Corrupt Noble

[Guest]

Saleth was busy musing over a few new ideas for his heels as he was pulling on his uniform. He had just gotten out of the bath a couple minutes ago and was currently pulling on a fresh uniform one of his maids left on the bathroom counter while he bathed. He was in his mansion in Nagoya since he had some free time and decided to leave Sanguinem. His mansion was large and elegant, a sign of his high rank in society. Of course with his mansion being so large that meant every single room was above average size. The bedrooms, library, and dining room were the only rooms in the mansion that had carpet. Everything else had flawless marble floors. The short noble was fond of the marble floor since it was hard to be stealthy on it making it easy to hear if someone was trying to sneak in his home. The first thing he did on arrival was soak in the bathtub for an hour till the water turned cold. He finished pulling on his new boots, he had to make another pair since the heel broke in his last pair. and looked in the mirror. He picked up a brush from the pure white counter and ran it through his wet hair a couple times getting rid of any knots. As he placed the brush back on the counter a soft knocking caught his attention. "My lord?" It was one of his maids. "Yes?"

"There is a noble waiting for you in the entrance hallway, my lord. He says he's your partner in your next mission." Saleth frowned at what the maid told him. He hasn't gotten any mission assignments at all. If the noble was telling the truth then that meant he would be sharing the details of their mission before heading out. This wasn't the first time something like this happened, the other times the mission was highly secretive. "I will be out shortly." Footsteps heading away announced the maid's departure to tell whomever the noble was that he would be coming shortly. He picked up his hair tie and swiftly pulled his hair up in its respective ponytail. He didn't have time to dry his hair so it'll just have to dry over time. The silver haired noble headed out of the bathroom into his bedroom. He kept on walking past his king sized bed and opened the door to the hallway. He shut the door behind him softly and headed down the wide hallway heading for the entrance hallway. Maids and butlers swiftly bowed at him before hurrying on with their task.

Soon he reached the grand staircase that led down into the entrance hallway. His mansion's entrance hallway had the grnad staircase right in the middle of it with a wide hall on each side leading to different parts of the mansion. The stairs were also made of marble so as soon as he took his first step down he was sure that whoever was waiting for him heard his presence. His heels clicked loudly against the marble as he headed down the staircase. "My my," He said when he saw who exactly was waiting for him at the bottom of the stairs along with two of his maids. "We seem to be seeing each other a lot lately, wouldn't you say?"

[Guest]

Joseph had gone missing. As to why, and who he was. All one needed to do was find out that Joseph was a close confidant of Layla. That would answer everything. At least it would after their recent run-in with a couple spies in Sanguinem. And after torturing them for information, threatening one in particular to change him into vampire, learning that Layla had provided them a way into Sanguinem. Exactly why their Progenitor would be helping humans, he didn't know, but he intended to find out. And then use that information to his advantage.

In the meantime, he, Saleth, and Katie had to play ignorant, as if they had never been there, and never heard the man say Layla's name. They'd been lucky honestly, that no one had seen them there and been able to inform Layla of who exactly had killed the spies, instead of bringing them in to her for interrogation. She had been particularly edgy lately, which was understandable seeing as she was responsible for letting them in, and now had no clue who had killed them, and if they had learned the truth. What he would like to know was why. Well, that's not entirely true. He could understand perfectly, why she was a traitor, playing both sides could offer amazing benefits. He simply didn't agree with it.

After discovering her treachery, Mikajia honestly wasn't surprised to find that one of her confidants had gone missing. He had expected a move like this from her. After all, the vampires wanted an answer as to how humans could manage to make it in to Sanguinem with weapons. It would obviously have to be the work of an inside job, and likely someone of power and influence, otherwise it would never have worked. Layla had needed a scapegoat. And who better than one of her many puppets.

And so that was the mission assigned to all those deemed elite amongst the lower ranking nobles, which both he and Saleth were apart of. They had both managed to worm their way up the ranks recently, but they were still a ways from holding the titles of the higher ranking nobles. The assignment had just been sent to the qualified parties, two missives held in Mikajia's hands, both his and Saleth's orders to hunt down Joseph and bring him in. Mikajia had taken Saleth's with him and made his journey here shortly after.

Mikajia had arrived at the ornate mansion a several minutes ago, ready to inform Saleth of the situation, only to find the man was busy taking a bubble bath, and he would have to wait. He told one of the maids to inform Saleth he was there and needed to talk to him, whenever he was about ready. So after waiting a little over ten minutes, Saleth would find Mikajia lounging in a fully reclined, recliner chair he'd found on the first floor and brought back to the entryway. Feet crossed at the ankles, hands folded behind his head, and the two assignment papers placed over his face. He'd actually nearly began drifting off to sleep in the comfortable chair when Saleth finally finished up and made his way out to greet him.

At Saleth's words, Mikajia brought a hand around to lift the papers slightly and peek out beneath them, "Did you have a nice bubble bath there duckling? All squeaky clean I presume? If you're done splashing around, her highness has given us an assignment." He said, and then grabbed on of the letters, holding it out for Saleth to take and read.

When Saleth took the letter, he relaxed back in the chair with a sigh and closed his eyes again, "By the way, I hope you don't mind. I borrowed this from your library. It's really comfortable by the way. Jannett over there was nice enough to tell me where you kept the most comfortable chair. She's a doll. She needs a raise." He said, and could actually sense the blood rushing to the woman's face in embarrassment.

