Changeling

BEEP BEEP BEEP.

Nestra slammed the alarm and sat up blearily. It was still dark as a shadowbeast’s asshole outside yet she had to stand up to a new day. Accursed drive to get stronger. Accursed time limit before someone inevitably discovered her secrets, despite Sereth preventing the Americans and Allfather from spilling what they’d learned. Accursed capitalism! Never had she worked harder in her entire life. It had come to the point where she was forced to stay and sleep in human shape!

Nestra made her way to the bathroom for her morning ablutions. Her Aszhii self might be more powerful overall, but it was also lazy and a bit more simple in the way it approached everything. She had experimented a bit and she was sure of it now: her brain wasn’t the same when she was transformed. In order to keep to a strict discipline, it was much easier to stay human more often.

After she was done brushing her teeth came time for stretching. Nestra turned on all the lights and put on some music so she wouldn’t feel so goddamn exhausted. It was December by now, and even the temperate Threshold had turned frigid with people having to wear thick coats. Coats! While you could bake an egg on the pavement in July! At least it justified hot chocolate. As she finished stretching, Nestra focused her mind on the promise of the sweet drink with her breakfast.

Training her body had become necessary because it had started to change again. While her baseline self had remained untouched after she awakened, her ability to grow had unlocked with her newly rebuilt core. Now she was forced to train so she could be the strong girl she’d always been meant to become. She took care of that next in the gym side of the den, first with muscle training for the anaerobic part of her routine, then aerobic via sword forms and cardio. Nothing like doing burpees in full plate to make one regret the life decisions that led to this point. Nevertheless, it was necessary. After a shower, she was ready to go.

Nestra’s morning continued at the Palladian corporate building. Today, her mom would be teaching her but sometimes it was Dad with the fencing. When they were all raiding, she would practice with other members of the house or by herself. The plan for this afternoon was to join the Little People League for more raids, then at six she’d be back to her den and then it was Aszhii Nestra’s turn to come out and play.

At least when one form was active, the other one rested.

The Palladian’s corporate building was not at the manor, which was mostly used for social stuff. Situated not too far from the Beacon, the building was a modest-sized one they shared with another gleam group — those tended to rotate but for now it was the allied Century Guild. She greeted the receptionist before taking the elevator to the third floor which served as a training and practice spot. It was specifically reinforced to fill this role for D-rank members. Her mom was already waiting for her, deep in discussion with a Century Guild officer. They talked at high gleam speed so Nestra didn’t pay much attention. Her mom was done soon anyway.

“Today, we will keep practicing the spikes. Again.”

“Honestly, you are much more patient and disciplined than I expected. I always thought that we would be butting heads over everything since you are a blade junkie like your father, but it appears I was wrong.”

“Mom, I’m almost twenty-six.”

“Ah, fair enough.”

“Not to mention, I may give the impression I’m just a muscle head but what I like is killing monsters. So long as I’m learning something that will help that, I’m all excited!”

“Hmmm, yes. Good motivation for a raider.”

“Can’t wait to freeze the fuckers off.”

“Then let’s start over.”

It was in moments like these that being taught by a B-class through the power of nepotism showed all its potential. Ice was a derivative of water, as far as elements were concerned. Except, ice was really ‘cold’, not a physical state of water. People just called it ice by simplification. It was one of those weird times when physics took a backseat to let symbolism at the forefront. Understanding one's affinity required both, as Shinran’s facility had confirmed. On the physical level, heat was atomic energy derived from movement while water was two hydrogen atoms strapped to an oxygen one. They had little in common, but Nestra had stood under the rain and she could tell how water and cold were related. The same was true for, she assumed, a great many species, so water and cold were related. That gave ice users like herself a very basic command of water. Not enough to use them in any offensive capacity, but well enough for shortcuts, like it was the case with spikes.

Spikes were just glorified icicles thrown at an opponent, but there were several tricks to them. One, they exploded, spreading cold through the air and through the enemy’s bloodstream if they connected. Two, there was a way to manifest them with much greater ease than just forming ice in mid-air using one’s mana, which was very difficult and time consuming.

Except if one used supercooling.

Supercooled water was below freezing temperature yet still liquid. It could be achieved by cooling pure water in a way that didn’t allow it to crystallize. A mere shake would then snap it into ice. It was much easier to form the icicle out of water which could even be partially pulled from ambient humidity, than it was to manifest relatively low flux ice out of nowhere… but one had to get it right.

