The Villain's Sword Is Sharp

He weaved through the various streets towards his destination. He couldn't get his map out in front of others since that would tell them he wasn't from this district, so he tried his best to follow the route he remembered.

After several minutes and a couple of nervy moments where he half-expected to get caught, Isaac arrived.

Just down this street was a large residence – even larger than the other large residences. Its façade was made of pure white stones and metals, and a large marble arc ran across the building's front, creating an alcove which 2 guards stood under.

These guards weren't wearing normal armour. They had imperious red armour with short, sharp spikes protruding from the shoulders, elbows, knees and left chest.

Sect-employed guards wouldn't receive this kind of armour, so Isaac instantly recognised them as private guards.

However, Isaac always expected this residence to be guarded. It housed an important occupant after all...

He walked directly towards the house, as if he would open the door and strut right in if he wasn't stopped.

Unfortunately, the two guards both activated Anima. Lightning flickered between the fingers of the one on the left, while wind began to whip around the feet of the right guard.

Both guards spoke in unison,

"Halt! State your name and purpose!"

Isaac was calm despite the immense power of the Anima these guards were threatening him with. He answered coolly,

"My name is Christian Skiff. I bring a letter from your young master, Johan Friberg."

Isaac pulled an envelope from his pocket. It had Johan's name and signature on it.

The guard on the right flashed forwards and snatched the envelope before Isaac could react. He shouted at the figure,

"Hey! You're not permitted to open that!"

His voice wasn't panicked; it was stern. It wasn't the kind of tone a Rank 1 should be speaking to a Rank 3 with, but the guard didn't seem to care. He closely inspected the envelope, then spoke in a gruff voice,

"It's his signature."

"Do we let him in then?"

"No. If it's just a letter from the young master, then you can leave it with us. We'll deliver it." The guard turned back to Isaac, "You can leave now."

However, Isaac didn't come here to deliver an empty envelope and get turned away.

"I'm under strict orders to deliver the letter directly; I can't pass it to anybody other than the intended recipient. Remember, these were your young master's orders."

The guards didn't need a reminder. They were duty-bound to obey the orders of the Friberg family and 'Christian' really did have a letter signed by Johan Friberg.

They didn't doubt that he was under Johan's orders, but it was precisely because of this that they couldn't trust him completely. The guards hesitated, before the one on the right spoke,

"... You can enter, but we'll come in and supervise you."

Isaac nodded. Then the left guard knocked thrice on the door,

"Young mistress, there's somebody here to see you."

A soft "Oh?" could be heard from inside,

"He claims to have a letter from your brother."

"Bring him in."

The guard unlocked the door and entered. He beckoned for Isaac to follow him, so Isaac did.

He walked past the guard and came face-to-face with a beautiful golden-haired girl. She was reclining in a deep armchair, fiddling with a puzzle of some sort.

When Isaac entered, she put the puzzle down and stared right at him. It seemed as if her blue eyes could pierce his fake exterior and peek right into his true intentions.

Isaac brushed off her gaze and spoke freely,

"I have a letter from your brother, but I also have a few words of private information I need to share with you. That's impossible to do with these guards here."

Isaac showed her the letter, then pointed at the guards behind him. The girl picked up a mug from the side table. She took a sip of whatever was in it, then tapped it twice with her index finger. Then she spoke to the guards.

"Okay. Dismissed."

The nodded obediently and turned to leave. Just as they were walking away, the girl added,

"Just give him 5 minutes. I won't waste any more time than that."

The guards nodded again, then exited and closed the door. Now Isaac and the girl were alone.

Isaac began by sitting in the chair opposite her.

"My greetings, Miss Lara Friberg."

He pointed to the envelope in his hand,

"I'm afraid this envelope is actually empty. Johan didn't want to leave a paper trail which could be linked back to him, so I'm here to deliver a verbal message instead of a written one."

As Isaac spoke, he pulled a pen and paper out of his coat and began to write. Lara showed her confusion: the man had just said he wouldn't leave a paper trail, and here he was starting to write.

She was about to ask what he was doing, but Isaac looked up and held a finger to his lips, silencing her. Then she suddenly understood: he'd already realised the guards were still listening to their conversation!

