Serpents Rising [Kaede]

The financial district within Fiore’s capital of Crocus was currently filled with the sound of construction. A new multistory building had been erected, and while the outside had mostly been completed the inside still had a ways to go. With one exception: a small villa located on the buildings roof. It was nominally Xiaomin’s home within the capital, even if she did not technically own it. Like the rest of the building, her villa had been funded by the Kahoshi-clan as part of their investment in the region. Until she could pay back that investment, Xiaomin was little better than a tenant.

Which led, in part, to her presence here today. Word had come in from Midi that a member of the Clan had been sent to act as her new financial officer. Certainly she could use such a person now that money was starting to flow, but she knew what this newcomer really was. A spy. Her superior clearly did not trust her entirely, something she could not fault him for. Her position within the Clan existed only because she had inherited it from her father. A man who had been betrayed and lost his entire organization. Sending one of their own to keep an eye on the money was a not so subtle way of making sure Xiaomin behaved.

This newcomer would be arriving from the east of the country, and would have to pass through the capital on the way to their real base in Hosenka. As this building would be the main financial center of their operations, it had made sense to have their first meeting here despite the ongoing construction. Within the soundproofed villa (primarily to keep sounds from leaving the building), the noise outside was essentially nonexistent.

Her villa was itself a miniature base. Besides her room, there was an office, a living area for entertaining guests, a small meeting room for up to ten, and then all the other basic necessities such as a kitchen and rooms for her guards and servants. Expensive decorations already adorned much of the villa. Even though part of Xiaomin hated wasting money on such frivolities when there was still so much she had to invest in, but it was ultimately a necessary business expense. She would eventually meet the rich and powerful here from outside the Clan, and she would need to show off the wealth and power her organization wielded.

In the living area, Xiaomin reclined in a chair specially prepared for her. It faced a pair of sofas, at such an angle that all seated would easily be able to converse. What would not be apparent to most was that the sofas had been built to sit low to the ground, while her chair was the opposite. It was a small illusion that would make her seem taller while sitting. The diminutive crime lord did not want to be seen as weak, and so often relied on things like this to prop her up. Literally, in many cases. As she relaxed in her chair, reading a report on some property acquisitions for a new brothel, one of her men stepped through the door.

“Mistress, your guest has arrived.”

“See them in,” Xiaomin responded, setting down the report. She would remain seated, for even if this newcomer was a spy, Xiaomin intended to make it clear that she was still the one in charge.

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Crocus, a backwater city put together by Midian labor; the modern architecture leaves a bit to be desired, Kaede already missed home. The over reliance on concrete and steel didn’t suit her aesthetic, though very little did.  The only thing it has going for it are the organized roads. Even the clear sunny day felt like a mockery.  She’d been intercepted at the port earlier; the messenger had been polite, but had not been privy to the contents of the message, and declined escorting the new arrival.  As Liu Sa… no, different culture here, Ms. Liu had changed the meeting location, no longer at headquarters where the future Golden Dragon accountant and bookkeeper, Kaede, would find her office. Instead this meeting was to be held at an under-construction building closer to the company's primary business, a forward operations center.  

Either Ms. Liu didn’t care if her new accountant arrived at all, or just had that much trust she’d arrive prudently, disordered.  This meant she not only had to meet with her today, instead of getting a hotel and cleaning herself up, but she’d have to do so expediently.  The orderly, and predictably named streets made finding the place easy, it was quite large, and one of the more finished looking buildings in this district.  It was very functional looking, She didn’t approve.  Inside she saw just how much further the structure had to go before it was complete, even the reception desk was missing a little, something, something she couldn’t quite put her finger on. For one, the room made the lone desk look tiny, it very obviously wasn’t.

The man at reception stood to greet her, his uniform was clean, face shaven.  He cleared throat before speaking.  “Excuse me miss, this office is not yet open to the public, we’re still under construction.  What is your business here?”  His tone was curt, to the point, no doubt his bravery was because he was armed and had several guards at the ready.  She nodded to acknowledge the receptionist's words, she maintained eye contact and continued to walk until she was a few steps shy of his desk.

”I am Kaede Mizuno.  I am here to see the boss.  She is expecting me."  Kaede spoke louder than was absolutely necessary, stressing the first words of each sentence.  She kept her tone flat otherwise.  The man behind the desk, to his credit, didn’t flinch, or hesitate, just pointed to the lift on the other side of the foyer, which came to life with a ding as her eyes trained on it.

The elevator moved with no input, the trip was annoyingly short, not enough time to get anything done on the way up. She suddenly wished her new superior would try a power play, the kind people with little minds would do, thinking they were smart. It would keep her in a waiting room for an hour or so to ‘sweat it out’, but in reality it’d give her time to get out of her travel clothes and brush her hair. It occurred to her that she had a painfully short list of details on this woman, just her age and a vague idea of why she’s here, and not a clue why she wasn’t back home with the Family.  

