Delivery

Many complications posed themselves now. If a tracker spell was put on Leon then there is no way his Holy Seal spell would have completely blocked it.

It meant that he is compromised for who knows how long and he has no idea who is coming for him.

It is about time now. He'll escape this damnedest City.

He still had small things to take care of first.

Today is the Mercenary Mission which will officially give him license to operate as one, he may not really bother with it but the mission itself is rather important.

Also, he needs to finish things in the Honey Saloon once and for all and deliver the Painting to the Bull then use the chance to get some Syndicate contacts outside the city to take him in.

"No time to waste!" Leon ran outside the room he was sleeping in and ran into Zal who was sitting facing his painting stand and painting in a good mood.

"Zal, we should go to the Bull ASAP!" He said.

"Hm? You slept well so I hated to wake you up… I've already sent the Dog to pick a scent on the Bull, once we get to know where he is, we will visit him. Just rest for one more hour." Zal said and didn't shift his attention from the painting he's working on, "I think this is a good one."

Leon frowned but he let out a heavy breath and took a look at what Zal was painting.

"Hub? I thought you were done with replicating." Leon said as he pointed at the painting Zal was copying from.

It was of course the Pride of Del Mar.

"Replicating? No no, this is just… a practice. There are many good techniques in this painting I have to figure out and this head of the beast right here, that is a whole marvel of its own."

Zal seemed to be absorbed in his work so Leon let him be.

"Alright. I will head out and be back in an hour." Leon said as he touched Zal's back and left a Mark on him.

Zal didn't notice anything and Leon walked out normally. He of course wouldn't leave his good fortune in the hands of this fool so he put another Mark on the Painting as well.

He immediately put on his cap, fixed his jacket, and looked around well before changing classes to Hunter and Mage then casting [Air Magic - Aero Sensory].

Almost 20 meters around him became an area of his detection and he carefully walked out of the alleys while being wary of anyone who followed him for too long.

The moment he arrived at the Honey Saloon, he walked in immediately from the front door.

"Leo? Leo! We were looking for you." Jordi ran to him and tried to speak.

"Slept outside. Sorry, very busy." Leon replied.

"Jessica is looking for you, the Madam is looking for you, the people of a man called the Bull came and looked for you." Jordi said.

"The Bull? When?" Leon asked.

"Just an hour ago. They caused trouble." Jessica suddenly appeared and held Leon from his arm dragging him to the backyard, "Alert us if anyone followed us out, Jordi."

"Ye- Yes."

The moment Jessica and Leon stepped out, she cornered him against a wall with her arms. Leon simply took a sneak peek at her bosom and smiled casually.

"Morning to you too, guys." He said.

"Don't speak to my boobs." Jessica spoke to him seriously, "Where the fuck have you been?"

"Working." Leon replied.

"Really? Cause Ruth was looking for you this morning like a mad dog before she headed out." She said.

"She had work for me?" He asked.

"What? No. She kept waiting for you and when she was done, she ran out with her Dogs."

"So?"

"So? So you tell me what is happening! The Bull is also looking for you and his people weren't nice. You told me you wouldn't bring problems to the people here." Jessica said in an angry tone as she pointed fingers at him.

Leon held her finger and twisted it back.

"Kyaaa!" She screamed.

She screamed but he was so fed up at the moment that he muffled her with his other hand, turned her against the wall, and pinned her against it.

She struggled under his hands but she was simply powerless.

"You know what? I hate people making demands when they have nothing to offer." He said.

"Merrrmm!" She tried to shout at him but she still failed to do so without him almost choking her by blocking her nose and mouth with the same hand.

"Don't be noisy." He said, "Did you prepare what I told you to do so?"

Jessica glared at him for a couple of seconds before attempting to nod. He removed his hand from her mouth as she finally started to know her place.

"How many Dogs do you have on your side?" He asked.

"15." She said.

"And how many does Ruth have?"

"About the same." She said.

"Good." He nodded, "I hope you don't disappoint me. Give me a second now."

Leon left Jessica standing as he entered the laundry shack behind the saloon for the last time ever and started gathering all the belongings he left behind. He even started wiping every trace of his existence in that place.

A couple of minutes later and after some rummaging noise, he walked leaving the room behind him in a missy state full of dust and old furniture as if no one has ever touched it in ages. Of course he moved the dust using Earth Magic and turned some things around.

"No one ever lived here, you understand that?" He said.

Jessica nodded.

"Also, move Jordi in the saloon. I don't care what you do, just give him the cellar or something. He'll sleep better there than this shit hole. Don't make anyone question him, he's shit at lying." Leon instructed.

"The way you say that… it sounds more like you are being chased." Jessica said.

Leon turned to her with a scary face.

"Don't get smart with me, Jess. I simply want to get away from trouble and you want the same. I know that you sent anyone my direction or with my name, I will come and murder your ass."

