Old Adage[First Draft]

Judas stares at the night sky as he leans on a wall. He was thinking about how he should go about this. His divination tells him that he's not going to die, but it's also potentially dangerous. He was wearing a white cloak that covers his face.

He can hear the Hostess Of Fertility still being rowdy. Soon he can hear the rowdiness die down. And the drunken folks start emerging from within and start leaving the area.

"Just in time," Judas thought.

Judas approached the tavern and sat on the tables outside and waited. Soon enough, a maid in green came out from the Hostess. He felt her gaze lays on him. Quietly the maid approaches.

"Customer-sama, we're in closing time."

"Is this how you treat your partner?"

As soon as a word leaves Judas' mouth. He could feel the temperature drop. And a large killing intent directed at him.

"It's you, bastard!-"

Ryuu Lyon attempted to draw a weapon but realized she was unarmed.

"Woah calm down! You need to treat me better after I saved you! We don't want to attract unwanted gazes. Do you know you're being watched right now?"

"You lied to me! You said you worked for the guild. You're an evilus aren't you!?"

There was anguish in her voice, but she whispered it like PTSD suddenly hitting her. Ryuu Lyon who thought she could finally be at ease, was struck by the sudden visit and remembered her past.

"Hey! We all have our secrets...you know what they say right? An enemy of my enemy is my friend? So calm down, I don't work for Evilus!"

Ryuu took a deep breath. Calmed herself down. She still looked at him with a dangerous glare.

"What do you want? "Black Emperor"."

"Just checking on you part-."

"Call me partner one more time and you'll find your head smashed on that table. Tell me what you want already!"

"Scary~ Scary~ Well I do have some business with you."

"I don't work with criminals!"

"Hey! You're wanted by the guild too!"

"You..."

"Calm down part-... I mean Gale Wind. Why don't you listen to me first? This is a good deal."

Judas tries to salvage the situation. But Ryuu Lyon won't budge. Looks like I have to use my trump card.

"Hah, ahhh~ I initially didn't want to say this since I don't want to open healing wounds but... It's related to Astraea Familia."

"What!?"

"As I said, it's related to Astrea Familia."

Finally, she's interested! Good job Judas!

Now I can finally talk about the plan.

"Well, lately a lot of girls are being kidnapped... You know an entire enforcer familia being gone and all. Lots of idiots are getting greedy for some quick rich schemes."

Lyon grabbed her maid outfit with clenched hands in anger.

"So... Some bastard has the bright idea to kidnap girls to make some connection you see. Even with Evilus. Aggravating ya know!"

"I still don't see how this is related to my familia!"

Got'em! Hooked now the bait.

"Have you heard of the name "Terry Cervantes"? No? He's a famous dwarf right now and well you should... He's the owner of the biggest entertainment industry in Orario. Technically not Orario, but you should have heard it before. What was it again?"

"Enough! Tell me already!"

"El Dorado Resort, Grand Casino, that was it!"

Ryuu closed her eyes and when she opened her eyes, an even more angry vigor appeared.

"Leave! As far as I know, the Astraea Familia have no dealings with extraterritorial areas of Orario. Stop wasting my time."

Hehe, you'll never know Gale Wind!

"That's the interesting part! This "Terry Cervantes" had a one-time enlightening meeting with Astraea-sama!"

"Say my Kami-sama name again and you'll be dead! As far as I know, our familia never met the guy..."

"Hmmm? Are you sure about that? Didn't you pardon him?

The setup is here, time to stop leading her around. A very intense gaze laid upon Judas, and he smiled maniacally within his mask.

"What are you talking-"

"I think his name was "Ted" back then? a swindler?"

Suddenly Ryuu Lyon's eyes widened in realization. A hidden memory emerges from her rage-filled mind. And her eyes turned to a more deadlier look.

"Bastard! How dare he!... Wait a minute how do you know?"

Judas put his pointy finger in between his face and said.

"secret."

Before Ryuu could lash out...

"Ryuu? What's taking you so long?"

A voice came from within the hostess, followed by another maid coming out. It was Syr Flova coming out worried. Ryuu Lyon turned to face her.

Judas realizes the perfect queue. Left without a second thought. Walking down the road, Ryuu turned around only to find him gone from his sit, she looked confused and started looking for him. Only to find Judas whose quick feet were already far ahead. Ryuu could only look at his back.

"If you're interested, Follow the map! Partner."

Ryuu Lyon looks more confused now.

"What map-!? since when...?"

Ryuu said as she noticed a rolled parchment was in her apron's pocket. Ryuu grabbed it and opened it. It was a map of Orario with a location with an X mark.

"Eh? Who was that Ryuu?"

Syr asked in confusion. How come no one noticed Ryuu talking to an unknown man? Ryuu looked at the sky in anger. Syr noticed it.

"Ryuu...?"

