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Treasure within the ashes [Private]

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Leila Rosenberg

Leila Rosenberg
C-Tier
C-Tier

(This topic simply explains how Leila met Trapper and shown her affinity for the Dominance specialization)

Balbadd, a country said to represent freedom and ambition. For a certain young woman that was what Baldbadd represented: a country of opportunities. It was an early summer morning, a peaceful and a little bit of a warm morning like the ones that were commonly found during June, and yet Leila found herself already awake and hard at work. It was actually a sight to behold: a large room that could only be described as extravagant. A carpet of the softest fur within Balbadd was spread beneath her feet, reaching from the entrance of the room all the way to the far reaches of the corners. Expensive furniture from wooden chairs with leather seat padding at the oaken desk to the soft sofas. There were even vases with exotic plants and flowers. In the end this was how her master was. Yes her master and mentor Abbass was a politician, but this had not always been the case. When Balbadd was still a monarchy Abbass had once held the position of a noble with a lot of power. However, the sly old fox realized that the granddaughter of the monarch would outwit their ruler by a popularity contest that anyone would have won over the chubby fool and as a result he had secretly promised his support, as a result establishing his role as a politician within the cabinet.

But if there’s one thing she was certain of, then it was the fact Abbass couldn’t be trusted. Certainly the man had allowed her to regain her freedom when he purchased her as a slave, removed her shackles and denounced her state as a slave, instead calling her his aide. But Abbass clearly was a scheming man. He didn’t just taught her the ins and outs of the political world, but he also taught her the etiquette of how a courtesan might work in court. Someone whose wits and words alone could serve as weapons as sharp as swords, and in essence she was molded into an assassin. Of course he needed that from her, for he planned to one day turn his eyes onto the minister and beat her at her own game. But for now his time wasn’t ripe yet, and nor was hers.

“Leila, are you there?”

A voice snapped her thoughts back to reality when the door to her office opened and the man in question walked in after having announced his presence. The person was a tall man, who despite his age looked surprisingly healthy and muscular. In fact if she didn’t knew better she would have estimated him to be only in his early 40s. Clad in a comfortable and yet stylish looking suit the man clearly retained his nobility looks despite his position having lost most of its power.

“Master Abbass, a pleasure to see you so early in the morning.”

The azure-haired woman placed the book she had been reading back on the upper-shelves of the bookcase and turned toward him, placing one arm beneath her chest while making a polite light bow with her upper-body. The man laughed briefly, walking up to her while patting her shoulder.

“No need for the theatrics around me my dear, I only came here because I need you to do something for me.”

The young woman’s eyes sharpened subtly in their gaze. It was not unusual for Abbass to charge her with the responsibility of some of his tasks. From meeting her master’s servants to deliver instructions or pick up packages too important for a mere slave to deliver. Still she was a little curious what the old man wanted from her.

“A request? What could I do for you this fine morning?”

The man’s lips curled up briefly as he stepped sideways toward the window, peering outside while he replied to her with a hint of amusement in his tone.

“A perfectly told lie just now. I know all too well that you hate this season’s humidity and yet you’re showing not a trace of it. I’m proud of you. Joking aside, I got a shipment coming in from a trader of exotic animals. Just tell him who send you and he’ll give you the package. Be careful since the package is important.”

The man finally returned toward her, drawing a small purse from the sleeve of his suit and while handing it to her explained curtly.

“You can do with the remaining money whatever you wish, just return before dusk.”

In response to those words she nodded her head firmly, hiding the purse within the pockets of her tunic. She knew Balbadd’s layout fairly well and the market wasn’t that far from her master’s mansion. In fact she was a little bit excited about visiting the market, in the end it was there that you would often find people and things that one simply couldn’t find in Balbadd by normal means. It was that aspect of economy, the import and export of goods that fascinated her.

Of course it was a lot different than what she had been used to in Magnostadt, everything there involved magic in one way or another and she wasn’t exactly one to hold fond memories of that place. In fact despite the smile on her lips the mind of the girl silently thought she wouldn’t mind seeing that ‘City of Magicians’ burn with all its residents still inside, including her vile parents.

“I’ll return with haste Master Abbass.”

And with those words spoken Leila made her way toward her destination. Just like she had thought earlier the market wasn’t that far from the residence of her master. Just a few blocks away in fact and in less than a quarter of an hour she had reached her destination: the markets of Balbadd that were bustling with activity from traders and merchants both from Balbadd and foreign nations alike. Oh how she looked forward to see what exciting events would unfold within the market today. But for now she had work to attend to.


