A Scroll and Its Content
Just then, the door opened...
... And Mr. Kale walked in, Mr. Sor right on his heels.
"What are you doing in here?" Mr. Sor asked.
"Me and my brother were showing them around the Luxury Box," Nishan lied smoothly. "We saw this room and wondered what was in it, so we entered it. It has a very nice interior design."
Mr. Kale relaxed. "Ah yes. This is the a conference room for adults, so please refrain from coming here without permission again. Of course, this is your first time, so I understand that you didn't know. Come with us, you're parents are waiting. The Ability matches are over and it's time or you to return to school."
"Of course," Daphne nodded politely.
The two men escorted the six friends to their limo.
"I hope this trip was informing to all of you," Mr. Sor grinned at Daphne. "Especially you, dear."
Daphne's polite smile froze on her face, and she forced the words, "How kind of you," out of her mouth.
"Anytime," Mr. Sor kissed her hand. "I'm looking forward to seeing you again."
Daphne couldn't have stood up any faster, retracting her hand like she had been burned. "Guys, come one, we should hurry back into school."
As Mr. Sor opened his mouth to say something else, Saltavore intervened, "Mr. Sor, Mr. Kale, goodbye. It was a pleasure to meet you."
On that final note, the six of them rushed back to their dorm.
"Thanks," Daphne huffed. "I owe you one."
"I'll remember that," Saltavore said. "But first things first, I want to see what the scroll contained. Loki?"
"Right," Loki said aloud. "I want to see the scroll that I Captured, please."
[Special Inventory opened: {Captured} Scroll taken out]
Words filled the screen and Loki started to read.
"Client : Sor Mal
Business: Clear his records of him blackmailing/tricking woman to sleep with him
Payment: 50 mana crystals a week
Status : Regular client
Client :Kale El
Business: Clear his records of him bribing contestants in Ability matches to lose on purpose
Payment: 150 mana crystals a month
Status : Regular client
Client : Allison Romez
Business: Clear her records and help her find avenue's for illegal trading
Payment: 225 mana crystals a month
Status : Regular client
Client : Maven Quo
Business: Clear records of him scamming women
Payment: 75 mana crystals per woman
Status : Regular client
Client : Cooper Zaq
Business: Clear his records of taking in low-levels as he servants and making them work while paying unfair wages
Payment: 90 mana crystals a week
Status : On and off client
Client : Spencer Zaq
Business: Clear his records of him enslaving and mistreating low-levels
Payment: 130 mana crystals a week
Status : Regular client
Client: : Barbinson Tac
Business: Clear his records of him illegally funding a syndicate that mistreats low-levels
Payment: 125 mana crystals a month
Status : On and off client
These are the 7 best clients (total calculation of how much they pay, how many times they want our service and how difficult it is to clear their records) of The Snake.
Written by: Ada Anderson"
"Ada wrote this?" Nishan exclaimed. "I knew that she had to be part of this somehow!"
"Forget that," Daphne looked sick to the stomach. "If I don't join The Snakes, my parents will marry me off to Mr. Sor! He's basically counted as a rapist!"
"We'll find a way out of this, Daphne," Seraphine patted Daphne's back. "Or we'll go down trying."
"Ugh," Saltavore groaned. "These are all powerful people. Their names are basically everywhere. The Zaqs are known for their elaborate parties, Els are known for their winning gambling streak, Romezs are known for their wealth just showing up without them seeming to wok, and don't get me started on the others!"
"So, now we know all of this," Terrence mused. "When's the latest Ability match before your birthday, Daphne?"
"X-mas day," Daphne buried her head in her hands. "We don't have much time left."
"When is your 17th birthday?" Loki wondered. "Maybe that could be a deadline for us."
"1st of January next year," Nishan sighed. "She's not wrong, we only have less than half a year to solve this case."
A ring interrupted their thoughts as the dinner bell chimed.
"Let's go down and eat first," Loki suggested. "There will be more holidays now, won't there? During those holidays, we can 'happen' to talk about one of those people when we're near your parents. If they're anything like what they've shown themselves to be, they'll send us to some event that those people are either attending or hosting. Then, we'll be able to get more clues. Once we have enough evidence, such as the main people running The Snakes and the main clients of The Snakes, the government should take care of it from there."
"Okay." But even Daphne's voice sounded dubious and upset as they headed down to dinner.
When they were all in bed, all of their thoughts were plagued by their fears. Loki was staring into the darkness as he wondered if they would be able to solve this in time? Or will Daphne be trapped in this paradox forever and be forced to either kill or submit?