Another Kind of Evil

Alteria, the kingdom of peace.

"The kingdom really looks wonderful at this time of night."

Said a lady, she appeared to be no more than thirty. In her maid outfit she stood leaning on the balcony. Admiring the scenery of the entire kingdom below her. The sight under the moonlight as well as the the light of the lanterns on the streets made for a certain kind of appeal.

Alteria, the kingdom of peace had been established for merely a century and a half in the past. It's royalty ruled for three generations worth, at least that is what the rumours say amongst the citizens. It is true, Felix the dwarven hero king is the one that had established this kingdom were all kinds of races came to live in without any discrimination. Even now, he is still the king and not looking any older than hundred and fifty years ago.

All those years ago Felix and his subordinates fought off the demon hoard, eventually defeating the demon king.

Today, although this peaceful kingdom is fairly young, many aged empires still act cautiously when interacting with Felix. No one knew the details on how the king was able to defeat the demons or how was it that he is still ruling at his age.

"LYN, AUNT LYNN!!!"

In the middle of the night a cry could be heard within the mansion of the royal concubine. Immediately the maid leaning on the balcony dashed back into the building as if she was expecting the commotion to occur. Actually she had been active like this several nights in a row.

"WUAH!! AUNT LYNNETTE!"

As soon as the maid entered the room, a young girl by the age of five or six sat on her bed crying.

"Don't worry Milady, Lynnette is here." Replied the maid as she wrapped her arms around the little girl comforting her.

Wiping the tears that flowed like a stream down her delicate face, Lynnette continued. "Milady, was it the same nightmare again?"

The little girl had her arms around Lynnette, embracing her tightly. She nodded, rubbing her face on the maid's clothing .

These nightmares weren't ordinary dreams, that being the case, the little girl wasn't an ordinary girl. She was the daughter of the royal concubine. That would make the child a princess.

Unlike the others of the royal family, the royal concubine chose to have a separate residence. Thus a mansion was built outside, neighbouring the castle. The property of the castle expanded for miles, giving plenty of room for a mansion to be built.

It became the safe haven of the royal concubine as well as the little princess. The reason for such a drastic movement was never revealed, some of the things that the royal concubine did happen to be unorthodox also. What was she doing?

"There are so many secrets in the royal family." Sighed Lynnette as she put the now sleeping princess back under the covers of her bed after comforting her.

"Milady Kiara, how am I to help you in your situation?"

The maidservant thought for a while. She also remembered that the princess was not of an ordinary lineage. That is to say, the little girl had the ability to see into future events. Future sight! Is what her mother called it. As for the dream, it was a sight into the horrible future that a child shouldn't have seen in the first place.

"I've already sent a letter to the her Lady Royal concubine, I have no idea of the arrangements that has been made for Milady's safety." Muttered Lynnette.

******

Faraway within the Alteria kingdom, in a town called Kryonite, which was situated close to the forest known for it's dangerous residence, the danger beasts. At a corner in an inn, a maidservant sat at a table. Wearing the usual maid outfit with the only difference being her face, covered in a veil she carried a mystery that attracted the gaze of onlookers.

She was waiting for someone, however, no one turned up after an hour had past. The maid sat there quietly, her only order being a cup of water.

There were one or two who tried to approach her out of goodwill, after taking a few steps closer to the mystery woman, they turned back leaving her be.

"Psst! Why'd you turn back?" Asked one man.

"I can't say, I only felt a repulsive force not letting us get any closer." The other replied, shrugging his shoulders.

A few more hours past, now the inn's eating area became more desolate. It would be more packed at this point of time on a normal day but the mysterious woman in maid suit seems to have frightened them. It was much to the inn keeper's grief as he lost a days income. He, however, never showed any hostility to the maid at the table.

Evening was practically coming to an end. The sun had made it's journey across the sky and it had finally come to the western horizon.

At this time a person entered the inn, he appeared to be out of breath. Inhaling and exhaling, he quickly calmed his breathing. Looking around, this new arrival's gaze met the lady of mystery. He approached the table even ignoring the inn keeper, not even noticing how desolate the inn really is.

"Are you the one that left the quest at the mercenary guild?" He inquired, eager to know about the quest that was personally handed to him by the guild master.

There were two guilds in this rural town, the adventurers guild and the mercenary guild. Both very popular amongst the residence of Kryonite. Although it was said that this town is rural, it is only in terms of location. The population here is still very high as there was no lack of demand in the guilds present.

Kryonite is situated fairly close to the Crypt forest. The name itself was derived from the number of recorded and unrecorded lives that was ended there.

"Yes, Mr Shaun I presume." The mysterious woman replied. "Take a seat."

She demanded, making the man in front of her feel awkward. Shaun ignored the lady's rudeness and sat. Being a mercenary, he was well associated with the female mercenaries and adventurers and knew how rude they can be.

