Chapter 669: First Jobs - 669
Skymender silently made his way over to the third one's house. Without being spotted at all, he left an envelope on the kitchen table.
However, with so many people living in this house, he was not the one who found it. Instead, it was his sister. She looked at it, saw it was addressing him, and gave it to him. He looked at it for a moment and opened it in front of everyone. He read it aloud to his entire family, even showing off the poison vial.
Skymender shook his head. This was not going to work out. These people were a group of close knit family members that would not hide anything from each other. It was unacceptable.
Therefore, since this was the situation, there was only one thing to do. Skymender threw a vial in their house through the window.
It was the same poison that had damaged his breathing years ago. There were no survivors.
This left him with only two people who had joined. The so-called Third Moon and Western Guardian.
Skymender had no understanding of where their nicknames came from, and he didn't plan to find out.
With this, Skymender was almost ready to go into business. He had a leader, himself, the assassins, Third Moon and Western Guardian, and only needed someone out on the streets. This would be the person, or people, who would find assassination jobs, as there was no point in creating such an organization if there was no business.
Ideally, it would be someone smart and fast, with vast connections.
Although it would be ideal to be able to make such a person loyally enter his organization, it would also be nearly impossible simply due to how their status would be.
Instead, it seemed that he would have to find a person to make deals with.
Someone trustworthy and involved in the underground.
He spent a few days and nights doing some digging before finally finding someone. He dealt with information gathering and trading. It was not impossible for him to go around and find people who would pay for an assassination. He was also someone considered to be incredibly smart.
Despite his high reputation in the underground, he was surprisingly easy to find. During the night, he sat in his living room reading a book under the candlelight. Suddenly, a shadow appeared behind him.
He spoke without looking back. "Who are you and what business do you have?"
He didn't seem to have the slightest bit of fear, as though such a thing was regular.
"Skygod."
Hearing that word, the once confident man turned around in shock. He saw Skymender standing there with his mask on.
"So you are the legendary Skygod. I've heard theories that you were a group, or merely a cover up of a police massacre, but it seems that you really are the real deal." His words were laced with deeply hidden caution.
"I have a job for you." Skymender said.
"How can I help you, sir Skygod?" He asked.
"I need you to find people willing to pay for assassination." Skymender said.
The man thought for a moment. "That is not impossible, but in such a small city, there won't be many willing to pay."
Skymender had already thought it through. "It won't be such a small city for too much longer, it seems. During the addition of newcomers, assassination will be a valuable service. Also, as far as I am aware, the assassination market is completely open for takeover."
The man nodded. "Indeed."
"You will get 5% of the price paid by the person requesting assassination."
The man nodded. "Reasonable. Are there any that you don't wish to accept as targets?"
Skymender thought for a moment. "Nobles."
The man nodded. "Smart."
What Skymender didn't say was hat Sky city was just the beginning, where he could get an easier foothold. When the time came, he would move on to greater places, such as the Royal capital, and maybe one day, the Imperial capital.
"I'll see what I can do, sir Skygod. How can I find you?"
"I'll find you." Skymender said as he left.
The man waited a while after he left before heaving a sigh of relief. Meeting newcomers was always stressful.
Skymender waited a week before once again appearing in the man's house.
"Welcome again, sir Skygod. I never introduced myself before. You can just call me the informant."
Skymender nodded. "What do you have for me?"
"Three tasks. All three are from wealthy individuals and are targeting enemies or those who have offended them. I made sure that the prices were sufficient."
He handed three papers to Skymender. The money was high, as expected of the price of taking a life.
Skymender nodded. "All three can be completed."
"As a middle man, I can give you the money after the task is confirmed completed. Don't take it personally, it is just what I do."
Skymender nodded and left. The next day, an envelope appeared on the counter of Third Moon's and Western Guardian's houses.
They had been waiting for this day. As they read the envelope, they got an understanding of the situation.
For each task, they would be given 35% of the price paid, which could be increased with repeated good work. They would get one vial of poison for free, and more by giving up a percentage of their earnings, that percentage depending on the price itself.
The free poison would be the one most suited to the task.
They read information about their targets, provided by the customers in exchange for a slightly lower price and a higher success rate.
As the night came, the two set out. Skymender did so as well with the third task. He kept the most difficult and expensive one.
Although he personally made more money by doing the missions himself, he needed to create a system of assassins for the future.
His target was a higher up of some middle sized gang, a little bit smaller than the Dark Sky Gang, and not nearly as infamous.
It was a rather simple in and out job. He simply snuck into the man's room and slit his neck while sleeping. He didn't even need to use any poison.
