Ever since hearing the news, Marcille had not spoken a single word. She was still processing what the woman had just told them.

  At least that’s what it seemed like to Yuzuriha. Then again, the entire table had gone suddenly quiet. The silence around her bent inward like a calm before a storm.

  There was no visible change in Marcille’s posture. Her shoulders were drawn back, and her arms were folded around the petite waist of her little sister. But her astris told a different story.

  The pressure she was radiating was thick, almost suffocating. Due to the lack of reaction from anyone else, Yuzuriha concluded that she was the only one picking this up. Marcille must have concealed her emotions pretty well.

  Unable to bear the pressure anymore, Yuzuriha wanted to speak up, to ask if there wasn’t another way this could be handled? Or rather…

  ….she didn’t mind staying with the dangerous Sacrament.

  However, before she could say something, Marcille was the first one to speak up.

  “Let me be the one to bear it”

  Yuzuriha blinked.

  “If it can help my dear sister then I’ll be the target of your Sealed Technique, Tansy. Whatever the cost, I’ll pay it”

  Marcille repeated in a steady tone that made it clear that she had already made up her mind on the matter. Any effort to convince her otherwise would be just a futile attempt.

  The drawn-out silence of Duskfall made that one obvious.

  But was that really the right way to go about it?

  “No, this isn’t right. It can’t be right!”

  She said, thinking out loud. That brought everyone’s attention to her, but she didn’t mind it, this wasn’t the time to be fretting over the little stuff.

  Yuzuriha turned her face to her older sister. Mustered up all of her courage and spoke.

  “Have you lost your mind?”

  Marcille flinched, and Yuzuriha continued.

  “I mean, you heard what her power does, haven't you? I…”

  Yuzuriha gestured a hand at herself.

  “I’m the one to blame here. I took the thing, nobody forced it on me. I should be the one paying the price. I can’t allow you to sacrifice yourself over my own stupidity!”

  She declared, hoping that would be enough to reach her stubborn doting older sister. But it turned out to be futile… as expected.

  “You are still a child in many ways, Yor. You still don’t understand how the world works. In time you’ll understand. For now, just be quiet and let big sis handle this”

  And that sealed it. There was really no point in dragging the matter any further now, Marcille had already decided and that was that. End of story.

  But was that really something Yuzuriha wanted for herself? More specifically, something her assistant Sawatari wanted?

  If the Sacrament were to be removed in some way, what would her reaction be?

  Too many unanswered questions left Yuzuriha dizzy and frustrated….

  Frustrated enough to be daring!

  “Marcille, you think I haven’t considered the consequences? Of course it's bloody awful. Even so, I considered the positives too. This Sacrament gave me sight, not in the way most people have it, but…something different, clearer even, strange, but clear. And….and”

  She paused.

  “I prefer this to walking in the dark with nothing but guesswork!”

  “Yor, you don’t understand”

  “If you’re so frightened for my safety, then teach me how to fight then. I can learn. I want to learn. You won’t be able to keep throwing yourself into the fire for my sake. Please, let me—”

  Before finishing her sentence, she froze. Her words turned to air and stuck dry in her throat. There it was again, the same suffocating pressure she felt yesterday at the dinner table.

  She could feel it. The menacing gaze from her older sister pressing down on her.

  Yuzuriha couldn’t move, unable to even muster up the courage she thought she had a few seconds ago. And yet, through that choking tension, Marcille's voice softened.

  “I am sorry, Yor. You won’t fight. I cannot allow it. As long as I’m alive, you, Leo and Willow will never have a reason to fight. That’s final”

  You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

  Just as she said that there was a laugh filling the silence. It was soft, composed and very pleasing to the ear.

  “Oh, my dear Marcy. This is just like you. Though I cannot say I’m surprised. You never change. That iron spine of yours, it’s both a blessing and a bleeding nuisance”

  Marcille returned her focus to Temperance.

  “This is my decision”

  “Mm, I know. And I admire your conviction. I really do. But you misunderstand how my Sealed Technique works, rather the Condition of it. Well, that explains that”

  She paused and scratched her short hair, while tilting her head.

  “Also, I’ve no interest in crippling you just for the sake of sentiment. You are far too valuable to Duskfall for me to go gambling your life like that. I’m terribly selfish. I won’t deny it. If something happened to you, our chances in the field would drop significantly. Heck even Merciless might get the better of us”

  Agnes and Arthur both grunted in agreement. Seth and Silas exchanged glances but said nothing. Even Tobais gave a slow nod behind his mask.

  This team seemed to really admire her older sister, Yuzuriha took note of their camaraderie. For a band of criminals, they sure did have their moments.

  However, that wasn’t enough to satisfy Marcille, whose main driving force seemed to be family.

  “I know that, but I—!”

  “There’s another way, Marcy. There’s no need to sacrifice yourself just yet”

  The woman dismissed the girl with the wave of her hand.

  “What do you mean?”

  Temperance reached into her pants pocket and drew a small, ornate card. The edges were singed, curling as though it had barely escaped a fire. Yuzuriha couldn’t make out the rest of its contents, but she could tell that it was important.

  “A Burn Card?”

