Chapter 87 - Ingrid

Walking upstairs, I found a man waiting for me at the top Handing me a room key, he said that the women were waiting in Room 103. Tipping him well, I thanked him for his hard work before retiring to my room. Once I was inside, I locked the door tightly and put several spells over the room. These spells would provide us cover from the security cameras in the room, and would prevent anyone from overhearing our conversations.

"It's you!", Yukikaze shouted in anger, "So you were after my body! How dare you have them take Tatsurou away from us!!"

"Shut. The. Hell. Up.", I growled with annoyance, "What the hell were you fucking thinking!? Everyone in Edwin's organization knows your bloody faces, you just walked into one of his clubs without even trying to hide your appearance. The entire security team was about to have you thrown in cells downstairs. If I didn't step in to rescue you, you'd probably be some ugly bastard's fuck toy right now."

Yukikaze was about to explode with anger, but Rinko stopped her. Admitting that they had rushed here to support me, she acknowledged they had put their own lives in danger unnecessarily. Thanking me for saving them, she was appreciative that I stuck my neck out to spare them torture at the hands of Edwin's people.

"Jeez...I thought the Taimanin were supposed to be excellent assassins, ninjas, and warriors. It's no wonder your success rates are so low, you don't plan ahead for these things.", I complained pouring myself a glass of cognac, "Either way it's too late now to change things. Why are you guys here anyways, I told you I didn't need your help."

"Asagi thought you might need backup, but...it appears we were the ones that needed the help.", Rinko chuckled with a smile.

"The target isn't in the building nor is any of Edwin's executives.", I told them, "I could have moved on to the next site, but now I am stuck here for at least an hour or so."

"Why?", Yukikaze asked, "Can't we just leave?"

"Right now they think I am having my way with both of you. They hear and see that through the security cameras in this room thanks to my illusion.", I remarked, "The illusion will last for roughly an hour, that gives us plenty of time to plan our next step."

Since I would be stuck here for some time, I created several Shadow Demons and sent them out to recon the other sites. Pouring myself another glass of cognac, I let out a sigh and just sat on the sofa thinking about things. Uncomfortable with the awkward silence, Rinko asked if she could have a glass as well. Telling her to go ahead, she poured herself a larger portion than was customary.

"So, I assume you have been to many places around the world?", she asked me as she sat back on a chair in front of me.

"Yes, you could say have been to many places. Every one of them is unique with their quirks and charms.", I replied with a smirk.

Watching her shoot the cognac back, she poured herself another drink without skipping a beat. Noticing that she was doing her best not to cough or gag, it was clear she'd never had strong alcohol before and therefore didn't know that it burned going down. Stopping her before she overpoured again, I told her to keep it reasonable as the bottle wasn't cheap.

"I am curious, does a guy as well traveled as you have girlfriend?", Rinko inquired, "Surely a big, strong guy like you has one or two women in your bed frequently."

"Several girlfriends, yes.", I remarked as I showed them photos, "They are very beautiful women, and I enjoy their company quite a lot. Some people shouldn't make the assumption that all men are after their body."

"Shut up!", she huffed pouring herself a glass.

"I am sorry about her...she can be a bit of a handful. She has a temper and isn't the best at expressing her emotions.", Rinko apologized, "This has been ongoing issue we have been trying to fix with her."

Telling Rinko not to share her secrets with me, Yukikaze sat there staring at me. Setting my glass down, I told her she needed to grow up and stop acting like a child. It was nice to see flustered reactions every once in a while, but it was annoying when it was all the time. For example, Loki never acted flustered around me accept when I smacked her butt. Whenever I did that she'd turn bright red and call me an asshole.

"The first time telling me that you are only interested Tatsurou was enough, I don't need a reminder every five minutes.", I scolded her, "You better learn to express your emotions better or you will push your boyfriend away. I mean he's got to have some friends right, do you treat them all the same way you treat me? If you do, you'll push all his friends away from him and he will resent you for that."

"He's right, Tatsurou has lost a few friends to your temper. They weren't especially close, but there are some that are on that fence now. Not only that, he never knows if you are happy with something he does or upset...your reaction is almost always the same either way.", Rinko giggled visibly tipsy now.

"I love him more than I can express.", Yukikaze said as she swayed in her seat, "I...I am just worried he will find someone better than me. I don't have the same feminine features a lot of the other Taimanin women do, what if he grows bored of me?"

Sitting there for a long time, the two of them talked while I focused on monitoring the building. When the hour was nearly up, I sensed a group of people arriving at the entrance to the club. These people were different from normal humans, they were similar to the Taimanin in that they had high magical power. Watching them start heading to towards the stairwell, I told the two of them to get into the bed.

"I thought you weren't interest in me...", Yukikaze giggled like an idiot.

"We have company, and they will be here in a few moments.", I told them.

"Hehe, what's that mean?", Rinko asked in a playful tone.

Realizing that they weren't going to be of any help to me, I took matters into my own hands. Getting us in sync with where the illusion was, I managed to get them stripped and in bed just as the door unlocked. Dispelling the illusion as the door started to open, I glanced back to see Ingrid with several bodyguards.

