"Hello, are you here to see Lord Edrick?" politely asked Linmin as he opened the door, faced with a rather thin young man, garbed in a white and dark blue robe, his slicked back brown hair pressed against his head giving the impression of some peasant trying to appear refined, at least, that's how this guy looked to the servant.
'Who the hell are you?' asked Linmin internally, his exterior expression and words not letting even an ounce of the disdain he felt leak out.
"Oh! Hum… Yes, yes, he told me to come by…"
The despise receded a little, if the lord had invited him, then all was fine, even if interrupting Edrick with one of his wives remained an offence that should be punished by the removal of all bowels…
"I will inform him right this instant, may I know your name?" smiling professionally, the disciple rubbed his forehead.
'Damn, that Edrick is one lucky guy…' believing himself to be faced with a most beautiful and adorable maid, the young man felt a little jealous.
"I am Shu, I met with Edrick a few days ago in the armoury" he replied, unintentionally gazing into the servant's pretty green eyes.
"Ah, so you are Shu, come in whilst I tell Lord Edrick" obviously, Anoteros had not bothered to hide anything from his wives, especially Linmin who handled nearly all matters around the household, he needed to know who to expect and who Edrick allowed to step inside the residence.
The disciple stepped inside, hardly believing that a disciple could own such a property, this luxury was not something even the core disciples had, although they had prime apartments within the sect's central building, which was incredibly lavish, it could not compare to an entire residence, especially one so big and magnificent.
Though, instead of the beautiful architecture, he focused on the maid's backside before Linmin disappeared from view, even if well covered by that pretty dress, Shu could tell that something juicy was packed there.
'Lucky guy indeed…'
As he waited around for a few moments, he began preparing, last time they had met, Anoteros, or rather, Elt, had given him a seriously creepy vibe and Shu, whilst not a brilliant cultivator, was great at reading other people and to make sure not to rub them the wrong way.
Edrick seemed dangerous, not only because he was physically imposing, possessed a high status and had the blood of a powerful family running through his veins, no, these were just aggravating circumstances, Shu was convinced that even without that, Anoteros was just the sort of person that you shouldn't mess with, like the thugs that used to extort money from him.
'He seems more refined than these hooligans, however, business with him should be pretty fruitful…' of course, the core disciples who had asked him for intel in the first place wanted to know more still, but Shu was more focused on striking good deals with Edrick right, he could always say that it was to get closer to him and get more information, but really, the fact that an Elt had appeared interested in his services had given him dreams of riches and status.
Strength was power, but so was money, this kingdom was built on money, to make more money, one could get anything as long as you had enough money, or so Shu believed.
"Mister Shu? Lord Edrick is waiting for you in the living room" at one point, whilst lost in delusions, Linmin appeared right by him, from the other side that the servant had left from as well.
'Walking behind me? Did she notice me staring at her ass?' he pulled at his collar, that would be a rather poor first impression if true.
"I wasn't expecting you so soon, take a seat" sitting in what was supposed to be an extravagantly large armchair but looked just about right for him, Edrick pointed to a spot on a nearby couch, the inner disciple sat real carefully as everything here seemed expensive.
"Nice, isn't it? The fabric is not original, my wife changed it to something more comfortable- I would love to present her to you but she is busy right now" Fanqia had rather nimble and dexterous hands and fingers, being rather interesting in sewing and many other things, she would spend quite some time perfecting her skills.
"Really? I couldn't even tell…" responded Shu "...I did not expect a man as young as you to already be betrothed"
The inner disciple couldn't actually tell how old Edrick was, the special disciple's face was rather unique, his features were sharp and strong, and it looked like even the muscles of his visage were powerful somehow.
"My Fanqia is a lovely girl from the countryside, but equally as lovely is my other wife, Linmin" as he said this, the servant went and stood right behind him.
Showing off a simplistic ring on his finger, the servant did not need any motion or word to understand, and did the same, demonstrating their matching rings.
"T-Two wives? I have to admit, as a man, I am rather jealous of your success with the ladies, I could hardly convince a woman to marry me" laughed Shu.
"Even with your status as an inner disciple? Colour me surprised, I would have thought that one of such a rank could go into the city and point to any girl of age and have her" smiled Anoteros, Shu rubbing his neck awkwardly.
"Well… Perhaps in some other sects, but at the Myriad-Arm Sect, it would be deemed dishonourable to do it like that, love is something that one needs to earn, you see? And I remain a former peasant too, I don't have much status beside that of cultivator…" as much as it may be romanticised and idealised, disciples of a sect weren't all rich or of high standing, quite the opposite in fact, they often came to sects in hopes of achieving such things.
They were provided free lodging and food, even ressources to a certain extent, but when it came to actual money, they had to earn it themselves, and when it came to statuses of nobility and the likes, one had to prove themselves to the royal court in some way or marry into a family with one or multiple titles.
Shu was making quite a bit of money with his schemes, but as far as status went, he was neither talented enough to impress anyone high-ranked, nor was he charming enough to weasel his way anywhere.
"I see… Well then, I have written down a list of things I would like for you to get for me, take a look" pulling a slip of paper out of his pocket, he threw it at the inner disciple who caught it without problem.
'Wine, booze, various plants for smoking…' It was all rather regular stuff in the first few lines, although the text was a bit hard to read on account of being written in a weird manner, most certainly because Edrick wanted to conceal his handwriting, the ink and quill used also seemed to be deliberately of the most widespread quality.
'How did he even know what sort to use? This weird handwriting is perfectly consistent too, like he knows how to write it just as well as normal…' it was a bit weird, but all questions were washed as he got to a certain point down the list.
He had no interrogations until then as all the products asked for were ones he could easily smuggle inside.
"Aherm… Mister Elt?"
"Just call me Anoteros or Sir"
"Sir… I don't think I can smuggle people inside…"
"I am sure you can, don't you mean that you don't want to?"
"I mean- It's a bit too far compared to what I do, I break the sect's rules, but not the kingdom's laws themselves…" he tried to explain.
"Nobody will notice if a few people go missing, right? And besides, I am not asking you to bring everything at once, if you need some time to prepare for abductions, I understand! A new gig takes some time to properly learn"
The inner disciple swallowed his saliva, feeling like this seemingly casual conversation was a threat.
Edrick didn't mention any actions if he actually refused to comply and was all smiles and warm with him, but once again, his senses were telling him that he should be walking on eggshells.
"I-I can't guarantee that I will actually manage it…" he said, Anoteros simply waving one arm in the arm as though saying that it didn't matter.
Shu looked over at Linmin, who did not seem at all worried or irked that Anoteros was asking for people to be kidnapped, and considering some of the precisions concerning the people, it wasn't to play checkers or make friends.
The disciple felt sick to his stomach seeing some of the more precise demands there were in terms of people.
"You can keep the list, no need to rush, I don't need anything quickly, take your time and do your job like you normally would"
Shu exited through the door drenched in sweat, suddenly remembering something.
"Excuse me, Miss Linmin-" he spoke up, Edrick wasn't there to see him off.
"What is the matter, Mister Shu?"
"I was just wondering, apart from Sir Anoteros, do you know the other two special disciples?"
"That would be me and Fanqia"
After that, Shu just left silently.
'His wives too?!'