#4 ELIMINATE

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#4
ELIMINATE

The tunnel was unlit and dark. Incomprehensible sounds from deep inside echoed in the tunnel, channeled into Amariya and Mitsuke's ears. It sounded like a commotion deeper inside the tunnel. Mitsuke turned back to see the man, a cloak covering his whole body leaving a gap for his eyes, move the slab of rock back into position, closing the entrance. He held it with only one hand, so either he was incredibly strong to slide it back or there was a mechanic that eased the rock's movement. The light from the outside was cut off and the tunnel receded into pitch darkness.

Not quite. Mitsuke didn't notice it before because of the brightness of the outside but the tunnel ahead of him was faintly lit. Light from deep in the tunnel was reflecting off the tunnel walls where they currently stood.

Amariya just casually walked forward and Mitsuke followed behind her. He wanted to ask her many questions; where this was, who was that man, what's in the tunnel, but he had to focus on where he stepped as it was still too dark for him to see the ground properly. Amariya on the other hand was walking along without slipping or tripping on the uneven ground, as if she walked this path a thousand times. She probably did, Mitsuke thought.

After many careful steps and a few stumbles, the light got brighter and Mitsuke could at least see the floor at his feet. Still needing to take careful steps on the uneven ground, Mitsuke walked some more and finally reached the end of the tunnel. To behold a spectacular view.

He was several hundred feet above the bottom of the cavern. Low buildings were scattered all over the ground below, people hurrying in the narrow channels between each. It was indeed the sound of commotion; people shouted to get others' attention, just like in the market in Tarm. The massive noise travelled all the way up to Mitsuke's ears and it was almost overwhelming. Must be the fact that this was an enclosed space and the sound echoed everywhere, amplifying itself. He looked directly straight and still saw buildings reaching all the way to the other end of the cavern, the false horizon.

It was an underground city.

Mitsuke was standing on a cliff. Still amazed at the spectacular view, Amariya had to call to him to get his attention. Mitsuke turned to his left to see Amariya heading down a slope, probably towards the ground below. Mitsuke followed her.

“Amariya...” Mitsuke wanted to start a question.

“You want to ask about this place, right?” she said. Mitsuke wasn't surprised that she knew it. So far his questions have been obvious and predictable.

“They call this the Underworld. It's pretty much the main gathering place for black market activity. Mercenaries, intelligence agents, drug dealers, you name them, and you can bet your life that at least one is here.”

Mitsuke felt nervous. Somehow this seemed like a dangerous place for a small boy like him.

As if reading his mind, Amariya said “Don't worry about being the odd one out, I won't let anyone bully you!” cheerfully.

The pair continued along the slope. Mitsuke noticed that it was zig-zagging along the cliff towards the ground and would take quite some time to reach it. To kill some time while walking down, he asked about the man at the entrance.

“He's known as the Gatekeeper. Nobody knows his real name and when we ask him for it, he gives us different names each time so we decided to just stick with Gatekeeper. Aha, I guess a reply like that was kind of funny. There was a general rule; if you reveal your actual identity, you are admitting that you are new to the black market business. So we normally just say stuff like ' Do you need to ask?' or 'You don't need to know'. Why does he still ask that then? Well, maybe it's a tradition of sorts.”

Then Mitsuke asked general questions about the whole place.

“Nobody knows exactly when this place existed. It's been around for too long for anyone to pinpoint an exact origin. There are several entrances but only one is open at a time. You saw me smacking the cliff wall just now right? I was trying to see where the current entrance was. When I heard the hollow sound, I knew that that was it. All the other entrances are sealed by slabs of rock slotted into the tunnel. When we want to change the entrance, we move the slabs from one entrance to the open one, sealing one and opening another.

“A place like this obviously has to avoid the eyes of the public or problems will arise. That includes hiding away from the government. That's where several entrances come in. If by any chance a normal man sees someone entering through an entrance in the cliff and either investigates it himself or informs the authorities about it, they will be put off when the supposed entrance is sealed and they only see a normal cliff wall. But we have agents in the outside world to prevent this anyways. You saw the shack out there right? That's actually a surveillance spot. There's an agent in that shack and if anyone not related to the black market is around, he will report to the inside and all entrances will be sealed.”


