"No problem little lady, I never leave home without this stuff. Lord knows after the nightmares I saw come to life in Astera I've been needing to hit the sauce more and more with each passing day." He said as he took his flask back. He was not aware if Snow knew what had taken place mere weeks ago in an area not too far from where they were right now. With any luck the work they were doing in the time being would prove the be the difference in another massacre taking place.

Snow suggested they move from their current location, and he had to agree. It was far too claustrophobic in the city square. "Follow me, I know a quiet cafe, as well as a nice book store to hit before night falls, which if my sun dial is correct should be a few hours from now." He said as he took the lead of the group leading her down the crowded streets away from everyone. Maybe he should suggest that they visit where ever it is that Snow was staying so that she could change into something more suitable for the task at hand, which was just being tourists.

"Hey, do you wanna hit your hotel and change clothes? Not that I personally have an issue with your attire, and well large spear."

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She sure was full of questions for someone whose words he could count on two hands that she had spoken to him in the time they had been in the same guild let alone the same room. But he supposed that an explanation might be in order. It would seem that she was certainly a stickler for protocol, not that there was anything wrong with that per say, because there wasn't.

"We are going to a cafe because I have been watching the roads at night for about 3 weeks now. Those caravans don't pull out until dusk. Less traffic on the roads."

He would turn around and meet her icy gaze as he walked backwards through the streets, he had memorized the entire layout of the city in his weeks here, and he could do such a thing with no real issue, also given the fact that he was a courier and memorizing routes were kind of a part of the job description.

"Also I'm waiting on a package to be delivered to me to hand over to the caravan leader. It's a map of all known attacks on their route. So yeah, we are gonna need that."

He said with a friendly tone before pulling up to the cafe, stepping through the doors and up to the counter to place an order while they had time for such a thing.

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"I stumbled upon this place by accident during a delivery if you can believe that. Turned into a favorite little spot of mine ever since then." He said as he took a sip from him cup. She was the first person he had shown this place to, he was a bit wary of taking new people to places he enjoyed, even if it was someone as trustworthy as Snow was. In his mind some things were to remain for one's self and that's no knock against his companion. He didn't truly know Snow, not well enough to form an opinion of her. He did enjoy the quiet presence she brought, it was better than someone who wouldn't shut up.

"If you want it Irish, take my flask again." He said as he poured some whiskey into his beverage and took another sip. This was a good way to pass the time while waiting for his contact. He shouldn't be long, which was good, because the sun wasn't long for the sky. Which means it was time to get into positions within the next few hours. The countdown had begun.

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A few moments passed before another entity would enter the cafe. Manzo looked up at the door way, low and behold it was who he was indeed looking for. His informant was thankfully here with the information they desperately needed in order to complete their task. "Excuse me miss Snow, I have to have words with this gentleman." He said as he got up from their table and walked outside with the gentleman. He not only needed the map, but another item that this man was to deliver to him. They made the exchange, Manzo drank the potion he had been given by this man. It was time for him to have a new face. In his line of work he could not look the same for too long or he would have followers looking for him and his delivery manifest.

Upon drinking it, his appearance took a change, he grew another inch in height, and his hair took a violent change from white to blonde and became a tad bit less shaggy and bit more on the spikey side. The only thing about him that didn't change were his red eyes, those could be spotted anywhere no matter what it is he did. He made his way back into the cafe and took his seat once more, placing the map they were looking for on the table in front of snow.

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Manzo chuckled at her joke, he did not expect her to want or need an explanation as to why he had taken the potion, so he wouldn't offer it. Now it was time to get down to business, seeing as they now had a map of the area they were to escort the caravans through. "Alright, let's get down to business here Snow." He said as he put a cigarette in his mouth, he snapped his fingers to light it and exhaled a cloud of smoke. "The red flags along the route are known ambush areas, I had hoped we could avoid these areas by taking a different route." He said as he took another drag from his cigarette.

He would trace his index finger across the other trails on said map of the area, trying to calculate the safest route for them to take. They could always divide and concur, but that brought risks of it's own. "Looks like to me the best course of action is one at front and one at the rear." He said as he rolled up the map of the area.

