fourth messenger has already been killed..." He muttered under his breath, thinking back to how the body was strung up in a corner of the Eternal Night, like a warning to BH.
Then again, Sid's interest must have increased when that boy came back time and time again, unharmed and undetected.
To be honest, he was half expecting having to deal with a troublesome fly if LM returned being trailed.
Suddenly, John jolted as his gaze sharpened.
Springing up from the couch, he brandished a hidden short sword slung around his waist towards the intruder.
"You..."
On Sid's beloved table, a woman dressed with a gray and black robe sat, her long intricate black dress blowing idly in the wind as her honey colored eyes stared strikingly at him.
The woman's face was covered by a notorious, feathery silver masquerade mask and her hair hidden from beneath the laced gray cloak as she tilted her head to the side.
There was only one such person in the entirety of the Black Market able to infiltrate past John and all the magic securities set in place by BH's expert enchanters.
"..Phantoma, state your business."
John knew that his weapon probably had no use against the woman who could poof away the moment she felt like it, but he still kept it raised cautiously.
Phantoma, the Great Thief was silent as she sat there. Despite being a continentally wanted criminal, she seemed to pay no mind to John, a capable force to be reckoned with in the Slachal underworld.
"I knew I felt a strange presence..."
A voice was heard, as two figures emerged from the dark tunnel, eye catching white hair fluttering into view.
Sid emerged with an annoyed tinge in his voice, dripping in sarcasm. He scoffed as he saw the woman sitting on his desk, feeling the urge to throw it out after the ordeal.
"You better have a good reason for coming here, hag." Sid's face twitched as a smile formed on his lips.