Problematic Situation 

At the Nassar family headquarters...

"So, have you gotten the information we needed?" A man of noble stature and attire asked the servant he had recently commissioned a mission.

"No, unfortunately, I didn't get it..."

"Then why are you here? I thought it was clear that you shouldn't come back to me before you solve that!" That local leader said louder, dissatisfied with this servant's incompetence.

But the servant said. "I tried to approach one of those slaves, but just today, when I would have a chance to talk more with that person, something unexpected happened."

The expression on Patriarch Nassar's face changed, and he looked at his man in curiosity. "What happened?"

As he stood with his knees bent before his leader, that man dressed as a servant with shaved hair and dark eyes said. "Surprisingly, Mero's servants turned against one of them, Shui. His group did not agree to surrender, and this started a fight. The result was the death of all of them."

"What? Mero Touma's servants are rebelling against each other?" This man could not believe it.

"I don't know... Shui's group looked strange. I think that man made some fatal mistake!"

...

At the Amari family residence...

The Amari patriarch had just heard from his men about what happened in front of Mero's store, but he was not surprised.

He watched the movements in this city from all sides and had already noticed that Shui and Khaa were growing with their little shop, even though they had no proper background.

Unlike Mero, who lived in the capital and was preoccupied with bigger matters than Cusca, this man had time to give importance to this place and was more intelligent and experienced.

To him and Tenur, it was obvious that Shui was getting his items, which sold locally at low cost, through underhand methods...

"It seems that slave, Tenur, realized the problem with his store and eliminated it..." Adham commented to his trusted man.

"So that's not a sign of instability in the Touma family store?" That servant asked, concerned about the newly initiated alliance between that house and Mero's store.

"It is unlikely. I talked with Tenur and Amir, and they seemed well-matched in their plans and actions... I can't tell, but those two seem committed to their plans." That fellow commented, running one of his fingers across his lips. "But Shui... He didn't seem to be a servant acting for the best of his master. On the contrary, he was the opposite of those two.

So I believe Tenur is clearing the weeds from his store."

"Will that be good for us, lord?"

"Yes. That man may be a slave and a foreigner, but he is the smartest man I have ever met. The family will gain a lot because of him!"

...

On the other hand, the situation was quite bad at Shui's estate and his family in Cusca!

After he did not return home on time, Khaa and her daughter were getting apprehensive since there were rare occasions when he did not return at the agreed time.

Even more so, considering today was the day of the Touma family's goods delivery, when Shui always obtained resources for their store.

Because of his delay, these women called Nail and ordered this man to go after Shui to find out what could have gone wrong.

Just at this moment, when not many people were walking through the streets of Cusca and darkness covered almost the entire city, Nail passed by the door of his family's house, pale.

His men stood outside talking in low voices, each in terribly worrying tones.

Meanwhile, this man sat in a chair and wiped the sweat from his face, breathing more agitatedly than usual.

"What happened?" Shui's wife, Nail's sister, was the first to ask something.

Old Khaa was smarter and more experienced than her daughter and readily realized the problem. "What is his situation? Has he been caught?"

"Yes, he was caught..." Nail commented as he looked at his sister's children, one of them Shui's biological son.

Normally in this society, women were not allowed, or instead, it was not well-liked for them to have children with different men. But things like this happened, even though it was a great shame.

In any case, servants were not people of great status, despite their positions above most of the population, slaves. So Shui accepted this fact, even considering how humiliating it was.

Nail saw that child's face and sighed, "He is dead. Mero's other servants distrusted him because of that slave, and a battle occurred in front of the store at dusk."

"What?" Shui's wife turned pale as she felt her knees weaken.

Old Khaa closed her eyes, feeling the disappointment of yet another failure.

She didn't care about Shui. She would have felt nothing if that man had died six months ahead. But now, at this crucial moment, his death was a great disappointment worthy of regret.

"It's a shame..." She said in a low voice, feeling like someone had woken her from a good dream to face a cruel reality.

Tears dripped into the eyes of Shui's wife as the children noticed the problem and began to make noise as well.

Nail bowed his head and took a deep breath, remembering what some of the observers of the previous situation had told him.

His men had drawn their weapons to confront the people of Mero, something unforgivable. As such, he was afraid, feeling that he had to do something to avoid the worst.

He wasn't pale from the death of Shui, who he didn't care much about since he was just someone they used to achieve a goal. What made him pale and sweat was the powerful Touma family coming after them for revenge!

His men had aimed their weapons at Mero's servants, enough to justify an attack on this entire family!

"What now?" Khaa asked, getting right to the point, her concern for this family.

"Mother, we have to leave. The Touma family may find out what happened and target all of us." Nail said, now standing, feeling nervous. "We stole them, but also, some of my men dared to challenge Mero's.

That might attract the worst for us!"

Khaa rose with difficulty from where he stood and ordered his daughter and grandchildren. "Get your things. Pack up everything. We are leaving before dawn!"

"Mother! Shui is dead..."

"Shut up! Now you are no longer Shui's wife. He is dead, but you are not!" Khaa shouted at her daughter, trying to put her in her place. "Think of your children and try to survive before you worry about the dead!"

"But..."

"Make it quick, sister!" Nail shouted. "To avoid the worst and give us some time, I am gathering men to attack Tenur's group.

They will come after us at dawn, I am sure. So we'd better deal with them now before we leave. At least we can temporarily escape the Touma family's pursuit!"

"What? Are you crazy?" She asked as tears ran down her cheeks until they wet the sides of her shirt at the base of her neck.

Khaa was not against it and said. "Make it quick. When we leave at dawn, it will be better if no one else is alive among these people!"

"Yes!" With that word, Nail left one of his men to protect his family and set off with the rest toward where Mero's servants and slaves usually stayed.

'Time for the kill!'

...