All it took was a patient master showing the student exactly how to get it by feel. Nestra’s own master called her honey and sometimes made her smoothies after practice. All those poor sods doing their military service? Yeah, they were fucked. As usual, Nestra just accepted the favoritism with the understanding that if she didn’t learn, then it was lost anyway. The point was to be useful to society in general through her own efforts.

“Right. You’re almost there!”

Nestra manifested the water at the limit of what an ice mage could manage, cold enough to answer to her mana, yet still liquid. She focused her mind on smoothing the quickly forming spear, nuclei of ice popping as they formed so the water couldn’t crystallize. Once she was done, all it took was to relax until the spear turned to ice with a crisp ‘crack’. Then she launched it.

Her projectile lacked the purity and beauty that her mom’s own possessed, but it still shattered against the target in a shower of shards, a wave of cold washing over the two women. In the distance, a Century Guild archer grumbled as he reached for his hoodie.

“Don’t know why we even get heating in this place,” he jokingly told them.

Mom winked, and the man’s bottle of coke turned into an ice block.

“Aw, come on!”

“Mom, no bullying our allies.”

Mom harrumphed, but they returned to practice. Nestra was almost at the point when she could use it in battle, though her icicles were ugly, misshapen and looked like mutant carrots (her mom’s words). They stopped once Nestra was completely drained of mana. It took a while with her already large reserves and the slow pace of training.

“Right. As you know, ice mages perform best in a long fight once they’ve had the time to cool their surroundings. As such, most of us fight defensively.”

“We’ve already had this talk.”

“Hush, foolish child. It’s called establishing a context. Now, I’ve had time to research powerful offensive gleam fencers with an ice and electricity affinity and I have come to the conclusion… that they do not exist.”

Nestra blinked.

“I’m sorry?”

“After perusing all sorts of archives, I’ve noticed that there are no raiders with your exact profile. Ice and electricity are already on the rare side of things, so the mix of both is exceedingly uncommon. In fact, most of my research returned intelligence reports on, well, me. Out of the dozen or so raiders with our exact mix operating at C-level or above, none of them used an offensive sword technique. The only one who used close quarter techniques relied on a sort of short-range electric discharge using ice as a conductor and it looks fairly underwhelming, let me tell you.”

“So like a discount Ulysses?”

“Except Ulysses is fast and he actually knows how to wield a blade. Otherwise… yeah. So it is my regret and honor to inform you that you will have to develop your own combat techniques yourself.”

Nestra made a face. Maybe Sereth would have pointers. Humanity had had mana access for all of sixty years. His civilization was thousands of years old. Surely he had some famous badass hero she could use as an inspiration?

“Meh, I can just zip around the battlefield, stabbing monsters in the nads while leaving a frozen wasteland in my steps.”

“Great plan, honey, but I was hoping for something more specific. Well, in any case, I have something for you.”

With a look of pity mixed with amusement, her mom patted her shoulder. Her fingers clamped on Nestra’s pauldron like a vise. Nestra would have had better luck freeing herself from a hydraulic press.

“It is high time for you to take your responsibilities as an heir to our house with all the powers that entail, starting with official events.”

“No… NO!”

“You’re going to Beacon this afternoon to bid on the unique D-class portal that just opened near our manor.”

“You’re using me to run errands!”

“Those errands are an important part of house operations. It is imperative for you to learn the biz.”

“Can I go in armor?”

“Designer dresses only. You’ve got three now, so don’t be an ass. Also, you get to show your shapely calves. Speaking of which, I heard there’s a blond bad boy you haven’t introduced yet?”

“It’s not like that, mom. Valerian is just a friend.”

“But I want grandbabies…”

“Better bet on Ulysses then. I thought he had a fiancee?”

“Gleam marriages are a long affair, but yes it’s moving well. It’s you I’m concerned about. I know you don’t like intimacies, but perhaps you would like a family at some point anyway.”

Nestra didn’t have the heart, or courage, to tell her mom she would be gone at B-class.

“Look, mom, I was going to raid with the Little People League.”

“Nothing is stopping you from doing that. The auction starts at 2PM. You have time to get there, buy the rights, and raid after. And even grab a latte on the way. Off you go now.”

“Mooooom.”

“If you want to raid more than just bottom D-class cesspit that earn 400 creds a pop — and trust me you’ll want variety at some point — then I sincerely advise you to bid well. The D-class portal is for Helena and you, and also out of principle since it’s pretty much in our backyard. Now go and make me proud.”

