"Yes, I guess that's indeed what they call me. Now about that payment, what do you say we turn this ordeal into more of a contract, My lady?" The witch said as she stared down the Duke's daughter with a glint in her eye.
This day for her was definitely most fortunate. The moment her informant had told her that a suspicious new girl had entered their territory, she had kept her eyes stuck to Alejandra like a hawk.
The moment the lady got in trouble all she had to do was play the nice poor girl who is in need of help and she can get quite a huge sum for that. She did not dare let the girl get hurt after all, she'd have to deal with the duke's forces and that would be a pain.
Everything was ruined when these two giant idiots burst into a house she paid for, broke the walls and door and threatened to harm her client. To add to all of that one of them had to gall to try and hit her. Losing an arm is the least of their concern.
"Contract?" Alejandra was tense. She didn't know what to do in this situation. Everything seemed to be going down for her right now. She misses her friends back at their mansion.
"Of course my lady." Maddison had a cheerful tone in her face as she raised her foot and dug her heel into the two-armed giant's head. The other was still screaming in pain as the blood kept dripping itself into the concrete and seeping into wood. "Having a contract with the heiress of the Ramirez duchy would be very advantageous for me." She put more force into her foot, the guy below it whimpered, but tried his best to stay silent.
"For you maybe? But what about me?" Alejandra as much as she is afraid, can't help but lay her ears on any potential business. "What would providing the youngest leader of the underworld with my support bring me?"
Finding confidence, the duke's daughter stood up and began pacing around the room ignoring the two men behind her conversation partner. "If it's ever revealed that I, the prodigal heiress of House Ramirez, is aiding a blasphemous group," She stopped and raised an eyebrow to glance towards Maddison. "Wouldn't that be bad rep for me?"
The red witch blinked and ended up laughing. She couldn't believe that even in this situation, this little lady is still willing to stand her ground and make profit even when she's facing a foe who can kill her in a split second. Maddison could not help but feel intrigued. "I see. You want to see what I can provide for you?"
She stepped down from the guy's head and kicked it violently, knocking him out. Suddenly the giant who was bleeding profusely, began to float and head towards the lady.
Alejandra didn't flinch as the giant infront of her was crumpled and deformed into an unrecognizable ball of meat. She was splattered with blood and her clothes were now soaked with it. The horror on her maid's face when she finds her looking like this.
"So?" Alejandra mused. Even if she could hold the stiffness in her face, inside her entire body was telling her to run as fast as possible; however, she knew that talking her way out would give her a better chance in survival. "Any offers on the table."
The red witch was awed again by the young lady's composure. She would have expected a girl spoiled and treasured since she was a baby would be trembling in fear the moment they see a human body mushed like clay.
"Hahahaha! Of course! Of course!" She grinned and walked over to Alejandra. Her fingers traced itself from her temple, down her cheek, and under her chin. "I'll give you what you need, my lady."
"What I need?" Alejandra stared at her right in the eye and Maddison couldn't help but feel interested at how this girl in front of her is so tough to crack.
She wanted to see her unbreakable exterior shatter, and how this girl who's lived a prim and proper life would beg for her life at her feet.
But that was for another day. She had to clean this mess up and she didn't want to keep her new client, or new toy, to be broken so quickly.
"Yes, my lady, what you so desperately need, but for now it's time to bid you farewell. I'm afraid having a conversation with ourselves would be quite a difficult endeavor at this point." Her smile was magnetic and seductive. Alejandra couldn't help but stare at her lips even amidst the fact that she could lose her life at any moment.
"What about that guy?" She had to ask the witch to bide her time and secure her own safety. If the Red Witch was about to leave that could only mean one thing. The knights were almost here.
"Ahahaha, I'm afraid you can't keep me staying here, My Lady, I wouldn't be caught that easily. Simply do to him what you will and he will obey, I've ordered him to do so now." She then started levitating off of the ground, she hovered silently in front of Alejandra. She then raised the heiress's hands and kissed them. "You'll know when we meet again, what it is I can offer, and I can guarantee you won't be disappointed."
