Disguised as Salazar "Sal" Worthington:

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The glorious yet gauche and gluttonous frame of Salazar “Sal” Worthington came into view as he passed through the upper district of Myras. What a sight to behold he was! From head to toe in the finest jewelry and a leather cape to bring ire to those who walked the same ground as him, the man was absolutely dazzling. He was a sparkling inferno that could burn the world with his charm and physical appeal. There was not a single person in Fiore – nay, Earthland itself – that could rival the beauty of the egg-shaped man that was in love with himself so deeply. As some might say, “if you can't love others, you can't love yourself”! And while Mr. Worthington certainly didn't love others, he loved himself without question. At the end of the day, that was what mattered, wasn't it?

After a while of conducting interviews among the nobility and troubling them for work, Sal eventually found a noble gullible and desperate enough to require the services of one so superior to them in every way. Why, they should be grateful that Sal was so quick to accept upon being offered a job. They were to head to the dirtiest slums of Myras, after all, and such a thing was not to be underestimated. Very few that were in their right minds would ever venture into a slum in this day and age of their own accord. Yet since this family was so adamant about going and going with all due haste, Sal couldn't just leave them be. He wasn't a savage. He was not rude. And he was most certainly not the type that would abandon people in need! Not without teaching them a few lessons first, anyway. Lessons like how to watch a man get pummelled to death without getting ill, for example, or how to laugh from the diaphragm; both of which typically taught around the same time, to optimize the amount of lessons being taught at once. Time was money, after all.

Sal waited outside with a sweaty towel, dabbing the cloth on his head now and again. His eyes felt like they were becoming roasted meatballs in the increasing heat, and he wore a fishy expression that emanated an aura of “kill me now”. The nobles were taking their sweet time, and sweets were never to be kept waiting as long as Sal was around.

“Oh my heavens, what could they possibly be doing in there...?”, Sal muttered to himself, now wheezing in and out while the sun assaulted him from above.

---

WC: 430/2,125 [15% reduced]

Spells used:

Disguised as Salazar "Sal" Worthington:

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The family was known as the Loppe family, with their breadwinner Daniel Loppe to be the man of the hour for the job that was assigned. Supposedly, Danny needed to “meet an associate” in the slums of Myras, and needed protection just in case. Why, just a few days ago another noble house had their young heir scarred for life after encountering some thugs in the lower district. How absolutely dreadful. Sal wouldn't let that happen to his charge, no sir, or else he wouldn't be fit to maintain the last name of Worthington! That was a gold star guarantee.

Finally, Danny emerged from his manor and made his way over to Sal who was halfway to becoming pudding. Due to Mr. Worthington's habit of wearing lots of leather and a black cloak even in the blistering heat, there was nothing more to be said of it: the man didn't know how to acclimate to warmer temperatures, refusing to abandon his fashion sense even in the face of certain death. Well, certain death, or at least heatstroke. The point was that Sal prided himself on his determination to maintain his darker appearance no matter how gooey and slimy he would get throughout his torturous and heated days.

It was in stark contrast to the Loppe head, who was a rather plain and unassuming young man no older than thirty. Some might consider that to be bordering on middle age, but Sal himself couldn't admit that – no sir – or else he would be forced to come to terms with his own aging and deteriorating body! Regardless, Danny Loppe wore little in the way of outrageous fashion or trendy accessories. Rather, he dressed like a businessman ready to meet with his peers and propose some hot new idea that would change the face of... well, business, probably. Sal only had a faint idea, but he was tired of having ideas or he would soon faint.

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WC: 755/2,125 [15% reduced]

Spells used:

Disguised as Salazar "Sal" Worthington:

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“Nice meeting you, darling. Now how's'about we get on to it with the questing and the meeting and the me getting paid, eh?”, Sal inquired, not trying for even a single second to waste time pretending to be an angel; not that he had to pretend, but he always was told by mother dearest to just be himself.

“Ah... yes, of course, of course. Let us be on our way.”, the Loppe noble spoke, keeping his distance and plugging his nose somewhat at the odor quickly emerging from Sal in his sweaty self.

