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Ichika rarely bothered dirtying her hands but today, she had been forced to get involved. One of her business partners in the field of cheap imports, a man by the Hullston, had begun to attract the attention of the Rune Knights. Whether it was because they had probable cause to investigate him or just it being one out of line Page acting beyond their station and just following their gut instincts did not matter to the serpentine woman. They needed to be silenced and the best way to silence someone, while also making a message, was to kill them.

Now, who was better to kill a Rune Knight page than somebody nobody would suspect? Such as a newly arrived foreigner of little fame or infamy that was essentially fresh off the boat? A level of plausible deniability was necessary and Ichika was more than able to provide that, not for free mind you. Hullston had promised her payment, both in terms of jewels and a discount going forward, and for that alone was Ichika waiting at an outdoor food stand. It was not only Hullston she was waiting for, as the scheme relied on him serving as bait, but her partner.

“Tch. What’s taking them so long….if he’s going to insist on backup they could at least arrive promptly…” The Lamia grumbled to herself, her massive ten foot tail irritably tapping against the concrete. Somebody of her prestige, her wealth, her beauty, her intelligence and plain simple superiority had much better things to do than wait for the peasantry to hurry up. It was fortunate Hullston was yet to arrive, for his own business and other personal affairs did tend to take up a great amount of time.  The Lamia sighed irritably, tapping one of her fingers up and down upon the counter of the food stand.

(310 words)

The first thought then the second, followed by a motion. Finally was the first thought, a relief to Ichika’s irritation, as her ears perked up at the mention of one half of the code phrase. Ichika had at first thought the insistence on a code phrase was unnecessary but given how the Rune Knights were carrying out an active investigation into Hullston, she had eventually made peace with the idea. She was being paid after all and it reflected poorly on a merchant if they did not have a willingness to accommodate their client’s unique circumstances.

The second thought followed, marked by the serpent turning to face Nana, the bulk of her serpentine mass twisting towards the figure Ichika assumed to just be an ordinary human. She did not look like much in all regards. A drab face, plain looking hair and a simply dull sense of fashion. That much was to be expected from Fiorians, especially those who had to stoop down to doing manual labour. No matter. It really was not a problem. As annoying as having to work as equals with one of these peasants happened to be, it was what Ichika found herself being paid for.

Then came the first motion. The serpent vacated her seat as the heavy bulk of her tail, a massive mass of muscle and sinew, came to a hefty thud upon the ground. She slithered towards Nana and circled around her, forming a wall around the Daemon with her tail. It may have been one you could easily step over but it was a wall, of sorts, nonetheless. The Lamia leaned in and whispered into Nana’s left ear, answering her half of the code phrase with its sister part.

“Unlucky fate doeth the traveller meet…….Is he on the way? Or is he busy looking after Page again?” An odd question indeed had Ichka asked, her tone seemingly disinterested and tinged with a not so subtle tone of boredom. Hullston wanted subterfuge and subterfuge was what he would get. It was not at all pre-planned, as with the code word, but hopefully Nana would be able to figure it out, not that Ichika had high expectations. She was just a peasant after all.

(Current words: 374)
(Total words: 684)

Ignoring it, huh? Well, that was up to Nana. It was very disappointing she either lacked the understanding of subterfuge or general brain power to put two and two together but oh well. Ity can’t be helped. Fioran peasants, like any peasants anywhere, rarely had the ability to be anything but total disappointments. No worries. That was what Ichika was here for. Hullston had clearly wanted somebody competent and, in a rare display of insight, must have known that Ichika was the only person for the job.

“Harukatsu-sama.” In truth, Ichika did not give one single hiss, lick or damn about Nana’s name but it did at least have some small value to it, at least as far as getting paid went. This whole job would be significantly easier if a basic level of communication was to be established. Anyway. Enough of that. The Lamia slithered after Nana, the bulk of her tail carrying her form through the streets, easily keeping pace with the daemon.

Swiftly they caught up with Hullston and the Page following them, the Rune Knight having absolutely no idea the hunt had been turned on its head. The hunter had become the hunted and it was all due to how foolishly, how recklessly, and how obviously the Page had been tracking his quarry. It was honestly rather amusing to have been hired to take care of somebody so obviously incompetent.

“Hmmm do you have anything in mind?” Ichika spoke, posing her question for she was well aware that just killing the page wouldn’t do it. It needed to be an accident, something with a handful of plausible deniability potent enough to make proving any foul play an impossibility. That meant the death needed to be quick, it needed to be sudden and it needed to be done without a single sign of being attacked. That meant stabbing, cutting, shooting or most forms of conventional means of death dealing were out of the question.

Of course….Ichika did have a solution if it came to that. It was one she would demand extra payment for but there was no need to mention that to Hullston, nor Nana for that matter. Hmm….drowning. Yes. That would do it. Hargeon was a port town after all and had plenty of places were falling into the ocean was perfectly reasonable. Lure the page to a remote out of the way place, drown him under water then throw him into the ocean.

Ichika’s expression may have been passive and neutral, what one might call professional even if it was a little cold, but there was definitely a sign of energy to her eyes. The intensity of her expression, the parsed nature of her lips, the furrowed eyebrows…she was definitely planning something.

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(Total: 1154 words)

“Hmmm…don’t speak so openly about such a grim topic in public.” The Lamia replied, her tone sharp and curt, tinged with a small amount of disappointment. Ichika was not surprised her so called partner had not thought the idea through fully but who could blame her? She was only a peasant after all, one stupid enough to all but scream her designs of murder out loud in public.

The Lamia’s gaze came to rest not upon Nana or the Page but on, perhaps oddly, a fishmonger but not just any fishmongers. It just so happened to be one that specialised in foreign and exotic fish which was honestly not as surprising as you may think. Hargeon was a port town after all. They tended to be centres of foreign goods and cultural trends. Inspiration struck Ichika at that, an ancient memory of how a family friend had died due to poorly prepared fugu.

“Keep an eye on the Page.” Ichika was gone then, her order having been given to Nana, and slithered into the fishmongers. She was back moments later, clutching a simple box, with a rather satisfied looking smile on her face.

“Do not let anybody touch the spines on this fish. They are highly toxic. Hopefully you will be more careful this time.” The Lamia did speak in a condescending tone but hopefully Nana would realise it was an act, a role she was playing to reduce suspicion and present the women’s business as something mundane. Ichika handed the box to her partner then, its contents being that of a whole Pufferfish. She hoped her words of caution, delivered with worry

Everything would hopefully go as planned, the Page would seem fine at first but mere seconds after the fish touched his exposed skin, his muscles would suddenly lock up, rendering him paralysed and helpless to resist falling down the stairs into the water. Water flooded his lungs and he would drown.

“Sir, are you okay?” Oh yes. Ichika had tried to save him. She had rushed down the stairs and asked if the man was okay, only to shout and call for help when he didn’t reply or move. Some local sailors did rush to help but by the time they pulled the Page out of the water, it was clear it was already too late. Hopefully Nana had taken advantage of the commotion caused by this horrible accident to make a swift exit.

(415 words.)