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What?! he thought, unable to comprehend what had just happened. In a single announcement, with no prior notice to the town, the mayor had been replaced. Just like that. And by Garon, no less. There was obviously something going on behind the scenes here.

“Honey, isn’t that your old boss?” Zeth’s mom asked, leaning over to talk to him. “From Otis and Roul’s?”

“Yes,” he said through clenched teeth. “That’s him.”

“Why did they choose him to be the next mayor, I wonder?”

“No idea.”

He did have an idea, though. Garon was the Blood Mage, pulling the strings and connections Zeth knew the Blood Mage had with the town guard, with the guild, and apparently with the local government to take power in a moment of unrest.

“I’m taking over,” Garon called out again over the crowd, “and I’m making this town a better place to live! There’ll be no more monster attacks, no more crime, and certainly no more Blood Mages rampaging through the streets. The old mayor had gone senile, I tell you—maybe he did a good job every now and then, but it’s clear to me, and to everyone in this crowd, that he had no idea how to lead. But I promise you, I’ll fix every problem that he created.”

The crowd seemed to be warming up to his empty words. How they believed any single line out of that motherfucker’s mouth, Zeth had no idea. But it seemed like they were desperate to believe someone could come along and fix their way of life. Zeth knew it was wrong, though. Garon was going to just exploit his new position of power to acquire yet more sacrifices, cause yet more destruction, and probably make life worse for everyone, just for the fun of it.

“I don’t understand,” Rosalie muttered. “How is he taking power like this?Is this man a noble from a nearby city?”

“Nope,” Zeth said, contempt barely hidden from his voice. “He’s just some guy. A middle manager from the mining guild.”

“But who elected him?”

“The leadership committee. They’re a group of people from all the major institutions within the town—there’s someone from the guard, someone from construction, someone from the Otis and Roul’s…”

“A person from a private company is on the committee that elects your mayor? And that committee elected a man from that exact company?”

“Yeah,” Zeth said. “That’s pretty much the summary.”

Her expression hardened, looking back up at Garon atop the stage, continuing to make extravagant promises as he inspired false hope in the people below him. “I have discovered a new facet of this town’s corruption with every passing day I’ve stayed here. Something must be done.”

Sophie, not quite old enough to fully take in all the political speak Garon was spouting, had wandered away from their mom and over to Erza, who was watching the speech with a frown, his arms folded. Zeth watched as she tugged on his sleeve. “Um, excuse me, you said you can do magic earlier, right?”

“Hm?” he asked, glancing down at her. “Yes. Why do you ask?”

“Can you teach me?”

He chuckled. “Unfortunately for you, education is rarely free. If you’d like tutoring, feel free to ask your mother to discuss payment with me.”

“But she won’t pay for it,” Sophie said. “Can you just teach me a little bit?”

He shook his head exasperatedly. “No. Now, run along, little girl.”

“Please?” she begged. “Just a little? I just wanna see! You don’t even have to really teach me, just let me watch you work with Zeth, or something! I won’t get it the way or anything, promise!”

Zeth reached down to grab her shoulder, speaking gently. “Hey, I don’t think you’re gonna be able to convince him. But I promise to teach you everything I learn when I work with him, alright?”

As he said that, Zeth’s attention was drawn back to Garon when the man changed his tone from the grandiose speech he’d been doing to a more subdued, official way of talking.

“You will all be very happy to have me as your mayor,” he said. “And I’ll be conducting my first stretch of my future ruling from afar. I have lots of plans for talks and trade to conduct with neighboring territories—it’s all very boring, so I won’t get into it—and I’ll be gone for a while to do all of that.”

Zeth stared at him. He was leaving? Just like that?

Hell no. Hell no, he was not getting away that easily.

Garon continued, “I’m not sure when I will return, but I’ll be leaving in a few days. However, during those days I’m sure you will see a lot of change in this town—for the better. I’ll assign someone to send messages to during my trip abroad, and so will be speaking to you through that person. Now, are there any questions?”

Instantly, a dozen voices shouted out various concerns about what his policy on taxes may be, whether he planned to strengthen the town guard to what it once was, and plenty of other queries.

Garon sighed, as if annoyed that anyone had the gall to actually ask anything, and nodded. “Right. So, I’ve heard you all, and have taken note of what you have to say, and will take it all into consideration. In the future, these questions will be answered. Anyway. Bye.”

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And with that, he unceremoniously turned and walked away.

As the crowd rushed to demand answers, Zeth’s own mind rushed in its own way. Garon wasn’t just leaving—he was leaving in the next few days? Zeth had only just gotten himself established and was planning on taking some time to consolidate his power—he certainly wasn’t ready to go and assassinate his boss yet. And now that the man was the damn mayor of the whole town, he’d be that much harder to kill. Zeth was barely prepared at all for this.

He had to do it, though. Garon could not be allowed to leave. Even he had admitted he had no idea when he’d return, and Zeth wondered if he would at all. He still had no idea what business the man had with being this place’s mayor, but he probably had little plans to actually rule. Chances were, it was for something like political clout so he could gain favor with some noble family and fuck off to do business with them, never to return to this place. And for as long as that was even a slight possibility, Zeth wasn’t about to risk losing hold on his target forever.

If he was going to kill Gaorn, it had to be now. Right now. No more fucking around and slowly building up power.

Zeth’s heart beat faster and faster with a combination of frustration, anxiety, and unbridled excitement. Time was ticking now, and he had to do it. He had to finally fucking kill that bastard. Oh, how sweet that was going to be.

