55
1269 Words
Juni nodded and said, “We are punishing the guilty parties as much as possible. To our regret, the Empire doesn’t allow us to fine points from anyone. Even our own people.”
Liz seemed as unconcerned as Juni was while she countered, “Remove them from the war. That would send the proper message to any would-be offenders.”
The prince’s right hand man actually frowned at that. “We would if we could, but the army heavily limits the number of Tier 7s we’re allowed to have, and the spots are not transferable. As much as we hate what was done to you and your team, it’s not feasible to cripple our limited Tier 7 powerbase. So only two from each side were removed completely. It was considered fair, as they had no remorse, and openly stated they would do it again if given the opportunity. But since each side punished an equal number of people, it keeps either side from gaining an advantage.”
He gestured to the side, “We’ve arranged for you to talk to the people who have harmed you. It’s the best we can do right now. Please remember that you’ll get in trouble for attacking them without a duel, and you all are on healing cooldowns. Also, there’s no way to force a duel.”
Liz held up a hand. “We’ll want to talk to Alyssa. Don’t doubt that at all. But first, we want to hear your offer.”
Juni’s smile returned. “As I mentioned before, we will be matching the points earned from the Empire, if the points earned were the result of the proper orders, and if no allies were betrayed during the process. We feel that is fair compensation, and incentive to have everyone act appropriately.”
Matt actually felt that his offer wasn’t too bad. If they earned double the original amount, that could equal quite a lot of points in their pockets.
Liz ignored the gesture to say, “Our team, and the other Pathers who were affected, will want to negotiate for more than that during the joint meeting. But we’ll be happy to see Alyssa now.”
Juni didn’t seem willing to push for more, and simply looked to a second door. The one they hadn’t entered through.
Alyssa sauntered over to them, using a multi colored parasol as both a cane and a baton. One moment she was leaning on the parasol, and the next she was twirling it through the air. She was a plain woman in everything except her clothes. Her brown hair and eyes matched perfectly with her unremarkable facial features.
Her clothes reflected her parasol in their loud and bright colors.
Matt felt the tension in the room skyrocket from his team, and briefly placed a hand on Liz’s leg under the table, to ward any explosions off. The rest of their team came up and flanked them, creating a wall against the woman who had screwed them over so badly.
Juni made introductions and then fled the room. “Alyssa Clairmont, Team Bucket. Team Bucket, Alyssa Clairmont.”
Alyssa came up and smiled brightly at them all. “Well, good to meet you all. Shame it couldn’t have been yesterday, but with you all dying, it made it a bit difficult.”
Annie snapped out, “Ohh, you have nerve, woman. I’m going to…”
Alyssa waved them off. “Don’t be crass, dear. It’s unsightly.”
Liz, calmer now, said, “It’s unsightly to throw allies under the bus for points. If you had done your job yesterday and backed us up, we would have met then, so don’t try, and turn this around on us.”
Alyssa didn’t seem bothered in the least, and waved her parasol around as she said, “Oh, don’t be that way. Those that can, do. And I can. I did what was best for me at the time.” She shrugged. “If I had known you were so competent, I would have moved in between the two waves of attackers. I thought you would die on the first attack. I wouldn’t have done that if I had known, but we all make our decisions, and we must sleep in the beds we make.”
She twirled her parasol once again, before catching it over her shoulders with a flourish at the end of her statement.
Matt’s attention quickly latched onto that colorful rainbow of light that was emitted from the fabric and felt something like his growth mana ring. Her parasol had multiple aspects of mana flowing through it.
He was awoken from his inspection by a pinch on the leg from Liz.
Realizing what his inspection looked like, he clarified quickly. “Your parasol feels interesting. It’s full of random aspected mana. It feels more like a weapon, though.”
The woman beamed as if she had won a prize, “Oh, this lovely thing? I got it from a wannabe suitor from the Empire. My darling here is a growth item as pretty as I am. We match so well, don’t you think?”
Liz wasn’t impressed and moved back to Alyssa’s last statement. “You had better watch yourself, or you’ll get a taste of your own medicine sooner or later.”
Alyssa looked unconcerned with Liz’s not-so-subtle threat. “What goes around comes around. I’m not particularly worried about it. What will be, will be.”
Emily said from her end of the table, “We want a duel from you.”
Alyssa looked overly put upon and sighed dramatically. “The same thing little Albie asked for. No, I won’t duel you. I did nothing wrong. Was I selfish? Yes, without a doubt. Do I care? Not really. It really wasn’t anything personal, and I’ve already been punished quite harshly. It’s just a game.”
She sighed dramatically and said, “If you want someone to blame, blame math. It was simply worth more points to let you die. We aren’t friends yet, so I had no incentive to help you. Besides, you’re all getting lucky with Albie’s bribe. Most of the other Pather’s aren’t so lucky. My little birds have been flitting about and learned that most teams won’t be getting nearly as good a deal as you were offered.”
She smirked at Liz and met all of their gazes before she stood and sauntered out the door, calling over her shoulder, “Well, I’ll be on my way. After the next meeting I have a mission where I’m sure I’ll be tragically ambushed. I’ll see you at the little group therapy session in a bit. Tata!”
Annie shrugged as the door closed. “I don’t give two rats asses about what makes me look bad. I’m going to kill her the minute I can get away with it. She can decline our duels all she wants, but she can’t decline an assassination. She can b***h all she wants after the fact, but it won’t do her any good with a dagger in her throat.”
Matt was pretty angry himself. “I’m going to break both her legs. The healer said that was the most painful thing to break. Think you can work that into it?”
Annie bobbed her head around a little and said, “Yeah, probably.”
Matt threw her a thumbs up.
Maybe after Annie kills her a few times, she’ll be willing to duel us to get the assassinations to stop?
Matt wasn’t sure it would work, but he liked the idea.
- Writer
