Given a choice between two evils, the people always choose the lesser evil. Michelle knew this very well. So, her next plan of action was to make the Vincenze the bigger evil in the public’s eye compared to Martin. This way, when the gang war finally breaks out, the commoners are more likely to help Martin and his gang. Michelle knew this was a risky plan and it could backfire. Too much intimidation and the people might be too scared to do anything against Vincenze or his goons. She had to hit the mark precisely, and that was what she intended to do.

Landing a job with Frankie was much easier than she thought. In fact, he even made things easier by giving her the right job for her personal mission. She entered the bar where he was known to hang around and scanned the rowdy crowd until her eyes fell on a man that fit the description. Approaching him, she spoke in her usual matter-of-fact tone. “Heard you always have work. Got anything for me?” she asked. Frankie turned to her and took a good look from head to toe, sizing her up. “Well… There are many who would like to-” Michelle knew where that sentence was going and gave him a death glare, which shut him up immediately. “Uhm… Right! There is this shop keeper who doesn’t want to follow up on what he owes. So, we need someone to rough him up and get a written note stating he will pay up by the end of the week. Think you can handle that?” he asked, his voice a lot more polite than he intended it to be. Michelle smirked, happy that he made her job easy and replied confidently. “Of course! Consider it done. Just tell me the shop address,” she said. Once Frankie gave her the address, she quickly exited the noisy bar and headed towards her destination.

The shop wasn’t too far. In less than fifteen minutes, she was where she needed to be. Taking a look around, she noted that the street was very crowded. She knew this was the perfect time to do the job. Michelle entered the shop with violence; she threw the chairs closest to the entrance out through the door, attracting the attention of the pedestrians outside. A large crowd formed at the entrance immediately and shop keeper came running. “Miss! What is the problem? Why are you causing a ruckus? I’ll- I’ll call the Rune Knights,” he said. “Really?!” Michelle asked, holding him by the collar and pinning him against the wall. “You think you will see another sunrise after calling the authorities on Vincenze?” she asked through gritted teeth. The man gulped, but didn’t budge. “I owe the man nothing. He is lying,” he said, looking away from his assaulter.

Michelle was not one to care whether the man truly owed anything or not. All she wanted was for the entire crowd outside to hate Vincenze and she would use any means to attain that goal.

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“Oh! We know very well you owe us nothing. But you must pay up anyway,” she screamed, making sure everyone can hear her. “That’s how Vincenze works. You have a problem with that?” she yelled even louder. The crowd outside began to murmur in shock. Yes! It’s working. The shop keeper on the other hand was shocked to hear what she said. From the look on his face, Michelle realized he in fact did owe money and was lying. She pulled him out onto the street and began pummeling him in front of the crowd. She was surprised how not a single soul came to his rescue. Everyone just stood there and watched the man get beat up. Nevertheless, it wasn’t like he didn’t deserve it for lying about a debt.

Michelle pushed the man down and stomped on his pot-belly. He tried pushing her away, but she quickly shifted her weight to the other leg and kicked him in the nuts this time. The man’s face puffed up and went completely red after that, and he was completely disoriented for a few seconds. Michelle took complete advantage of it. She kept kicking him over and over, landing some even on his face. She wanted to leave a lasting mark on him that everyone can see and remember. She needed people to hate Vincenze and this poor man was her scape goat. The funny thing was that, in all this time, she never asked him to pay his money back. One would think the first thing someone who was there to collect the money would do was threaten. But she jumped right into action. After getting him to be almost unconscious and half the crowd dispersing, unable to see the cruelty, Michelle took the shop keeper back inside and sat him on a chair.

“Now, listen to me carefully,” she said, slapping his face hard to keep him from blacking out. “Sign this here and pay up by the end of the week, or things will get much worse,” she said, dangling the credit note in front of the man. She wasn’t sure if he was in any shape to sign properly, but it wasn’t like he had much choice. Michelle gave him the note and a pen to sign, and he signed immediately with his shaky hands. She snatched the paper back and the man fell down, unconscious. Without an ounce of guilt, the young assassin walked out, happy with what she had accomplished there. What remained of the crowd gave her a disgusting look and rushed into the shop to help the beat up man, once she was out of vicinity.

Michelle walked back to the bar and handed the note to Frankie. Vincenze’s right-hand man was rather impressed with her efficiency. It hadn’t even been an hour since he sent her on the mission and there she was, already done with it. “You’ll prove a worthy asset,” he said, taking the credit note from her and giving her some Jewels as compensation. Michelle nodded and left the bar, chuckling on her way out.

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