“...and then, she presses post!”

  Landsknecht was gathered in the noodle restaurant, celebrating their latest victory. A job well done, and a large sum of money in their account. It called for premium noodles.

  [Collective Academy Funds Account]

  [$5152.94]

  Bena laughed, loudly talking about how Viviana had shown the rest of the Landsknecht members the video. It was the plan all along– record footage through hidden cameras they kept on their bodies. Why? Simple. Advertising.

  After the ‘centipede incident’ occurred, Landsknecht had accidentally gained a ton of traction due to random students filming the incident. This time, they decided to make it official. Given that it was a private mission (and didn’t involve a giant centipede), no one was going to film this time, so they took it upon themselves.

  Initially they didn’t expect many views. Although Landsknecht was decently well known, it wasn’t like people were monitoring the academy app for any mention of them. Plus, this mission didn’t involve slamming a giant centipede into a student guild base, so there wasn’t a ‘wow’ factor.

  That was until The Adapter showed up. One of the highest ranked students in the academy– a tier zero. Given that there were thousands of people within the academy, it was evident that news that involved the defeat of one of the strongest would make the rounds.

  Viviana hoped it would finally drive recruitment. It was the biggest problem with Landsknecht. Sure, they were popular, and had work lined up for them, but nobody wanted to join.

  Well, actually, a couple of people in the past weeks had tried to join, but they were too weak for Viviana’s tastes. She was hoping for people who could take care of themselves, and weren’t heavily tied to a guild. Which is a problem, because anyone competent is part of the guilds.

  Viviana looked around the table, observing the rest of the Landsknecht members as they ate and laughed, talking about the rest of the mission.

  “That girl was totally flirting with you, Lucian! Why didn’t you say anything?!”

  Lucian scratched the back of his head. “Really? Was she? I didn’t notice a thing, though. I thought she was being nice.”

  “Dude,” Thomas said. “Even I noticed… she offered to bandage up your arm like, twice. You were barely hurt, plus you’re soulbound.”

  Viviana watched and listened, taking bites of food as the three of them kept talking. Viviana didn’t have much to add to the conversation.

  Soon the conversation flowed to what they were going to do with the money they earned from the mission. Fortuna had paid the full amount and bonuses after a little bit of persuasion. She argued that her entire team got killed. Viviana told her that protecting her team was not part of the contract.

  It was a sizable amount of cash. Cash that Viviana would finally be spending on jump boots. It was basic equipment that anyone affiliated with a guild had– it boosted your maximum force output from movement. Essentially, putting the boots on were like permanently increasing your speed by a little bit. It was how Viviana was chased down by The Adapter. Stats and equipment.

  Viviana had mentioned all this to them, somehow feeling eager to join in their conversation. It wasn’t like she was excluded… she just had nothing to say for a while.

  Bena, Thomas, and Lucian were oddly quiet about what they were going to use the money for. When viviana asked them, they made non-committal answers. Well, whatever. It’s not like I care what they spend the money on. It’s fairly theirs, after all.

  “Yo guys…” Thomas said. “The video has ten-thousand views.”

  At first, ten-thousand didn’t sound like a lot. There were hundreds of millions in Central. Until you realized that the academy consisted of about forty-thousand students.

  Viviana barely comprehended the number. So many eyes on this one video.

  “Check the comments!” Bena said, leaning over to take a look at Thomas’s phone. Thomas instead turned on the holodisplay option on his phone, projecting his screen to the entire table.

  Vivivana wasn’t too interested, but she snuck a peek anyway. She was the main star of the video after all.

  [this is fucking crazy u made a montage of killing Pact guys lmao]

  [You put the murder of an entire breach knight squadron over dubstep, all you guys are actually insane.]

  >[Pact is gna kill all of them after this]

  [this gotta be staged. Average Landsknecht rank is 40 000. Average rank in Adapter’s team is 2000]

  >[his squad got a bunch of low rankers. Like rank 5k ish. Teh adapter brings the average down]

  [Holy shit did you have to call him a dog?]

  >[He lowkey sounds like one though kinda nasty]

  >>[i can sense him slobbering through the helmet yuck]

  >>[Naw personally I wouldnt take that]

  >>>[You would’ve died LMAO]

  [Is this the first victory a non-affiliated ever achieved against a high ranker?]

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

  >[as high as him maybe, but i wouldn’t consider Viviana ADLER-STERN not guild affiliated]

  >>[nah, she got exiled, it technically counts]

  >>>[yeah, but The Adapter would have won anyways if he didn’t stop the chase]

  >>>>[NAW MY GOAT WOULD HAVE WON]

  [lightning is so bad ass throwing spears like that is so cool im so jealous]

  >[lightning is cool and all, but did you see those skewers that FM girl was making? I’ve never wanted a fire affinity so bad]

  >>[bro u wouldn’t be able to afford food even if u could cook it u broke ass]

  >>>[why tf u on me like that who tf r u]

  >>>>[charles]

  >>>>>[fuck off charels]

  [wish i could see the swordplay better like this a tier zero fight, thats the adapter]

  >[CUS HES WASHED LANSDSKNECT ON TOP]

  >>[thats not how you spel it]

  [dog lmao im gonna start calling him that]

  [non affiliated rise up, this is proof u dont need the guilds]

  [the music syncing with the sword slashes at 1:07 is cherry on top]

  >[ikr this moment was sick: 0:34]

  [more comments…]

  Viviana looked away as Bena pressed on more comments, scrolling down through the comments. The reception looks pretty good.

