"The meeting in the lion's den"

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pov Zesshi Zetsumei

Zesshi opened the door to her domicile, where she had been living for the past few weeks. It was a room in an inn in the empire, a rather fine inn for her standards, but with the gold she had stollen from the treasury, it was possible. After closing the door and dropping down on her bed, she stared at the ceiling. She thought about the incident that had brought her to this moment—the small girl who had invited her to the organization. 

The seven deadly sins

She snickered; lust was her sin apearantly. It was rather fitting, thinking about the fact that she was obsessed with bearing the child of a strong man. The young girl and the leader of the organization had called herself Gluttony, but looking at her little figure, that didn't seem to look right. The organization was, as Elisabeth had described it, more like a community of convenience than an organization with a common goal. Sure, they had to look out for one another, but they did not need to help each other if their colleagues were not in trouble.

She had thought very long about what she was going to do once she was introduced formaly. The best approach was to ask another member for help since she was not sure that she could kill her father alone. What could she offer in return for her help, and what was she going to do once she had achieved her goal? Was there anyone who would help her? Fortunately, these questions were going to be answered today.

Marie, the masked woman who was with the small girl, had contacted her earlier through the ring. She had informed her that the sins were going to have a meeting today at 16:00 o'clock. According to Marie, it was just a small meeting to introduce the new members, but she was still very curious. The members were apparently as strong as her, if not stronger, something that she had thought impossible a few months ago, but she had never seen the world since she had not left the treasury.

Even though she knew the organization was filled with many strong individuals, she still felt confident. Yes, maybe she was not the strongest, as she had previously believed, but she was definitely still high in the food chain. Just her strength alone was enough to get her to the top, but her talent—her trump card—was what made her really dangerous, and she had even been able to take some of the equipment left by the six gods, which enhanced her combat potential even further.

Still...

According to Elisabeth, strength, although an important and necessary factor, is not always the most important boon. She had talked about connections and wealth, and since the members were not actively working together, those traits were also necessary to motivate cooperation.

One hand washes the other.

She looked outside; it was almost time. She glanced at her ring finger. The bright green stone glowed, and a funny feeling washed over her. It almost felt like a shouder, and with a red light, she vanished. After she was back on solid ground, she looked around. She was standing in a large windowless room, and even though it wasn't exactly lit as daylight, some magic lamps provided enough light to see every corner clearly.

The room was not only adequately lit; it was also very tastefully decorated. A large table graced the center of the room, large and dark, and instead of being round as expected, each side had seven corners. Giant, majestic chairs stood in front of every corner, giving the table another level of authority. At one end of the room was a large bar whose back wall was lined with many expensive-looking bottles. A tall, pale woman with long, wavy red hair stood right next to the counter.

"Lady Lust, I am pleased that you accepted our invitation. Please take a seat; Lady Elisabeth will be here shortly." said the tall woman, and she gestured to one of the chairs. 

Only then did she notice that each of the chairs seemed to have a different color. As if to confirm, she took a quick look at her forest green ring and then, having confirmed her suspicions, sat down in the large chair.

"Lady Lust, can I offer you something to drink while you wait?" The red head asked, her voice having a familiar tone.

"No, but thank you," she answered, tilting her head. She was sure she had heard the woman's voice before, but she couldn't quite place her face.

The woman nodded silently and left for the bar area. Zesshi sat down and looked around the table. Along with her seat, two other seats were occupied. A covered figure sat in one of the chairs directly across from her. The figure had pulled the robe deep into its bony face, and two rings glittered on its fleshless hands. One of these rings was similar to hers and only differed in the color and the symbol that could be seen on the ring. It was pitch black. This creature was definitely not human, probably a subspecies of an elderlitch, perhaps even a further development.

The two undead standing behind the chair of her "colleague" only increased the feeling of unrest. They were not a problem in terms of strength, but in order for them to obey without protest, their master had to be far more powerful than she had imagined.

What reassured her, however, was the fact that the person sitting next to her hadn't brought any subordinates with him either. And anyway, he looked very strange; she had never seen such a creature in her entire life. His skin was pale white, and he had neither hair nor any birthmarks, so his head looked like a large oval egg. In the middle of his face, where his eyes and mouth should have been, there were only three black holes. Instead of five fingers, he only had four, and they were long, thin, and bony like a skeleton.

A noise broke her out of her thoughts. She looked up and saw a huge, glowing blue mass slowly crawling across the floor towards one of the chairs. It looked like a great feat of strength as the creature slid up the chair and collapsed with a lazy splash on the side of her table. A slime—it was a slime. What did that mean? Was a slime, one of the weakest mosters, really a member of this organization? 

"Welcome, Lord Sloth," offered Marie, and she answered her unasked question. Sill the slime didn't answer; it seemed the newcomer feared to keep quiet.

A distant noise caused a stir when two figures with entourages appeared at the end of the room almost simultaneously. One figure was a tall man wearing something like a red suit. The suit was of impeccable quality, so much so that it would have made even kings jealous. His outfit was rounded off with fine silk gloves and freshly cleaned black dress shoes. In addition, a dark blue simple mask hid his face and made a very incongruous impression compared to the rest of his outfit. Behind him were two demons that folowed him like two shadows. 

This man was probably a demon, as were his two subordinates. Know that she thought about it; some of the members had brought subordinates. The undead, the Demon, and even Elisabeth had brought them, probably to show their might. Although she was pretty sure that Elisabeth only had Marie as a babysitter by her side since she didn't make the impression, she could deal with most of the administrative duties of the organization herself, even if she showed moments of maturity. 

~Hello~ 

An innocently high voice broke through her thoughts; she almost winced, and her attention snapped to the other person. A little white-haired girl with red eyes wore a cute gothic dress with matching black shoes. Her hair was tied to the side in two innocent ponytails. She had worn a mask the last time they met, but she was sure—this was Elisabeth.

"Good to see you, my lady, Lord Wrath," said Marie, and she nodded respectfully toward the two.

~Ohhh Marie, good to see you~ said the girl with glee in her voice. 

~ Although it seems pride is not in time as usal~ the little child added, and her beautiful face darkened into a frown.

"Yes, you are right, My Lady," answered Marie, who tried to look like anything but was exhausted.

~Hach, I really should teach him a lesson next time. He seems to have forgotten who is in charge of this palyground~ the small figure giggled with a sadistic undertone in her voice, and Zesshi shuddered. Her first opinion about this girl was right—she was dangerous; they all were.

Really, what had she gotten herself into?

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