A Job Offer

The three guardians of darkness relaxed at home during their weekend. Jack was beginning to get nervous that Annie may no longer be at Janken City. However, she tried to keep a cool head. They've already asked around so much that Mary and Yune began to tire from it. Jack understood. She would have done it herself, but looking with their help was far easier. And they didn't want to get themselves in a situation like Anne and Nina who they occasionally crossed paths with once or twice. But they were no longer a problem, they thought. Anne and Nina maintained their focus on hunting Night Demons and there were so many than usual that they've been busy. And the lie that concealed Kira's death has been keeping the peace between them.

So, for this boring weekend, they decided to just stay at home.

On the dinner table, the three decided to try out some games. Mary was enthusiastic about it. She wanted to show the other two how great she was at all of them. Although, she didn't quite understand the rules of most of them.

"Hah! Gold fish, bitch!" Mary yelled as she laid down a card atop a pile. A blue one. And Mary looked at her one card. A wild card. No matter what they did, there was nothing to stop it.

"It's Uno. And I'm pretty sure the game you were referring to is 'Go Fish'. Not 'Gold Fish'," Yune said and then proceeded to lay down her card. A blue five.

"Ooh. Only one card, huh? Well, how about this!" Jack yelled as she placed down a skip card.

"Ugh. Fine. We'll just have to wait," Mary replied in full confidence.

"Alright. So, my turn then," Yune said as she placed down another card. A blue eight.

Mary smiled thinking that she had won until she saw Jack's smiling face.

"Take that! A reverse," Jack said. Mary leaned on her elbow waiting for her turn.

"Okay. Then, I will go with my own reverse," Yune said as she placed a red reverse card down, "Uno, by the way."

Mary was afraid of Yune's unwavering face. She showed no emotion. The perfect poker face. Mary was unsure what Yune had. Was it a useless card that couldn't be put down? Was it a wild card? Meanwhile, Mary's face revealed all sorts of emotions. But she relaxed thinking it would be fine. As long as her turn came, all she had to do was put her wild card down.

Then, Jack smiled deviously and slammed down a Draw 4 wild card, "Take this, Mary!! Draw 4!!"

"Oh nooooo!!!!" Mary yelled as she drew four more cards. Her hand was ruined. A wild card, a red five and draw two, a blue reverse, and a yellow skip. Alright, Mary thought, as long as she could use one of those skip, reverse, or draw cards, she could at least stall for time.

"What color?" Mary asked.

Jack looked carefully at Mary's face.

"I choose Re...." and when Jack was about to say red, she saw that Mary had a smile, but then Jack changed her answer slowly, "...bl...."

Mary still had her smile.

And then Jack went, "...gre..."

And Mary's face was instantly filled with horror. Jack finished confidently, "Green!"

"Oh nooooo!!!" Mary yelled.

"Your turn, Mary," Jack said in a pleasant tone.

"Right. Well, at least I have this," Mary said as she put down her wild card and as she had more red cards in her hand, she continued, "I choose, uh, red."

"Oh. Thanks," Yune said as she put down her final card. A red nine.

"Wha-!?" Mary exclaimed.

"Mary, you helping the enemy?" Jack asked as a joke.

"Wha-!?" Mary exclaimed once more, "Uhh... well, I... uhh..."

"Easy game," Yune said with a straight face, "All within my intricate plans."

"That's a lie. That was just luck," Mary replied.

And then Jack began to snicker. And the snicker turned into a wild laugh.

Yune followed, too. The light game was fun. It took their minds off their worries.

Then, Mary looked to the both of them upset. She just sighed.

"Fine. Fine. Guess it was kinda fun," Mary said with a smile that eventually turned into a laugh.

As the three laughed together over their little game, a voice spoke from the side.

"Hope you're having fun," he said making the other girls jump out of their seats. It was the shopkeeper in his regular attire.

"Woah! Come on. Don't scare us like that," Mary exclaimed.

"What do you want, shopkeep?" Yune asked.

"Well, I may have a job for the three of you," the shopkeep replied, "Since, you three are now considered to be the 'top dog' of these parts, I'll be occasionally giving out some information on some Night Demons that have been causing some trouble."

"What Night Demon?" Jack asked.

"This one is a strange one. Every so often, somebody gets kidnapped and goes missing for a few days. But after those couple of days, he or she will just reappear without anything happening to them. I know they've been taken by a Night Demon, but this one doesn't seem to do anything to them. He holds them for a few days and lets them go."

"Do the kidnapped remember anything?" Yune asked needing information on what they would be dealing with.

"Nope. All of them don't seem to remember anything. The only thing that they do remember before going missing are the numbers 314. Even though, none of them know what it means, I have been investigating. I know where the creature is hiding."

"This sounds pretty easy. Sounds like a weakling if you ask me," Mary said.

Yune thought about it and asked the shopkeeper, "Why us? You said you give out jobs to what you called as the 'top dog', but I'm sure you give out these tips to anybody who would take them."

"That's right. I did give this job to another Light Guardian. However... that didn't go as exactly planned."

Jack eyed the shopkeeper suspiciously, "What do you mean? You saying that the Night Demon killed whoever you sent?"

"No. Quite the opposite. I won't give names, but she let the creature go. She wasn't hurt anywhere. Nor did she seem to be under some kind of hypnotic spell. It was like she just refused to do it. It's like she had a change of heart. "

All three of the girls were surprised at this. Why would a guardian leave a Night Demon alone. Their sole purpose is to hunt Night Demons. And those monsters are just that. Monsters. There was no reason to let it go. It may not have killed, but it's been clearly kidnapping people.

The shopkeeper continued, "But you three are different. You three have no hearts. You each have no problem with killing anything. I want you three because I feel you'd be more... violent."

"That's a bit insulting," Jack and Mary said at the same time.

"Alright. So, do you even know what it can do?" Yune asked.

"No. I can only give you it's location. You'll have to fight it blind, but I think it wouldn't be a problem for the three of you."

The three thought about it for some time.

"How about a deal. You'll get your black coin, yes. But as a bonus, if you kill it, I'll give you some information to Annie's whereabouts," the shopkeeper said.

"What!?" Jack exclaimed upon hearing those words.

"I would only be giving a small hint to her location. I doubt she would be moving away from Janken City for a while. Or I could just give the job to Anne. I'm sure she'd be capable."

"No. We'll take the job," Jack said in an instant. Mary and Yune were dragged along, but neither of them had any problem with going to hunt a Night Demon anyways.

"Good. I'll send you the address by text. Should be easy to find," the shopkeeper said before vanishing.

As soon as he was gone, their phones buzzed. There was a text with an address to an old hotel. The Trojan Hotel. Room 314.