The pair was off like some kind of crude comedy duo. Sal would be the heavy hitter of course. When they'd stand up on the stage together before a crowd, Danny would be the one to quickly and precisely start a nonsensical story or some such and then Sal would knock it out of the park with a gut-busting punchline. They could go on the road together, make millions and then retire at the age of forty as happy entrepreneurs. Mr. Worthington babbled on about such things for a long time as they trekked through the warm, or in Sal's case boiling, streets of Myras. They quickly left the upper district and also wasted little time in the middle district. It was when they reached the lower district that the air changed.

There was tension about. With reports of rampant crime on an even bigger scale than usual lately, Myras could not be underestimated. Guards were rarely seen in these parts even in times of high alert like now. That was simply the priority that Myras gave to its lower class citizens. It was a disgusting sight to see, from Tomoe's perspective briefly underneath the disguise of Salazar Worthington. Sal would not reflect this outwardly, however, because Sal was not the kind of person that ever reflected much on anything; rather, he always absorbed and then accepted.

Anybody that peered into Sal's soul would find a suspicious emptiness and contentment despite that emptiness. They'd also probably find a pining nostalgia for new entries of Sorcerer's Weekly, but that was besides the point. Sal was an overwhelming personality such that even a bullheaded warrior like Tomoe had trouble remembering who he really was under the disguise at times. Almost as if Sal was a real person. Almost as if at any moment he could become the 'true' Tomoe instead.

But that wouldn't happen. Tomoe had conquered his weakness against succumbing to the other personalities, hadn't he? There was nothing to suggest it could happen again as long as his will was strong. Though Sal did admittedly have a strong soul, if he could be considered a separate entity from Tomoe himself. No, that was a bad thought process to follow. By even allowing the potential for thought that Salazar could have his own soul or something equivalent to it, that would already spell the beginning of the end for the existence known as Tomoe Tanaka. It was simply a very detailed act.

It was in this trance that was by no means obvious based on the outward swagger of Sal, that the dynamic duo had arrived at their location. It was in a dead-end alley around the back of a dusty motel. It wasn't a gracious or beautiful meeting spot by any stretch of the imagination, but it was nonetheless the place that the Loppe noble declared they would meet his associate.

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WC: 1,330/2,125 [15% reduced]

Spells used:

Disguised as Salazar "Sal" Worthington:

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“The place is a dump.”, Sal spoke curtly, kicking a nearby empty soda can as it ricocheted against a wall and tumbled, causing a drawn-out sound of rolling tin until it finally came to a stop against another wall opposite the duo.

“I would ask you not to use that tongue in the presence of my associate, but by all that is holy, I know you would use it nonetheless.”, Danny spoke up, palm nearing his own face as he struggled to cope with the idea that he had definitely hired the wrong person as a guard.

In the silence afterwards, waiting minutes upon minutes for someone to arrive, there was footsteps. Audible and with purpose, the figure strode towards their location, turning onto the corner of the alley they were loitering at that produced the dead-end. Dead-ends didn't entertain Sal, and made him uneasy. And the first person to crack his homely exterior wouldn't like him when he's uneasy.

Nevertheless, the associate approached in a cloak with a large hood draped over their head and covering everything except their mouth and chin. All Sal knew for sure was that the man had a paler skin tone and a goatee – oh how he wished he could get such noble facial hair for himself rather than the chicken scratch beard he constantly needed to shave away.

The hooded man handed over a book to Danny, bowed, and was on his way at a brisk pace after the Loppe noble tossed a heavy coin purse into his hands. It jingled and jangled as the mysterious associate moved away and towards the exit of the alley back onto the disgusting and disease-ridden streets of the lower district. Out of the frying pan and into the fire; or in the case of this awful place, out of the urinal and into the shitter. That's what it felt like to Sal anyway, who looked at Loppe to see if he could just go home. It'd be really, really nice if he could just go home. Just once, getting off work early would be a godsend.

---

WC: 1,681/2,125 (15% reduced)

Spells used:

Disguised as Salazar "Sal" Worthington:

---

With an overjoyed expression, Danny Loppe opened the book's contents and his star-filled eyes sunk. Sal nudged over and looked at the book with him. Blank. Completely blank. The exterior of the book was of a deep purple with leather bindings that had a star and moon on the front cover. “Magic of the Stars: Constellations to Produce Fortune”. It was some sort of book to do with predicting the future through the patterns and movements of the stars in the sky. A compelling read and a needed tool for any self-respecting entrepreneur in the modern day... if it were real. Even if it were real, all that was in the pages before the duo was a pure and simple nothing.

