The Lazy Assassin

"Damn it, low on funds again", said a young man as he drags his feet down the street of a town, wearing a wrinkled white shirt and pants that looked like it had been dragged across the ground and dried out in the sun, a pouch of coins that looked like a deflated water bag hung by his side.

"Guess I got to work again" *Sigh* rubbing his hand across his face looking so dull and lifeless that people around him moved out of his way thinking that he was a dying beggar that was gonna ask for money when they heard his mumbling.

He slowly shuffles his feet and turns into an empty alleyway and whilst making sure no one was around, a face mask with an insignia of an upside down spades but with an upright triangle in the middle appeared on his face right below his eyes resting on the bridge of his nose. Without a sound, he disappeared under the shade of the setting sun.

A figure appeared walking down a hidden staircase the walls only had dim lighting which made it hard for anyone to see where they are going and after a while a bar with a door sign saying Will-O-Mist could be seen.

Just before he could enter, came a strange smell of flowers and blood making the nose wrinkle up. A frail seductive looking woman wearing a fitting red dress with a hair bun on both sides of her head emerge from the darkness, a veil hung over her face which makes it difficult to see her facial features and even though she looked frail, she has body features which could make any man's blood rush.

"Welcome to the Will-O-Mist, state your business here, a fair warning, I only ask once". Her name is 'Red Fragrance', one of the owners of this particular bar. Even though she may seem frail she could paralyze your body once you had breathed in that smell that could put you in a state of shock if inhaled long enough which will make you forget what happened once you wake up.

If you try to make a move against her, you will basically die not even knowing what happened except for the fragrance, one of the reasons to wear a mask here is partly because of that annoying ability of hers.

"Well well well, if it isn't the famed Ace of Spades coming here for a job again. Couldn't see you with this bad lighting at first, not bad for a rookie to be known so quickly around here", she said slowly walking over. She wore heels which causes her hips to move from side to side and her firm breasts bobbing up and down, the pale like skin from the neck to her cleavage could make it challenging not to stare.

"Hey Reds, seems like you've been busy, the smell is stronger compared to before, got an interest already or something? And yeah I realised I'm low on funds again" Ace teased while fumbling his messy hair.

"Getting cheeky now aren't you" Reds replied while squeezing his cheeks "seems like it's not strong enough to affect you though *Sigh* if you weren't so lazy I bet you would be famous in the continent by now, maybe even more than me. Alright we will talk another time, seems like another visitor is coming. Get in", she finally said before opening the door and pushing him in.

The bar was filled with people wearing masks or hoods over their heads sitting at tables or walking around talking to others in low voices. Those wearing the hoods are usually the clients and are brought into rooms or seated down at tables respective to what assignment they are offering, the higher the risk, the higher the pay and the higher chance of being brought into rooms as to further prevent leaks of information as there have been instances where another Assassin was found stealing the target away which brought integrity issues to the Union. Which sounds weird since it was illegal dealings but the Assassin Union wanted to keep it professional so if any other Assassin was found stealing the target, his name would be on the List of Betrayers.

Those on the List of Betrayers would be banned from every establishment under the Assassins Union. Meanwhile those wearing masks are the assassins looking for a job.

A low music is played to cover up the background noises and prevent others from evesdropping, usually orchestra since the bartender who is also one of the owners, likes this type of music. Even the bartender wears a mask, apparently rumours says that a look to his bare face could give nightmares for weeks.

"It's been a long time since I've seen you Ace, what can I do for ya?" the bartender said as he wipes the glass cup in his hand.

"Hey Ted, yeah it's been a while. Realised I'm low on dough here so here I am, got any offers for me?" Ace replies with a gesture for a drink.

"I think I do, lemme check. You did have a number of requests but after you did not come around for a while, some were cancelled or done by others. There are still a few pending though, here you go" the bartender replied while rummaging through the files under the counter and finally passing a thin folder and a cup of red wine.

Ted was short for Teddy because of his size that makes him look like a giant bear but people got used to him after awhile although he has an intimidating atmosphere around him all the time.

'Hmmm there seems to be a lot of requests lately, judging by the amount of clients here. Seems like the Assassins Union been doing pretty well' Ace thought to himself while flipping through the folder and glancing around.

Most of the requests are usually about merchant rivals, betrayers of an organisation, corrupt officials and even other Assassins who have accidentally leaked their identity and past grievances wanted their revenge.

'Another corrupted official, seems like this one has been dealing in slavery for quite some time. I guess I could go for this, hmm not enough payment for my vacation though. Sigh what a pain, guess I'll go for a few more then' he thought while facepalming himself.

"What's wrong? Nothing suitable for ya?" Ted asked. "Nothing, just the payouts are a bit low and not enough for my vacation that I had planned. So I gotta do more of these requests than usual which is a pain for me", Ace replied while swirling the wine in his cup and frowning at the papers in front of him.

"HAHAHAHAHAHA!" Ted suddenly burst out laughing "I like you kid, you're one of a kind indeed, always so lazy but suprisingly outstanding in the jobs you do, you could have been famous throughout the continent by now" he continued as his belly jiggled.

"You're not the first person to say this to me today, and I'm not into fame, I just need money to live comfortably till death comes to take me" Ace retorted back while rubbing his temples.

"Alright kid, I'll get the documents ready when you come back here later. Make sure you get your things ready unlike last time where you had forgotten your weapons" Ted reminded while taking back the folder.

"I know, I just woke up at the time and was not thinking much except what I'm gonna eat when I get there" Ace mumbled while scratching his head as he turned and left. "Well, time to work" *Sigh*