"Boss"
"Oh, I don't like it when you just say 'boss' then stand there like a little child that broke a freaking vase and is too afraid to tell his mom, what the hell happened again? I swear, if you did something to sully my good reputation again, I'll have you torn limb from limb! Ever heard of the Lingchis and the method named after them? I'll do it to you!"
"B-Boss, I swear I did nothing wrong!"
"Oh, then is it someone else-? No, you would have already ratted them out instead of just staying silent… Bad news, huh? Stupid bastard, just get out with it, if it isn't your fault, why so fucking scared? When have I ever punished someone unfairly?"
"Well…"
"Speak!"
"Boss! The old drunken fool in Oie… He got killed, mutilated even, from what I heard"
"...What? That old fucker is a regular person and an alcoholic, but he was damned good at his job, how could anyone have figured out he was my informant? I wasn't paying him nearly enough for his spendings to be suspicious… And how would they have known he had anything to do with me anyways? No… Mmh…"
The one being referred to as 'boss' was deep in thought, his blond hair, a colour that would fit well for a noble, was cut short, giving him the undeniable look of a thug, his robes black and golden, trying too hard to appear expensive that it ended up looking tacky.
Meanwhile, the one calling the blond his boss was just fiddling his fingers together, a gruff man of good constitution.
"Tell me more details, how did he die? Where? When?"
"The prosecutor, you know, the young one? He is working on the case and keeping a tight lid on the finer details, but from what we were able to gather… The old man was stabbed in the head with a broken bottle, and found floating in a fountain"
"A fountain? He got killed inside the city?"
"Yes"
"What the… What the hell?! Who the hell would have dared to do this in the city? We all have agreements, we don't shove our nose in each other's business, and if we have a problem to solve, we kill each other in a quiet place! They seriously got the city guards involved in this… The only one stupid enough to think that he can get away with it is Golden Teeth, get him to come here!"
"Boss…"
"Oh gods, what is it again?"
"Actually… Golden Teeth got killed a while back…"
"...Just… Just what do I pay you and the other idiots for? And why did the drunkard not mention it in his last few reports?! When did Golden Teeth die? A few days ago?"
"A week, or maybe two? Perhaps more than that…"
The young blond rubbed the bridge of his nose, sinking in his seat.
"Alright, very well- I knew that you were all incompetent, but this much? That's new, brand new"
"Let's put that massive blunder aside, someone murdered my informant inside of Oie, if Golden Teeth didn't do it because I had the drunk idiot keep tabs on him, then who else? Apart from the freak, no one could be idiotic enough, or have the guts to pull such a move"
"I certainly hope we don't have some new competitors around, but we should probably just hang low until the city lord takes care of the issue, understood? We are temporarily stopping all activities and not causing any problems, you do understand, right?"
"Of course, Boss!"
"Perfect, spread the word to the others, and get out of my sight" the blond sent his underling on his way, sighing heavily as sat lavishly on his seat.
Tao was living his best life, and he greatly despised having his comfort and source of income threatened, they belonged to him and no one was allowed to even set sight on what was his, that was how he had lived from the very moment he became conscious enough to form complex thoughts.
He had inherited the little family business after his father had passed away from a random disease, and had elevated it to what it was today, arguably, it was nothing much even now, but it was enough for someone like him, a mere peasant living in a village… When the tax collector came, he paid like he was just like everyone else, despite making what would be considered a fortune by the farmers and mundane workers.
People knew not to mess with him, or else they would get an arm broken, and here, where nearly everyone lived by doing manual labour, it was the same as sentencing someone to misery.
Tao simply had his few men sell stolen goods and some drugs, and that was it, his miniature kingdom worked perfectly well, he had to deal with others like him, but they were the same as he was, content with what they had achieved, really, only Golden Teeth had dreams of grandeur, ending up moving into the nearby city, a satellite city of the capital at that, and set down his business as a loan shark.
A daring move for sure, but now he was dead, somehow.
'Urgh… Good thing I didn't follow his example, but who could have murdered the old drunk? Everyone knows that the young prosecutor is in town, everyone of my kind knows him, he took down many of our competitors, the smallest of crimes is enough for him to get back to you, so murder would be even worse…'
The leader of the small gang shook his head, the best course of action was just to stay quiet, and anyways, compared to everyone else, he had an ace in the hole.
"Brother Tao… Is it a bad time?" the brooding young man's face suddenly brightened up.
"Yaling! Of course not, you are always welcome to see me- Dajian, leave us alone and guard the door" his tone changed as he addressed someone else, soon, a man carrying a sword stepped out from behind a dressing screen situated directly behind his seat.
"Of course, Boss" responded the man, looking at the blond and blonde for a short instant before retreating and shutting the door behind him.
"...Nasty" a mutter that went unheard by anyone but himself.
Tao signalled for his sister to come closer, and then tapped on his knee, Yaling sitting on his lap as he wrapped one arm around her delicate waist.
"Did you enjoy my gift?"
"Yes, thank you, Brother Tao"
"Good, I am sorry, but we're going to have to lay low for a while, so don't leave my side until then, alright?"
She pouted.
"You speak like I don't like staying with you…"
"Ahah, sorry, sorry… I know that you love me, I love you too… I'll have everything taken care of, so why don't we just stay right here and have some fun for a week or so?"
"Sure, but I know that when you lay low, you do it for at least a month, I don't mind not going anywhere else for a month, you know? As long as I'm with you, Brother Tao…"
"You're so cute, let's get started right now~" and as he finished his sentence, he ran one hand underneath her robes, caressing the thigh underneath.
"Aah~"