Devil's Bodyguard [Zhoren/daisandrena]

[Zhoren]

Maou chuckled softly.

"Battle?"

Taking out a cigar, he put it in his mouth. Subsequently, he took out a lighter, but did not light the cigar immediately. Instead, he held the small flame at eye level and stared hard into it, as if searching for something inside it.

"Who said anything about battle?"

Eventually, he lit the cigar and put the lighter away.

"I'll never ask you to do something lacking that much in subtlety."

"I believe we can find a far better method of dealing with him when the time comes. I'll need a lot of preparation for something like that however..."

"For the time being," he added, "let us deal with tomorrow."

"Please go and get some rest now princess," he took a few puffs of the cigar while gazing up at the late evening sky.

"Leave the rest to me..."

[daisandrena]

A blush came to her face whenever she was called a princess. She shook her head and quickly regained herself nodding to him.

"I will leave it in your hands. Goodnight."

She said as she took her leave and retired to her private quarters after wishing a few of the others a good night.

During the night when everyone was asleep however, Maryel got up and out of bed and left the manor. She went out of the front dressed in a hood that concealed most of her features and seemed to be heading off towards the town.

[Zhoren]

Nodding at Maryel as she left, he took one of the seats in the courtyard in order to mull over his thoughts.

While the things she had shared with him gave him quite a bit to think about, they were not exactly relevant to the current state of affairs. As things were now, he had willingly allowed himself to be employed by Maryel as her bodyguard, her strategist, as well as her right hand. As far as he was concerned, that was a lifetime job seeing as she was immortal, barring some unforeseen event where he was asked to leave her service, or perhaps cases where he is forced to leave her service for his own reasons. From what he had seen of Maryel thus far, he wasn't sure that was likely to occur anytime soon.

Puffing at the cigar lightheartedly, Maou looked up at the night sky full of stars.

For his current assignment, the things he had said to Maryel earlier remained true -- the Hands of Tyranny had little or no means of knowing where exactly Maryel would be heading. Of course, even the little means they did have of knowing such a thing would require a certain level of intellectual capacity which he wasn't sure existed. Even should they have stealthy members like Ruby, she was of little use unless someone ordered her to get things done in the proper manner. From what he had gathered so far, this Borus was a boorish man much resembling boar, or perhaps a rhino, for once he lowered his head, he would likely keep rushing at the target until it was either dead or gone. Of course, this also made him extremely easy to exploit, and remove at once leisure.

For the time being though, he would require someone who could get some information on the Hands' activities on the next day; alternatively, he could make sure that certain intention dis-information is fed to the Hands' central command at the proper time, thus luring them into a trap rather than their intended target...


Maou continued mulling over different thoughts and strategies as the cigar-ends continued piling up beside him. This was a habit which he always adhered to before the day of any mission which was even semi-difficult. After all, it wasn't enough that the mission was completed, it needed to be completed in style, his style.

And he was prepared to go like this for the rest of the night. Unfortunately his trance was broken when he heard some noises from the Manor doorway. Turning his head quickly to look at the source of the sound, Maou noticed that the Manor door was being opened and a hooded figure was coming out. It was difficult to tell who that was, but the style of movement, the subtle twitches caused by walking and looking around, all looked somewhat feminine, and vaguely familiar.

A little suspicious, Maou quickly rolled out of the chair and into the shadows of the courtyard, which were hidden from view either by the walls or simply the lack of light. Pulling up his own hood, he decided to follow behind the figure as silently as he could.

He did not have his bow & quiver on him since he had left them back in his room for the dinner, nor did he have his backpack, but as always he carried a hidden blade. This of course had the effect of making him more nimble and harder to detect due to the lack of weigh. Maou decided that it would have to be enough for the time being.

[daisandrena]

Mary moved quickly down the road until she arrived at the town going in to the local tavern. This time of night had all different sorts gathered for a drink. Maryel went up to the counter and ordered a rather strong sounding drink and the bartender gave it to her accordingly.


"Something strong tonight princess? What's on your mind? Don't tell me it's that new guy ya hired. Me and the boys will rough him up if need be..."

"No, that wont be needed. He is proving himself to be quite capable. Though that time is drawing near unfortunately..."

Maryel seemed to say this with a sort of heavy tone to her voice. The bartender sighed and nodded to her.

"Yeah...the tournament is coming up. Looks like the Hand has quite the roster this year. Looking like half the tournament will be their members alone. What are you gonna do? Enter the new guy? Luzel? Marcus?"

"I guess...Luzel does good enough and Marcus is still a bit of a rookie. The King expects a large turn-out this year. I don't want to disappoint him."

Maryel said as she downed the rest of her drink and ordered another. The bartender obliged her as another figure with black hair entered the tavern. He seemed to stroll right up to the bar and sit next to Maryel.

"Good evening my sweet."

The man said in a sultry voice. Maryel did not even give him a second glance. This seemed to not phase the man.

"Oh, you'll come around. You all do eventually. It's only a matter of time..."

