From Slave To Ruler

Dalerus opened the door of a specific shop which he was told to reach for emergency situations. Usually, Z searches for him and finds him. It rarely goes the other way around. But since Dalerus is a big part of this depopulation project, he was told about her "work location" by Z herself. There aren't many people in this project after all.

Calmly walking in to avoid attention from passersby and or Guards, he found himself in a scene that he never wished to walk upon. It shattered his heart and hurt his pride rather a lot.

"Pow!" Was heard throughout the shop the moment he opened the door. Point is, no one smacked a face cheek. Yes, that pervert of a shop owner smacked Z's behind, who knows how long he waited for that moment! Expecting her to react nicely to it. Expecting a treat afterwards. Expecting co operation, common from such a dirty minded person.

Both of them didn't notice Dalerus walking in, the shop owner was too concentrated on Z's b.u.t.t.o.c.k.s, while Z herself was plotting his death, in a way paying all of her attention to the shop owner. But what got Dalerus shocked, was the calmness in her posture. Recalling her overall attitude, she would be ripping his throat off right about now with her b.a.r.e hands. But she was just standing quiet. Which no doubt made that perverted fool think that she liked it, and waited for more, letting his Guard down as a side effect.

"Hey Bastard." Yelled Dalerus breaking the uncomfortable silence, walked into the shop and shut the door. Pulling out a quality Iron Dagger, he bashed it through the door's casing which would prevent anyone from the outside from walking in. The only way for that door to be opened now, is for an a.d.u.l.t to charge towards it with full strength, from the other side. Or simply pull the Dagger out of the Casing from the inside.

"You.." whispered Z under her breath. Fearing well that he will do something stupid which might slow down the project, such as dragging too much attention in the shop or a possible arrest. What the shop owner did, was humanely unacceptable, but still something expected by her far before time. The only thing that hurt her, was the fact that he is still alive, and that a longer task will follow thanks to him.

"What is the meaning of this?!" Yelled out the Shop owner. Since Dalerus bashed his dagger through the door's casing, the shop owner felt sure that he isn't an assassin. But yet again who would assassinate someone who owns just a small shop? A woman who might have suffered the same s.e.x.u.a.l abuse? maybe. But this wasn't the case. And since female targeted abuse is commonly not punished unless that woman comes from a richer family, the shop owner just stood confused and a bit nervous. 

Dalerus doesn't look like a Guard, Z claims to come from a poor family in a village nearby. Even if Dalerus was her father, he would be considered no threat to him. Since the shop owner is a bit richer. He would bribe his way out of governmental trouble if not more.

"Didn't your mother ever teach you to respect a woman's personal space?" Replied Dalerus under a low but tense tone. Cracking his knuckles as he walked towards the shop owner closer and closer.

"Oh, now he knows how to keep a low tone?" Thought Z but didn't utter a single word. She liked that approach a little bit.

Understanding more about what the case is about, the shop owner felt a bit more nervous but refused to show his fear. Apart from that, he stood tall for what he believes in. "What will happen if I don't."

"Slice!" The shop owner received a sudden cut. Nowhere where the damage would be healable either. No no, his throat was slit in a blink of an eye. At least it wouldn't attract many Guards due to all of the commotion that could be caused from a typical fist fight. This method of dealing with a problem was far more quiet. But Dalerus being this quiet? There must be something to it. And there was.

Thing is, Dalerus didn't cut this perverted man's throat. Z did.

"Did he die?" Took Dalerus a few careful steps forward. Not guarding himself from the dying man, but from Z. He is glad to see her edgy attitude again but what she did seems too dark, even for her. Apart from her attitude, she wasn't this big of a threat to anyone before. But yet again, no one in this Kingdom knows much about her, even people from the Local Chapel here in Hawk Kingdom.

"Don't make a scene over it." Toying with the knife on her left hand and her right above the transaction table, leaning her body just a little bit to the right, she continued with a low murderous tone. "He should have died long ago, but it would of just slowed down our Plans." Well at least she is saying "our" more often now, it filled Dalerus with joy even though there was a dead man on the floor, he could see the dead man's head a little bit from his distance, but the rest of the body was hidden behind the legless transaction table.

"Perhaps, but..." Still looking at the dead man with disgust and Z waiting for his word, he proceeded to say. "I wanted to do it!"

"Oh. That's why you nailed your only weapon to the Door's casing?" She replied in a sarcastic tone. Which did make Dalerus feel a little embarrassed. But he knew of his true "manlier intentions.".