[Guest]

Saleth scowled when Mikajia called him 'duckling.' His current partner always seems to find new things to call him so he wasn't even surprised anymore. Though he was a bit frustrated. "Stop calling me those ridiculous nicknames!" He said when he finally reached the last step and stepped onto the floor. The sharp clicks his heels made seemed even louder thanks to the echo of the entrance hallway. He plucked the letter out of the taller noble's hands and began to read it when Mikajia said that Jannett, one of his maids, needed a raise. "If you think that you should give her the raise yourself." He bluntly said without taking his eyes off the letter, frowning as he read it. He has been ordered, along with Mikajia, to track down a much higher ranked noble named Joseph. He never met this noble before so he had no idea what his abilities are or his strength for that matter.

"Millie," The blonde maid stepped forward. "Get Miteagus." She bowed before hurrying down the hallway to thr right of the stairs to retrieve his sword. "Jannett," The ravenette stepped forward with a faint blush on her cheeks. "Inform the others not to allow anyone inside the mansion while I'm gone." She bowed and hurried down the same hallway the blonde maid used to inform the other staff. Now that he was alone with Mikajia he turned back to his partner and nudged him softly. "Do you have any ideas on where our target is or are we going in blind?"

[Guest]

When he received the nudge from Saleth, he opened his eyes slightly, listening to him ask if they had any clues about Joseph, or not. It would be dangerous to discuss what they knew, without knowing for sure whether there were listening ears around or not. Mikajia closed his eyes again, letting his senses extend far beyond him. Aside from the maids and butlers in his mansion, there weren't any others around. And those that were, wouldn't be able to overhear them. When he was satisfied that they really were alone, Mikajia sat up, readjusted the chair to it's original position, and got up.

"Let's just say, I'm more than confident that this isn't going to stay a simple recovery mission. Based on recent...events," He said after a moments hesitation, still not risking speaking too plainly in the event they might be overheard by someone he could have overlooked. "I'm almost certain Lady Layla, will order this to be a kill mission soon enough. As to Lord Joseph's whereabouts, Lord Raylen had a few insights to give me. And in the event of a struggle, you and I will be plenty to take him down. Lord Joseph's specialty isn't fighting, it's ruling." Which was another reason why he believed the man was Layla's scapegoat. She knew he wouldn't be able to put up much of a fight, and so had a very good chance of dying. And if that were to happen, she would then be able to mourn his death while also placing the entirety of the blame on him, and he would never be around to stick up for himself.

Which was why he had a very different mission in mind for them.

Just then, the blonde maid, Millie, returned with Saleth's sword, handing it out for him. And then, a second later, Jannett returned, informing Saleth that his orders had been relayed to all the staff. "You ready?" Mikajia asked, after Saleth strapped his sword to his waist.

[Guest]

Saleth made a mental note to himself to order some of his staff to return the chair back to the library. He only kept Mikajia waiting for a couple minutes and yet in that time the other noble managed to find his library and bring one of his chairs back to the entrance hallway. He made another mental note to talk to his staff about keeping his furniture in the right places when Mikajia visits him at his mansion again. It was only natural that the taller noble would come back since they are allies, but he would prefer to keep his furniture in their respective spots.

The short noble silently listened as Mikajia explained what he thought. He snorted when the taller noble said Joseph is better at ruling than fighting. He opened his mouth to reply when his maid came back with Miteagus. "My lord." She muttered respectively as she handed his precious sword over to him. Jannett also came back a split second later and said, "I have informed the staff, my lord." He nodded his head in acknowledgement and waved his hand dismissively at them. They both bowed and hurried out of sight of the two nobles. He strapped Miteagus at his waist right as Mikajia asked if he was ready. "Of course, but you shouldn't take Lord Joseph so lightly."

He casually looked at Mikajia over his shoulder as he walked towards the large double doors that led outside. "Your arrogance will be your downfall. Lady Layla wouldn't keep weaklings at her side, it would taint her reputation."

[Guest]

"You disappoint me Saleth. I thought you knew me better than that." He said with a sly look and a grin as he walked forward, following Saleth out the doors of his mansion. "When have you ever known me to quickly take up an easy challenge?" He said, and then glanced over to the other noble as he continued, "Or underestimate my opponent? It's not arrogance when my judgment is based off of experience and fact. Were either of us to face him individually, I have no doubt he'd pose a challenge at our current levels. But combined, we possess greater power and skill." He said as they walked down the front steps leading down from the mansion, heading for the black Mercedes Mikajia had driven over.

"Trust me when I say, I've spent an obscene amount of time studying Layla's ranks. I know exactly how powerful they are." He said as they arrived at his car, Mikajia pulled his keys out and unlocked it. "I hope you don't mind if I drive. Driving Miss Daisy simply won't cut it today." He said in mention of how he viewed the older noble's driving. He opened the door and slid in on the leather seat, closing the door behind him as he started the car up, the engine starting up with a quiet purr.

[Guest]

"An easy challenge is better than no challenge." Saleth replied as he walked down the path that led to the street. He looked back at the younger noble when he continued speaking saying how he already studied Lady Layla's ranks. He frowned briefly when Mikajia said together they possess great skills and power. He opened his mouth to respond but stopped when Mikajia's car came in view. He watched as Mikajia unlocked the car while saying something about a 'Miss Daisy.' The short noble looked around them in confusion while the other noble climbed into the car. There was no one else around them or in their range. "Who's Miss Daisy?" He asked the taller noble, puzzled. He walked around to the other side of the car and slid into the seat next to Mikajia. He shut the door right behind him and looked around the interior of the car. "What ever happened to carriages? There was nothing wrong with carriages," The short noble grumbled, sinking back into the chair.

He blinked, remembering what he wanted to say, and looked at Mikajia. "Together we could defeat Lord Joseph, correct? If he comes to the same conclusion he would focus his efforts to putting one of us out of admission." That could be a problem. Lord Joseph would focus on delivering severe blows to either him or Mikajia, it depends on who he thinks is weaker.

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