Mitsuke listened intently. He found himself learning more about the world around him every day. He noticed that Amariya kept using 'we' in her explanations so she truly was among the black market people here. They reached the bottom of the vast cavern and now walked with the people below. Mitsuke looked around. People in cloaks covering their whole bodies were hurrying around. He asked a question.

“Even among people in the black market, you wouldn't really want to reveal your identity here. A general rule in the black market; never trust anyone.” she replied.

In the flow of people, Mitsuke got pushed back. Afraid that he would be separated, he rushed forward and grabbed hold of Amariya's cloak. People were staring at the two of them. It was a peculiar sight in the Underworld; a girl with a young boy holding onto her by the cloak. Most of the people turned at them out of curiosity. Others were kidnappers and eyed them intently, finding an opening. There were none as Amariya grabbed hold of Mitsuke's hand and pulled him forward.

A drop of water fell on Mitsuke's head and he looked up in reflex. He saw the cavern ceiling above, vicious stalactites hanging off the ceiling with the chance they would fall off at any moment. Water drops dripped off of them, originating from the outside world. That was for the natural aspect of the ceiling; as for the unnatural aspect, huge lights hung off the ceiling, providing the vast cavern with illumination. They weren't fire torches but electric lights. He wondered where the electricity was from. He also noticed other tunnels boring into the cavern walls, zig-zagging slopes heading towards them. Those must be the other entrances.

The pair suddenly remembered that they haven't eaten lunch yet. Still walking along, they crossed by a stand selling skewered whole roasted fowl. Seeing that she didn't have any money left, Amariya swiftly snatched one while nobody was looking. Again, an action that seemed oh so familiar to her. They turned into a corner out of the vendor's sight to have their meal.

Once done, they walked faster than before. Exactly where are we heading to, Mitsuke thought. A few minutes after that thought, his question was answered. The pair stood in front of a stall, a tent with a curtain as an entrance. A sign above it said 'Jidai's Mission Acquisition'. They entered, swiping the curtain to the side and causing the chimes tied above them to play their signature sound.

The inside was dimly lit by a single light bulb hanging in the centre of the room but just bright enough for Mitsuke to notice that it was very plainly furnished. A carpet was at his feet and there was a desk right in front of him. Behind the desk was a shelf, each compartment filled with stacks of paper. There was another curtain at the side of the shelf and that was where a man stepped out of, called by the ringing of the chimes at the entrance.


He was an elderly man, almost bald but with thin strands of hair strewn on his scalp. His eyes squinted, it almost seemed as if they weren't open at all. His face was wrinkled, same went for his scrawny arms and figure in general. He was holding a stack of more paper in his hands as he stepped out of the other room at the back. He smiled at the sight of Amariya.

“Ah, if it isn't Amariya.” he said, his voice old and senile, with a snicker at the end. He placed the stack of paper from his hand onto the desk.

“Good to see you too, Jidai.” Amariya replied, sitting on the carpet. She took her cloak off and folded it, putting it onto the carpet beside her, showing the vest she wore over her plain black shirt. She also swung her bag off her back and took her sheathed katana off her belt and placed them on her cloak.

“So, is there any specific criteria you are loo-” Jidai's words were cut off by the sight of his other guest. “Ah, why we have a new visitor here.” he said with a senile snicker. “How rude of you not to introduce him to me.”

“I just thought it didn't matter to you. His name is Mitsuke. Found him in a rubbled town.”

“Ah, the Agara incident. I heard about it already. So he is a survivor.”

“The lone survivor more like it.”

“Ah, then that makes him all the more special.” Jidai snickered. “Well then, nice to meet you, Mitsuke-kun.”

Mitsuke was slightly surprised at being greeted so casually by this man. He gave a small bow and a soft “Nice to meet you.” in response.

“Such a polite boy.” he snickered. An old habit of his. “Well then, to business. I'm sure you are here for more reasons than showing this young boy to me.”

“Of course.” Amariya stood up and walked to the desk, sitting on it. She seemed so casual, it was obvious she knew the man for such a long time and she did this over a thousand times. Jidai took a seat behind the desk, flipping through the stack of paper he brought out of the other room. Amariya looked at the papers Jidai flipped through from where she sat. Mitsuke didn't know what to do so he just sat on the carpet obediently.

“I'm broke as usual, so find me the closest and most lucrative job.” she said to Jidai.