“That scoundrel cheated me out of a great deal of jewels! Mr. Worthington, if you would do the honor of bringing my money and that disgrace of a man back to me, I'll pay you extra for your time here today!”, Danny declared, his power trip as a nobleman emerging in full form from its previously dormant state up until now.

With a simple nod without even looking at Loppe, Sal was off like a rocket. Who needed predictions when you could simply take by force? Why put so much effort into something when a simpler solution existed? Sal didn't know the context, but he didn't need to. Turning onto the main street outside the alleyway, the round clown quickly turned left and right looking for the one he needed to find. After a few moments, it was easy to spot a dark cloaked man in the middle of a hot Spring day in a deserted part of town.

“Hey! Asshole!”, Sal cried out in rage and sorrow unlike his usual self, clearly affected heavily by the emotional trauma his employer was put through; or more likely, that he was desperate to simply resolve the situation so he wouldn't need to run and ho and hum about Myras in the sweltering heat for much longer.

The cloaked man turned behind him and then with a snap of his fingers, caused a rock wall to appear just behind him but in front of Sal. The wall was about 5 meters high, so it wasn't something that could simply be jumped over casually. Luckily, Mr. Worthington was no casual man when he didn't feel like being one. He took this situation seriously, and the veins popping and bulging in his right hand as he winded up for a punch showed that like no amount of over the top analogies or expressions ever could. With an aura of death or perhaps simply sweat covering his fist, he plunged it into the wall and found his arm on the other side. It was a weak defensive spell in the end, and came undone in a single strike. Good news for him, bad news for the idiot that tried to escape in the first place from his wrath.

---

WC: 2,125/2,125 (15% reduced)

Spells used:

Disguised as Salazar "Sal" Worthington:

---

The cloaked man wasn't much for subtlety or brains. Perhaps the heat was affecting him worse than it was Sal. The sweating, heaving and raging mass that was Mr. Worthington clashed against the spine of the cloaked runaway, bringing him to the ground with a thud and a sickening crack. The cloaked man went almost mute in pain, wheezing as if he were dying and breathing his last gasps constantly.

“You made me... run... this much... in this heat...? There's no going back for you, buddy-buster-bucko!”, Sal exclaimed aloud, ready to bring his raging fist down on the scammer before hearing Loppe shout out to stop.

Sal quickly glanced over and saw Danny Loppe himself running towards them, hand outstretched. It seemed he didn't want murder in the streets. Or not more of it, anyway.

“I don't want murder in the streets. Look at me, I'm the Loppe boy. Do what I say or I'll cry!”, Sal mocked, chuckling to himself as he saw the cloaked runaway no longer running away, but instead crawling pathetically, paralyzed from the waste down after the earlier tackle.

Sal walked over and grabbed the scammer's head. In a single movement immediately after, Sal brought the cloaked man's head up and then smashed it into the pavement. He did this a few more times in the moment in time before Loppe had arrived in front of Sal and began to hastily pull him away. All that was left, however, was a mangled corpse.

“How... oh god... how could you do this? The man had to die, but by the hands of guards, not you... I...”, Danny cut himself off as he began to gag at the sight and smell of a man's brain fluid leaking partially onto the sidewalk, lifeless.

“It won't be long before the flies get hungry, so let's go. Oh, but first...”

Sal got to work raiding the corpse's pockets. Alongside jewels, he found a copy of the book from earlier – this time with actual pages inside! Sal presented the book joyously to Danny, passionately showing him that the book was real! There was silence for a moment, and then Sal knew that it wouldn't be enough. He had commit murder in cold blood. In the middle of the street. Such a thing was unacceptable in the eyes of the law, especially when the man did nothing to attack first but rather simply ran away.

Sal was paid shortly after, but in return, a bounty was out on the man's head as well. For what reason he would never know, but he had to face facts that apparently murdering bad people was bad. Nevertheless, the trusty companion to Sal and all of Tomoe's disguises, the winged lemur, landed on Sal's sweaty face later that evening as he laid low. A plentiful amount of jewels stolen from the Loppe household while the man of the mansion was out. Not enough that those snobs would notice, but enough to make an impact on Sal's salary.

“How sweet. At least you'll always be there for me, lemur oh lemur~!”

And just like that, the selfish glutton known as Salazar was back to his chipper old self again.

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WC: 2,125/2,125 (15% reduced)

Spells used:

- Exit -