He would pick himself up from his seat once more. This time it was to get them on their way to the destination. "Alright Snow, we've wasted enough time, we have what we need." He said as placing the map inside his coat. He put his cigarette out on the bottom of his shoe and placed it behind his ear. Though there was one order of business to attend to before leaving the cafe', paying for the meal. Manzo laid a small sack of jewels on the counter before heading out the door, with his companion in tow toward the caravan camp. 

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As they arrived, they were greeted by the owner of the caravan. As the two were going to introduce themselves, it seemed that he was one of those men who believed that a woman was not as strong as a man given his greeting to Manzo himself. "Thank goodness you've come, I had hoped they would send me a strapping young man to guard our caravan." He pulled Manzo to the side to whisper something into his ear. "What of the woman though, do you think she can hold her own in an environment such as thing?" Such comments made him chuckle more than anything.

"Don't let the fair skin, and pretty face fool you, if she had a mind to do it, she could put you and every else here into the ground, myself included." Manzo said while taking a drag of a freshly lit cigarette before making his way back over to where Snow was. "Alright my dear, let's circle the cattle and get a move on." Manzo said as he began to round up the rest of the caravan. He would assign Snow to the front as the first line of defense and he would guard the rear.

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The young woman was too occupied with checking the items on the caravan, that she had not completely paid attention to the gossiping that was occurring behind her back. Fortunately, she did heard the owner of the caravan mention something about a woman not being capable enough to do the job, or at least it was something of that sort and sure enough, once she’s heard it, Snowflake was ready to give a piece of her mind. Albeit, before she could get to it, Manzo had stood up for her and defended her, despite not knowing her that much. She was grateful for her kindness, truthfully and when Manzo would come around, she would kindly return a small smile in gratitude – almost the tiniest curve on her lips being someone who rarely smiles – just to let him know that she appreciated his gesture.

”Right, here we go. Chop chop,” she produced a soft pat on the back of the horses and with a neigh, the caravan would be off sailing into the roads of Era. Just as she was assigned to, Snowflake remained in the front, riding alongside the coachman of the vehicle. Since they had just started off their journey, the hunter just sat by the front, her eyes peeled for anything that was suspicious to her and when the roads were considered slightly more dangerous, she would choose to get off the carriage, in case the job required her to get into combat.

Manzo thankfully was in the rear for this mission which meant he could let lose a weapon of his own without any collateral damage. He kept his hand rested on his revolver as they made their way down the path they were designated toward. He pulled the map out of his jacket, wanting to be sure there weren't any choke points along the way that would hamper their progress. Unfortunately in about half a mile they would do area nestled between two locations that had demons sighted there, which would prove to be risk if things did indeed go south.

"Snow keep your eyes peeled in about a half mile we are coming up on our first choke point." He yelled from the rear. Snow could more than handle herself in her assignment the real question was could Manzo hit all his shots before they ended up in the middle of the group forcing the two to leave their positions in order meet the threat head on. Manzo would pull another cigarette from his pocket and put it to his lips. Lightning it quickly, he pulled his gun from it's holster and let out a warning shot into the brush. His slayer senses alerted him to movement, which meant that he could never be too careful.

A few moment's after letting a shot lose into the brush more rumbling could be heard from within the bushes of the forest. "Snow to me, we've got company." Manzo yelled as he replaced the normal bullets in his chamber with the magic ones.

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Ah yes, what it is this gun was made to do, slay enemies of the light. They hid like the cowards they were, knowing full well the team of hunters would show them their end. Between his revolver and Snow's spear they had no hope what so ever. Now was the time to show his fellow pegasus' what it was that made him her partner on this mission. While she dispatched the other three, he could smell another set making their way up the rear. "Snow, watch your blind spots!" He yelled as he fired two rounds into the two of them that were attempting to flank her from the left.


