Chapter 18 - Miss Lauren

While they waited for the barman to come back with an answer, Higler and Drake drank their beers, and watched the rest of the club. Luckily, this time, there wasn't anyone coming to make fun of Frainer. The little mist ball could float around curiously all it wanted.

"You know we look more like hooligans than the people of the Association, right?"

"Haha..."

The ranger laughed out loud. That was true. Threatening people, taking part in gunfights in broad daylight, and beating the crap out of someone weren't exactly behaviors you expected to see from a law enforcer. However, it was needed.

"Did you ever think of why rangers are so feared by criminals? It's because we use... Unorthodox methods to get what we want. Under certain restraints and restrictions, obviously."

"I never heard of that before. Before I met you, all I knew is that you guys are legends. I don't know how much of it is true, but they say you can fight an army and survive."

"Pff! Don't tell me you believed that! Hahaha! It's true we do some daring things, but we would only fight an army under the right circumstances."

It wasn't exactly what he was expecting to hear. However, he couldn't tell if Higler was joking, being arrogant, or actually being serious. Everyone heard stories about how a single person stopped an army, sacrificed themselves for the others, and so on. Those were just stories, however. Right?

Before he could ask, the barman came back, a dark expression on his face. He tried to squeeze a fake smile to them, but to no avail. Behind him was one of the waitresses.

"The miss said she is interested. Megan will guide you. Follow her, please."

The blonde waitress smiled charmingly at them, and walked towards one of the backrooms. After exchanging a glance, the two of them followed her.

Different from the rest of the club, the room was quiet. Soundproof walls, probably. Inside, a tall woman, with long brown hair, and wearing a green dress, was waiting for them. She sat on a couch with her slender legs crossed, and a small smile on her face.

Drake had to admit she was beautiful, but her eyes were those of a poisonous snake. She looked at them like a predator looking at it's prey. Apparently, Higler felt the same way, because his smile stiffened.

"Thank you, Megan. You can go now."

The waitress smiled politely to her, and then at them, and left, closing the door behind her.

"Now, gentlemen, if you would have a seat, we can discuss whatever it is you want to discuss."

As she said that, Miss Lauren poured them a drink. None of them touched it.

"Miss Lauren, it's a pleasure to meet you. However, before we start, I would like you to have a look at this."

Higler fished his ranger badge out of his pocket, and threw it on the table. Her eyes widened when she saw it, but she quickly hid her shock, and put on her trademark smirk.

"Oh my! I've been told you were dangerous, but I thought you were just two killers looking for a job. That's why you didn't kill one of Cramer's lackeys. I assume he is long gone?"

"Yeah. And you have the chance to do that if you cooperate. In fact, you might even earn a little."

Higler didn't wait to throw the bait. He could see that Miss Lauren was a cunning person. As soon as the boat started sinking, she would jump ship.

"May I know your names, ranger?"

"Ben Higler and Drake Stronter, miss. Now, you are a smart woman, so I am sure you already understood that Anderson is going down. Depending on how much you collaborate, you can either go to prison with him, or you can keep your club, and get part of their businesses. And let me tell you, Anderson and his accomplices will probably hang."

Maybe Higler was moving a little too fast, but it certainly had the impact he wanted. There was no better presentation card than a threat and a benefit. The famous carrot and the stick strategy.

Miss Lauren stared at them for a few minutes, and sighed. Even if she wasn't attached to her partners in crime, expecting her to betray them based on a few sentences from a person she didn't know was too much.

"Can you let me think about it for a while?"

"Of course. You can even go tell the Association what I said, if you want. Tomorrow we will be having a little chat with Fallen Star's police chief. After that, we will come back to receive your answer."

Without waiting for her answer, Higler stood up and left, mimicked by Drake. Miss Lauren looked at the closed door for a long while, deep in thought. Then, she turned to the ceiling.

"Sana, come here."

At the start, it looked like she was talking to empty air, but slowly, a distortion appeared. It was as if the ceiling was peeling itself off.

The Ifere that appeared had a long, flat body. It was white with a few green spots, and limbless. Where it's head should have been was a meat flap. It's whole body was full of wrinkles as if it was folding over and over again. It gave anyone who looked at it chills.

However, Miss Lauren caressed it fondly. There was love and affection in her eyes, not disgust. Clearly, she and the Ifere had a Spirit Contract.

If Drake was there, he would instantly recognize the Ifere as a Lesna. They were one of the most abundant space-type Iferes. That wasn't to say that they were common, however. The number of space-type Iferes was less than one-thousandth of all other types combined.

One of the things that made Lesnas so interesting, however, wasn't their type or their camouflage abilities, but the fact that they were all female. They reproduced by letting a part of their bodies simply fall off, and it would grow in an identical Lesna. Up till now, all that had been concluded was that all Lesnas were copies of a single one, which must have lived billions of years ago. There wasn't much of a practical application to this information, but it was mindblowing nevertheless.

The Lesna, nicknamed Sana, climbed up Miss Lauren's arm, and made a sloshing noise. The woman smiled, and gave it a piece of meat, which sunk inside it's body.

"I need you to take a message to Bartow, okay? I'm gonna write it, and you deliver it to him."

After she wrote the message, she rested it on top of Sana, and just like the piece of meat, it was swallowed by it. Then, the Lesna used Fade, a skill that let it pass through physical objects or just blend in with the environment.

Miss Lauren had decided to send a letter through Sana because she didn't trust the people around Bartow. There was no telling if they didn't have access to his phone. So, she sent her most trusted envoy. The Lesna would never betray her, because they were bound by a Spirit Contract.

---------------------------

Bartow was a tall man, with a clear light in his eyes. He had a small moustache, and was well-dressed.

Now, he was in his house, having just come back from his routine patrol of his stores. He didn't trust his employees, so he made to check the accounts every day.

Suddenly, as he was looking at himself in the mirror, he saw the wall behind him peel off, and a white blob appeared, scaring the life out of him.

"Sh*t, Lesna! Why do you have to do that every time?!"

Unfazed by his anger, the Ifere started convulsing under his disgusted gaze. After a few seconds, a letter dropped from it's body with a 'plop'. Surprisingly, it was dry.

With a frown, Bartow waited until Sana had disappeared through the wall again before using a napkin to pick up and open the letter. As he read it, his expression became more and more serious.