  “Details of a job request. Just came through the Ashpost this morning. I called this gathering because of it. And wouldn’t you know…. It might give us exactly what we need”

  ***

  “Let’s get on to the details of the request…”

  Temperance began, calling for the attention of everyone. All at once, the tension seemed to bleed from the air, and every head turned toward her, Including Yuzuriha’s.

  She had been in a lot of meetings back in her old company, so this kind of focus came instinctively to her.

  “We were contracted by a gentleman named Lark Greaves. He claims to be a middleman. A courier, essentially. The real client remains anonymous, but they asked for us specifically by name. Duskfall. Payment came up front, 250 Ghost Coins have already been transferred and awaiting withdrawal at the Underbank. The remaining 350 to be issued. Full sum should total up to 600 Ghost Coins once the job is done. Generous by any standard”

  She paused right after, giving them a moment to let that sink in.

  “600 Ghost Coins? That’s more than what we earned gutting that Spire two months ago. What job is it?”

  Asked Agnes in curiosity.

  “There’s a drowned ruin. An old chapel at the eastern edge of Caldron near the old bell farms of Fens by the name St. Vicar. It had been abandoned for ages until a group cult decided to occupy it and made it their den. They called themselves the Mouth of the Starving God, they were a cult worshipping the Howling Evil God of Chaos.

  Naturally, the Church of the Cruel Sun did not take a liking to their methods and considered their faith taboo. The Sun-Clad wiped them all out a while back”

  The mention of the name turned the air colder only at their table as it seemed, because the patrons of the bar kept their liveliness. They held this meeting on the corner of the Coffin & Crown bar anyways so they probably couldn’t hear them right, especially with the loud music.

  On an important matter, the name Sun-Clad rang a bell to Yuzuriha. Since she did take Sunday school at the mentioned church it was only natural.

  By the information she had, the Sun-Clad are the enforcers of the Church made up of powerful Ascendant bishops. They are led by Cassiel Sol, one of the most powerful Ascendants in the entire Auren continent.

  Other than those snippets of information, Yuzuriha couldn’t recall anything else about them.

  “They purged the cult to the last body. But lately rumors have been surfacing. Monsters have been seen drifting near the chapel. Fallen Souls, possibly. Our job is three things…”

  Temperance raised her fingers to count them off.

  “First, confirm whether the rumors about Fallen Souls are true. Second, exterminate any you come across. Third, recover anything of value. Relics, old texts, remnants of the cult’s practices. The client seems especially interested in anything… spirit related. So, if we do find treasure in there, consider it as a bonus to us.

  That should sum it all up, what do you think?”

  “Tansy, you said they asked for Duskfall specifically. Why?”

  Marcille was the first to ask.

  “Sounds like a bloody trap if you ask me”

  All eyes immediately turned toward Arthur, who leaned forward on the table.

  “Some fancy noble hiding behind a middleman, throwing coins like its water, asking us to sniff around a corpse-hole? It does not sit right with me. Could have hired any other Vulture group, Tinsel’s beaming with them, so why us?”

  “Arthur’s got a point. 600 Ghost Coins is not pocket change. Unless this Lark fella’s got titles under his belt, where’d he scrounge up that kind of coin? Could it be truly one of the Eight Noble Families behind this?”

  The Tinsel Kingdom had 8 noble families who governed the state. From the back of her mind the names Yuzuriha could recall were Sable, Acker, Medici. Valmont, Rosier, Holmes, Lee and Grimaldi.

  If this mysterious figure had pockets deep enough for that kind of money, then they had to belong to one of those eight.

  “Don’t get me wrong, Tansy. The pay’s tempting. Could get us a proper resupply. Hell, even a few favours from the Underbank. But if this job goes sideways…”

  “Then we bleed like we always do”

  Temperance cut in on Arthur. She pulled a second object from her pants which appeared to be a rune-inscribed iron token, roughly the size of a coin.

  “This proves the down payment’s valid. It's locked under our group name. The Underbank of the Underworld does not hand out trust seals lightly. And more importantly, Burn Cards are spiritually binding. Lark Greaves signed one. That means whoever’s behind him had to grant him a portion of their soul’s weight just to legitimize it. That’s no minor effort. It binds both parties to the pact”

  That quieted their doubts a bit. The weight of such binding magic was understood. Even the least educated among them, namely Yuzuriha could tell that a Burn Card meant serious business.

  An item only handed out by those who were certain of what they wanted. Or desperate.

  Temperance set the Burn Card on the table.

  “I called this meeting because I wanted your say before making the final call. If even one of you refuses, we walk”

  There was another drawn out silence. Arthur glanced between Agnes and Tobias then exhaled through his nose, giving a stiff nod.

  “Fine. Still feels dodgy. But if it means money in our pocket, I’m in. Faith in the coin, everything else gets you killed, right?”

  Agnes followed suit with a shrug.

  “Can’t be worse than that swamp job outside of Hollowmere. Alright. Let’s see what the Sun-Clad missed”

  After that, the vote was unanimous. Everyone agreed.

  “Then it’s settled”

  She made a flickering motion with two fingers across the Burn Card. Runes glowed around its edges. The card lifted an inch from the surface before descending down upon losing its flare.

  “It’s official now. Duskfall is to investigate the drowned chapel of St, Vicar”

  They had accepted the job.

  Temperance closed the meeting in a more upbeat tone.

  “Gear up. We leave in the evening!”