"Eat shit and die Borus..."

Maryel said in response which drew a look right in the man's direction from the bartender.

[Zhoren]

By the time they made it to town and then to the tavern, he had enough observation time to figure out who the movement patterns belong. Of course, once in town, it was much easier to get lost in the night crowd and observe the figure more openly. By the time she had entered the tavern, Maou had already figured it out. He decided not to follow behind however, yet.

'So what's this...? Some sort of nighttime hobby?' He wondered. 'Tch... kinda feel bad 'bout intruding on her nightlife.'

A peek inside the tavern revealed what kind of people were in there. He wouldn't stick out or anything, but he was certain that Maryel would recognize him from his clothing in spite of the hood. Looking around, he wondered whether any of his mercenaries were around, they would probably be if they were following his orders. He couldn't find anyone out front, so he looked around the bend, and voila -- there was the carcass of a piss drunk brute leaning against the tavern wall.

Getting closer, he softly kicked the brute's shoulder.

"Get up.." He muttered.

"Huh... whassup... who'sere?" The brute muttered back, squinting his eyes to get a better look.

"Oh.. is you berky... whaddya want this late?" The brute asked.

"I need to get into the tavern, but I can't be seen."

"Eh?"

Maou sighed softly, and went about tediously explaining what he needed done to the drunk mercenary in simpler words.

"Ah alright, your stuff's good, so we're in."

"Serve me well, and there'll be plenty more of the stuff." Maou smirked, before handing over the letter he had prepared earlier. "Here are your orders for tomorrow... now get me in there."

---

Moments later, a few mercenaries entered the tavern and joined the other mercs lounging around in the corner. There was really nothing interesting about the bunch, besides the fact that they were probably dead drunk, too much to actually cause any trouble, but definitely more dangerous than a bee's hive if provoked. So the other patrons mostly just ignored them.

---

Having arrived a bit late, Maou hadn't really caught anything about the arena; however, he did receive a rather grand introduction to Borus in the form of harsh words from an otherwise well spoken lady.

'Ah... so this is Borus..'

'Tch... only wish our first meeting wasn't so....'

'...boring.'

[daisandrena]

The two of them seemed to bicker a little back and forth with Borus trying to make small talk but Maryel seemed to want no part of it. He finally seemed to get annoyed and payed for the drink he got and made his way out. Maryel turned to look back and sighed once he was gone. The bartender patted her on the shoulder and seemed to go about his business. She then stood up and got off the stool she was sitting on and left the tavern. She walked to the canals that ran between the different districts of the city. She seemed to stare at the water for a while, almost with a blank stare before she finally made her way to the exit of the city. She walked down the road to the manor and went inside seemingly undetected or so she thought. She had no idea that Maou had seen her.

Eventually she changed into her sleeping attire and sat on the balcony that was connected to her room. Her gaze went to the many stars once more, something that she appeared to like doing a great deal. She stayed this way until her eyes got heavy and she then retire to her private chambers where she fell asleep until the morning came.

[Zhoren]

He watched the confrontation from his position amongst the mercenaries with much interest.

'Ah the customs of this land are strange indeed.' He thought. 'Why wait to snatch your prize when you take it right now?'

Maou continued watching the duo until they were done bickering and left the bar. He decided not to follow since any further confrontations seemed likely to end in similar manner. Moreover, he no longer felt like spying on Maryel's nightlife.

The brute seemed to notice Maou's interest in the duo.

"Why the sudden interest?" The brute muttered. "You lookin' to work for 'em or somethin'?"

"Sort of..." Maou muttered back in reply.

"I was thinking of getting you lot to start a bar-fight and then go in and save the day." Maou said, jokingly.

"Hey watch it berk!" The brute replied, a little anger present in voice even though they were doing their best to keep their voices low.

"There's a limit to how much we're gonna do for ya, even if you shower us with the stuff."

---

Amongst the brutes and otherwise heavily armored & heavily drunk mercenaries, there was a lone hooded figure sitting amongst them, looking quite at home. The strange thing about him was that he wasn't wearing any armor at all, not even leather, nor did he seem to be drunk. The hood was pulled all the way to the front, and thus covered all the features of his face perfectly. He seemed to be happily chattering away with the other mercs, as if one of them; after a while, the figure pulled out a cigar and lit it, before resuming his chat with the mercs.

---

"..an' we're fine with riskin' our lives, but we ain't riskin' loosin' our ale-master." The brute added, "there's also a sayin' that there tavern-keep is godly strong, and can whoop our arses barehanded."

"Is that so...?" Maou muttered back in reply.

'Interesting.. I suppose that may be why Borus didn't cause any trouble.'

As he wondered about the tavern and the barkeep, another thought came to him.

'I wonder... why did Maryel not bring me along for this...?'

'Is she just being foolish and discounting the possibility of being attacked and nabbed at night?'

'Or perhaps she just doesn't trust me that much yet, which is normal, given that I was only hired today. Or perhaps it could also be that the customs of this land dictate that you don't attack your enemy when they're drinkin' at a bar.... not impossible, given what I've seen so far... ah well..'

