Chapter 7: Arc 1: Start-up (7)

The event that transpired sent the small town of Springsong into the tailspin.

The annihilation of a major criminal gang, plus its leader, was a thing to celebrate on the surface, but the event left a huge burden for the mayor in town with the population of a mere hundred and fifty. Springsong was a technically a den of criminal running as much on fumes as its overworked mayor, but now it was the half dead town missing its top dog.

Without Bruno’s oppressive existence, the other criminal rose in a power struggle to depopulate the town even more. Three more bars already went up in flames within days after his death. It wouldn’t be surprising if Springsong transformed into a ghost town within a month.

Like every moment in history, someone must struggle against the tide of change. In these chaotic times, Xia took the flagship in tears and predictably suffered for it.

The mayor was once again besiege by paperwork stacked higher than her head with rings as black as chalkboard around her eyes. The reports and complaints about the properties lost in flames were unending, and one of Xia’s derelict shelf already collapsed from the lethal combo of age, poor maintenance and weight of documents piling on it.

“I shouldn’t kill that guy,” Xia cried without tears. “I should have chained that bastard to this desk and made him suffer this hell.”

“Are you serious, sis?” Betty sat behind a folding table with a stack of paperwork of her own. She and Xia might not be on the best term, but family was still family. Sisters never let each other died from paperwork overdose. “That guy was likely slowly turning this place into a smuggling ring. If he wasn’t stopped, this shithole will probably become a hub for drug trade sooner or later.”

“How the hell do you know that? Did you check his base or something?”

“Nah, logical thinking,” Betty nervously deflected from the subject.

The two would be combating paperwork for a very long time.

…

In the darkened office inside the capital’s infamous palace, a woman around Xia’s age skimmed through the report from her spies. She was a brunette in a black military uniform with dress-code defying short skirt, showing a thigh to behold. Her beauty was eerie. If Betty was glamorous, Xia was cool (when not abused), and Amy was cute, then the young woman with her unnaturally pale skin, full-red lips and crimson eyes were the picture image of unnatural.

Then people saw the black barrette hat, with a pretty red stripe and adorable flower flair, sitting on her head and guffawed at the brutal contrast.

The room was dark and eerie, but far from barren. It was a far contrast from Xia’s office in Springsong. The room had a blood-red sofa sat next to the warm fireplace. To the sofa's right was a bundle of newspaper neatly folded on the glass top of a coffee table. The gleaming dark wood floorboard was spotless. There were no curtains or windows in the room, instead, those duties were occupied by expensive paintings of natural wonders both man-made and natural. Opposite of the fireplace was a surface normal bookshelf which hid a secret storage for both supplies and weapon.

The woman, the master of the room, Carolina Westerna, placed the report down and made a mental note to throw it into the fireplace later.

“Gordon Seyfert’s heir,” Carolina mused, confident in the room’s anti-eavesdropping measure. “At least having her near the imbecile princess side is better than Elizabeth. Well, Bruno and the smuggling operation plan in Springsong are officially toasted. The investment isn’t major, so it is fine, but got to admit it is a shame the opportunity to kick the little fallen princess just vanished like that.”

Westerna picked another reported and let out a sinister whistle as she flipped through it.

An area near Springsong was experiencing several disappearance cases. Prior investigation indicated an entire section of the forest turned into a death-zone where the visitor never returned. She skimmed at the petition for an official to investigate.

“Well, the fallen princess is still Curtis’ official,” Westerna smiled with pure malice. “Let see how much you can take, little spoil princess.”

…

Inside the Residence of Lords, in an inn existing in another dimension, Ciel and Caislean relaxed over the growing garden the size of a small farm.

“Given [Garden]’s ability to accelerate and provided an optimal condition for crops growth. I believe the first batch of herbal product, magical fruit and vegetables will be ready in a week,” Caislean said with relief in her eyes. “I have to admit I expect us to be skinned alive and used as practice target when we first started out, but with this I dare to hope we might actually pull an upset.”

Amy then walked in with a plate of fruits marinated in a special sauce, “Caislean, please stop, you are freaking me out.”

“Are you used to your new ability yet?” Ciel asked.

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[Heart of the Hearth], Amy’s primary ability, allowed her to denote the territory of hearth and kitchen into her personal workshop. Not only it allowed her to appear anywhere in that domain and controlled all the associated implement, it also boosted the proficiency of her production ability and dishes’ effect. It also evolved the kitchen as her level rise. Oh, and the law of reality would bend backward to prevent harm to Amy inside her territory.

However, the real bonus of this ability was its synergy with Caislean. [Heart of Hearth] effectively turned the kitchen inside Amy’s tiny cottage into an extension of Amy herself. As a contractor, Amy, and by extension her kitchen, was connected to the Residence. This meant Caislean could pick the entire cottage from Acceltra and into the Residence’s private dimension on the fly, or sent Ciel and future contractors to what was essentially Amy’s safe house.

As for her second skill, [Instinct], it gave Amy a special intuition against an unknown situations and problems. With Caislean’s power to observe things connected to the Residence, Amy essentially became an off-field danger detector.

“It is pretty weird,” Amy said. “I mean, I am used to cooking, but being a literal heart of the kitchen is another thing entirely. Anyway, what do you think Xia would like for lunch?”

“She insisted on medium rare steak with mix magic berries sauce and mash potato,” Ciel answered

Ciel grinned. Life was looking up. The [Inn] was slowly getting supplied. The [Garden] was active. The [Training Room] and [Treasury] were still useless, but those were baby steps.

“So what is next, my master,” Caislean said. “Mass enslaving of our enemies and force them to eat cucumber Wellington.”

“Caislean, you are insulting Wellington,” Amy glared at the maid (soon to be secretary). “And no, I will scream if you suggest that idea again.”

“Spoil sport,” Caislean pouted. “But what is the next step, my master?”

“We need to move from Springsong or found someone to renovate the entire thing to our side,” Ciel said. “We need to know the competition, and get someone with actual influence.”

“So this means our next target is Xia or Betty then,” Caislean said.

“I am not the fan of you picking girls like a conquering goal,” Amy joined the conversation. “But I would recommend you avoid Xia. Betty and I get along pretty well, and she is nothing but friendly. Plus—”

“Plus, the mayor appears to be on the verge of death by overwork,” Caislean finished Amy’s sentence. “Seriously, of all death, that has to be the saddest and the most pathetic way to go.”

“I agree,” Ciel replied. “To be honest, I doubt our house can afford one of Xia’s tantrum. It is best for us to get Betty first and put Xia on hold.”

…

“Achoo!” Xia sneezed on the stack of paperwork.

…

With this, the saga of United(?) We Stand: Start-up is complete.

Next up is…

United(?) We Stand: Princess Of White!

Yep, the three Muppets jinxed it. Xia’s Arc is coming up next.

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