"Fine fine!" She raised her hand and backed down with a slight cold shiver running through her spine.

"Good." He said and stepped past her, "Next time I come here, you should be the Madam. I will go see the Bull and make sure he is not bothered with the change of leadership around here." And he walked away.

Behind the scenes, Jessica seemed to have worked a lot to secure what Leon required from her which is Manpower. As long as Jessica gains that, she is bound to be able to step against Ruth.

Leon supported Jessica by making sure she found Dogs to recruit and by sharing a few secrets about Ruth which he gained after reading her communication letters.

Ruth was not only dealing with Hector Norman but rather, there was another Bull she contracted herself with. From the edge of the northern district and the industrial area of the Port District, another Boss was controlling the rackets over there and he was some sort of a port-foreman.

Karanburg is not a city on seaside or something but rather, its river is very wide exactly the same as the Nile at the city of Cairo (Egypt), the port that the other Boss oversees is a river port and one of the biggest ins and outs of the city thus making this Boss substantially dangerous. If not for Hector Norman dominating the livelihood of everyone around him, the Foreman would have taken over this area a long time ago.

And that's where Ruth and another number of people involved in fucked up. It is not unusual for the small Bosses to have loyalty to more than one Big Boss but in this particular case, Ruth was breaking a rather big rule which Hector Norman sat; it is No Drug Dealing.

Drug Dealing in this day and age wasn't something that was fully illegal but in some cases especially in the poorer societies, these drugs would spread out too fast and cause a lot of chaos in their wake. It is then when the authorities interfere and things take a violent turn.

With the current hunger revolts and social unrest that struck out in the city every now and then, the situation in the Northern District was not the best for drugs to spread. Hector Norman forbade them especially when it was a strike against his rival, the Foreman.

Leon realized all of this by using his spell "Read" on the messages Ruth sent him around with during the past week. The messages were mostly coded but the destinations he took them were mostly outside the district or to its edges. Whenever he lingered around for a bit, he would find traces of those narcotics especially the ones known as Vapor and Moon Dust.

Jessica wasn't really happy when Leon conveyed this information to her. If Hector Norman were to find out, the whole Saloon with its people would be purged just to send a message to the other small Bosses. Also, Ruth can pretty much escape before this happens.

Thankfully, Leon helped her recruit Dogs from the streets especially from the other small Bosses and the ones lingering around the Mercenary Hall. With 15 on her side, she has a chance in taking down Ruth once Hector Norman gives her up.

And that's where Leon was heading. He had a word he had to honor and that is not to bring trouble to the Saloon but honor among thieves wasn't really a thing. He will at least try to assist but if it goes against his interests, he will bailout. After all, if Hector Norman decides to purge the Honey Saloon, that's everything Leon needs to wipe out his trace from the world. He is the winner in either scenario.

And so he left for Zal's workshop, took him off the painting he was trying to replicate and took it together to meet the Bull. There, the two of them met Madam Mikaela at the front of the Bull's Place.

"The Boss is here?" Approaching her quietly, Leon started speaking with Zal following behind him as Mikaela was stuffing her pipe with some sort of smokable dried herbs.

"Yes, he's in." She looked up towards Leon as she was resting her back against a post outside the place as if taking a break.

She noticed Zal carrying a large portrait covered with a lot of sheets and carefully held up.

"Boss won't be happy." She said.

"How so?" Leon asked.

"News has reached us just a couple of hours ago." She replied, "I won't spoil anything for you but I don't think the job will be available for some time now… no matter how many crappy gifts you bring, Zal." She said the last part while nodding towards the portrait Zal is carrying.

"How… How rude!" Zal felt offended but Leon cut him with a chuckle.

"It's alright. I have a few things to speak to the Boss with and will be on my way."

"He's busy."

"I promise he will have a better mood… and you too, as well, once you hear what I have to say." Leon said.

Mikaela looked at the two of them then patiently stored her pipe in a small bag and signaled for them to follow her in. The place was the usual, smelly with blood and guts of butchered animals and the vividness of the meat slaps hung upside down from many hooks as the butchers were cutting it for customers that filled the place. It was a relatively big slaughterhouse.

"I am telling you, Mr. Hector, this is worth a fortune. If we can find him, we will open a lot of opportunities for ourselves with the connections we will establish." The voice of a woman came out from the Bull's office as Leon walked in seeing Hector Norman sitting in his usual place, folding his arm and staring at the woman speaking to him with a mixture of bother and disinterest.

"Mr. Hector." Leon spoke up the moment he walked in, gaining the attention of Mr. Hector and his visitor.

"Leo?" Both the Bull and his visitor reacted.

"Madam Ruth?"

And here she was, the owner of the Honey Saloon and the person Leon was aiming to get rid of with the painting Zal drew trying to track the person the aristocrats want. Surely nothing goes according to plan either way.