Chapter 686 - Bounty

"So where do you want to talk? Or would you rather we talk here in public?" Shiro asked as she kept her guard around these two women. The first was a young woman that was around 5 ft 8 in height and had a set of brown piercing eyes and brown hair. In addition to this, she wore a white one piece dress with silver armour around her torso and arms.

The second woman was a little shorter, roughly 5ft 2 in height and had a cloak to cover most of her body, The only things that Shiro could pick out was the fact that she had black hair, a pair of black eyes along with a neutral expression which seemed to be fixated in the same spot. Almost like an emotionless robot. 

"Well it doesn't matter too much to me but i think it might be better for us to talk about this in private. It's something that might interest you if you're looking for money and don't worry, it's not about selling your body." The first woman chuckled.

"Oh? I do hope that it's legal." Shiro furrowed her brows. 

"Legal is a bit of a stretch but it's not too far off I suppose. If I had to say, it's half legal." The woman smirked. 

"Rather ambiguous no? Can you at least tell me the nature of what you want to talk to me about?" Shiro asked. 

"Of course. It's Assassination." The woman grinned. 

### 

Sitting around a table in one of the inn rooms that the two had asked for, the shorter woman placed down a giant book on the table which caused Shiro to be rather curious but stayed silent about it for now, 

"Right then, so you wanted to know about why we wanted to speak to you right?" The woman asked while crossing her legs.

"Yes I did." 

"Ok, but before that, let us introduce ourselves. My name is Kiona and she is Melody. We're part of an underground organization which is specialised in taking assassination orders to kill nobles and those who have committed heinous deeds. Due to the nature of the organization, some of our members have been placed on the bounty board for criminals, you may have seen some of them. We pay our members who complete assassinations with the wealth we have acc.u.mulated from killing noblemen/noblewomen. There is no obligation to the organization other than signing a contract to keep the location and information regarding the organization a secret. Which means that you cannot tell anyone about us in any way shape or form. And that's pretty much all you need to know about us. We kill people for blood money. Why don't you introduce yourself to us? Start with a name." Kiona grinned. 

Narrowing her eyes, Shiro frowned slightly. 

"The name is Shiro, but before I say more, I want to ask why me?" She asked with scepticism,

"Name Shiro, age unknown, background unknown. First contact was in a village when she was discovered to have killed two people and buried them in the forest. After further investigation, it was found out that they were repeat offenders of robbery and r*pe." Melody cut in as she opened her book, the pages started to flip before stopping on an image of Shiro who was walking away after burying the people that tried to sneak into her room. 

Frowning slightly, Shiro glared at the two with caution. 

"Don't be so on guard. Actually, forget that I said that since I'm also on guard to be fair. But yeah, the only thing we need from you is to sign a contract in order to stay silent about the organisation. We want you because you have talent and we need more people like you. If you can sign the contract, we can start showing you the good bounties for more money." Kiona grinned.

Staying silent for a moment, Shiro shook her head.

If she wanted money, the Mercenary Hall was good enough.

"It's fine, I'm not exactly keen on signing any contracts." Shiro shook her head and stood up.

However, before she could stand up properly, she felt the gravity around her increase and she was forced to sit back down.

"What's the meaning of this?" Shiro glared at the woman.

"It's a real shame honestly. We choose who we tell our existence too but there are times where we need to clean up loose ends like you. Most would accept the contract since it's loose but for people like you, it's different. I can already tell that if you said no, you'll most likely stick with that answer so we need to be a bit more forceful. We'll have to see if you can leave this place on your own or if we can force you into a slave contract first. Melody, prepare the contract paper." Kiona snapped her finger and stood up.

Nodding her head, Melody glanced towards Shiro with slight traces of pity in her eyes that soon disappeared and she returned to her normal emotionless expression.

Hearing what Kiona had said, Shiro furrowed her brows.

'What a pain.' She sighed and glared at Kiona.

Marking her as someone she must overcome for the sake of survival, Shiro could feel her Boon of Rivalry activating as a golden Laurel Crown appeared on her head.

*BANG!

Unfurling her wings, she slammed her hands down and shattered the chair apart. Dashing towards the door, she quickly escaped before the two could react.

"Tsk, I'm surprised. Her first divinity is actually Nike's. Come, prepare the contract paper on the way!" Kiona commanded as she dashed after Shiro.

Flying out of the inn, Shiro glanced back and saw Kiona charging after her with a red aura.

Summoning her bow, she turned her body back and fired a few arrows. 

Unfortunately for her, Kiona only blocked them with her hand and brushed them aside.

"You might have Nike's divinity as your first one but I have two divinities. The gap in power can't be overcome, just give up!" Kiona warned as she closed in on Shiro.

"I've been bridging power gaps since before you were born, young lady, don't underestimate me." Shiro retorted while firing more arrows. Ironically, she was being truthful as well due to her first life as Nytri.

Ignoring the strange response, Kiona cracked her knuckles. 

Suddenly, her body started to enlarge as her muscles became well defined. A red aura surged around her body as illusionary tattoos spread along her body which could be seen due to the exposed skin. 

'Sh*t!' Seeing this, Shiro widened her eyes since she knew who this divinity belonged to. 

It was one of the candidates for her first trial. Heracles the demigod. 

After a short moment, Kiona's illusionary tattoos solidified and her speed increased exponentially. 

Ducking to the side, Shiro barely managed to avoid her grab and reached out for Kiona's arm. 

Raising her foot, she kicked towards the elbow in an attempt to break it. However, before her foot could come into contact, she saw Kiona smirking as she reached out for Shiro's foot.

But compared to Shiro's divinity, Kiona's prowess in the sky was much worse and reaching out for Shiro was a big mistake.

Halting her attack, Shiro grabbed Kiona's hand and flipped behind her. With her grip on both of Kiona's arms, she kneed her on the back of the neck and sent their bodies plummeting towards the stone pavement of the city. 

*BANG!!! 

Slamming Kiona's head against the pavement, she watched as a spider web of cracks expanded out in an instant. 

Glancing down at Kiona's face, Shiro could see an enraged glare while blood dripped down the side of her face. 

Kicking off Kiona's back, Shiro jumped into the sky and started to fly into the sky, taking advantage of her ability of flight. 

Gritting her teeth, Kiona stood back up and cracked her neck. 

*Pui! 

Spitting out some blood to the side, she watched as Melody caught up to her. 

"Put a bounty out of her. Send the bounty to assassins with two divinities. Normal assassins with one divinity can't deal with her. Make sure to mention that she has Nike's divinity so they know what they're up against." Kiona instructed while glaring towards where Shiro had left. 

Nodding her head, Melody opened her book and started to record some notes down. Soon a bounty of Shiro was created and the image used was when Shiro unfurled her wings in front of them.

[Shiro]

Dead bounty – 25 Gold. 

Alive Bounty – 40 Gold.

While Melody and Kiona set up the bounty, Shiro had already left the city and landed in the middle of a rock formation not too far away.

Furling her wings up, she glanced back with a frown.

"Che, what the hell is up with people in the past. Were they always so forceful when things don't go as planned?" Shiro muttered with annoyance since that'll overcomplicate things a little in the future. Not only did she need to make some money for a decent armour and weapon, she also needed to be careful of assassins. 

Sighing softly, she decided to rest up for now. Tomorrow she'll go talk to the lady that makes swords and after would be days of monster hunting for money starting from the Minotaur.