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Leila's vault

Leila Rosenberg

Leila Rosenberg
C-Tier
C-Tier

If there was one season she disliked then it was summer, in the end the humid weather often ended up making her feel lazy but she had to admit today wasn’t a bad day to go out for a walk. The young woman had been walking amidst the different merchant stalls, occasionally stopping to eye the different wares everyone was selling. There was a saying that if someone needed something, it could usually be found at the market within Balbadd. Honestly, according to Leila that might had been close to the truth. Balbadd enjoyed such a prosperous state of import that due to its lax rules plenty of merchants found their way to the country in hope to peddle their goods. Still before she could enjoy any sightseeing she had an appointment to take care of. According to her master’s instructions the vendor she was supposed to meet was an animal trader, what meant he or she was going to be in a specific part of the market. Fortunately for her she knew that there was a certain section of the market that specialized in the trade of ‘living’ materials like beasts or… in some cases even slaves, albeit the latter was growing more difficult ever since the cabinet was established.

Actually, when she arrived at the area they traded such beings Leila’s eyes briefly betrayed a sparkle of childish excitement. There had been so many creatures she had never seen before. There where lions, giant birds of prey and even snakes! Part of her already wanted to get one of those huge bears just to see Master Abbass his expression when she came home with one. It was at one of such stands that she found a young man busily unloading boxes from a cart next to the blankets where the various specimens of his collection where shown.

“Welcome miss to Darwish’s animal kingdom! If there’s any creature you seek then certainly we shall be able to find it for you. Scorpions, manticores, maybe even a raptor?”

Leila couldn’t help but let out a brief chuckle at the young man’s excited attempts to lure her in for a sale, but after a moment her expression sharpened to a serious gaze while she stepped closer toward the stall the man was filling with various items.

“I actually came here on business good sir~ I am Leila, aide of Master Abbass. We are to believe you have a shipment for him?”

The man’s expression brightened at the sight of the purse she withdrawn from her pocket and soon hurried toward the nearby collection of crates, picking what appeared to be a small package from it.

“Ah Abbass, a fine gentleman that is, pays very well for his materials, but he also knows how to demand high quality.”

Now that she considered it, she was kind of curious to discover what business her mentor had with an animal trader. She could ask him, but it was more interesting to try to use her charms on this guy to discover what she needed right? While she started to place the coins into the man’s hand she playfully trailed a fingertip along his palm while humming softly.

“You wouldn’t happen to know what my master ordered, did you?”

The man seemed lightly flustered at the question, coughing lightly while covering his face with his free hand while he replied in a bit of a hurried tone.

“I’m afraid it’s against my merchant’s creed to reveal such information Miss.”

Pouting playfully the girl withdrawn her hand and gently leaned forwards over the stall, making sure not to trip any of the objects on display while she whispered, her tone seductive and soft like the sweetest honey.

“That’s a pity, I wanted to surprise my master with a gift for his upcoming birthday, but without knowing what type of things he likes to order… How about you help me out a little and… we’ll go for a drink later on, I do love to learn more about a handsome man like yourself.”

It seemed she had hit him exactly where she needed for his cheeks flushed up lightly and he finally revealed the information she wanted to hear.

“Your master seems to like alchemy. He ordered the venom of a very specific snake. It’s flavorless and scentless but rather potent. It can paralyze people with a mere drop… Of course using it with alchemy would make him able to develop things like an antidote and such, he really must care about the safety of the people of Balbadd.”

Yeah right, as if her master would play the doctor… That venom was obviously meant for poisonous matters and she could already imagine how. A droplet down the throat of a rival politician, traceless murder… she wouldn’t be surprised if it was one of his schemes.

“Hmm?”

It was only now that Leila noticed that at the back of the stall, somewhere near the alleyway a heap of some sort of substance was laying around, making her frown briefly.

“What’s that laying over there?”

The man turned to look into the direction she was pointing and smiled weakly, waving an hand in an apologetic gesture.

“I’m afraid that’s a failed good. Was a sick bird we found and it was on the verge of death so we burned it. If you think your master has some use for those ashes feel free to take them. There’s a bottle near the crates into the alley you can take. Free of charge since your master is such a good client.”

Her curiosity drawn the girl walked into the alley and knelt down beside the ashes. It was odd to see those black ashes, there was almost not a sight of the burned bird to be found. Actually she wanted to examine the ashes to see what sort of bird it might had been but… There was no corpse to be found. However, just when she was about to walk away a faint chirp came from amidst the ashes…


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Leila's vault

Leila Rosenberg

Leila Rosenberg
C-Tier
C-Tier

Her curiosity picked at the sound Leila quietly waved a hand over the ashes, her eyes scanning the bodily remains of the burned burn when she found a most remarkable sight. Amidst the ashes there was a tiny white bird, around the size of a baby chick looking up at her with wide curious eyes. This bird… had it been hiding in the ashes all along? Pondering about the thought she extended a hand toward the bird and spoke in a soft tone.