When the lift car doors opened, she was greeted by a tiny man, he smiled warmly and motioned her to follow.  As she was guided through the, what seemed more like a manor than an office, it was hard not to notice that this place felt very different from the foyer.  It was well decorated, obvious care went into the decorations, their placement, and the place’s construction materials, even the windows to the outside were made in such a way as to obfuscate the fact they were on the top of a large building surrounded by other large buildings.  Kaede approved. After a short pause at a doorway, she was ushered in.

Kaede kept her eyes diverted, and moved with a practiced gate, she pulled a tube from under her arm and slid the scroll from inside. ”I’m sorry for my state of dress, I was not prepared to meet so soon, I…”  She saw the diminutive one for the first time and choked on her tongue and fumbled a step before she could finish her sentence.  Aaaaaaaaaaaaaah! This is Ms. Liu!? She’s adorable! OK, calm down, you can handle this, take a deep breath and refocus.  The decidedly taller and less adorable woman in the room cleared her throat and tried to continue, she was visibly shaken.

”I-I am Mizuno Kaede, and I am reporting here to assist you, by any and all means specified in this contract.”  She unrolled the scroll in her hand and gently placed it onto her future employer’s desk, next to it she placed a pair of pens that seemed to materialize in her hand. Kaede held her hand up to ask for a pause. ”Before you touch this contract know that anyone who signs it is legally and magically bound to its terms, that is the nature of my magic. I call it Terms and Conditions apply.  I cannot stop the effect of the contract from applying once activated, I do not need to know the contract is broken for it to immediately apply and take effect.  I have every intention to serve you as I am contractually obligated, I have never broken a contract, and will not break this one.”  Kaede’s voice wavered as she spoke, it could be nerves, definitely not her excitement at seeing her new boss.  She motioned to the contract and took a step back to sit on one of the couches.

The contract reads:

Liu Xiaomin Employer Contract:

”If there is anything you would like to add or change, please ask.  The current penalties were stipulated by the Family, I apologize, but I can only add to those”  She swallowed and tried to look like she was paying attention to the room’s decorations as she waited for her future boss’ reply.

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1944 Total

When her new financial officer was brought into her villa, Xiaomin was actually quite surprised to find her a pretty young woman. Somehow she had expected some nerdy looking pencil pusher that the Kahoshi family had not wanted to keep at home. Not that looks had anything to do with competence, but being attractive was undeniably a useful trait in manipulating the simple minded. If she proved to be competent as well, then this Kaede woman might actually prove to be a useful executive.

What had been that weird facial expression that flashed across her face for a second though? It had been like she had been surprised to see Xiaomin, which seemed unusual. The Kahoshi family should have briefed Kaede on the woman they had sent to Fiore.

Since the financial officer quickly returned to a business like demeanor, the younger woman decided to just shrug it off. Perhaps she was in awe of Xiaomin’s refined beauty. She did go to great lengths to present the elegance her rank required. It was pleasing to see her efforts being rewarded. Keeping the glow of pride off her face, she instead concentrated on what was being said about this contract. The idea of signing a magic contract did not sit well with her, as there was no telling how it could be used against her.

“While I review this contract, let us have some refreshments,” she said, reaching out to take the contact. From another door stepped in a middle aged man in a suit that screamed professional thug. He was currently carrying a silver tray in pink oven mitts that matched the frilly pink apron he wore over his suit to protect it. On the tray were two tea cups that he set in front of the pair revealing that they contained coffee. Even though Xiaomin was not fond of the bitter flavor, it was the drink of choice for mature adults here in Fiore so she had learned to adapt.

Before taking a sip, she dropped several cubes of sugar into her cup. Then she poured in some milk, filling it nearly to the brim and leaving the coffee closer to tan than black. Once she stirred it all together, Xiaomin picked the cup up and drank some enjoying the sweet and milky flavor of the coffee. Contact in one hand and tea cup in the other, her eyes began to scan the words. Assuming that the contract would be upheld unilaterally, it actually did not seem like a bad deal for Xiaomin. Death would be the outcome if she failed, contract or not, so the punishment was light in that regard. There was the matter of the non-disclosure of Kaede’s tastes that was a bit worrisome, but ultimately only one part warranted an objection.

“Why do you need to control my funds as well,” she asked with narrowed eyes.

