”Hmph.. Really. I don’t understand why the hell the higher-ups would want me to get a lapdog for the day. I’m obviously one of the best knights in the city, and yet they treat me with such disrespect. That’s why the country is how it is. If they managed to properly identify talent, the Rune Knights would have never dissolved.” A conceited tone came out a young woman as she walked with a furrowed brow and a pout in her face. Following closely behind, a blue haired figured made his way as he carried a notepad and a pen in his hand. ”Heh. You’re just too feisty and cheeky Mrs. Rune Knight” Kenzo replied to the woman with a sarcastic tone and a grin in his face.

”Hush!! How many times do I have to tell you not to call me that!?” The woman turned around as she clenched her fist and struck the young mercenary’s shoulder. ”Besides, I’ve never done anything wrong! It’s them that demand me unreasonable requests… The perfect example of it is having you here today.” The rune knight woman sized Kenzo up and down with her eyes, doing so in a dismissive manner. Far from offended, the Bellan warrior simply laughed at the outbursts of ego that his partner for the day displayed. ”Seriously, you’re definitely just too much. Finding people to do most of the jobs you’re supposed to do just because you feel they’re beneath a rune knight of your caliber? No wonder your superiors feel like you never do anything. You always find someone to do dirty work for you from what I’ve heard.” Kenzo teased the woman before him as he spoke once again. The only reply he received for his comment was a death glare. He was sure the woman would not forget the comments he was making at the moment. After all, she had a huge ego and believed she only deserved the best.

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Kenzo had met Margaret through the rune knight captain commander Kazimir Seiryu. Both men had met each other around one year before. Kenzo had been dragged into Crocus’s underground fighting seen through Mumbasa, a drunken royal that almost died of an overdose while celebrating his 20th birthday at Batra’s Inn. Kenzo had collaborated with Finn Mertens and Noel Raion to bring the man back from almost certain death, meeting that would lead the blue haired mercenary to join Advent World in the end. However, the string of coincidences didn’t end there. After the experience, the young royal guy befriended Kenzo and told him about ways to make lots of money by fighting. Truth be told, the warrior was itching for a good fight, and he would never say no to an easy and quick way to make money. In the end, he decided to participate in the fighting at one of the capital’s most notorious underground rings.

Coincidentally, Kazimir was also participating in the bouts that night. As the captain commander of the rune knights stationed in the capital of Fiore, he had been tracking down the key players of the organization. His investigation had led him to the organizers of the secret events and as such decided to infiltrate to gather more information. In the end, Kenzo and Kazimir clashed in the final match of the day. After a great melee bout, both men reconciled and joined forces to crush the people who ran the place. Kenzo found out he wasn’t getting paid, and Kaz had no other way to get information out of them than by beating everyone. Since their goals aligned, the two men fought their way out and destroyed the place with a blast. After the night settled and everything came back to normality, Kenzo and Kaz had become steadfast acquaintances. Kenzo would even go as far as to call the captain a friend.

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Either way, Kazimir had told the young mercenary that he would be up to offer him honest work in exchange for some juicy pays. In all honesty, Kenzo had taken a liking to getting requests for Kazimir. He paid normally above the average, and most of his jobs involved working on the right side of the law. Most of the times at least. Either way, the young warrior was not someone to stop himself from taking illegal quests or quests classified as Evil by the magic council. However, Kenzo certainly preferred taking lawful ones. There was something about working for robbers, murderers, mob bosses, thieves, evil doctors and even dark mages that didn’t quite sit well for him. Sure, he’d do anything as long as he was paid fairly. But that didn’t mean he enjoyed doing so.

For that reason, usually accepting Kaz’s quests was a good change of pace for him. For the last year, Kenzo had completed a couple of them and had gotten to travel and know the country better. A couple of times, he had stumbled upon the magic council’s city. Since the rune knight quarters were stationed in the mountainside of the town, it was virtually the safest city in the country. As one would expect, the city was also infested with rune knights. It seemed that every street was hosting a parade, or some sort of military drills. In his mind, Kenzo took note of how terrifying it would be for Fiore’s neighboring countries if the magic heavy nation ever stabilized. Only accounting for the knights in Era, the western country’s military power would be a huge force to be reckoned with. However, the fact that they constantly suffered from internal strife, fighting between the noble and royal factions as well as the constant threat from dark guilds and powerful individuals, meant that Fiore had no time to think of expanding.

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Nevertheless, Kenzo’s jobs had taken him to meet the woman he was now with. Margaret was one of the higher rune knights of Era. She was really talented, and many considered her a natural born genius. However, her huge ego and reluctance to follow orders from her superiors had made her someone that didn’t advance in her carrier as quickly as one would expect. Kenzo had taken some odd jobs from the woman before, later finding out that they were tasks ordered directly to her by her seniors in the law enforcement force. According to her, complying with the tasks she delegated would be beneath someone of her talents. As such, Kenzo ended doing them for her.

Still, the tide had now changed. Today Kenzo had been entrusted by her very own superiors. His job: Supervise Margaret as she goes through her day and report what he experienced back to them. They had their suspicions that she didn’t do anything, so they employed Kenzo to see if that was true or not.

”Either way, I hope you’re actually writing up that I’m fulfilling my job just like I ALWAYS do.” Margaret spoke without turning around as they continued patrolling the streets for their third hour. It had already been a while since Kenzo started following the girl. Truly, she knew how to do her job. Margaret had already defused a couple of situations masterfully. True to his word, the young warrior had taken notes of everything that happened.

As he was absorbed on the task. Margaret sprinted towards a group of punks. Apparently, they were harassing a woman outside a club. The trio of idiots had been warned by Margaret, but they didn’t listen. ”Don’t just stand there! Help me too. Or is that sword only for decoration?” Truly enough, the woman knew how to motivate a merc. With a flash, Kenzo and Margaret knocked unconscious the three grunts.

The rest of the day was uneventful. After sending a couple of pages to cuff and send to preventive prison, the two figures continued patrolling the streets without much of a fuzz. After the day was over, Kenzo delivered his report to the higher ups and was rewarded. Truly, she deserved her promotion. She might be odd, but at least she was capable of dealing with her work when the situation needed it. Kenzo was sure to remember her.

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