“I expected as much from you. Considering that you just only took a job from me a week ago, this was expected.” he responded with a snicker. Then, he remembered something. He went straight to near the bottom of the stack and pulled a piece of printed paper out.

He handed it to Amariya. She took it with her gloved hand and looked through it.

“If it's the closest and most lucrative job you want, here's something worth looking at. Have you heard of the recent killings at Aruka?”

“Sounds interesting. Do explain more.” she replied still eyeing the paper.

“Thirteen casualties have been identified. Nobody knows if that's the actual number of victims. And all this started only five days ago. Quite an active killer, wouldn't you say?” Jidai said with a snicker.

“I'm sure something else makes this case more special.”

“Of course. Each victim died in a spectacular way. A perfectly circular hole in the torso. Bodies split in half. There was one where the body laid on the floor with every finger separated from the hands and laid in a circle around it. And each one of them have no apparent connection. Other than being victims of murder, of course.”

“I see that it's not the Mayor of Aruka that's the employer.”

“Indeed.” Jidai crossed his fingers and rested his chin on them. “The Mayor intends to find the culprit and put him or her into justice through the conventional means. But that would mean a normal 10-year sentence in prison with beatings. Such a punishment does not seem fitting for such a sinner, at least that is what some of the Council members think. So they decided to find mercenaries to eliminate the murderer without the knowledge of the Mayor.”

“I doubt he's so stupid to not realize who the employers were after the murderer is executed.”

“Well, that is something to worry about later on after they handle the problem. After all, the wellbeing of their citizens is their top priority.” Jidai snickered at his semi-sarcastic statement.

“Why hasn't anyone else taken the job? It's been around for quite some time, hasn't it? And it sounds like such a well-known incident too.”

“Well, considering all the key-points of this case, it's pretty obvious who's the culprit, don't you think?”

Amariya contemplated for a while. “I see.” she said.

“Not many people dare to challenge them. Of course there are the more elite ones who would probably take this one without hesitation, but fortunately for you none of them have come here to ask for the job yet.”

“And indeed that is good for me. I'll take it.” Amariya said with a smile.

What followed was some signing of papers and filing of documents. Mitsuke still sat on the carpet in a blur about what happened just now. He listened to the two of them talking but barely understood anything.

“The initial payment should arrive by this evening since Aruka is quite near.” Jidai told Amariya.

“Got it.” Amariya walked back to Mitsuke, putting a piece of paper into her vest. She picked up her cloak and swung it over her shoulders as well as put her katana at her belt. “Again, thanks for the help, Jidai!” she shouted to her back.

“It's my job. Take care, Amariya, Mitsuke-kun.”

Mitsuke stood up and followed Amariya out of the tent. His eyes took a split second to adjust to the light difference. It was ironic; he got out of a tent and found the outside which was a cavern brighter than the inside. Amariya walked further out when she realized her back lighter than normal. Of course, she forgot to take her bag from the tent. She couldn't believe it; she's been in there so many times and she forgets to take her bag now.

She turned behind. “Mitsuke, I left my bag in there. Mind waiting out here for a short while as I go get it?”

“Sure.” he replied in a sort of obedient way.

Amariya pulled the curtain to the side again.

*********************************************

He walked in fast and heavy steps in his fury. It wasn't the first time, he's lost many times before yet he just wouldn't learn his lesson. The hot-tempered gambler who was the head of a small brotherhood was indeed very vexed at his most recent loss. Some two hundred coins, not the most but still a lot of money.

“Calm down, bro. We can get that money back. Just beat the crap out of them and they're bound to hand it over.” a lackey tried to talk to his infuriated boss.


“It's not as simple as that, fool!” the boss said. “It's a whole casino!! They've got security there, no way we'd beat that!!”

The lackey, crestfallen at his vain effort, slowed his walking and receded into the crowd behind the boss following him.

Rakujo stormed through the crowds. People moved aside to allow him passage. He was well known in the Underworld for his very bad temper. It was quite a common scene for him to rush down the path and head to the outside to vent his anger in some way. Some time or another there would be news of him robbing public places and causing havoc in general together with his whole gang and they would disappear right after the incident, back into the Underworld. And he would gamble once more with the money they just stole. Indeed, a stubborn man.

The whole gang behind him had differing thoughts. It was either pity for the gang leader for his loss or pity at him for his stubborn-ness and bad luck. Some also think about how Rakujo was bad at gambling, betting on huge amounts of money without seeing the odds. They were lackeys; they only needed to show loyalty to the leader through action not through thought.