Out of nowhere, a young boy came from the shadows and stood behind Maddison. "I've come ma'am."
"Excellent." She gave the lady one last wink before they sunk into the shadows and disappeared without a trace.
After a few seconds of standing there, the daughter of the duke fell to her knees and let out the largest sigh of relief known to mankind. "Thank the gods I'm alive." She chuckled. "I really thought I was fucked."
She then noticed the giant still there kneeling waiting for an order from her. "You can go." She waved her hand off. "I don't need muscle heads like you in my retainers."
The giant stood up and immediately bowed his head before running away crying and pissing his pants. Not like she could blame the guy though, she too was about to wet herself if the witch had threatened her for any longer.
She fell flat on the bloody floor, the disgusting clump of meat still laid next to her. It smelled horrible but, even if she wanted to, her own legs refused to stand up. "Maaaan, Teri's gonna kill me."
"It'll be my job to do so, I'm afraid." An authoritative, stern and angry voice spoke from the door. "What the hell happened here and why are you covered in blood!?" The voice scolded.
Her Dad may be a businessman rich and politically sound, but her mother, on the other hand, was the opposite. She was fierce, strong, adamant, and graceful…at the battlefield. She was in charge of keeping the military in their territory in the East and even before that she was the Head of the Royal Guard. Her mother was what you would call a master swordswoman.
Now that mother is standing before her, in full clad armor after she heard a commotion about an explosion of blood. There she found her own daughter, wearing crappy clothes, covered from head to toe in blood and laying on a floor dripping that was splattered with that same blood.
Alejandra could only lightly chuckle to herself. She may have survived the Red Witch, but she was definitely gonna die this time.
"Heyyyy Momm." She tried to act ignorant. "Wazzzuuuup"
"You are so dead, young woman. ASHER!" She yelled and the blonde haired boy wearing his own armor stepped up. "Buy her a change of clothes from the nearest clothing store and take her home. I will get an explanation for you later, but for now…, UNITS STAND GUARD AND SURROUND THE AREA! CHECK FOR ANY SUSPICIOUS ACTIVITY!" She then glared at Alejandra, who jumped at her mother's look.
"Mom, have I ever told you, you look really beautiful in your armor." She then tried her best but she was simply ignored.
"Take her back, we'll investigate this further. This may be an Adjudicator incident." She talked to an officer next to her. "I will question my own daughter later, for now retrieve any viable witness reports and send them to me pronto."
Roselia Ramirez felt something off about this entire situation. A sense of dread washed over her when she checked the bloody house and saw her daughter lying in a pool of blood. Thankfully, the girl was alive and well, and healthy enough to joke around.
The disgusting bloody meat pile that was next to her daughter however, was disturbing in many ways. No normal person could've done that to any living thing. Only Adjudicators who have their innate abilities unlocked would be able to.
In this world, there was such a thing called Adjudicators, normal humans who unlocked their innate magical talent from their own desire. These people have shown great strength and military prowess that the few who turn to Adjudicators are guaranteed a good life by the Empire.
Adjudicators are born from moments of desire. When there is something that they truly want with their hearts, an innate magical ability unique to them will be awakened. By the Emperor's order, all innocent Adjudicators must be given fair treatment and proper benefits regardless of their position in the kingdom.
Of course there were those who refused the Emperor's aide and instead chose to remain in hiding or conduct public disruption and illegal activities.
Roselia was an Adjudicator herself. She had the prowess of Lightness, she is extremely light and thus usually very easy to knock over, if you can catch her that is. Turning lighter allows her to jump higher, carry heavier things, run faster, and move and react faster than an average human. She can also revert her weight back to normal at any given point, and even make parts of her heavier. In short, she has control over her own weight.
She awakened her desire when she was still training to be Head of the Royal Guard. She was from the powerful Azarolla Duchy, officially called the Silver Wolf. She was the second child of the late Duke and thus was honed to be a powerful swordswoman along with her elder sister, who now was the current Duchess of Azarolla, but even her hardened heart couldn't resist love.