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The mint haired woman continued to inspect the decorations hanging from a nearby wall. She noted they were meticulously placed, well made; most importantly they display the family’s wealth and power in a tasteful, if unsubtle, way.  Kaede approved and nodded to herself.  Coincidentally, the… girl, had just had refreshments brought in, some tea and… Oh no, the snack! There’s still time!” Kaede graciously accepted the teacup, and set it aside without looking at it.  She pulled a small tin of assorted cookies from her briefcase, opened it up and showed the contents to her host before setting them down on the same table she recently placed the contract.  Believing she had successfully undid a mistake, the future local branch accountant took a sip of her, decidedly not tea.  Her lips curled and she politely set the cop down.  Her host seemed to have a similarly bad opinion of the stuff, as she was piling it with sugar and milk.

Kaede periodically pretended to sip the foul liquid while watching the child-like woman read over her contract. The contract negotiations now in motion, she cleared her throat before speaking.  ”Ah yes, that.  The Family sent me to help you manage finances, I took this to mean the company’s, and yours.”  She kept her tone matter-of-factly. Needing to read this woman’s mental state tried to maintain eye contact, as she continued.  ”Either way, it was not stipulated by the family in those words; so, I would not consider them set in stone.” Kaede kept her attention on the small woman, still pretending to sip at the coffee.

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While she was surprised to see Kaede overing cookies, her eyes sparkled a bit at the sight of the sweets. It was then with some effort that she refrained from eating any yet. The likelihood of them being poisoned was miniscule, but there was always the chance that rather than following the Clan’s orders, the older woman would try and take over the operation herself. So with regret, she set them aside until she could make sure they were safe. At least Kaede seemed to be enjoying the coffee, even drinking it black. Xiaomin took note of this preference to make sure that was how it was served from now on.

Turning her attention back to the contract, she held a hand out to her side palm up. A moment later the frilly aproned goon placed a pen in the hand, which Xiaomin used to write on the contract. First she struck out the line of “shall take control of and manage employer’s funds/resources” and replaced it with “shall take control of and manage funds/resources designated by the employer.” Kaede was to be in charge of the Family's assets, but Xiaomin did not trust her enough to give her access to everything. Perhaps in the future.

She then added another line under the stipulations of “First party shall not lie to, mislead, or otherwise obfuscate information provided to the second party.” The rest of the stipulations she left as is, as they did not concern her. Personal grooming was expected of someone of her rank, and she did not really care about Kaede’s fetishes so had no intention of sharing them with others. With the changes outlined, she handed the contract back. “I think this is satisfactory for both parties.”

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Kaede pretended to take another sip, she was beginning to rather enjoy the smell of this disgusting stuff, which confused her even more that it tastes so bad.  The small woman looked at the cookies and set them aside with little, if any interest; which caused Kaede to accidentally take some of the coffee into her mouth and cough as she watched in masked horror.  Disinterest!?  Is she allergic!? Is it the cookies themselves or the chocolate? I screwed up!  No, she’d look more displeased or disgusted if that were true.  The mint haired woman had decided Ms. Liu had plenty of sweetness in her drink, and that was the reason.  

She watched with interest as her contract was edited, the line about controlling funds and resources had been restricted to only designating funds, she felt this was a mistake but wouldn’t argue it. But the second edit seemed problematic.  This could easily lead to her charge accidentally breaking the contract, and while this would be a mild embarrassment, it would destroy the woman she had been assigned to assist.  This needs addressing.

”While I do not agree the first edit is for the best, Ms Liu, I do agree that it does not harm or give either of us an advantage in this contract.  However, the second edit can lead to you breaking the contract unintentionally.”  She set her coffee down, took a deep breath and nodded to herself before continuing.  ”The contract includes a non-disclosure agreement about my personal tastes.  If I am not allowed to lie in your presence to obfuscate this in the company of a third party, your modified stipulation would amount to having the subject disclosed, because you stipulated the change, it would be by your action that this happened.  This is an imbalance in the contract, to my advantage and I cannot allow it to remain.  The future accountant paused and absently bit her lip and she thought of a way to fix this.  ”I think adding an exception for white lies, or an exception for the NDA would prevent this conflict.  Put thusly: (First party) shall not, excepting white lies or lies that might cause a break in the NDA, lie to mislead or otherwise obfuscate information provided to the second party.”  She knew this was a more fair wording and hoped her charge would agree.

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“Refer to me as Lady Liu, Mistress, or Family Head,” she said when Kaede called her “Ms. Liu.” The terminology was not wrong per se, but in Xiaomin’s mind it lacked gravity. She had to command the respect of a criminal organization, in which most of the members of, she was loath to admit, greatly dwarfed her in size. That left her always trying to shore up her position in any small way she could. Whether her methods actually worked or not was another matter entirely.

As Kaede went over the reasons why the contract would not work as Xiaomin had outlined, the short mage kept her face neutral. In hindsight it was obvious how the terms contracted themselves, and since Xiaomin’s punishment would be severe she would rather avoid that. Instead of admitting to her mistake, she simply nodded in agreement. “Good, I am glad to see you caught that. If you had missed it I would have worried about whether I could trust you with such important duties. Yes, you may change the wording as you have outlined.”