Mom’s voice showed she would tolerate no refusal. And also, she was right.

“Fine…”

***

Nestra parked into yet another section of the Beacon’s labyrinthine heights, near the upper middle this time. The chilly winter wind blew through this section since it was open to the air, but she still left her car in a designer dress that left her arms bare. A simple pulse of ice mana was enough to turn it into a refreshing breeze. A short elevator trip delivered her to the half-empty lobby of the Auction center.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

Like most public facilities in the Beacon, it had been designed in anticipation for a bright and populous future, and while it had not arrived yet, the ever-increasing percentage of gleams in the population only went to show the founders’ foresight. Nestra strode in, attracting a lot of attention with her bared scars and general lack of winter clothes, though no one would meet her eyes. A single glance was enough to categorize the idle groups into three.

The first group was made of people in nice, if somewhat neutral business suits: the low gleams. Those stared around with hounded eyes or clumped up in large numbers, exchanging contact information with one tap of their visors. They made up the majority of the small guilds or those who’d just graduated from military service, and the line between them and corpo drones was thin indeed.

The wild cards were the second group: mostly raiders who’d made audacious fashion choices to solidify a brand. There was one fire and metal guy in a Hawaiian shirt talking up a jade lady wearing a shockingly green dress under a heavy shawl of similar color. To be honest it kind of made her look like a giant pistacchio sorbet. Maybe her core would taste—

Nestra shook her head and banned Aszhii Nestra’s intrusive thoughts. It had been two days since she’d last raided as her true self and she was reaching her limits.

The third kind were the scions. They strode around with confidence and power. Nestra, as one of them, was the weakest one present. All the others were at the very least at C-class level, and many had an escort of one or two people in suits.

Her little social commentary over, Nestra used her visor to direct her towards the proper window. Forcing auctioneers to show up in person was a conscious and deliberate choice on the part of Threshold’s monolithic administration, just like Nestra had to register in person after awakening. The purpose of the awakening thing was to make sure newly minted gleams could receive guidance and protection. For the auction, though, she wasn’t sure. Maybe it related to confrontation.

The civil servant behind the correct window confirmed her identity in seconds. She was directed towards a backroom where the auction itself would take place. Even though Threshold forced her presence here, efficiency was still the name of the game so it took less than a minute from walking through the doors for Nestra to find a comfortable meeting room decorated with leather seats. They even had a table on the side with a coffee machine, water bottles, and free snacks. She had a crispy palm heart. It was pretty nice.

She was still munching when another person entered the room. It was the lady in lime dress, her eyes the peculiar pale green of a rare jade affinity. Jade was one of those mana types with the lowest flows, making them exceedingly slow to cast but coming with nearly unmatched defensive potential. She was young, with short black hair and some mixed white and Asian ancestry. Nestra nodded, but the woman only returned a rather rude tilt of the head in return.

And there was the confrontation Nestra expected. If a portal was claimed by no guild, the city would assign raiders before it could pop. If it were claimed by only one guild, a default tax of 30% on the value of all extracted material would be imposed. If several guilds lay their claims then the guild with the best offer would usually be offered the deal though the judge had discretionary powers to make a final decision, depending on factors such as guild capabilities, risks, and other parameters. Auction judges were among the most monitored individuals in the entire city, and the merest infraction would send them straight to the Red House, yet it was still a coveted position. After all, very few jobs allowed light augs such decisional powers over unruly gleams.

Also Nestra’d heard the pay was nothing to sneeze at.

Two suited gleams without affinities yet joined shortly after. They gave Nestra and the green woman a look of surprise and dismay before huddling together on the other side of the room, leaving Nestra to sit nonchalantly in her leather throne like some cheap vid’s mid boss. She noticed the lady in green had eschewed the shawl when she sat down. The temperature was a rather chill fifteen degrees celsius so people wouldn’t have to get out of their heavy clothes. It was perfectly fine for Nestra, of course, but she could tell the young jade woman was slightly uncomfortable.

Because she was a bit of a dick, Nestra cycled the barest hint of ice mana, cooling the room even more. It took all her self-control not to smile. Sure, the poor suited folks had to huddle around their piping hot coffee to pay for Nestra’s pettiness, but it was a sacrifice she was willing to make.

“Wooh. Leng si le.”

