"From today onwards, you will be responsible for handling negations in eastern and southern wards."
A man, in his early 50s, spoke after wiping his mouth with a napkin.
"I have high hopes for you. Don't disappoint me."
"Yes, boss."
The answer came from a lean young man sitting at the other end of the table.
Today was the day the young man had been eagerly waiting for the past years. Finally, he had a suitable foothold to complete in goal.
"Lily, you'll be the one showing his ropes around his job."
"Yes, boss"
The young woman occupying a seat beside the 'boss' answered. Her brother, who was sitting in front of her, continued eating in silence.
"Miss Lily, when should we start?"
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Lily took her eyes off her uninterested brother and looked at the young man who was sitting at the opposite end of her father.
He had a pretty face, a lean body, and a frail constitution. Quite an uncommon combination for his job, especially the last two.
The only thing about the young man that matched his job was his sly smile.
"How about now?"
Answering such, Lily stood up and left the dining table.
The young man, before following her out, bowed to the boss.
Tak- Tak-
Lily's heel struck the cold marble, producing a clear, distinct sound.
"If you were given a chance to choose the way you die. What will be your answer?"
The young man who had already heard about Lily didn't show any reaction to the sudden question.
Lily was famous for being self-centered and egotistical. Most of these rumors came from the fact that no one working under had lived for more than a month.
She would always kill them on the pretext of failing at their jobs.
The young man was about to answer when Lily waved her hand and told him to shut up.
Screech-
Lily pushed the door and entered the room at the end of the corridor.
A metallic stench attacked the young man's nostrils as soon as he entered.
Maintaining his smile, he looked at the dead bodies and the pool of blood beneath them that had begun to dry.
Lily, ignoring the bodies lying on the ground, walked to the center of the room, to the person who was gagged and tied to the chair.
"He is the one who was responsible for negotiations before you, the one you are going to replace.
Lily, without waiting for the young man's answer, passed him a pistol.
"Shoot him."
The young man, seemingly unperturbed by the sudden developments, took the pistol from her.
Nodding his head, he aimed it at his predecessor's forehead.
The young man, despite working in their profession for a few years, hadn't killed anybody yet. Thus, Lily was helping him 'graduate' before they began the main job.
The young man, however, never pulled the trigger. Seconds trickled down into minutes, yet the advice loud noise from the gun never came.
Lily shook her head. The young man had no connection to his predecessor, yet his hand that was holding the trigger was shaking.
Sighing, Lily was about to pull another pistol from underneath her coat to kill the young man when he suddenly put his gun down.
"I'm sorry. I can't. I'm on a tight budget this month."
Lily's hand stopped, and she looked at him with a questioning gaze, asking him to continue.
The young man rubbed the back of his neck and sheepishly smiled.
"Can I sell his organs before killing him? I really need some extra money this month."
The silence continued for a few seconds.
The young man began sweating, thinking he had overstepped his boundaries until Lily's uncontrolled laughter drowned the room.
Finally, having her fit, she wiped the drop of tears from the corners of her eyes and questioned him.
"You're interesting. What's your name?"
This time it was the young man who was shocked.
He had joined their organization only a few years ago. But his 'public volunteering' had made him quite famous, or infamous for most, in their organization.
He couldn't understand how Lily didn't even know his name.
Shaking these thoughts out of his head, he re-composed himself and spoke with his ever-present smile.
"I'm..."
**
Vupp-
Miller's knees gave up, and he fell face-first after exiting the portal.
Even without removing his mask, Miller started kissing the ground. He thought he was going to die this time.
A few seconds ago, when he was falling off the bridge, the portal appeared only a few feet above the river.
By then, he had already given any hope of surviving and cursing his boss.
'Wait cursing?'
He slowly turned his neck like a creaking door and looked at his boss fearfully.
'He didn't hear me, right?'
Miller was waiting for something to happen when he realized that his boss wasn't moving an inch.
"Boss?"
After waiting for a few minutes, during which his boss didn't move, Miller finally shook him.
"Y..yeah?"
Nathan broke out of his stupor and looked around, only now noticing his surroundings.
"Did something happen, boss?"
"No... I just remembered something from long ago."
Not wanting to elaborate, Nathan touched the bags in Miller's hand and stored them inside his storage ring.
The reason Nathan didn't do this earlier was that the portal they used won't activate if someone was utilizing a storage ring with items inside it.
The portal worked like normal only if the storage rings were empty.
Nathan didn't know why using the entry for this portal was cumbersome, but they had to do it.
Almost all entry portals to the Underworld were monitored. Considering what they were going to do in the coming days, Nathan decided it was better to use a hidden portal that wasn't being monitored.
As for the exit, it was rather easy.
Nathan knew the few exit portals that would teleport them randomly within the mountain range.
With this, even the method of escape was secured.
Nathan again realized how beneficial his future information was. This only made him warier of the two other Outsiders.
"What was in those bags, boss?"
"Fireworks"
"Fireworks?"
Nathan nodded his head and began walking in a specific direction.
Walking for a few minutes, Nathan stood at a crossroads, trying to remember the specifics of the location he wanted to go.
Ensuring his destination, he began walking while looking at the Underworld at the same time.
Despite having such an ominous name, the Underworld was different from what one would expect.
Bright blue sky, a scorching sun overhead, trees lining at a regular distance for shades, and the shops that didn't match the environment he had been seeing for the past months.
If 'Earth' had a sci-fi feel to it, then the Underworld had a medieval feel to it.
If not for the clothing of people around them, Nathan would've thought he had come into the past.
The guards were wearing armor similar to those knights in the old generations. Every shop had an antique feel to it and the humongous castle at the far center looked like something that was built for an emperor in ancient times.
"Boss, the tournament entrance is not in this direction."
Miller finally spoke as he followed Nathan deeper into the alleyways.
At first, Miller didn't want to ask where they were going, but now their surroundings were turning riskier than what miller was comfortable with, so he had mustered his courage to ask.
"We're here to prepare some things."
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