Once the changes were made, Xiaomin signed the contract. Wanting to test out if the magic was working, she gestured toward the gift Kaede had brought. “Are these treats safe to eat?” There was, of course, no way to determine if it worked with complete assurance. If they were poisoned and Kaede admitted it, the magic may be valid. If she lied and Xiaomin was poisoned, there was a risk yes, but it would reveal the magic as a sham. If it was not poisoned, well, she would just have to give the older woman a sliver of trust. For now.

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The coffee sat there, its flat, dark-surface mocking her, still almost completely full.  Kaede had decided she didn’t mind if Ms. Liu thought it rude she not drink it, Rather Lady Liu as she prefers.  The mint haired woman nodded in agreement at Lady Liu’s request.  The change of honorific did sound more important, and a loftier title could improve future negotiations.  Kaede approved.  Kaede slowly came to her feet and stepped over the modified contract, with its addendums and crossed-out line.  She pulled out her pen and crossed out the previous offending line and wrote in her proposed line, making an effort to keep her work in full view of the small woman. She signed her name on the line next to Lady Liu’s, and picked it up holding it for the smaller woman to see.

Edited Contract:

Completed Contract:

”Let’s clean this up. When I activate the contract, it will remove the struck-out lines and place the new lines where they should be, an organized contract is easier to reference.”  She focused her will onto the contract and then spoke with quiet conviction.  ”Apply.”  The contract shone like it was suddenly glossy, a band of light reflected, moving down the page, it highlighted and fixed the text as it went. When it reached the bottom, the document duplicated itself, like mitosis. She placed one back where she had picked it up, and the other into her briefcase.  She opened her mouth as if to speak, but was cut off.  Kaede’s eye twinged at the question, perhaps she had misread Lady Liu’s intentions towards the cookies.

”Safe? They…” She touched an index finger to her lip, her face pensive, and started over. ”Safe is a difficult thing to state with certainty, aside from being a possible allergen for some people, they contain wheat, dairy milk, egg, sugar and some of them have chocolate, they may be a little high in calories.  I can say with certainty that I am allergic to nothing in them, and they have not been tampered with as they have been in my possession since I bought them at a bakery in town.  I cannot believe the bakery had any knowledge of who I am or who I represent.  I believe them to be safe, yes.”  Kaede’s eyes looked into the middle distance, her face mildly concerned, but it returned to normal as she stopped speaking.

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At first when Kaede began to ramble rather than answer, Xiaomin assumed it was because she was attempting to lie about the cookies being poisoned. It was only after she saw the other woman’s expression and heard the qualifications that she realized it was the opposite. If it was an act, it was certainly a good one. Watching for a reaction, she picked up one of the cookies and popped it into her mouth. It was sweet and delicious, which brought a slight smile to her face as she held her cheek in happiness.

Realizing her serious facade had slipped a bit, Xiaomin cleared her throat and stood up. “Yes, well, now that your contract is out of the way we should get to introducing your duties.”

Picking up the contract, she picked up her copy of the contract and  walked over to a portrait hanging on the wall. Pulling on one corner revealed that behind it was a safe. A bit cliche perhaps, but there were only so many ways to hide a safe in an office and still have easy access to it. She placed her gloved hand on the front, channeling a bit of magic into the small lacrima on the front. Once her magic signature was confirmed, it opened and inside could be seen a number of documents and a small amount of valuable items in case of an emergency. Nothing inside would endanger the Family if it was stolen, so it was the perfect place for the contract. Once the safe was sealed and the portrait replaced, Xiaomin turned back to Kaede.

“Your first duty will be the management of Golden Dragon Real Estate and its holdings,” she began. “I am listed as the owner, but you will be the acting president and handle the day to day operations. This is our most important asset, and I expect you to treat it that way. All our liquid assets in this country pass through here, for both sets of books.”

Naturally she could not come out and say it was the center of their money laundering schemes, hence the mention of two sets of books. The real books that showed every jewel that passed through Family hands, and the “cooked” books that hid the illegal origin of most of their income. “This building is to be kept clean at all times, it would be very unfortunate if some… esteemed personages were to stumble across something we did not want them to see. Any such messes should be kept back at base.”

More euphemisms, specifically that no illegal activities were to be done within this building. As they were in the royal capital, a sudden visit by Rune Knights with incriminating evidence on the property could cost the Family their entire operation in Fiore. That was something that needed to be avoided at all costs. Their base of operations at Hosenka was far from the watchful gaze of the magic council, and would be a much more convenient place to conduct their less than legal enterprises. “Do you have any questions on your duties so far? If not, we shall head to Hosenka.”

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