"Don't pace around like that kid, looking at you makes me feel tense too.", Trevor speaks.

  "Well, who are we meeting then? I am sure that you can give me something. At least tell me why they are dangerous.", I ask. The man is so unwilling to share information sometimes. Maybe that is why he has been assigned to my troop. Well, weeding out information from people is something that I have been doing since I was a kid. I would not be surprised that the hexmountain is wary of that trait of mine.

  "Well, the lesser you know about these folks, the better off you will be. If the head office were to find out that you know about them, I would be in a very bad position. The worst-case scenario is that they will send you to negotiate with them instead of me. You really don't want to deal with these bastards, even with the backing of the guard corps. Especially with their backing, to be frank.", he replies. "I wish I had never gotten to know of them. Life would have been so much easier."

  "Well, are these people really that terrible?", I ask. The man's words are starting to creep me a bit. I can feel it like a tingle in my spine.

  "Well, they are not exactly terrible but it is a matter of image. If everybody were to know that we work with them, it would certainly make things very difficult for us.", he says. "They have been a thorn in the side for quite a few of our allies and they know this very well. They can leak this information to cause us a lot of problems. Dealing with them at such a disadvantage like this is dangerous."

  "So is it the shack or the divine valley? The way you are speaking, it can only be either of them.", I ask. "Nobody else would warrant so much caution."

  "I have no desire to tell you even if you want to know kid.", Trevor replies. There is a finality to it that makes it clear that there shall be no more discussion.

  And thus we sit waiting for whatever criminal organization is going to be aiding us. The only two that I can guess it could are the shack and the divine valley. Only they would harm our interest so much. Well, everybody knows about them, but I might as well introduce them.

  The shack is named after their headquarters, a place only known as the shack. They are a group of assassins that meet up at the shack and then assassinate people. They are a pretty simple organization at the face of it. The reason that they are famous is due to the shack. There has been a concentrated effort by all the major forces of the continent to get rid of the shack. Nobody has succeeded in doing even that yet. Nobody has even managed to find the damn place.

  The divine valley is even more famous if you ask me. They are essentially a religious sect that believes the divine valley to be their god. How a place can be a god don't ask me. They are religious fanatics that consider the valley to be the true king of the continent. All people that proclaim themselves as kings are supposed to be imposters.

  They are essentially smugglers and arms dealers that sneak in weapons to rebels of all countries. Their work is to kill kings.

  Incidentally, They have a pretty strong presence in the Snowwind empire. That is one of the reasons that our relationship with the snowwind empire has been so bad in the first place. They think we are assisting them somehow. Not that they have yet to prove anything.

  "You really should speak about us to the kid. I would rather be dealing with a naive flower like him than a tough old fruit like you. How long do you expect us to keep dealing with the same old person I do not know." Spoke a voice from somewhere behind me, causing my back to become slick with sweat. "If you were to die due to a stroke, who will come to meet us next year."

  Until he spoke I did not even detect the man. Even with an injured mana sense, I keep it active to some degree. Even though it will delay my healing a bit, I am in an active combat zone. Being careful has never hurt anybody.

  I do not dare to turn around, something in me warning me that this man is something I am better off not seeing. His mana is chaotic, like a blizzard in the true lands. It is some kind of a dark mana that I can barely sense with my mana sense. I don't know how I have not managed to detect the man as he approached. Trevor in front of me just sighs, as If he has faced that man a thousand times.

  "Well, I have been commanded not to tell anything to the kid. If you want to you can do so. I don't know who will come to hunt you though. The head office was very insistent.", he says. "I will begin to run away now though if you don't want to shut up."

  "To think that I would see the great Trevor follow the commands of the head office.", the stranger speaks.

  "Well, as I told you are welcome to tell the kid whatever you want. I will bet that you won't be able to survive a week after telling him though.", Trevor replies. "Tell the kid, I dare you."

  This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.

  "Well, well. Why would I risk such a thing if the great Trevor is not willing to do so? Anyways, let's get back to business. The boss has told me that it would be nice if you stopped calling him for every small thing. If you want to bother him so much, he is willing to even give you an honorary position. The black mountain overworks you anyways.", the other person speaks.

  "Well, that would be nice if your organization was not so reviled. I mean to roam the continent once I retire. Anyway, let's get things over already. We need to get into the city.", Trevor replies.

  "Well, I have never seen in you in such a hurry, nor so compliant of the rules. I won't ask you who the kid is. It is very rare to you this scared. Still, you know the rules, A favor for a favor.", the other man replies.

  "Well, fear is a natural response when you are dealing with somebody terrifying, don't you think. Also, you get to the point as well. What is the favour that you need.", Trevor replies. "Well, we won't be assassinating anybody. We don't have the setup for that."