"Can't a guy get a bit of privacy?", I questioned with a smirk, "I am a bit preoccupied at the moment."

Seeing Rinko under me and Yukikaze sprawled out under the sheets next to her, Ingrid quickly looked away with an embarrassed expression.

"I...I didn't think you were still preoccupied.", she said clearing her throat, "Do you have a moment to speak?"

"Sorry ladies, looks like our fun time will be cut short.", I told the two Taimanin as I rolled out of bed, "If you don't mind Miss Ingrid, I'd like to get dressed with some privacy. I will be out in a moment to speak with you."

Acknowledging that, she closed the door behind her. Getting my clothes on, I washed my hands and left the room. Finding her outside waiting on me, she looked at me in surprise. From the angle she saw me at in bed, I assumed she didn't realize how tall I was.

"It's a pleasure to meet you Mr. Wick.", she stated reaching her hand out.

"Same goes for you Miss Ingrid, you look far more stunning than rumors led me to believe.", I replied with a smile as I shook her hand.

"Thank you.", she remarked with a pleased smile, "Apologies for ruining your evening, but my bartender said you seemed to want a meeting with me."

"He'd be right, do you have somewhere we can talk privately? I would hate to ruin the other customer's evenings.", I said motioning to the neighboring rooms.

Agreeing with me, she said they had a private conference room we could us. Leading me there, she asked me if I wanted something to drink as we sat down. Telling her I was fine, I got straight to the point to save us both time. Sliding her an image of the Dark Slime, I told her I was looking for this magical creature and thought she might be able to help me.

"My client unfortunately lost someone irreplaceable to him, and that magical creature is the culprit. It has the ability to devour people and animals whole, and adds their powers, knowledge, and skills to it's arsenal.", I told her, "Mr. Kiryuu is in your employment and he also happens to be the creator of said monster, I was hoping you could assist me with locating it."

"Why would we help you?", she asked with a curious look, "Surely you don't think we are a charity."

"Both the Taimanin and Mr. Black have been losing personnel to this creature.", I said with a smile, "The Taimanin are interest in working with me and I hoped you'd be as well. Now I know both of you are enemies, but I have no dog in that race. My goal is to kill this creature whether you help me or not."

Looking me in the eyes, I stared right back at her. Meeting each other's gaze for a few minutes, she closed her eyes and nodded her head. Acknowledging they had indeed been losing people, she didn't know it was Kiryuu's pet. Informing her that he made it to level the playing field should either side want to kill him, she let out an annoyed sigh.

"That rat bastard...I knew he was doing things off the books, but I didn't think he'd go this far. I was a fool for letting him come back!", she growled, "So you want help locating it?"

"Correct, I suspect that he is keeping it at one of his offsite labs.", I advised, "The Taimanin didn't know where any of them were, so I hoped you would."

"Unfortunately no...there have been some ongoing issues that have tied up our Intelligence Team.", Ingrid stated bluntly, "We can assist you with locating it, but our discussions will have to be in public settings like this. Our organization can't risk exposing our facilities to unknown party such as yourself."

"No problem, I understand the need for privacy. All I am after is his personal properties and locations purchased through shell companies he owns. Mr. Kiryuu isn't brazen enough to keep a creature like that at one of your facilities, that is too risky.", I said.

Telling one of her men to start collecting that information, the man promptly left to begin the information gathering. Shaking hands with Ingrid, I said I looked forward to this brief business arrangement. Getting up to leave the room, I leaned over to whisper something into her ear.

"Keep a close eye on Oboro and Kiryuu, the two of them want you removed.", I whispered, "If you need any help just give me a call."

---3rd Person POV---

Leaving the room with that, Ingrid watched him walk away. Blinking several times, she pulled his business card out and put the number in her phone. The fact that he was aware of their ongoing feud unsettled her as it meant they had a leak somewhere.

'Now it all makes sense, Kiryuu and Oboro have been disappearing around the same time for the past few months. She in charge of field agent deployment which gives her the means to funnel him people.', Ingrid thought as she dialed Mr. Black.

The hearing the phone ring twice before he answered, she immediately gave her report to him. Listening to everything Ingrid had to say, she could hear items breaking on the other end of the call.

"Bringing Kiryuu back into the fold was an error on our part. I want him brought in for interrogation before he realizes we are on to him.", Edwin told her, "We can't have a monster like that on the loose, it's bad for business."

"Of course sir, what should we do with John Wick?", Ingrid asked, "He's made contact with the Taimanin already."

"That is of no consequence, he is still a neutral party which means he can be brought to our side. Do whatever you have to bring him into the organization.", Edwin ordered, "He knows far more than anyone should about our organization, and he knew about a feud that very few do."

"Understood sir, I will see that it's done.", Ingrid acknowledged.

Ending the call there, Ingrid immediately reached out to several clubs in the area. Knowing that Wick had a taste for women, she knew exactly how to start winning him over.

'If they don't win him over...I will do whatever it takes to make Mr. Black happy.', Ingrid thought looking out the window.