“Alright guys, we're going to mess Tarm up!!” Rakujo exclaimed angrily to his fellow brothers. They all roared out in response in support of their beloved boss, sincere or not.

And in their rush towards the entrance to leave for Tarm, Rakujo knocked into a boy. It wasn't a direct impact otherwise the frail figure would fall over. Since his forearm just knocked into the boy's shoulder, a sign of how much bigger he was, the boy just spun round and lost his balance a little. Rakujo, still in his fury, looked down at the measly figure.

The boy put both his feet back on the ground and looked up at the massive figure looming over him. He was confused about the whole event and his eyes told it clearly. Rakujo's annoyance grew in him as he saw this odd sight.

“What the heck is a little boy doing here!!?” he shouted out.

Still in his fury, Rakujo formed his right hand into a fist and pulled it upwards.

“This ain't a place for you, kid!!”

Thus, his fist strikes down.

*********************************************


The chimes rang once more as Amariya entered the tent. She saw her single-strapped sling bag on the carpet, nearly abandoned there. Jidai was sill at his desk.

“Forgot something, did you?”

“Yeah. A rare occurrence, don't you think?” Amariya said smiling, though her embarrassment was present in her voice.

She picked the bag up and slung it onto her back. She turned towards the entrance she came from and said a casual goodbye to Jidai. As she took a few steps, Jidai said something.

“I wonder if that boy will bring along someone his current age in ten years.”

Amariya stopped in her tracks. The statement played in her mind. And she giggled.

“Indeed, I wonder.”

She stepped out.

*********************************************

Mitsuke waited outside for Amariya. For someone who went in there a thousand times, she sure can forget a bag, he thought. He stood aimlessly, perhaps his one aim was to wait for Amariya. With nothing to do, he looked around him, staring back at the ceiling and the cavern walls he observed earlier.

A commotion was heard. There was a group of people storming through the path, shoving passers-by aside to make space. It was lead by a very angry man. Mitsuke noticed them at the bottom of his mind; while looking at his surroundings, he heard them come but didn't put them into serious consideration. Then, there was a great impact on his shoulder.

Spinning once and losing his footing, Mitsuke eventually got back to standing up again. Still in his confusion, he saw the towering figure loom over him, shouting something and readying his fist to strike down at him. Feeling helpless, he just flinched and braced himself.

*********************************************

The curtains were pulled aside and Amariya stepped out of the tent, her eyes adjusting to the change in brightness. Once her eyes could take in her surrounding properly, she saw an almost unbelievable sight.

There was a huge man. She knew him. What was his name? Ra... Rakujo! Yes, that guy who always had bad luck and lost money and would act all immature and vent his anger at his surroundings. And he had a gang of goons too, sucking up to him lest he beat them up. There he was with said goons behind him, crowding around. And Mitsuke, much smaller than him, cowering as a fist swiftly moves downwards towards his face. Rakujo's fist.

Rakujo was about to punch Mitsuke out of whatever reason.

*********************************************

Time slowed down.

Amariya saw the sight and was not about to let Mitsuke get injured from Rakujo's anger-venting. She poised, bending low as if about to strike. She released her katana from its scabbard with her thumb, pushing it against the guard and revealing only an inch of the blade. Then, she bolted.

In an instant, she dashed towards the man, covering about four metres in a single bound. Her legs kicked the ground, thrusting her with great velocity, disappearing from where she was standing and reappearing right next to Rakujo. Her feet skidded on the floor to stop her in her tracks in the perfect position to perform her next move.

She thrust her hand out, palm open, and slammed it against Rakujo's fist. The impact stopped the swinging arm. Rakujo saw her and was stunned and surprised. This woman just appeared out of nowhere and stopped his fist with her puny hand!

Mitsuke, too, was surprised. Instead of feeling massive pain in his face, he opened his eyes to see Amariya appearing in front of him, saving him from injury.

And they both saw her eyes. Empty, emotionless, merciless.

Deep crimson.

In a split-second, Amariya flexed her hand to grab hold of Rakujo's wrist, her fingers not even meeting after wounding around it. She pulled his arm forward, pivoted her shoulder against his arm and threw him to the ground right next to Mitsuke. The massive impact from the heavy man falling to the ground caused the floor to vibrate and a great cloud of dust flew up from the dirty ground.