Chapter 670: Special Request - 670
Though it was quite simple for Skymender, the other two did not find it nearly as easy as him. Third moon had to track his target down, as he was not exactly where the information had said he would be, and blend into a group to throw a corrosive poison at him.
He then snuck away. It had been extremely risky, both because of his situation and lack of experience.
As for Western Guardian, his situation was slightly better, only hindered by his lack of experience. But in the end, using the mist poison that had hurt Skymender's throat, he managed to kill his target in an enclosed room.
With this, it was completed. As night fell, Skymender returned to the Informant's house. The Informant had already received news of his success, and had the money ready.
"I already took out the 5% for my fee. I can continue to help your business get customers. I look forward to our future partnerships."
Skymender nodded and left.
Even the 5% was a substantial sum of money, which explained why the Informant was willing to continue helping.
The same night, Skymender left the money on the tables of the two assassins.
This was the start of his own money making organization.
He had actually thought of a few before this, such as selling poison, but he didn't want antidotes to be developed against them, so this would be the best way to use his poisons to make money. Over the next month, around four missions were given to each of the assassins.
They gained experience quickly, and managed to get into the flow of it all. By now, it became known that assassinations were taking place, or at least widely thought.
This not only led to them having to be more careful, but also gave them more customers. Many went to the Informant, who was well known for selling information, and he was able to directly deal with the payments and arrangements.
However, this eventually drew the unwanted attention of the police. During this period of expansion and growth, which saw many moving into the city, they wanted to have a good grasp over the crime.
Naturally, since everyone on the streets knew about the Informant, the police knew about him as well. They arrived at his large house, and were met by him at the front door.
"What can I do for you, Officers?" He asked.
"We came to buy information from you, of course."
"What kind of information?" He asked with a smile.
"Information of the assassinations taking place around the city."
"I see. I see."
He seemed to be lost in thought for a moment.
"We can give you a lot of money, Informant." The head officer said.
"I'm aware, and you know that any information comes with a price. However, I don't think any price you can give me will be worth it." He said.
"Why not?" The head officer asked.
"You see, if I were to say something, I am quite confident that I would be dead the next day."
"We can offer you protection."
"Not enough." The Informant said flatly.
The officer snorted. "So you can't give any information."
"Only one. Unless, of course, you are willing to have a Sword Master personally guard me for the next few years."
Naturally, this was a sarcastic request.
"How much?" The officer asked.
The Informant smiled and spoke. The officer's eyes widened.
"Is it worth it?" The officer asked simply.
"Based on everything, this is a fair price."
The officer hesitated for a moment before nodding. "Fine. What is it?"
"The leader of this organization goes by the name of Skygod."
The officer's eyes narrowed. "I see. That makes sense. Your payment will be delivered soon."
Both walked away satisfied.
At least now, they had a basic profile of the mysterious one known as Skygod.
The Informant naturally did not describe anything else about him, just a name, which they would probably find out at some point due to the consistency of using poison.
Meanwhile, back as Skymender, Skymender continued to study.
With both his life as Skymender and the Skygod moving forward, the summer once again came.
Skymender did not do anything special, he simply had more time outside of school to do what he wanted.
He did not go anywhere near the Imperial capital, nor to the Royal capital.
Sky city had grown greatly during the past few months to the point where it was now a full fledged city, not just a city by a technicality.
And it was still growing steadily. Richer people had moved to see the city, and some had stayed, trying to establish themselves. With more and more people establishing themselves came more and more conflicts, and as a result, more and more assassination jobs.
Considering there was a 100% success rate so far, it was almost always money well spent.
However, when visiting the Informant one day, besides giving him a few missions, the Informant also had a request from someone unusual.
It was the police chief himself.
He had already paid the Informant a lot of money to relay this request, and the Informant was holding onto money that Skymender would be paid upon completing the meeting. This seemed like an obvious trap, but Skymender was not scared. In fact, upon hearing the amount of money he would receive, he found it hard to say no.
So he said yes.
That was because he had another trump card. After all, he had not been idle over these last months.
The Informant was surprised to hear Skymender's agreement.
"Are you sure? The likelihood of this being a trap is honestly above 60%."
Skymender nodded. "You know what a Sword Master is, right?"
The Informant nodded.
"I am equal to a Sword Master."
Although it sounded like a ridiculous statement, Skymender was honestly confident. Of course, it would only be the lowest level of Sword Master, and head on, he would certainly lose, but he was confident in killing a Sword Master if he was prepared and the Sword Master did not know in advance.
The Informant nodded. "Alright then."
Weekly Power Status
200+ Power
Ranking 
121 Power
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