The plan was simple.
Infiltrate the group, sabotage their mission, and make a glorious mess out of their operations.
The pressing question was, how was she going to execute them all?
Riize made up her mind. Her first move would be to locate the squad's leader.
She glanced left and right, gathering information from one stall to another until finally, she was led to one of the most popular gathering spots in town.
The Eternal Night Bar, living up to its name, operated all day and night. The bar seemed to have never ran out of visitors, despite the current day being too young for the youngsters to stay drunk and unproductive.
The second she stepped foot into the dimly-lit space, she was instantly hit with the strong scent of cheap booze and tobacco. Riize froze for a moment, adjusting herself to the sudden change of atmosphere in the air.
Only then did she look around, her devil mask staying close to her skin. Her entirely-wrapped outfit certainly didn't help her blend with the crowd, drawing unnecessary eyes even, but she didn't let them hinder the purpose of her stay.
Her eyes soon locked onto her target, prompting her furrowed eyebrows to sprung up in delight. There, tucked into the furthest corner of the bar was the man she was searching for.
Gerald. The leader of the Zephirre's temporary hunting squad.
He looked nothing like how she had initially expected for him to be. Despite his huge and towering frame, he had a pair of naturally droopy eyes that perfectly complemented the weary nature of his facial features. Not to mention the nest of unkempt beard that nearly hid the entire lower half of his face, if not for his protruding cracked lips.
He looked quite like the honest and simple-minded type, though the spiritless look in his eyes convinced her enough that he must be one of those guys who had long been fed up with the boring thing called life.
Nevertheless, Riize herself knew better than to judge a person by his looks, especially not at first sight. Humans were notoriously fickle, no matter the looks nor the size.
She had fallen for them once. She would be too much of a fool to repeat the same mistake and ruin herself for the second time.
Taking in a deep breath, she squared her shoulders and approached the relaxing man with long confident strides, directly offering her service without any further ado.
"Excuse me, sir. Are you, perhaps, in need of a guide?"
At the drop of her words, Riize could've sworn that the man's movement had paused for a fraction of second, the air around him turning sharp and stifling as if a blade was just about to be unsheathed and thrusted at her most brittle skin.
But then, that all disappeared when the man straightened his back, lowered the burning tobacco in his hand, and raised his head to flash her an amicable smile.
"I am." Gerald drawled out, "Are you a capable one yourself, Miss?"
The question caught her off guard, but Riize was quick to recover her stance and solemnly gave him her word. "Of course, I promise I won't disappoint."
"That's good then. You're hired, congrats." Gerald clapped his hands, and that's all.
He once again adopted a sleazy demeanor and slumped back to his plush seat, a hand lifting his burning tobacco stick to his parting lips for another long and intoxicating drag.
Riize stared at him in disbelief.
That's it? She got the job, just like that?
No other inquiries, no probing, not even a discussion about her pay? Riize failed to understand what had just transpired.
It wasn't as if she was the one at the losing end, though there's a problem troublesome enough if not dealt with now. She hadn't told him her identity yet!
"Sorry for bothering you, Sir. I didn't mean to keep this from you…"
Riize faked an apologetic tone as she lowered her hood, exposing a striking head of ginger calm as the radiance of the setting sun, and most importantly, the tiny little horn peeking out on the top centre of her hairline.
For a moment, her surroundings went silent.
Riize lowered her eyelids, her heart dropping to rock bottom. She was more than ready to convince the man till her throat ran dry, when Gerald suddenly let out a merry laugh.
"A demon, is it? Even better!"
"..."
Riize blinked and blinked, thinking that the man before her must be nuts.
For the second time that day, Riize was struck speechless. She didn't even know how she had left that place, navigating her way out of the dim-lit bar with a blank mind when she accidentally brushed past a red-haired man with flushed cheeks and starry eyes.
Riize didn't notice his presence. However, unlike her, the drunk man was conscious enough to pause on his tracks and shot her drifting back another foolish stare.
'Is that you, little kitten?'
Max wondered if he had been dreaming, to see the woman he's been thinking all day in a place such as this. His eyes traced back to the direction where she had just trudged from, recognizing the smoking man sitting in isolation by the furthest corner.
"Zep-phirre?"
He muttered with uncertainty, his legs finally giving out as he collapsed onto the icy-cold ground, puking all over the sparkling floor.
===
Riize knew nothing of the messy scene that had taken place after her leave. She had much more pressing concerns to care for than a random person's drunk antics. For example, Pookie and that nagging mouth of its.
"I don't agree about this."
Riize pretended she hadn't heard that, continuing to mind her own business and pack her things with a hastier speed.
"Ize, do we really have to go?"
The slime insisted for an answer, but Riize remained unbudged. Her movement had only paused when her elbow accidentally struck something.
Following after the sharp clattering sound, a few bottles of varying colours hit the ground, and the formerly uneasy slime literally freaked out when it realized just what it was.
"Ize! What are you going to do with so many poisons?"
The bottles of highly-concentrated poisons and venoms were supposed to be used for her treatment every once in a while. It was an additional intake of nutrients for her, but undoubtedly a lethal threat for anyone else.
And with her bringing this much portion in one take, Pookie didn't need to grow another brain to sum that she was up to no good.
And yet, Riize had actually got the audacity to lie with a straight face. "Nothing, just for safety measures."
Obviously, Pookie didn't believe her.
"Ize, no! We're not killing any humans, especially not the Zephirres! Are you out of your mind? You'll get us both killed!"
The slime raised its voice, not bothering to suppress its frustration any longer. It proceeded to recollect their past wrongdoings.
"Ize, remember the time when we're almost caught setting the Zephirre's supply carriages on fire? Or that time when we caused them a major loss in the auction?"
"Enough is enough! Don't you know how dangerous it is to mess with those of the powerful households?"
Pookie's voice cracked.
"Can't we just… let them go?"