A short, rotund man with a jovial appearance barged in, wearing an old design of blue suits that were the informal uniform of high level civil servants, Several cranial augs were camouflaged under skin-tone colored patches. Thick white hair pointed up from his scalp. He exuded energy as he strode towards the pulpit at the front of the room.

The suited gleams made to stand, and so did Nestra since she didn’t want to tickle the judge. Green dress didn’t stand but she smirked when she saw Nestra do it.

“Aiya, sit down young one. It’s fine. Right!”

Without lifting a finger, he brought the ancient screen to life. The usual blue glow of a portal emerged from a side road on the left, the captured color failing to render the sublime radiance of the real thing. On the right were readings, as well as AI-generated calculations and prognostics based on the surroundings and the intensity of the portal. It was, as her mom had said, a high D-grade world with unknown potential.

“Hello everyone, my name is Mo Peng, auction judge for the city. I assume you have all read the brief so I will be brief. We have confirmed that this will be a non repeating portal world with over 90% confidence from the energy fluctuations, so the auction can now begin. I understand we have representatives from the Jade Consortium, House Palladian, and two private individuals. Is that correct?”

Nestra nodded, as did the others apparently since Mo Peng continued.

“Right. I will be hearing the proposal from Mr. Cheng first?”

“Ah, hmm.”

Poor Mr Cheng was clearly ill at ease. His offer was bog standard though pretty good. The only problem was that he didn’t have a team that could confidently handle a high D-class world with unknown enemies. That was the issue with non repeating worlds: raiders had to go in blind.

“Duly noted. Miss Lee?”

“I wish to withdraw from this auction,” the young woman stated.

Mo Peng nodded in understanding. With two obviously connected gleams in the game, she was at such a disadvantage that it wasn’t worth competing. Cheng had known it too but he’d chosen to go with the motion instead. Apparently, Lee didn’t give a shit.

“Very well. You may depart if you wish. A good day to you,” the judge said with a nod.

Lee didn’t look happy, but she was one person possibly with a team of similar low gleams and Nestra was a scion. For unknown portals, the city would almost always favor stronger gleams to avoid accidental deaths. People like Lee and Cheng would need to sharpen their claws on less difficult tasks.

“I will have the representative of the Jade Consortium speak next. You are?”

“Eunhye Jade. The Consortium offers a team of four D-class users with proven abilities, within a three days time. We will be contracting the harvesting team if it turns out there is a need for one. Additionally, the consortium will consent to take 50% of the final profit.”

Mo Peng fell silent. Meanwhile, Nestra’s heart jumped in her chest.

This was a declaration of war.

By unspoken agreement, the highest guilds went as far as taxation were concerned was 30%, exceptionally 35% if other factors were asked in compensation. It was the default rate for non-auctioned portals as well. It meant giving a third of what the portal earned as tax to the state, which was already enormous. The guilds complied because those who tried to raise hell always received a very polite visit from Shinran. Anyway, 30% was the limit, and then there could be other sorts of compromises.50% with a team of four meant that D-class gleams would be risking their lives for pocket change. It was only done to take a portal away from someone at any price. It was a resolutely hostile gesture.

Who was this girl, even? Mom hadn’t warned Nestra at all. What the hell was going on here…

With a shake of her head, Nestra shook off her shock. This was ridiculous. Meanwhile, Mo Peng remained unmoving in the way people with eye augs did when they were reading something. The assault team’s profile, probably.

“And House Palladian?”

“House Palladian would take 70%, and send a team of three people: two D-class and one C-class.”

Nestra felt more than saw Jade’s head swivel in shock. A C-class expert for a D-class world was an overkill.

“A C-class?”

“A high C-class, Dimitriy. He is a nature support mage of great power.”

“You would dedicate an expert to such a low world?”

“The portal is right next to our home. It is a matter of safety and pride,” Nestra stated, though Mo Peng knew it, of course. But sometimes one had to state the obvious to play the game. That was politics for ya, Nestra thought.

“And when would this expedition take place?”

“Tomorrow.”

“The Jade Consortium can raid tonight,” Eunhye interrupted.

Mo Peng turned back to Nestra, waiting for her answer.

“Tomorrow,” Nestra restated. “I already have a commitment for this afternoon and would prefer to rest and prepare adequately for a potentially dangerous raid.”

Mo Peng made a show of checking some notes on a datasheet. It was a courtesy to let them know he wasn’t ignoring them.

“Hmmm. Does it relate to your work as a member of… the Little People League?”

“That is correct, sir.”

“You appear to raid fairly weak locations.”