  “Woah, Vivi, someone called you pretty! You know this guy?” Bena said. “xXDarkShadowXx.”

  Thomas and Lucian turned to her. “...No,” Viviana said. “And I didn’t even show my face in the video.”

  Lucian leaned towards Bena’s screen, getting a closer look. “It says pretty movements. This guy isn’t complementing her appearance. Hey, wait, this guy just said Thomas was hot.”

  The conversation turned to Thomas, who wasn’t used to so many eyes scrutinizing his appearance. He turned a strange shade of red.

  Viviana thought as both Bena and Lucian bullied Thomas for his reaction. Her unique swordplay wasn’t something she was proud of. It was something she made for survival, back in the Adler-Stern manor.

  Still, it was strange that someone called her movements pretty. Flattering, even.

  The conversation drifted to something else, leaving Viviana picking at her noodles again. They were talking about an anime or something they all watched. That was not a shared experience for her.

  As they talked, something snapped Viviana out of her noodle-picking. A brief presence. Someone was at the restaurant window.

  Selenne?

  No. Not her. Someone else. Mizuki.

  Viviana spotted him walking into the little noodle shop with swagger, his guards missing. People whispered as he entered. Bena didn’t sense him coming– atypical of her. She didn’t sense him until Mizuki had pulled up a chair from a neighbouring table and plopped himself into it, right at the head of their table.

  “Hello, Landsknecht,” Mizuki said. “Having fun?”

  Bena instantly quieted her conversation. “Um. Yes…”

  “You guys were talking about Mageborn Might?”

  Thomas nodded quietly. Bena nodded enthusiastically. Mizuki kept on talking. “It’s a great show. I really liked it when the mastermind was revealed to be Entei all along.”

  “What?! That’s spoilers! What the actual fu–”

  Viviana clamped a hand on Bena’s mouth before she could curse out a potential client. She looked at Mizuki, meeting his blue eyes with her own. “What do you want, Mizuki?”

  Mizuki held her gaze. “We need to talk about business.”

  Mizuki and Viviana stepped out of the restaurant, leaving the rest of the Landsknecht members inside. They were standing in an alleyway, just off the main academy street. It was quiet. The restaurant was always kind of a hidden gem, and this part of the academy was hardly frequented due to the distant proximity to the terrariums. Sure, terrarium one and two were close by, but the rest were across campus.

  In short, it meant no one was listening. Mizuki began. “I need you to start investigating the murders.”

  That was not what Viviana was expecting. “Murders?”

  Mizuki leaned himself against the wall, eyes scanning the entrances to the alleyway. “Murders, plural. Another body was discovered.”

  “Explain.”

  “Ophidian Pact boy. The son of the head of Central food distribution for the Pact. Body found in terrarium two, close to the lower dungeon. Clues point to the same method of murder as the last one. A bloody circular impression on the ground. He didn’t even put up a struggle. Forensics says two days ago.”

  Two days ago. The terrarium two lower level dungeon. That’s the same time and place we were.

  Viviana nodded. “Okay. But why? What’s in it for you? Why care about investigating some Pact kid?”

  “Simple. Because once news of the murder gets out, Ferric Meridian and Ophidian Pact will start pointing fingers at VAC. As a part of VAC, I need to find the culprit before the guilds team up and descend upon us like wolves. They’ll use the pretense of investigation to rip us apart. It might start a guild war. Like a real one, outside of the academy.”

  Viviana shook her head. “The guilds haven’t warred in decades.”

  “Think, Viviana. VAC is a new guild. Ferric Meridian and the Pact are old dogs. They’re far bigger than us. If they have a pretense to annihilate us, they’ll use it.”

  Viviana thought. “How’d you find out about the murder? No news has come out, and it’s been two days. How are you in the know?”

  Mizuki sighed. “I have… sources, in the Pact. Just like anyone high ranked has their own sources.”

  “What about the proctors?”

  “The proctors aren’t a neutral party. They’re intermediaries between the real guilds and the student ones. Ultimately, they work for the guilds of Central. If the guilds don’t know what to do, they won’t do anything.”

  Just one more question. “Why us?”

  Viviana shifted. Depending on his answer, Viviana might choose to decline. There was bound to be money in this. And power. Potential dirt on a guild. If I got that somehow, just how could I leverage it? But if it's a trap of some sort…

  “Because you’re associated with Adler-Stern. Adler-Stern has never meddled with the academy. They have no active students. They only poach from orientation occasionally. It means you’re a third party. Yet, at the same time, you have the protection of a guild.”

  Viviana nodded. It sounded right, despite how much she didn’t like it. Viviana didn’t enjoy using the leverage of her last name for… reasons. Yet it had its uses.

  Mizuki’s reason sounds practical. He didn’t try to sweeten the deal. It’s a risk, but it’ll put me one step closer into ties with a guild. If I can have VAC in my debt…

  Viviana extended a hand. “Let’s talk about pricing.”