Officially an assassin

Walking inside, Ayame did the usual process of offering the target soul to the statue. Kasumi watched with interest as she had never seen anything like this before let alone the concept of souls.

"Come sit down, I'll explain the statue as well as a few other things." Tomoe noticed the look of curiosity and figured she should explain, so she gesture for the girls to sit across from her. Both taking a seat, Kasumi was also anticipating her reward which was evident to everyone because of her wagging tail.

"First, these statues are extremely rare with most being held by the kitsune council. Usually, when you become a kitsune for hire you would go through them in order to register, but because I have been in this business longer than the entire system I own one of them." Tomoe began to give the background of the statue which made Kasumi raise an eyebrow.

"How did you even come in possession of them? I know we have made statues, but the make of this is very different in comparison." Kasumi looked over at the stature in detail and saw how immaculate it was. It must have been at least a few hundred years old, but there was no corrosion.

"Ohoh~ you see I was the one that first discovered the statue and found out what they are used for. A little fact about me, before I even became an assassin I was a researcher on old memorials left by our ancestors."

"As you know, we Kitsune live for about a thousand years on a good a run, so generally a lot of our past was kept in very archaic ways unlike now where we have finally developed a proper system thanks to humanity's progression in technology." Tomoe had a smug grin as she always loved talking about her past achievements.

"Ehh? Since when did you have a job like that?" Ayame on the other hand was rather sceptical of her own mother's past since it did not sound like something Tomoe would do at all.

"Yeah well, if it wasn't for me then you wouldn't be a freelancer assassin. Should be grateful I am able to hire Kasumi as well because of this." Tomoe teasingly smiled at Ayame as everything said was the honest truth.

"I knowww, but it's so hard to believe what you say is real. I am yet to go to the highlands and you studying the past for the council? Are you the mother I know?" Ayame had a level of suspicion about Tomoe's past, but this seemed way too out of character.

"Haha Ayame it was before I hated the council when I researched Kitsune ancestry. Usually, all meetings with them are bad news and I eventually learnt that they are not as great as they sound." Tomoe could understand Ayame's scepticism. It wasn't common for regular Kitsune to work for the council, but that usually came before they experienced how shitty of a group they were.

"I know it sounds outrageous that I worked for the council, especially after all the things I have told you, but trust me, if you had any other parent I guarantee you that they would have made the council sound like this paradise. It's what my parents told me and I learnt the truth pretty quickly." Tomoe had experienced it with her own parents, glorifying the council like they are some gods, but in reality, they are just sick selfish bastards.

"I guess... That makes sense." Ayame had always struggled to realise how much time 300 years actually is so, it wasn't that out of the ordinary for Tomoe to have done so much.

"Good, you will eventually make a trip there when you reach a suitable age to drink from the youth fountain, but that will hopefully be the only time. You also do not meet the council so I would hardly count it as a trip."

"Okayyyy." Ayame figured she could go already, but she was 21 which was rather young and there was no telling how much her looks will improve in the next couple of years.

"Ahem getting back on track, I must warn you Kasumi like I have Ayame, I am not the only one that owns a statue. I may have been the first to discover it, but there were many others that got their hands on them. So after it was figured out that they were used to offer souls, many Kitsune set up an assassination or hitman or woman organisation themselves."

"Unfortunately some Kitsune hunt other Kitsune because our souls are worth more to the gods which is proven to be true. However, they mainly have been wiped out by the council, but some still remain." Tomoe did not hold any punches when warning Kasumi as it was very likely there were other organisations in their city.

"I have yet to meet any other assassins, but you never know, might step on the toes of the wrong person and we might find ourselves as targets." However, Tomoe didn't want to scare Kasumi too much as in all her 300+ years she was yet to meet any Kitsune killing organizations.

"Interesting, well I really appreciate the warning." Kasumi nodded her head processing all the information which caused her to second guess if this was the right choice to become an assassin.

'It will be fine, just need to slowly improve myself and even if we are in danger me and Ayame can fight them off.' Kasumi built up a resolve which Tomoe noticed and she couldn't help but nod in approval.

"Moving on from less grim topics, I'm sure you are excited about your reward. I have already transferred the money and as for your knife Kasumi it is right here." Tomoe clicked her fingers causing flames to engulf her hands. They then quickly dispersed revealing a dagger with a purple gem in the pommel.

Both Ayame and Kasumi looked closely, especially at the gem that Tomoe had used.

"She won't be able to insert the dagger into the statue, no?" Ayame knew the different gems represented the gods and in order to transfer the soul you needed the right gem to activate the statue.

"Hehe~ this is when I tell you that I discovered something." Tomoe had a proud grin as Ayame technically wasn't wrong, but there was a way around it.

"Wait what?" Ayame wanted to hear more as it must be a big deal if there was a way to circumvent something from the gods.

"Because purple is a close relative of orange which is also true for the gods, the statue also accepts souls from Amethyst." Tomoe gave the explanation which left Ayame in disbelief.

"That's it?" Ayame didn't know if she should be impressed or disappointed. It was something so simple yet it made sense.

"That is surprisingly… lax for something related to gods." Kasumi expected strict rules and rituals when it came to the gods, but instead, it was very casual.

"Hahahaha! You put them on a pedestal way too high than they actually want. Remember these gods are our ancestors from generations ago and were like us at one point. We can't prove that they still watch over us, but they created the fundamentals of the kitsune world that we know it."

"So if they do watch over us then I'm sure they are much more accepting than Kitsune of the past and are beyond not accepting change." Tomoe smiled as it was common for most Kitsunes to treat the gods as these ultimate figures, but in reality, they were much more normal. It could be said human society was to blame as their own religions follow the same kind of structure, so it was no surprise that some fall into the same habits.

"That's… one way to look at it." Ayame felt like something in her head crashed as it felt disrespectful, but if Tomoe says it's okay then there shouldn't be a problem.

"Don't bash your heads too much over it, just accept it for what it is, because I'm sure the gods would like you to get to work rather than running in a circle confused." Tomoe chuckled as she was sure it was quite a different perspective to what they are used to.

"So with that said you are free to go, and Kasumi this is for you to keep and do not worry about storage, I have put runes on it that allows you to summon it like your mask." Tomoe slid the dagger to the end of the table and Kasumi cautiously picked it up.

"Thank you so much, I will make sure I do not disappoint you." Kasumi felt a sense of fulfilment which was something that she had never experienced. Sebeth gave little to no attention whenever she did anything so finally to be rewarded was a great feeling.

"Congratulations Kasumi and welcome to the club? Organisation? What do we call ourselves Mum?" Ayame never knew what they actually called themselves since it was always a solo job.

"Haha we go by Kitsune assassins for hire, not very creative, but I made it years ago so what can you do." Tomoe shrugged since the name didn't need to be special.

*sigh* "Typical… Anyway, let's get home Kasumi, I'm extremely tired." Ayame felt the exhaustion creeping up on her and could feel the bed calling for her.

"Agreed and thank you again Tomoe." Kasumi got up from her chair and bowed.

"Don't mention it." Tomoe smiled while waving her hand as it really wasn't that much of a hassle.

"Cya later Mum." Ayame waved before getting up and exiting the room followed by Kasumi who waved as she exited.