  "Well, it is something simple for you. We need you to break into a particular building and steal a book. It is not even a grimoire, just a ledger.", the other man spoke. "You must have quite the experience with that already, don't you."

  "Well, if it was that simple you wouldn't be asking me to do it. So what is the catch, you bastard.", Trevor speaks. "Does a demon guard it or is it an elemental? Could it be a ghost? You know that I draw the line at ghosts."

  "Well, we do know how to deal with elementals and demons, but the loss of life is not worth the investment. The only thing that you can consider an issue would be the fact that the Bloodfire gang is doing something there. You have sneaked into places that were even more guarded than this." The other man speaks. "Anyways, for this particular problem I don't need your expertise, I need the kids. The book that we want is protected by a formation. A pretty complex and fragile formation at that. The kind that will destroy the contents of the safe, if somebody were to mess with it. As you can see, that leaves us with quite the conundrum until you appear with a formation master."

  "Well, we certainly accept that deal. We need you to get us into the city and help us contact the Mayfires.", Trevor speaks. "I am sure you have associates in the family as well. You seem to have quite a few businesses already set up in the city."

  "Well, that is a favor that we won't be able to complete. The Mayfires have retreated to the inner keep. The castle is split into two, the inner keep and the outer keep as you must already know. The inner keep is a place that only the mayfires can enter or leave, especially now", the other man speaks.

  "Especially now?", Trevor asks.

  "Well, about three months ago the mayfires completely sealed the inner and the outer keep with magical barriers. We were stuck in the city until the Bloodfire gang somehow pierced the outer barrier about three weeks ago. They have taken over the outer keep completely. The mayfires are all in the inner keep, with us having no way of getting inside right now. Whatever the Bloodfire gang did with the shield in the outer keep is not working on the inner keep shield." The other man replies.

  "They have somebody backing them then. The blood fire gang certainly should not be capable of breaking apart the defenses of this castle. Fine, What are you willing to offer then? You must be able to pull off something.", Trevor asks.

  "Well, we can provide you entry into the city. We will hide you from the Bloodfire gang and if you are willing to waste your time, we can take you to the wall of the inner keep safely. After that, you are on your own.", the other man speaks. "If you get in, or are discovered before doing so is no worry of ours.

  "Fine, that is acceptable.", Trevor speaks.

  "So then, how is life under the bloodfire gang.", Trevor asks. His voice suddenly becomes much less serious. "Business must be booming."

  "Well, it has never been better. The Bloodfire gang makes us look cheap in comparison. The merchants have been flocking to us like never before. We have had to double up our smuggling operations in the last couple of weeks. Still, we are considering if we can increase our capacity. We are doing this favor for you only because you are our ally. Time is money, my friend." The other man replies.

  "Well, I am sure that the loss will be manageable, but what about the bloodfire gang? How are they at holding a city.", Trevor speaks.

  "Quite poor, though their numbers are very high. Abnormally high for a bandit gang. All quite inept though. So I think they have been recruiting new members.", the other man speaks. "Our boys have been playing with them the last couple of weeks. They are quite a passionate bunch though. We have lost three teams in the last week, all new ones thankfully."

  "What would happen if we were to fail our favor though? To do your favor we would have to be in the city in the first place.", Trevor asks.

  "Well, a favor owed is a favor owed. If not today we would find a method of reclaiming it soon enough.", the other man spoke. "You are a useful man to owe deals to. The kid also has potential."

  "Well, we did accept your deal, but you know the rules. Nothing that harms the black mountain nor something that would be an obvious suicide for me. Also, keep the kid uninvolved in the matter. You can't afford having a favor from him. He has quite the backing." Trevor speaks.

  "Fine.", the man replies.

  Just as weirdly he appeared, the man disappeared. Again, I could not figure out how he was moving. More importantly, I cannot feel any mana of his. I should have detected something.

  "What was all of that?", I ask.

  "Well, the less you know about them the better of you will be. For now, let's just call them the organization.", Trevor speaks. "I will speak in brief what they do. They are a bunch of profit-hungry bastards. They tend to occupy cities and then slowly take over all the illegal businesses in the city. Beyond that, you do not need to know about them. Your master would have my head if I revealed anymore."

  "So why would they need a book.", I ask, thinking about the request the stranger made of us.

  "Who knows, maybe it could be the ledger of some local smuggler, who is lying about his profits. Maybe it is a human trafficker against whom they can use this book as blackmail. I can imagine a thousand things. With the b...organization, it would be wise if you do not ask too many questions." Trevor speaks. "You do not want them getting interested in you. If that happens, they always end up getting their hooks into you."