A Flawless Plan? (1)

The hustle and bustle of the Weiying Bar was a common occurrence to the surrounding residents. This bar had the finest quality wine and the most exotic of dishes as compared to anywhere else. For it to be filled to the brim with people was almost a matter of course.

In all the shouting, laughing and commotion, no one would have the mind to pay any attention to a specific person, or overhear their conversation, so it was a good place to meet up with one's comrades and discuss anything necessary.

This was exactly why Rivas was told to come here. Entering the lively bar, Rivas quietly lowered his head and went to one of the far, inconspicuous corners of the place and took a seat. Waiting for Iris to come, he couldn't help but recall what it had been like at their first meeting.

That girl much younger than him, came to him to expose his deeply hidden identity and threatened him with a knife out of nowhere. Then, she proceeded to make a deal with him with empty promises while completely extorting every last penny he had from himself. And he, for some reason, was very intimidated and agreed to everything.

No matter how much he thought about it, it seemed utterly baffling for him to be so weak in front of someone seemingly weaker. He should have been able to snatch the knife, should have been able to reject all of her conditions and should have been able to scare her into silence.

But he didn't.

Rather, at that time, he couldn't.

He still didn't know why, but when he saw those deep, dark red eyes, he couldn't help but agree to every single thing the girl demanded, fearfully at that. Those red eyes had something strange and frightening about them, and he couldn't exactly tell what.

Just as Rivas was lost in thought, he felt a light tap on his shoulder. When he turned to look at who it was, he saw a youthful boy smiling slightly at him.

-----

When Iris entered the bar, she immediately spotted Rivas at the corner. Coming closer to him, she noticed he seemed to be in deep thought, as if he had encountered a very difficult problem he just couldn't solve. She remembered seeing this type of expression when he was tending to her wounds, back when she was injured and discovered by him in the battlefield.

He didn't now how to tie bandages correctly, and made a similar face while tending to her injured arm. Such a memory made her smile slightly, and she tapped his shoulder to greet him.

He turned around to look at her, and after looking for a few seconds, confusedly mumbled, "Who...?"

Seeing that her disguise was a success, Iris cheered a little inwardly, and coughed slightly at him.

Apparently after a few seconds of staring, Rivas managed to recognize her as he became startled and quickly stood up from his seat.

"My...My Lady, you..."

With such a formal address, he pointed at her and spoke in a hushed voice. Iris pushed him down by the shoulders to his seat and sat on the other one opposite to him.

"It has been a while. How have you been?" She asked him casually.

"I-I've been fine, but... your clothes? Uh, I mean, why are you dressed like this?"

"Hmm. If I didn't dress up like this, do you think an unmarried lady is able enter a bar like this to meet alone with a man, without being scorned?" There was a slight laughter in her voice.

"Well, I guess so. But its still strange. Then again, everything about you is strange, My Lady." Realizing what he had just said, he became flustered, "That's not what I meant! I-I just...uh..." Just why did he become such an embarrassing fool in front of this little girl?!

"Pfft-" Iris couldn't help but laugh at him. How long has it been since she laughed like this? "Don't worry about being too formal, you can be honest with me. More importantly, we have to start working soon, lets review our plan."

She shouldn't embarrass him anymore, he was already as red as a tomato.

"Yes." Rivas became serious. "You mentioned we had to follow a member of that organization back to their place of operation, and then infiltrate it. That may sound easy, but I hope you're aware that such a plan will not be carried out this simply. Its unpractical, and has a very high chance of failure. I could not convey my thoughts in a letter, which is why I'm saying it here."

"Hmm. Elaborate on every reason why you think this may fail, and I'll help you understand it in more depth." Iris propped her face on the back of her hand and slightly narrowed her eyes.

"Firstly, I hope you can confirm the exact location of this member. I will not question how and why you know where they would be at what time, but as long as you can guarantee he will be there, that's one problem less." Rivas stated, inwardly reigning in his curiosity about what he didn't ask.

"Yes, you can rest assured, I already have that sorted out." Because the movements of the person today had lead to a big hustle in the organization in the future, she was aware of where he would be, and where he would go. Otherwise, how could she possibly know anything about the inner workings of such a secret organization?

"Okay. Secondly, you say to follow that person and infiltrate the organization. My Lady, I'm saying this because I've butt heads with them many times before, but I believe they aren't the type of people who could be so easily followed and fooled. If our plan is to tail him and enter their headquarters, its not going to work." Rivas spoke carefully, afraid his words would somehow offend her.

"Mm. Did you bring the exact amount of money I requested in the letter?" Iris asked.

"I did, but...what does this have to do anything with?" He was confused.

Iris smiled and straightened her posture., "Let's go then, the answer to your questions isn't here." She got up to leave.

Slightly startled, Rivas hurriedly got up and came to block Iris' path. "My Lady, I can't be at ease unless you tell me first." He had always had the problem to not be able to handle suspense, and this lady gave him an infinite amount of suspense every single time.

Iris gazed into his anxious eyes for a few seconds. She then came closer to him and spoke slowly with a smile, "Do you believe in the power of makeup?"