A huff of contempt tickled Nestra’s ears. Some raiders only picked the weakest raids to get by on a day to day basis. They were looked down upon as they should be. Being mixed with those bottom feeders was a terrible insult.

“We take the jobs no one wants, sir. That’s the whole purpose of the league.”

“Hm, yes. Will you be raiding with members?”

“Well, I will be raiding with my sister, who is also part of the league, but we will be acting as part of House Palladian and will be joined by a member of House Palladian for this specific raid.”

“Hmm, I see. I agree that a dangerous raid should require an evening of preparation with the latest data we can give you…”

Mo Peng’s eyes traveled sideways to Eunhye. She was looking like she knew things were not going well. Nestra didn’t know if it was the obvious lack of regard for safety, or the blatant undercut that did it, but she was pretty sure she’d just gotten the portal.

“I believe House Palladian will be given the chance to clean their own backyard.”

Jade was fuming by then. She excused herself, which Mo Peng allowed with a thin smile. Cheng also used the opportunity to leave. He was clearly regretting not following Lee’s earlier example.

“Before you leave, Miss Palladian. A word?” the judge ‘suggested’.

Nestra approached, which was clearly what he expected. She knew some really dumb young D-class liked to play it loose with judges, which proved that potent mana didn’t make someone smart. Since she wasn’t completely stupid, she displayed the appropriate amount of deference.

“Sir?”

“This room is excessively cold. Have you perhaps been circulating mana a little bit… carelessly?”

His gaze was intense and Nestra felt, instinctively, that this was the same sort of tactic prosecutors used on witnesses: he knew exactly the answer to the question he was asking. She was going to get an earful if she dared lie. There was also nothing preventing the judge from changing his mind if relevant new information happened to reach him.

“It might have happened that Miss Jade proved a bit abrasive in her manners, and seeing she also declined to wear winter clothes, it might also have occurred that that I might have been less cautious than I should have been to… cool down her aggression.”

“I see.”

He smiled.

“It might also occur that the Beacon and its public facilities are not a battlefield for dick measuring contests, and it might also occur that she is nineteen and you’re not. And finally, it might also occur that you will not do this again. Am I being perfectly clear?”

“Yes, sir,” Nestra allowed.

Yeah… She was supposed to be more grown up, and that pettiness of hers couldn’t solely be blamed on her true self whispering that jade mana was surely tasty. Nestra should try to match her outer, aloof appearance a little more. At the very least it would be badass.

“Good. You are doing a great job with the Little People League initiative. I hope you can persevere in this noble endeavor, Miss Palladian.”

He patted her shoulder, once. It was a friendly gesture. Probably.

“Thank you.”

“You be careful tomorrow.”

And with that, he left the room probably off to another auction. The entire interaction had only lasted a few minutes. Nestra used the deserted room to send a quick message.

“Mother. I have acquired the PORTAL. However, it appears we have a blood feud with something called the Jade Consortium? Que? Respectfully, larger daughter.”

The answer was almost instantaneous.

“So they made a move? The Jade Consortium is one of the proxies used by our rivals to slow down our expansion. Our cooperation with the Century Guild is proving very profitable, so people come sniffing. Worry not your muscle brain and go raid safely alongside my smaller daughter. Both of you be safe.”

Accursed politics. Now, Nestra was all important and everything so she couldn’t be sheltered from its raid-delaying tendrils. She had learned her lessons though, so she made sure to remember to check the politics later with her dad. She wouldn’t be caught unaware out of laziness.

***

Her mom was right. The confrontation notwithstanding, Nestra had the time to grab a coffee at a local franchise before heading to the next Little People League meeting back at the Palladian estate. Helena was here alongside two of her recently recruited classmates: a Chinese girl called Miu Miu and Albert, one of possibly five black and Asian mixed bloods in the entire city. The girl was a very short air mage whose support was vital in the stinkiest worlds while Albert used a rare fire and mana affinity to shoot fire bolts with dual wands. They were both very good for their age, Nestra believed.

“Hey, Helena’s sister. Nice sparkle,” Albert greeted.

Nestra could only assume he was referring to her dress.

“I thought it was scales?” she asked.

“That’s oldspeak, damn. Are you sure you’re not secretly thirty-five?”

Nestra lifted her hands to her heart, mortally wounded.

“Gah. Helena! I’m being bullied!”

“Cut her some slack. She was a cop,” Helena said as she munched on a ball of chips.