After a few moments of exchanged words, Shaun got to the main point he wanted to bring up. He understood the request. A certain adventurer is required to be killed. He couldn't understand why someone from the royal family wanted a low class adventurer dead nor did he care. The request came through the mercenary guild and not the adventurers guild, obviously the adventurers guild won't allow their own organization to damage itself by getting rid of one their own. Instead, the request was posted in the mercenary guild.

"Murdering someone is not a problem. ma'am. Just that it may take a while, we can't have war between guilds just because of an insignificant nobody. Please give us some time to work through our channels."

"Everything is understood Mr Shaun. This is a request from the royal family. It concerns our 'kingdom of peace' and more importantly the lives our people. Whatever means you use is not more important as the result. The rewards are worth the risk, is it not?"

The mysterious lady dressed as a maidservant, after speaking, lifted her bottom from the chair. Saying her goodbyes, she proceeded to the exit, disappearing through the doorway.

Shaun was left at the table alone, he had been contemplating the request he was given. To kill an unnamed adventurer. He wasn't thinking about whether to accept the quest or not, rather, he was thinking of the best means to get the job done. The rewards was too enticing to refuse, especially for someone living in a dangerous town like Kryonite.

"Ah Mr Shaun, you still here?" Asked the inn keeper, he certainly was in a unhappy mood. A day's income lost. "It's late already, as you can see, no one is here. so FUCK OFF ALREADY!!!"

*****

The next day, Shaun walked out of the mercenary guild. In his hand he held a paper bag, inside carrying a few potions he had just bought from the guild's alchemist.

"Step one of the plan is done."

"What plan?"

Just as Shaun muttered those words, it was heard by a couple that was about to enter the guild. This couple was not a lovers couple but a pair of siblings. Both had red hair like molten copper, it was enough to draw the attention of anyone who saw them.

"T-Trevor, you here!" Shaun bewildered by this development, stammered in his speech. It was not like this normally. He was just caught off guard. Both he and redheaded man, Trevor, were both of the highest caliber in the mercenary guild. Although Trevor started off as an adventurer, he transferred here due to the higher pay he could receive. From then on, the redhead worked his way to the top. 'Pay, huh!' An idea started to form in his mind.

"Trevor, glad you here, I need some help with a quest. You not busy, right,"

"No, we coming from the adventurers guild, Trina passed her promotion to the silver rank. I went to witness it."

Trevor said happily as he smiled at his sister next to him. Trevor became a mercenary and his sister, Trina, an adventurer. Being redheads, they both were easily recognized and soon their popularity rose over the years in Kryonite.

Trina, appeared very delicate at first glance, she was not inexperienced in the combat zone, however, the many slight bruises can be seen at a closer look. This didn't hamper her beauty. It made her look more exquisite.

"Woho! Trina, you moving up in life already."

Shaun praised the redhead girl who in turn became a little red in cheeks. She brushed off her praise with a "whatever", but she would secretly glance back at Shaun now and then.

"Right, Trevor, come and hear this."

.....

"Are you serious? You know what the consequences are if we get caught."

"It should be fine, look, this is the sketch that the requestor gave." Replied Shaun who gave the run down of the quest. "It's simple, this guy is a nobody from what I know. Look at the rewards. It's no joke plus we can move to the capital."

Back inside the mercenary guild at a table distanced itself from other mercenaries, The three sat at the table, Shaun, Trevor and Trina. Originally, Shaun planned to find the guy, follow him and when alone, kill him. Now he had another idea. That is to include the two beside him.

"So what do you say Trina. All you have to do is find the guy and take him on an adventure. Trevor and I will take over afterwards."

"I don't mind, will it work? I'm not an actor."

"Sure it will, how many men will want a beautiful girl in their party, and you're the one inviting him."

Shaun was confident that the target will be baited.

He missed the reaction of the redheaded girl on the other hand. She hid her blush by drinking the beverage that was ordered.

"Here, take this. This should help you find him." Passing the sketch over to Trina, he had said.

Trina received the sketch of the man. She woke up from her seat and set off to find the target. Although she was from the adventurers guild, she had her own experience of betrayal. Only few could be considered trustworthy but those few are very hard to come by in this world. This is true for adventurers who have to hustle for survival. Having one man killed so that three can be ahead in life was very enticing.

Trina intended to head over to the adventurers guild to begin her investigation.

Kryonite's two guilds were directly opposite each other. Opposite as in directly from one end of the town to the other end. It was going to take some time walking over. Trina had no hindrance on her path either, actually the local people would even give her way. She was a silver ranked adventurer, having the silver tag on her person let the the people know that she was not someone who anyone could play with.

"Hoho! Lad, you okay there?"

"I'm fine uncle, It got a little rough but my quest is complete." Replied a young man, his clothing was torn and battered. He had a short sword at his waist and in a hand he held a sack.

Although he was all smiles, the young man looked very tired.

Trina who had just been passing by, originally had no interest in the exchange of words. Subconsciously she glanced at the young man and felt he looked familiar for some reason.