She had loved the son of the Grand Duke Ramirez, Joseph, who had also loved her. They were inseparable when they first met as young wishful kids and had healthily supported each other throughout their growth as individuals. However, one time on a lake date with the Duke's son, an accident happened. The boat somehow tipped over and both of them fell into the deep.
Her lover, unable to swim, sank down to the bottom. In a moment of panic she used up all her strength to dive down and push him up to the surface and back up to the boat. Unfortunately, she herself ran out of strength as her body felt heavier and heavier. She was going to drown.
Joseph cried for her and she could feel the reverberations of his screams for help. Her heart sank deeper than even the lake she was drowning in. Oh how she wishes she could simply float up to the surface and embrace him once more and tell him everything will be okay. Her silent tears merged with the water as her wishes were suddenly given an answer.
She rose to the surface like she was completely weightless and was even light enough to stand on water. As her man stared at her in amazement, she didn't think twice and took this as her chance to walk over and kiss Joseph, who sat worried in the boat.
Soon after she became the Head of the Royal Guard thanks to her awakening. She then married the man she loved and became the Grand Duchess of House Ramirez, The Golden Tiger.
Although, it had been already a few years since her last official work as the Head of the Royal Guard since she had retired to focus on her family and Duchy.
Even still, she can't ignore the rogue activities of powerful criminals like these. Adjudicators like her were practically superhuman and only an Adjudicator would be able to turn someone once a human into a ball of saggy meat. She was just relieved that whoever her daughter had to deal with, Alejandra came out safe and unscathed.
Alejandra stepped out of the building and apologized to her mother. "I-I'm sorry Mom." The young woman twiddled with her fingers and kept her head low as she felt guilty for her own mistakes. "I just wanted to have fun and then I got caught up in this mess and–" the girl was cut off by her mother patting her in the head.
"Are you hurt?"
"No."
"Then good." The knight sighed and kissed her child's head. "Go back home and rest. I'm gonna ask you about what happened earlier."
Alejandra blinked, did she just get out of this completely scot free? Her mom isn't gonna scold her and is only gonna ask her some questions? Whoopee, she doesn't have to worry about getting in trouble!
"By the way, you're grounded for our entire stay in the Capital, you can't leave without my permission." Roselia offhandedly mentioned. "But you should've already known that."
"But Mo-" She shut up from making excuses when her mother gave her the glare. She could only wallow in her own misery.
Asher went with her back home to make sure she was okay and wouldn't get into any more trouble.
"If you could forgive my curiosity, My lady," He asked while they sat in the carriage. "What happened?"
"Before that, what's gonna happen about this incident?" She changed the topic to avoid mentioning the Red Witch.
"The Duchess will likely take care of it and sweep it under the rug, no one saw your face anyways and this is also a case of an illegal Adjudicator." He looked out the window. "You won't get in trouble as much as you think you will, give your mom what she needs and you might be able to get out of being grounded."
"You think so?"
"Haha no."
"Knew it."
"Teresa was scolded heavily too, you know." Asher looked at me in dismay. "She had to endure cleaning the stables as punishment for allowing you to run away without guards."
"Was she crying the whole time while sweeping horse poop." Alejandra teased and Asher nodded.
"Like a river."
"Please don't hate me Teresa." The young lady of the Ramirez duchy clasped her hands and prayed for her maid's understanding and pity.
Meanwhile…
"AAAAH THAT'S MY HAIR!" Teresa scrambled to pull her hair out a horse's mouth. She pulled too hard and ended up stumbling backwards, a small misstep gave her feet a deep bath into something sticky all the way up to her ankles. "AAAAAAHH!"
She screamed in agony and disgust as her feet were now deep into horse poop. "I HATE THIS." To add some salt to injury, the horse behind her leaned over and started chewing on her hair.
"NOOOO PLEASE!" She fought the horse back with all her might. "MY LADY, I NEVER SHOULD'VE HELPED YOU!!!" The poor maid's regret was yelled out into the world.