“Isn’t that, like, way worse?” Miu Miu remarked.

“Alright, enough seditious comments. I will not be harassed in my own home.”

Nestra shelved the ‘sparkle’ slang knowledge to embarrass her sister at a later time before turning on the screen in the living room and uploaded two files, opening one after the other.

“Right. Valerian is doing ER shifts in District Fifteen until Friday so it’s just us. First is a standard raid in the tunnels of a sulfur mine.”

The three teenagers groaned.

“Hey don’t be like that. The raid is actually lucrative with a basic recovery team. The final payoff should be around twenty-thousand creds split in two, deliverable in five days after final assessment.”

Albert shook his head though Miu Miu gave it some consideration.

“Nah, forget it. I’m not being paid enough to smell like rotten eggs for the next two weeks. What’s the other one?”

“A bit special, but we got a report about disappeared pets in Seventeen. A crazy cat lady, and I quote the file here, says her darlings have been disappearing. She’s been very distressed. It could be the sign of a breached ambush monster being patient.”

“That sounds important,” Miu Miu said. “Why does nobody want to handle it? Left to grow and the thing will be catching children next.”

Nestra wasn’t sure how to put it diplomatically. In the end, she decided to go for blunt.

“This is a picture of the request maker.”

The trio of younglings stared aghast at a disheveled, wide-eyed train wreck of a woman who had made the deposition.

“Oh.”

“Due to the perceived unreliability of the witness, the local precinct has decided to direct their efforts elsewhere.”

Nestra wouldn’t have trusted that lady with a plastic spoon, much less with the highly sensitive task of being a witness. As a cop, she knew people couldn’t be trusted, but at the same time she was profiling the poor sod and the Little People League didn’t exist for efficiency. It was here to help.

“Look, the cats she’s feeding roam a bit but not that much and all three disappearances have occurred every five days, so far.”

“She’s been keeping track?” Albert asked.

“So she claims. I think it’s worth checking out. I need two of us to go see her for questioning, following which the team will select the best spots to place thirty Gidung-approved dokkaebi cameras.”

“You bought stuff from Gidung?” Helena asked with disbelief. “After they tried to off you?”

“Gidung isn’t a person. It’s a legal entity. It doesn’t have a will. The bastard who tried to zero me is in prison and his hierarchy gave me my precious pink Alda roadster as blood price for the offense, which I accepted. Those Gidung babies are the best in market at what they do for the cost. They cost me fifteen hundred creds so make them count.”

Miu Miu whistled.

“That’s like… three of our raids.”

“They can be reused, so you’ll also be collecting them back. Who wants to go?”

“I’ll go,” Albert said. “I studied site security. Might as well put it to good use.”

“I’ll go as well,” Helena said, a little quickly.

My, my. Helena was blushing now.

“Miu? How would you like some sulfur smell in your hair?” Nestra asked.

“Ugh. Well, I have a new bubble enchantment I’d like to practice. And Professor Soren said my blades could use some work. Can you cover me?”

“Sure. I’ll give you some nice angles so you get proper shots in. And the pizza’s ours.”

“Come on. We’ll be smelling cat piss?” Albert suggested, but Nestra wasn’t going to budge.

“You’ll have vaguely unpleasant eau de chat pisse and we get dangerously high sulfur dioxide concentrations. The pizza is ours.”

“Can’t argue.”

Miu Miu and Albert were ready to go so they retreated to the entrance, but Nestra was stopped by Helena.

“Listen, while we were waiting, I got a weird mail from the government on the League’s contact address. It asked for your attention specifically.”

“Hmm?”

Nestra made a detour towards her bedroom to quickly check it, even though people were waiting for her. It might have been urgent. The first thing she noticed was that the mail came from Special Affairs, but it wasn’t addressed to her as an agent. Instead, she was contacted as a founder of the guild for the purpose of… being a guarantor and moral witness?

“What?”

Nestra kept reading. The Little People League was kindly asked to offer ‘work’ to a criminal performing community service, though she could refuse. Nestra wasn’t sure why they’d picked them considering organizations had to be vetted before they could even perform that sort of task, yet she finally understood the trick once she reached the name of the criminal at the bottom of the page.

It was Camille Nguyen.

“My rival. My nemesis!” Nestra cooed.

She would answer later with a yes, of course. She already had Valerian in her pocket as a support and frontliner. With Camille and Helena around, she could basically build a team made entirely out of close quarter bullies. It was going to be glorious!

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