“I have a job that needs to be done tonight. High Priority.” stated the facts curtly the young master of the Leon family.

The slid shut close, without an answer and for a few seconds, nothing could be heard from the other side of the door.

Only after a few seconds did the door suddenly opened up, and the dimly lit corridor became visible for the Young Master. The guard, whom he was just talking to, was standing to the side holding the door and nodding with his head for him to move on.

He was wearing the guild’s colors, the standard black leather armor, with a black cloth face mask covering half of his face. Only his brown eyes and his bald head was visible. His muscular figure gave an ample warning to every newcomer to not try anything funny and just follow the rules set by the guild.

Nodding his head, he followed the direction set by the guard and slowly made his way through the dark corridor. This area was yet another illusion set up by the guild as a safety measure. The walls and floors are set with wards designed to pry deep into your soul and see your true intent, your real purpose. This way the higher-ups in the branch will be aware of your true intentions even before you have a chance to state it yourself. You can only cross this section if they deem you worthy of their time, and let you pass. Otherwise, you will just arrive back to the guard who will promptly let you out.

The young master obviously knew of this safety measure as well, and just calmly kept walking forward. He was sure that his intentions will raise interest in the guild’s higher-ups and will let him state his business.

He was right on the money, after a short minute, he arrived at the end, where another door was waiting for him. This time, however, there were no guards, or any more tests, the wooden door, slowly creaked open, and yet another dimly lit room greeted him. At the middle, there was a large wooden desk, where 3 cloaked figure was sitting and looking at him. They all had a skull-faced mask covering their mugs.

As the Young Master walked in, the middle figure waved its hands, and the door behind him shut close. Then, while measuring the pudgy figure in front of him, it interrupted the silence.

“State your business Young Master Alfred Leon. What is the request you wish to hire our guild for?”

Gulping loudly, the young master tried calming himself down. Too much was at stake here, he had to get this task done tonight. Something about these 3 creeped him out. His usual arrogant tone was nowhere to be heard before these figures.

“I wish to hire your esteemed group, to complete a job tonight. It is a high priority and I will pay you accordingly. The job is to assassinate my father tonight in his very own villa. I have already made arrangements, and the guards will be replaced by my men, so your entry is covered.” He gave the details of the mission briefly.

The 3 figures looked at each other and nodded. Then the middle figure looked back at Alfred, and while it could not be seen, judging from the voice, a smile probably was on his face.

“I see. It can be done. The target is high profile, and with the short time frame provided for the mission, it will be categorized as 3 Stars. I’m sure you are familiar with our ranking structure.”

The shock was visible on Alfred’s face upon hearing this figure’s words. 3-star target! The guild prices their targets based on this rating system. The prices ranged from 1 star all the way to 5 stars. While 1 and 2 were the most common ratings and they were already pricey, 3-star ranks were usually very high-profile targets, and well-known personalities, like ministers and members of royalty. Even kings and emperors were only ranked as 4 stars. There’s no record of the guild’s history as every rating someone as a 5-star target. Them rating his father as 3-stars meant that the price is more the double of his original estimation! While he can still afford it, this implied that he will be almost penniless after this, almost all of his savings, even his secret stashes will have to be emptied out, just to be able to hire the group.

Gritting his teeth, he answered with a curt “Fine”, before they discussed the details of the job, and finalized the pricing.

An hour later, master Leon’s figure could be seen exiting the inn and shortly after leaving the entire slums district, heading back to his own mansion. With everything set, he just had to wait for the news to arrive tomorrow. While it was pricier and even cost him to make a blood oath as well, all pieces are finalized, and the match is set.

Tonight will be colored with various shades of red…

—

News of a gruesome murder shocked the citizens as the next morning arrived. Last night, the patriarch of the Leon family was brutally murdered along with all his staff and guards. One thing that puzzled the city guards as they investigated the scene was that the only way they could identify the murdered patriarch was through his signet ring, and the fact that he was murdered while sleeping in his bed, as his head was missing, it was cut off clean. His wife, who was sleeping next to him, was also murdered, her neck was cut. All across the mansion, the bloody bodies of the deceased staff could be found.

“This will take the whole day to clean up…” muttered one of the city guards, looking at the state of the mansion. Then as his captain arrived, he jumped to salute. “Greetings Captain!”

“At ease, warrior.” The captain accepted the salute, then with a stern voice, he commanded. “Give me the details, what have your group discovered so far?”

“Captain, both Mr. and Mrs. Leon, the head of the Leon family, was murdered in his sleep tonight. We could only identify the patriarch through circumstantial evidence, as his head was missing. He still had his family signet ring on the cupboard, and his wife was sleeping next to him at the time of the murder. Mrs. Leon had her neck cut clean. She does not have any additional bruises on her body nor any sign of forced intercourse. The staff however…” He paused briefly, to exhale “… was brutally beaten and murdered. While the male staff showed signs of torture, some had multiple fingers and even arms, legs missing. Others had their eyes gouged out, ear cut off, or suffocated in their own intestines. Most of the female staff had their clothes torn and were assaulted before they were killed. The state of their bodies was gruesome, captain.” As he finished his report he audibly gulped. The mess that he and the guards saw was repulsive, to say the least. The scene will be etched into his mind to haunt him for months to come…

“Hmm… From your report, it’s safe to say that the way the staff was murdered, and the underlying intent was different then from the head and his wife… It’s as if 2 totally different parties are involved. One to murder the head and his wife, and the other to silence the staff…” He paused briefly, and as if something especially important had just come to his mind, he looked at the guard in front of him and continued. “What about the rest of the family? Are there any survivors?”

“Alfred Leon, the Young Master is still alive, he was resting in his own mansion. We have no information for the rest of the family as the uncle, the patriarch’s brother has no residence in the city Captain, he is currently living in the capital. We have sent word to them already, informing about the murder.”

“Great job warrior. I will take a look at the scene and will let you know when you can start cleaning up. I won’t take long, there are only a few things I need to confirm.” He nodded then without waiting for a reply, he made his way into the mansion. He was almost certain that there are at least 2 groups involved in tonight’s murders. One responsible for offing the family, they seem to be the professionals, while the other group might just be opportunists or an outside force. As there was no report of anything being stolen, he could rule the robbery out of the equation.

“Rival family perhaps? Hmm… It just doesn’t feel right. If that would be the case, they would make a statement out of it, not murder him in his sleep cleanly. His head was taken as well… That points to the fact that the killers were hired to complete a job, and they probably had to present the head as proof. As for the staff… They are probably murdered by a group of hired mercenaries, or thugs to silence everyone involved. Who would benefit from something like this, and why bother hiring two different groups for the job? Just what is the motive here…” As he made his way into the mansion to check for any clues that could help him solve this ‘puzzle’, he sighed. Today’s going to be a long day…