He quickly turned his attention to the other 4 that were now attempting to rush him. It was cute how they felt that they could get the drop on the two of them, or even overpower them with sheer numbers. Manzo fired off four quick shots in succession with a crazed look in his eyes, lit by the fire on his cigarette. He took the utmost pride in slaying these vermin, hoping to wipe them all out with his bare hands for the carnage they had caused in astera. Carnage that he had to bare witness to, and even in his dreams.


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Watching Snow with one eye and using his other to aim, he found himself out of ammo. Which wasn't too big of a deal, it wasn't like his fists were weak, though shooting them like fish in a barrel was far more fun than anything else. So he would jump back a few paces while he reloaded his revolver. Upon doing so he would fire off six more shots to clear out his side. now that, that was done he could shift his attention to snow. Who seemed to have also cleared out her area which was good news. It would seem that they had dispatched them all which was good news for them. He could get back to the task at hand. He walked over to the tree and retrieved  Snow's spear and handing it back to her.


"With me little lady, gonna need two sets of eyes from the looks of it." He said with a chuckle as he pulled his flask from coat pocket and took a swig from it. He offered it to Snow seeing as how they both just got a work out in, it was only natural to reward one's self.


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Manzo decided it would be best to walk in front of the caravan as opposed to riding in back, it seemed he would be more useful this way. Though he thought back to what he witnessed with Snow's performance in combat. For someone who was apparently missing in action, she did perform quite well all things considered. It was nice to see another member of the guild in action, he had yet to see Alisa, but he had heard stories of her power. With any luck he would one day get to witness it, but for now, Snow's display was more than enough to satiate his appatite.


He kept his gun in his hand at all times, not wanting to be caught off guard again, he had hoped that he would see more combat, but that's only because he was enjoying his partnership with Snow, albeit a very temporary one, he respected her ability, not to mention how good she looked doing it. In his mind she was the true embodiment of power being beautiful, it's what the guild was all about.


Before he knew it he was met by the man who ran the caravan on horseback trotting up beside him. "That was truly masterful marksmanship you showed back there. The girl wasn't half bad herself." Manzo scoffed at the man, not caring for how he saw Snow in comparison to him. "She could have taken care of them all by herself, had it been me alone you'd probably be dead. I have a limited amount of shots. Though if you keep bad mouthing my guild mate, you probably won't have a tongue left to speak with. Spoiler alert, I'm not getting involved in that."


The man grew quite timid at Manzo's words and he was wise to do so, it was for his own good. While he may be handy with a gun, she was as powerful as she was beautiful, which was to say, she very much like Alisa was in a class all her own. "What do you know about her? She seems, quite cold. Not much of a talker, unlike you." Manzo chuckled to himself at the question. "Her name is Snowflake, and she likes a strong drink and pastries. This is the second time we've met. First time we met she broke my nose. He said with a laugh.


Truthfully speaking he had grown quite tired of this line of questions, so he delivered a strike to the behind of the horse he was riding and sent it galopping ahead of the rest of the caravan. He looked back at Snow and shot her a smile and a thumbs up to go with his cheeky grin. While he may not know her, he did certainly respect her position and her ability.

It would not be long now before their time together was over, they had performed wonderfully together. With any luck this would not be their last time together on a mission such as this. For he truly enjoyed being able to have someone as competent as she was. It was something he was not entirely used to and it was a nice change of pace for him. Though all things considered that was probably just wishful thinking for him at this point. He didn't know where he stood with her, nor did he think it was important for him to know.

They finally reached their destination, having guarded the a caravan with the best of their ability Manzo was quite happy with the result. Perhaps he would go back to town and get himself a hard drink for a job well done, or maybe something a bit more tame like ice cream, it had been so long since he had a sweet treat. Though that was not the main concern on his mind, it was time to get paid. He walked over to the man in charge and politely asked for his pay, hoping to get it now and be able to say goodbye to Snow. As he collected his payment he walked over to Snow with a smile on his face. "Well Snow it was a pleasure to work with you. If you find yourself bored and in need of something to do. Here is the address for the bar I frequent." He said with a smile before leaving her.

[EXIT]

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