“I really had no idea they were even planning on replacing the mayor,” his mom said beside him. “Oh, well. It makes sense that they would, after all of this. We’ll see how the new one takes care of things.”

Zeth barely listened. His ears rushed with blood. His mind hastily constructed a dozen different half-baked plans to sneak into Garon’s house at night and slit his throat as he slept.

“Well, I suppose that’s all,” she said. “Come on, Sophie, let’s go home. Zeth, are you coming?”

“Uhh…” he said, blinking as he mentally caught up on what she was even asking.

“Actually, I was wondering if you could stay behind and help me with some more of my magic items,” Erza said. “If you have time, of course.”

“Yeah, I can do that,” he responded, then turned to his mom. “Sorry, can’t. Work.”

She pursed her lips, clearly thinking of their earlier conversation, but eventually sighed and shook her head. “Alright. Come home soon.”

“Can I come with you and watch?” Sophie asked. “I promise I won’t get in the way.”

“No, Sophie,” his mom said. “Zeth can go and do what he wants, but you’re coming home with me. I won’t let some deranged bounty hunters drench both of my children in their bad influence.”

Erza frowned at her words, but said nothing.

“Please?” Sophie begged her. “Just for a minute—I really want to see.”

Her mom pulled her away. “Don’t be disobedient. I said no. That\'s final.”

Zeth grimaced at the way she was treating his sister. Even if he agreed that he didn’t really want Sophie hanging around Erza, it still upset him to see her get shut down like that. He committed to himself twice as hard to teach her everything he learned from this work. But right now, there was something far more time-sensitive he had to do..

He looked at Erza. “Alright. Let’s get some stuff done.”

It only took a few hours before Erza was satisfied with the number of mana fields Zeth was able to patch up. So once he said Zeth could go, he hurried out. Erza had to call after him to remind him that he still needed to accept payment for his services, but after Zeth doubled back to grab his sack of coin, he said his goodbyes and headed out to the forest.

The moment he arrived in his base of operations, Zeth took a deep breath, trying to calm his still-racing heart. What was he going to do? Gaon was leaving in ‘a few days,’ but Zeth had no idea whether that meant he had a week to prepare, or just forty-eight hours before the man was in a carriage headed off to who-knows-where—Hell, he it was possible he’d even pay for teleportation. Whatever plan Zeth figured out, he’d have to be able to complete it as soon as possible. Tonight, ideally. At the latest, tomorrow night. After that, he’d begin risking a total loss.

So then, yet another time the question ran through his mind—what the fuck was Zeth going to do?

The only preparations he currently had available to him were a bunch of Hellfire Rituals he’d prepared on mobile pieces of cloth. But that was it.

It was at this point Zeth had to face the truth—it was far more likely than not that Garon was the Blood Mage he was looking for. And it was even more likely, especially after today, that the man had connections spanning the entire town. The entire local law enforcement was almost certainly in his pocket, and he probably knew—no matter what the government said about that lady being the Blood Mage and how they didn’t believe anyone else was out there—that Zeth existed, and was hostile to him. Maybe he didn’t know it was Zeth specifically, but Garon knew to be cautious of a rival Blood Mage. Maybe that was another reason he was gearing to leave as soon as possible.

What that meant was that Garon probably had a whole lot of guards posted outside his living quarters ready to protect him from intruders, and, even worse, he probably also had his entire set of Blood Mage powers set up and ready to kill anyone who made it past the wall of bodies.

So then what was the plan, if Garon had so many defenses set up?

Only, Zeth didn’t actually know what he had prepared—or whether he had anything to defend himself, at all. Maybe the man wasn’t the Blood Mage. Either way, he’d have to die, but there was a chance that Zeth was worrying too much about something that wouldn’t be troublesome at all. Not a likely chance, but there was a chance.

The problem was, there was little Zeth could do to figure out what to expect other than to just try to kill the man and see what happened.

But could he do it alone? Maybe he could somehow convince Erza to help in exchange for money? Probably not. Or he could get Rosalie’s help—he could maybe reason with her more morally. But then, if he asked either of them for assistance, he’d have to somehow also convince them he wasn’t a Blood Mage the whole time, which wouldn’t be ideal.

There was also…that. Demonic Covenant. But he pushed the idea from his mind. For as long as he had any other option, he didn’t want to rely on demons to protect him—or do anything of importance whatsoever. They were good manual laborers, but they’d take advantage of him if he tried to get their help in a life-or-death scenario. Especially when he’d be taking them into a highly populated area. All it’d take would be one “accidental” stray attack to take a building down atop a family. Zeth didn’t want to have to worry about figuring out a perfectly-worded contract to form with a demon while he was also dealing with Garon.

Okay, he thought, trying to calm his racing thoughts. Okay, what do I know I need to be doing right now?

No matter what, it would be best to strike at night. Whether or not Garon was well-defended, Zeth would need to get away without being spotted, and a natural cover of darkness was the best way to do that. And other than that, there was one other thing he knew he’d need to have prepared, no matter what his plan ended up being.

Zeth walked over to the room where he stored his Hellfire Rituals. These were his weapons. Currently, they hadn’t had their mana fields patched up yet, but if Zeth was going for a mission of stealth, he’d absolutely need to do that. And, if he was already going to wait until nightfall, doing so would be a good use of his time until then.

So he got to work, using the practice he’d just gotten in with Erza.

This was it. Today was the day he was going to kill his boss.