Myrr: Reincarnated Timemage Assassin

Chapter 83: The Stranger

*Tic*

*Toc*

*Tic*

Heart beating fast. Breath coming a little heavy. This body is strong enough to jump from the streets to the low rooftops without magic. Elina tried to beat the Rainstopper ways back into me after the healing, but it wasn't quite the same as Romy. She held back. Steadying my breathing, I hang onto a totem pole atop one of the shops of Merekeep. A tusked oxen-like creature is carved into the wood, one I don't recognize. This whole city is packed to the brim with different free assassin clans, and each of them has their own symbol. I can't be bothered to remember them all. A few more turns and then we're back. I hope the spell holds up in reality as well as it did during testing. If it releases early...

*Tic*

*Toc*

Another quick drop into the dark alleyway. Main streets successfully avoided. Security has been heightened, but by scanning ahead with Foresight, it's been child's play so far to avoid the Omniscient Guard. Despite their vaunted reputation, they can't actually watch every street in Merekeep. I shouldn't get cocky. Their advantage is in their response time. Once one is alerted, they all know. Gotta get off the streets. Up ahead, I take a left and see the backdoor to the shop. Checking the timepiece strapped to my wrist one last time, I let out a little laugh as I take off my mask and knock. Perfect. A little late, but no one will be able to tell I was gone.

"Boss, you're back?" a voice answers from behind the thick metal door.

"Meera...we talked about this!" I irritably reply, "Don't just assume it's me! Remember the handbook!"

"Oh, right! Errr, what's the password?" Meera says embarrassedly, "That's what you wanted right?"

"Good enough..." Glancing around the dark alleyway, there's no one around. But this is Merekeep. You never know who might be watching in the shadows. Standing in the light is dangerous in this city. I see nothing as I knew I would. My Foresight is still active so I'm just following the script at the moment. Sighing, I give the password, "Whatever, an albatross knows no home! Now let me in!"

*Creak*

"Welcome home, Boss!"

Rolling my eyes as Meera opens the thick door, I stride inside like I own the place. Which I do. Well, technically, the Rainstopper Sect paid for it with their treasury, but its under my name so whatever. Only my first name though of course. I'm not dumb enough to use my family name in the enemy's stronghold. Taking a look around, I breathe deeply, taking in the delicious aroma of the shop. This is the back entrance, which means we're in the basement. Which happens to be where a good amount of our stock is. Smiling, I reach over and smack Meera's hand away from one of the more expensive samples of product, a roughly circular pale-yellow block which resembles a wheel. Looking carefully, I see signs that she's already been working on my product. There are suspicious stains on her sleeves and crumbs on her lips. She gives me a bright one-eyed smile while pretending to stretch, rubbing her back against the wall. Waving her 'hurt' hand in front of me, she reaches behind herself with the other and pushes something deeper into her back pocket when she thinks I'm not looking. Why did I design the uniforms to have useful pockets? Clearly, I should have made them smaller so they can't hide anything.

"Meera...that's for the customers!" I growl as she pretends to nurse her hand. She's faking of course. I probably shouldn't have made the female employee outfits so revealing. Lately, Meera's been taking advantage of the low cut on the dresses to try and act cute. I'm not sure who she thinks she's fooling, considering I saw how good she is at deception during the Trials, but I suppose I don't mind. It keeps things interesting. All those bosses on Earth, dealing with their employees. My heart goes out to them. At least if things go wrong here, I can do whatever I want to keep them in line. Worker's rights? Hah! Only if I feel like inventing them! Wait, if you think about it wasn't the Rainstopper Council basically a union? And I dismantled it so...heh.