"Syr... despite all of what happened... looks like I still have work to do."

"Are you okay Ryuu?... Who was that man!?"

Ryuu Lyon looked in the direction of Judas. He was already gone.

"A business partner..."

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"It should be here...?"

Somewhere, in Orario's numerous Cemetery. Judas walks alongside the Serpent's Hand. Letting the Seer's intuition guide him.

"Shamere, do your thing."

"Sss...As you wish your greatness. Sss"

The Mystery Pryer replied in reverence.

She lay her pouch and began preparing materials for a ritual. Shamere, that's what he named her.

"Houdini. Assist Shamere in preparation if needed."

The Old Man, Houdini nodded and joined in.

"Vi and Jack. Scout around. Make sure no one comes here."

"As you wish my lord!"

Vi the steam arm girl, and Jack the serial killer left in different directions.

"Gork and Mork... Stay here."

The two barbarian warriors nodded and made themselves comfortable.

"Sss. it's done your greatness. Sss. We can start... Anytime. Sss"

Shamere said as she lit the last candle.

"Start it."

"Sss, as you wish. Sss"

Suddenly the temperature dropped. The cold feeling felt unnatural. Followed by illusory voices coming from everywhere. Suddenly the smokes of the candles start conjoining into a sphere.

Soon it began to take a humanoid form. Seconds after seconds, it became more detailed, and finally, it made a full-form humanoid.

"W̷̡͖̭̘̭̺͂͛̉̍͊̒̐̈͑͛̏͘H̷͇̼̎͗̉̿͝Ȧ̵̢̯̟̭͇̥̺͍̝͆̉̍̊̍̀͜ͅT̵̛̖͍͇̫͖͔͙̩͎̜̊̃͂̏̿͛̊̏͌̔̏͛͠ ̸͉̣̅͆̄͒͆̐̅̂̓̓̔͝Í̸͉̩̬̦͚̮̹͖͙̮̩̱̹̥̰̈́̒͌̔̓̅͒͌́͝S̷̡͖̳̞̪̥̟̼̰͎͇͚̱͑̓̀͆̆̏̇ ̸̡̬͕̪̺̜̬͎̣̭̪͍͙̬̍̂̊͂́̉̈́̓̈̉Ǵ̴̖͚̟͊͑͊Ǫ̷̡̡̛̠̝͇̰͔̗͎͔͍͖̗͑̇̀͐̿̔̔̔̔͆͂͝͝͝ͅI̶͚͇̰̯̪̖͚̯̱͍͈̮̩̪͆̋͛͂̓͐̈̿̀̚̚͜Ņ̵̛̹̥͔̲͇̼̙̣̹̯̗̺̤̦͂̔̓̿̑̒̆̅͑̾̈͑͝͝G̸̨͎̖͈͉̦̬̠̯̞͚̺̊̀̇̀́ ̴̠̅͊̀̅͗̐̌͋̅͋̽̒͝ͅO̸̮̩̗͖͖̬͐̉̓͗͛͆̃͐͝͠N̷̝̮̠͓͚̲͎͂̒̊̆̉̈́͝?̵̣͎̣͚͍̼̘̎̓̀͛͆"

Said the humanoid smoke screamed as it finally takes form. It was a form of a fat dwarf.

"Hehe, well-met spirit... Or should I call you, Terry Cervantes"

W̶̢̹̰̞͓̠̻͎̺͉͉̽̏̈́͑͒̂h̸̲̝͙̹̘̝̀̔̔́͛̾̒͌̏̽̈́͘͘͜ǫ̷̳̪̲̣̩̥͍͚̘̼͔͎͌̄̈́̏̈́̓̅ ̶̼͔̬̮̥̲͎͎̩̠̩̝̱̗͗̋ͅạ̶̘̊̎̃͋̅̂̀͛̔͋̋͐̀̐ͅr̸͙͙̫̲͕̋͒̽͂̉̀͋̍͗͘͝͝ė̷̯̞͔̈͌̽̍͂̀̅̂͘ ̸̧͈̰̠̞̳̝̳̤̿͋͘y̷͖̝͇͔̦͐̇́̍͋̋̽͒̀̐͘͝͝ǫ̶͈̣̼̇͗͑͛͗̚̚͝ṷ̴̪̩͔͉̘̝̞̇͑͋͑̐́͘ ̶̠̞͈͖̜͕̭̻̣̫͂̀̏͋̍̾̂̽͝͝p̶̼̳͇̟̥͇̜̳̣̺̳̹̂̓̀è̶̢̡̲̗̼͉͚̱̰̤̪͖̠͛̀o̷͕̝̝͓̠̼̗̯̞̥̎̈́̈͠ṕ̷̢̗̣̭̣͚̬͚́̓̽̔̑̐̀̚ͅl̶̦̻̿̎̿̒̽̆̔̇͐̎̓̕͝͝ȩ̸̛̛̭͕̼͍̺̬̱̺͙̹̭̰̱͊́̽̐͌̉ͅ!̶̨̧̝͔̫̙͚̫̥̒̀̾̆̉͗̆̓̄̊͐̎̚͝?̷͕̬̭͎͚͓͍̦̂̓

It angrily roared. Seemingly angry being disturbed.