“Hey there little one, what were you doing in those ashes?”

The bird chirped again and yet when it lightly touched her fingertip with its beak Leila felt a little jolt in the back of her mind. For a moment she could have sworn she felt confusion from the bird, and a sorrowful feeling toward the ashes. Could it be that the bird was sad about the ashes for some reason? Logically speaking the only reason she could think of that was that the bird was a hatchling of whatever had burned to ashes there but… What was it doing there unnoticed till now?

“It’s a tough world isn’t it? The ashes you hid in were once part of a living being, and yet its life was brutally snuffed out.”

An amused sigh escaped her lips while she started to silently pour the ashes into the jar while looking at the mysterious hatchling that kept staring at her. Another chirp was made and once more a familiar jolt ran across her mind. The bird displayed a genuine curiosity toward her, and deciding to answer its interest she spoke in an amused tone.

“I’m merely taking those back to my place to inspect those ashes in greater detail. I’m kind of curious to find out what happened to this bird.”

When she finally rose up from her seated pose the girl suddenly watched the baby bird flap its wings and hop onto her shoulder, causing her to frown at the creature.

“What the heck do you think you’re doing imitation chicken?”

The bird chirped several times in complain, when suddenly it whispered in a soft tone.

“I’m not a chicken…”

Her eyes blinking in surprise the girl couldn’t believe what just happened. Did that bird seriously just respond to her jest? Of course she had to keep this a secret or the animal trader would claim the bird as one of his goods so instead she picked up the package and made her way to the other side of the alley, making a roundabout walk away from the market and back to the mansion of her master. She was rather intrigued by this talking bird so after she delivered the package to her master she returned to her room, taking a seat behind her desk while lowering the bird onto the desk itself.

“So you can talk huh?”

The bird tilted its head to the side in confusion, soon replying in a curious tone.

“Is that odd?”

Well, she certainly had never heard of a bird that could speak, let stand do it like humans did! Not to mention it was just chirping several moments ago. There was also the fact it seemed to have grown a bit larger in size.

“Well, I certainly haven’t met a bird yet that could talk until I saw you just now. But anyway, what were you doing in those ashes?”

Placing the bottle with the aforementioned ashes on the desk Leila’s eyes narrowed into a focused gaze at the bird who lightly pecked against the bottle.

“I don’t know… Just that those ashes make me sad, and yet a little bit comfortable at the same time also.”

Being comfortable sitting in someone else’s ashes? Gods this thing was more wicked than her own mentor! That was like saying someone enjoyed hugging corpses. Coughing lightly to clear her mind the girl sighed softly.

“So, what do you plan to do, going to fly away into the big blue yonder?”

The bird tilted its head to the side in confusion and chirped in response.

“Big blue yonder?”

Oh great, she was going to have to teach this bird figurative sayings?

“It means, are you going to return to the wild?”

The bird went silent for a while before he shook his head in response to the question.

“I don’t really want to leave…”

Perhaps he wanted to stay with the ashes, but still that thought disturbed her more than she liked. Rising from her seat Leila walked over toward the nearby window and while gazing outside hummed softly.

“Well you’re certainly more handsome than a parrot, and you can talk so maybe I’ll keep you. Just don’t you dare pooping all over the place or Master Abbass will have you for dinner.”

The bird nodded his head curtly in response while Leila walked over toward him.

“My name is Leila, Leila Rosenberg. I guess I’m your owner now. Since I doubt you’d have the brains to name yourself I shall call you… Chicken Nugget.”

The bird chirped loudly in disagreement, a sound that made Leila laugh heartily for a moment while she picked the bird up in her hands.

“Just kidding, I’ll name you Trapper, mostly because I can’t figure out what the hell you are… so you are most likely a trap.”

The bird seemed pleased with the explanation behind his name, and with a nod of confirmation allowed himself to be placed onto her shoulder.

“Still I wonder what he’s planning with that poison… Most likely it won’t be anything good at all…”

In fact maybe she could use this knowledge to her advantage. She did have a date tonight with a certain animal trader so perhaps she could learn more about the poison that way. It was only the first step but perhaps she would soon be able to figure out a strategy to use in her own little game. In the end they did say keep your friends close and your enemies even closer.


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Leila's vault

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