"I wanted him to suffer longer."

Lifting her left eyebrow in confusion, she proceeded to ask. "What for?" Afterwards she lifted her hand off of the transaction table and gently wiped the blood off of her hand with a handkerchief. "Do you know him?"

"No but..."

Giving out a light smile, she asked. "But?"

Hesitating at first, he replied under a lower less confident tone. "He touched you." He wanted to prevent such tragedy from ever happening, but at least she can protect herself extraordinarily well.

"Oh so that's the case?" Z thought to herself. Feeling warm about the care that she received as if she didn't just slit a man's throat. "I don't need your protection Dalerus." Still she kept a strong independable posture. She felt very appreciative towards Dalerus though, even if she didn't exactly make that clear to him. Let's just say that she isn't good with feelings.

"Well... clearly!" Answered Dalerus as he bent forwards, keeping his hands over the table where transactions are made and got a better view upon the dead body. Such quick and easy death, he couldn't make it far with the sudden speedy suffocation. "What do we do now?"

"Well his death was planned for after 3 months, when we are done with this whole project. But i suppose him dying now doesn't intervene with our plans too much." Being stunned by her confidence, It felt like a melody in his ears even though they were consulting murder.

"I see." Lifting his head up as he was leaning, he noticed that he was too near. He was only a foot away from Z, to the part where his head could meet her belly if a sudden shift was to happen. Such as slipping because he was leaning forward too much.

Seeing the fate of the man who got too close to her, he gently moved away even though he enjoyed the view a lot. Z was no doubt physically fit, likely trained for years to attain any skill level she is at, more than qualified to be an assassin. He could notice her toned stomach even though she was wearing a baggy, low quality torso over it, a grey torso which reached half way down to her knees. Her toned feminine form below the stomach proved her tight waist even more.

 He coughed in embarrassment trying to put that scene behind him and said, "So what do we do with the body?"

What Z noticed, was something uncommon for a man in these ages. He wasn't scanning her entire body when they were a foot apart(not to mention trying anything like this dead pervert), even when he realized that he was too close, he just took a quick glance of the situation and backed off, respecting space. He mostly glanced upon her face when they talked, instead of getting "confused".

Even though when he was at such a close distance, he could of had a much more s.e.x.u.a.lly fulfilling view before he backed off. He could of only looked upwards and feel fulfilled for ages. But now, his glance barely even lasted a second. "We will stuff it down the bas.e.m.e.nt for now and dump it down the river at night."

"What if his family comes and asks for him before that? He does have a wife. Right?" Although very careful, he was being paranoid as well. He is used to dealing, not killing. As much as he liked Z, he preferred to stay out of trouble while earning this coin.

Wearing a bad mood on her face, she replied with. "Unfortunately he does. But she is used to him not coming home until after midnight."

"So?"

"So if she comes here, we will need to tell her that he left early and left the shop for us to manage and close after dusk!"

"We?"

"Yes." Although she felt very awkward and even a bit shy to say this. She prefered for him to be present here, at least for now. Even though she didn't make a big deal of the murder, she still doesn't prefer staying alone with a dead body in the bas.e.m.e.nt. She needs someone to talk too. "You will stay here with me."

"Um... sure." He replied, feeling even more embarrassed than Z. "But won't it be suspicious if a stranger appears in front of his wife? I doubt that i know her."

"No. Tell her that you are temporarily in charge here. Left to guard the shop." Hesitating a little bit at first, she proceeded to add "And the assistant." Afterwards a light blush was forced on her cheeks even though her face remained as stiff and angry as always.

"Is this a provocation?" He asked himself but felt rather, nervous to ask! "Ummm. Since you insist, I will stay here and Guard you."

"I don't need Gu..."

"You don't need it, I know." He interrupted her without hesitation. "It's complicated to explain but i don't mind staying here."

"Is that so?" She asked as she sat on a chair very near the dead body and played with the oddly formed knife on her hand. It was so thin that you would think it was specifically designed to slit throats. But, if she is to stay alone for a few hours with a man who clearly likes her, she had to set some things straight. "If I catch you glancing at my a.s.s, you will share the same fate!"

His face got red in embarrassment, raising his hands in front of himself and waving them rapidly from the left to the right. He kept repeating. "No no no no." Wiped the sweat off his forehead and added. "I'm not about that. You are safe."