"Relax, we have a lot of time to talk. The whole night belongs to us! I have a lot of questions for you... Especially about Grand Casino. And how they make Invitations."

L̶̨͔̱̞͕̜̙̥̻̦̈́͑̏́͐͛͐̽͆̋̉̇̚̚è̶̢̺̖̫͓͙̹̼̪̜̮̭̊̋ţ̶̢̧̫̖̳̝̮͖͚̗̤̘̤̽̀̀̒̕ ̸̢̖̬̝̭̙̭̙͚̙̝̙͖̬̊͝ͅm̸̢̞̲͓̥̱̫̫̗̈́̔̃̿̔̂͐̅͒̀͋̚͘͜e̵̺͍̻̰̬̗͎̝͎̅ͅ ̶͔͙̮̤̠̭͕̉̎̈̉̂͆̀̅̄͘͜͝ř̶̨͓̪̱͓͑̾͑̀͘̚ͅͅe̵͍̫̟̖͔̺̯̤̜̟͋̓͌s̵͔̳̲̪̞̙̖̬̣͍̗̠̟͔̀̕ť̷̫̙͙͉͇̗̫͖̯̩̹̲̭̎̄̋̄̈̓͆̐͐̋͝

̵̻̦̦͚̜͖̓̍̀̄̄ͅY̶̢͙̆̆̈͛̈̽̕ͅơ̶̠̲̣̊̅̏̎̌̍̀͊̋̍͘͘u̸̢͕͔̒͗̈́͒̈́̾͒̈́̈́͒̾̚͘͠͝ ̴̜͗̽̑́̒́͐̒̈́̍͑̂t̷̡̤̥̼̺͐́͘͜o̸͕͕͖̞̖̳͚̲̗͓̺̱͉͚͛̈̇͊̄͒͜͝ȯ̵̻̗̔̏̿̆͊̍͂̑̒́̂̈̚̚ķ̸̨̲͍̩̥̣̦͙̹̝̤͌̄̄̈̽̉̅̂͌̃̅̊̈́̉̕ ̴̨̨̭̻̼͙͇̘͖̇͒̇͝ë̵̢̟̫̤́͆̉͗̌̅͌͗̑̈͘͝v̵̡̳̫͖̪͍̪̙̼̗̫̞̰͑̾͋̌̃͊ę̵̧̢̢̭͖̺̯͈͉̱̮̞̲̤̀̀̍ř̷̨̲̠̳̫̱̞͈̄͛͊̈́͌̌͊̓̓̂̕͜ỵ̷̤̭͖͊̄̉̅̎̊̋̎̈́̒̀͘̚t̶̢͈̺͍̻̰̝̜̋̽͂̀́̂̀̄̎͝ͅh̵̡͎̱̻͚̭͎͓̐̈̄̓̐͊̐̃͋̔͑̕͠͠i̸̧͔͓͇̲͈̳̫̰̣̦͈͉̜͔͒̏̒̒͐͒̀͆̑̿̆͋̄n̸̹̓g̶̭̈́̈́̎͝

̸͙̖͕̱̭̞͇̥̣͕̌̈́̚͝Ä̸̩́̄̌̍́̔̒̽̈́͆͑́̇l̸̢͎̠͕̽̈́̀̿r̸̛̪̗̲̓̅͠ͅȩ̴̛̯̠̖̑͌̎͆͐̆͠͝a̴̧̡̭̣̱̱͇̻͉̼̘͍͇̍̐͒̀ḍ̸̯͗y̷̡̩̲̦̰̞̩͙̦̗̫̯͙͙͖̌́̓͛̈̿͌͘̚͝

"We have a common ground, Terry. Aren't you interested in revenge? You know what they say, an enemy of my enemy is my friend!"

The spiritual smoke went calmer and the wailing voices died down.

"Speak. What do you want to know?"

"Hehe! This is what I like about businessmen, even in death straight to the point! No need for foreplay. How about explaining the systemic structure of the resort and how you make invitations? The guard routines, who's who. Tell me everything! It doesn't matter what's what, afterward will talk about your whole life. Who you were. What were your habits and tics? The whole night, we will be reviewing your whole past life and connections! It will be fun."

"Ar...Are you the devil!?"

The voice of Terry quivered in fear, even without a body, he felt he was about to sell his soul.

"Who knows?... Hehe"

The night is peaceful, but this spirit won't get a good night's rest it seems.

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Chapter End

Thanks for reading