As Roan followed Boss, he considered what he'd seen earlier.
Throughout all the revelations from Boss, Shila had maintained a composed demeanor—indicating she already knew everything. However, when Boss mentioned this meeting, Shila seemed surprised.
A lot was going through Roan's mind. Boss was doing something he couldn't even begin to understand.
Why she was doing this was the biggest mystery. The deal with the Lord was to keep the gangs busy, not destroy them. That would only cause more problems.
You can remove the people running the gangs, but not the gangs themselves. Evil as they were, there was still demand for them. And as long as those demands remained, the gangs would rise again and again.
Besides, the Lord benefited from this. He had a tight grip on the darker side of his territory through the gang leaders and could hoard the money they made.
If they destroyed the gangs, a much larger conflict would erupt across Sha County, with outsiders vying for control.
Roan still remembered the chaos that followed the assassination of the chairman of the merchant circle.
As he thought, they passed through the common hall and entered the first room.
Shila hurried her pace and pushed aside a wooden sheet in the middle of the room.
Boss pulled out two cloth masks and handed one to him.
He looked at Shila, then at Boss, trying to discreetly ask why she didn't get one.
Shila sneered, "I can't smell."
A bit surprised, he asked curiously, "Why?"
"Birth defect," Boss answered in her place, already covering her face with the mask.
Roan quickly put his on and followed them down. He checked the ladder—sturdy enough.
Though painful, he managed to climb down.
Boss navigated the labyrinth of turns without even glancing at the signs.
As they walked, Roan started thinking again.
No, he'd been thinking about this the wrong way. When today's conflict was over, who would remain?
The higher-ups from each guild would survive—except the Loan Sharks. And they were the ones the Lord had the most control over, which made this even more puzzling.
As long as the flesh merchants' leadership remained, they would rebuild. Many would join them. The flesh trade was the most lucrative. Desperate people would leap at the opportunity—especially with a manpower void like this one.
The Loan Sharks would fall into a succession war. Whoever won would likely try to regain the Lord's favor.
The thieves' guild would be low on manpower but otherwise intact. Same for the smugglers.
Hmm. That would weaken all the guilds. Weaken them just enough to make them wary of one another while they licked their wounds.
Okay. Maybe he'd misunderstood things before. The Lord would benefit from this. Quite a lot, in fact. The gangs would be desperate for support and more hostile toward each other.
But now one question remained: what did Boss gain from this? More support from the Lord? Possibly.
But then... who were they meeting? Maybe the Lord's man?
Suddenly, Naor spoke: "If a cat jumps on the table twice, you can bet it'll try a third time."
Roan frowned, but before he could ask what Naor meant, Boss abruptly stopped.
She pulled aside a wooden sheet from the side wall. He hadn't even noticed it before.
Behind it was a small room. The walls weren't finished like the sewers'. A lantern hung from the far wall.
There was a single table inside. A veiled figure sat on one side. Another stood nearby. Boss confidently stepped inside.
With graceful movements, she sat opposite the man. Roan and Shila stood to her left and right, respectively.
Now that Roan looked closely, the one seated was a man—and the one standing beside him was a woman.
The man looked old and frail. The woman, much younger. Though with their faces veiled, he couldn't be certain.
Roan's eyes narrowed. There was a tattoo on the back of the man's hand. The dim light had made it hard to spot at first.
As he focused, his stomach clenched. It was a skull.
The assassins. It was the Assassin's Guild.
Naor's words echoed in his mind. Roan swallowed hard.
Boss was going to use the assassins... How? And why?
He didn't have to wait long. Boss spoke, "Are you done with the staring contest?"
The man let out a cough. Even behind the veil, Roan could tell the woman was glaring.
"You're serious about this," the man said. It wasn't a question.
"The plans are already in motion," Boss replied with a nod.
"I know," the man said. How did he know—and what exactly did he know?
"Oh? And how do you know?" Boss asked, unfazed.
The man snorted. "We're assassins. We can smell blood."
Cryptically said—and then he changed the subject. "You do realize the Queen will put you down, right?"
Why would the—That one word was enough. Rebellion. Boss was starting a rebellion.
Boss chuckled. "Does she have the time to do that? With her home burning?"
The man looked like he was about to say something, then paused.
After a few seconds of silence, he asked, "Why should we help you?"
"Please," Boss said. "We both know the Lord is a hindrance to your guild. Once he's gone, you'll be free to work again."
She continued before the man could respond, "Besides, I'm not asking you to rebel. Not now."
The man mulled it over and then sighed. "Very well. We accept your request. That brat must die."
He stood and began walking toward the entrance. The woman followed.
Halfway through, they paused. Without turning, the man asked, "Time?"
"Dramatic," Boss murmured before answering, "Seventh bell."
The pair ignored her comment and walked out at a brisk pace.
Roan took a sharp breath and stepped back. He knew his position very well.
Boss looked at him with amusement. "Sit down."
She pointed at the chair opposite hers. Roan didn't follow. He slowly backed away toward the entrance.
He spoke mostly to buy time. "That wasn't our deal."
"It wasn't. So let's make a new deal," Boss said, amiably.
Roan bit out, "Madness. This is madness. Even if the Queen ignores you, the Lord's army will come running when they hear about this."
"You think we're the only ones doing this?" Boss asked quietly.
That gave him pause. "What do you mean?"
"The news of our successful rebellion will spread all over the country within days. We'll make sure of that. And when it reaches the right ears? Rebellions will start everywhere." Boss waved her arms around.
Roan gulped. That didn't seem far-fetched at all.
Boss pointed at him and continued, "You can stay by my side. Work as my advisor. You'll have everything you want—just name it. Everyone will follow you, as the advisor to the Countess of Sha."
A sharp glint passed through her eyes as she added, "Or you can leave now. I won't stop you. But you'll be on my kill list. You'll be hunted. And eventually—you'll die."
The choice was clear: stay and risk his life. Run and still risk his life.
Roan stared at Boss for a long moment. In the end, the memory of everyone sweet-talking him decided it.
He gritted his teeth and nodded. May the Lady bless me, he thought.
Boss gave a soft laugh. But before she could say anything—Shila lunged forward, a knife in her hand.