Mitsuke had a hard time following the split-second event. Now he just realized that his attacker has been subdued and is now lying on the floor next to him facing the ceiling. Rakujo's eyes were in a daze, disoriented from being thrown by a girl almost a quarter his size. And she used only one arm; her left arm was holding the handle of her blade.


Amariya pushed the katana back fully into its sheath. As if still not satisfied with her method of subduing the man, she pulled his arm up and twisted it in a swift and deadly manner, dislocating his joints. Rakujo gave a loud cry of excruciating pain. Amariya let go of the arm and it just fall onto Rakujo's torso, limp and immovable. Perhaps for weeks.

Amariya realized that the two of them had to leave before the group of lackeys who were behind Rakujo before he got thrown regained their senses after being stunned at her amazing feat. She grabbed hold of Mitsuke's hand. “Let's go.” she said, still with coldness in her voice. The two of them ran towards the direction of the entrance they used to enter the Underworld.

Some lackeys wanted to chase after the two of them but after hearing the great cry of pain from Rakujo, they decided to turn back and give aid to their boss. They successfully fled from the scene.

*********************************************

Amariya leaned against the cliff wall she stepped out of. Mitsuke was bending over, his hands on his knees and catching his breath. They ran from the scene with all their might, reaching the entrance and finding the Gatekeeper already opening the entrance. He was used to his job; hear someone rushing out and you let him or her rush out.

“I'm gonna get it from them when I come back.” Amariya said with a sigh. She still didn't think it was her fault. Rakujo was the one assaulting the innocent boy. If he had a sliver of intelligence, he wouldn't have gotten his arm like that. Maybe the whole gang will be staying by his side at the general clinic in there and wouldn't have time to go after her. But that won't last forever. Great, another nuisance to face when I come back, she thought.

“Amariya...” Mitsuke could barely say out, panting like he ran for his life, which he did, a minute ago. After a few gulps of air, he stood straight and continued his sentence. “Thank you...” with more pants after.

Amariya was slightly surprised at what he said. Such a polite boy, she remembered Jidai saying. What an accurate statement.

“Hey, I already said I won't let anyone bully you!” she responded with a big grin across her face.

And they started another journey.

*********************************************


Straight ahead of them was the way to Tarm. The two of them followed the cliff wall, sticking to shade under the afternoon sky. Once clearing the semilunar cliff, they continued walking onwards. Mitsuke noted their current direction. If the way to Tarm was north, they were heading east. After some time the sun was setting right in front of them and Mitsuke realized they were heading west instead.

Based on Amariya and Jidai's previous conversation, or rather briefing, they were heading to Aruka. He asked how far more to it and Amariya replied saying that they should reach there by nightfall if they don't stop to rest. Mitsuke didn't mind walking if it was that nearby. Even so, he didn't need to.

*********************************************

“Amariya, exactly who is Jidai? You seem to have known him for a long time.”

Inside the supply vehicle, Mitsuke was sitting next to Amariya along with two other young men who were across them. As she was sitting right at the back of the wagon, half blocked by a wooden board, the noise of the wagon's wheels went directly into her ears and she could only barely hear Mitsuke who was right next to her. Still, she knew his question.

“He's what you call a mission-acquisition agent. People just call him an agent or mission-man. He's helped me plenty of times before and I'm not the only one. We've known each other since I started being a mercenary so we go a long way back.”

Mitsuke nodded. It wasn't that he couldn't think of that conclusion, he just wanted to confirm. He noticed that Amariya said “started being a mercenary” and that piqued his curiosity.

“How did you start being a mercenary?”

Amariya's face showed that she was thinking. “Not an easy question to answer. I guess it started when I was adopted by my teacher. When I learnt all his skills, I thought I'd use them myself.”

This conclusion Mitsuke could not predict.

Time passed. By evening the wagon reached a town. Amariya told the middle-aged man handling the horse pulling the wagon that this was their stop and the two of them got off.

“Sorry, but I don't have any money with me currently.” Amariya told the man with a sorry smile as if to beg for forgiveness from him.


“No, no, it's alright. You wanted to go the same direction so it's no different for us.” the man replied with his aged voice.

Amariya gave her thanks and waved goodbye to the group of merchants they hitch-hiked with. Mitsuke did the same.

But the town they were at was not Aruka.