'Anyway... for tomorrow... oh right...' Maou sat up and disposed of the cigar end as he thought of something Maryel had said earlier.

'Hmm...'

"Hey..." Maou addressed the brute dozing off next to him, causing the merc to stare at him drowsily.

"Y'know the one they call Jasper?"

"Yeh.. that one's quite the fence... no questions asked... coins up front." The merc replied. "Too bad he sells crap stuff..."

"Is that so..." Maou replied, rather disinterestedly. Apparently, the merc's opinion did not matter to him in the slightest.

"There is something.... I need you to do..." Maou added, lowering his voice to a whisper.

---

By the time he had reached the manor, it was almost dawn, which was fine since the celebration was in the evening; and he would likely have the entire morning to rest, and substantiate the preparations he had already taken. He only hoped that Maryel wasn't a morning person, and wouldn't be out and about before he has had some time to rest. Opening the manor front door with the spare key he had been given by the staff, he quickly slinked back to his room and locked the door, before making for his bed.

[daisandrena]

Maryel kept mostly to herself that morning, talking to those who talked to her, but not really starting any conversations herself. She ordered her usual breakfast of various fruits and juices and went to sit out in the garden area again. Luzel also came out to join her and stood watch over the area. She nodded to him in acknowledgement, but mostly still kept to herself. The time for the guild to held out to its various locations was upon them and Maryel went out to give them a pep talk. Afterwards they all began to head out except for Maryel's party who waited on her to get prepaired.

[Zhoren]

Fortunately for him, and rather surprisingly as well, Maryel wasn't a morning person, or at least wasn't one for that particular day. From what he could glean from the staff, who were of course too fiercely protective of their lady to want to share too much her activities with him, it seemed that the lady had decided to keep to herself for most of the morning, accompanied only by certain people for the entirety of the morning.

Maou had decided not to show his face either, coordinating the efforts of his field troops through letters and couriers took precedence for the time being. Of course, as things stood, his field troops for now were a bunch lousy mercenaries; and yet, even ants could prove to be deadly when in numbers, and sometimes, numbers did equate to power, provided that one knew how to play the numbers game efficiently. Eventually though, he felt that he was ready -- all pawns were in place, all cogs meshed together wonderfully, and all the gears stood ready to watch the brilliant game to its completion -- yes, he was ready.

---

Outside of town...

"So what's the plan?" Asked a heavily armored and muscular man. "There was a plan, wasn't there?"

Above the heavy armor, the man was wearing a tabard which marked him as a member of the Hands of Tyranny. Moreover, his plate-mail was ranked; apparently, he was pretty high up in the pecking order. He was standing with several other well equipped men, ranging about five, and carrying varying weapons. Clearly, this was a very balanced hunting party.

"I mean... I'm getting a little tired of 'grab Maryel and bring her to me'.... all the time. You'd think the Hands of Tyranny would have some interesting things to do."

"We're the Hands of Tyranny, we do evil things.... what's so bad about that?" Asked another one of the men.

"Grabbing some woman and locking her up your definition of evil?" The muscular man replied. "You're hopeless...."

"Quiet down you two, we're heading out now." Said one of the other men whose ranked plate and special tabard marked him as the commander of the party.

"Where exactly are we going anyway....?" Asked one of the men.

"Outside of town, the Mayor's having a celebration somewhere." The commander replied. "I haven't been there before but...... uh.. there seems to be a crudely drawn map that came with the order sheet, we shouldn't have a problem finding the place. Apparently, we're supposed to trash the party and grab Maryel."

"Uh... boss? I thought the mayor's house was inside the town?"

"Look, if the order sheet says it's outside town, then it's outside town. Any more questions!?"

"Nah... let's just get goin' already, wouldn't wanna be late for the celebration."

---

A brutish looking man in heavy armor entered Jasper's shop. He wasn't wearing any of the guild plates or tabards, so he was likely either a lone hunter or with a group of mercenaries. There really wasn't anything exceptional about him, besides the fact that the many scars on his face marked him as a veteran of many battles, either that or a sad sad loser.

"You do as we ask?" The man asked as he approached Jasper.

"For the right incentive, a little switch-a-roo is but a simple task." The shady looking man called Jasper replied.

"How'd it work out den?" The merc asked, as he handed a pouch over the counter.

"I have my ways friend." Jasper shook his head, "... and I'd rather hold on to my trade secrets if you don't mind....."

---

As he approached Maryel, Maou thought back to his plans for the day. Thinking about it now, he recalled that he had intentionally kept a slight loophole in his plan. The plan was half-baked, as it were. While thinks would still likely proceed the way he wanted, Maou would rather that their day didn't pass away completely without event. After all, that would be boring...

Bowing slightly to Maryel, he stood by alongside the other members of the party as they prepared to set out. Looking over the preparations, he decided that there were some things he should disclose to Maryel about his plans on the way to the Mayor's house, just in case...