Isaac continued speaking. He prattled about a bunch of nonsense, such as how Johan needed help but couldn't go to the family and wanted to send Lara a message. All the while, his hands continued to move and his pen danced across the page.

Eventually, Isaac rounded off his note. He pushed the paper towards Lara and continued speaking nonsense while she read it.

'I lead the team which Johan has joined and I am somewhat aware of the situation in your family. I believe I can be of great assistance to you. Namely, I can sabotage Johan and hamper his actions, causing him to lose credibility within your family. With my help, succeeding the position of family head will become vastly easier.'

Lara was rather surprised by the message, and she allowed that emotion to show on her small face. Then she put her mug down on the side table with a loud thud. She waited for a couple of moments, then spoke,

"That was the sign for my guards to stop listening. We can discuss freely now."

"Thank you. Well, you've already read my position and my intentions. What are yours?"

Lara frowned slightly,

"Isn't that a rather impolite tone to take with the heir to the Friberg family?"

"So you've officially been appointed as heir? That's not what Johan told me."

She didn't bite on his provocation. No, she calmly admitted,

"Indeed, I haven't been 'officially' named as the heir. However, my ascent to that position is only a matter of time; that's why you're here, isn't it? Staying by Johan's side gives you no future prospects after all."

"I wouldn't say that... our team just got an S grade on its first mission and I'm sure there's plenty more success ahead of us as well. More to the point, I'm sure there's plenty of success ahead of Johan. What if he gets recognised for his outstanding performances?"

"That's a rather large 'if'. I'm already solidifying my position in the family; it would take an astonishing amount of success to bring Johan back into the contest for heir."

Lara's visage was calm and composed, but not everything she said was true. There was still a considerable contingent of the family which supported Johan, the firstborn. Despite trying her best to persuade some of those members, very few had actually been swayed and come to join her side.

Isaac was unaware of this, but he managed to strike the nail on the head anyway,

"A risk is still a risk, no matter how small it may seem to you. From what I've seen, Johan won't relinquish his position without a fight; simply 'solidifying your position' may not be enough. You will have to show achievements of your own. But you can't. You're not even a cultivator..."

Lara was just over 2 years younger than Isaac and Johan, but a weird alignment of years meant she wouldn't be awakened until 4 years from now. This meant there was no way of knowing what class of talent she would be, let alone whether she would turn into a strong cultivator – this had turned into a major political disadvantage for her since many people saw Johan as a safer, more secure selection for the heir position.

Again, Lara stayed calm at Isaac's half-taunt. She was very different from her brother in this aspect; calm, composed and largely unemotional. Her eyes were still and unreadable, like two deep blue pools.

"I am interested in your proposition, but you must recognise the obvious issue with what you're suggesting: you've already betrayed Johan. How do I know you won't betray me too?"

"Because supporting you gives me the most benefits."

Lara nodded slowly, then stayed silent for a minute. Eventually, her pensive expression relaxed and she spoke,

"Okay then. But first, I have a requirement: prove your loyalty. I need to know this isn't a scheme you and Johan have come up with. I want you to do something which will harm him so badly that I know you aren't in this together."

"Okay." Isaac agreed immediately, "But I don't work for free."

Lara sighed,

"This is a test to see if you're on my side, not a job I'm giving you. Naturally, you don't get paid for taking a test."

"Truthfully, I don't see the difference. As long as I'm doing something that's to your benefit, you should be paying me for it."

Lara considered it for a moment and Isaac's words from earlier echoed in her mind. 'Supporting you gives me the most benefits.' These words told her that Isaac was a very selfish and greedy person, and that they would fall out quickly if helping her didn't give Isaac any benefits.

Isaac represented an opportunity to conclusively defeat Johan and seize the position of family heir, so she didn't want to fall out with Isaac yet – not until she was finished using him and could throw him away.

Since she wasn't willing to fall out with Isaac, she could only offer him the benefits he wanted.

"Fine. Your pay will depend on how good a job you do."

Lara answered with a smile which concealed her slight displeasure.

Isaac also smiled, but he was smirking in his heart,

'Pay me depending on how well I do? Even if I do well, she'll just say it was an average job and throw me some cheap resources. Well then. I guess I just have to do something so big she can't even try to deny she was impressed.'

With their conversation over, Isaac left the Friberg residence.