Card Apprentice Daily Log

Date- 31 Mar 2321

Time- 21:08

Location- Sky Blossom City, Old City, Abandoned High School, Bright Lions Party.

"Who else knows about this?" I asked, hearing that Ronnie will be soon imprisoned in Butcher Bob's custody.

"Ronnie tried to ask help from college authorities, but Butcher Bob has managed to keep the college authorities quiet about it. All the professors in college have a guest officer position in the Butcher Bob industry. So it is safe to assume they run the college." Ronnie seems to have reached out to college for help, but they became the eyes that monitored his every action. That is how Butcher Bob's men knew when and where Ronnie planned to flee.

"What about Ronnie's family?" It is safe to assume that Ronnies' family doesn't know about this yet. Otherwise, they would have come knocking at my door for help.

" Ronnie did not want his family to worry, and Butcher Bob didn't want his family to make a ruckus regarding this incident, so they made sure that Ronnies' family didn't hear about it," Van replied.

"Um… what do you need to get my property back?" Ronnie was no longer my cousin. He was my property. Seeing how he chose to flee and went far as suicide rather than cave to Butcher Bob's temptation and threats, he had earned himself that designation.

Turns out even a douchebag like Ronnie has a line that he is not willing to cross. For him, that is his baby mama Jackie. For her, he did not give in to the temptation of wealth, lust, or power. He didn't even cave to their threats. He is willing to die rather than marry into Butcher Bob's family and betray Jackie. His resolve is praiseworthy but not of my use.

"Boss, since you have called off the ambush on the circle planned today. I have enough personnel for this operation. But I think it would be best if just Fred and I went." Van suggested that rather than sending guild members for the task, it would be better if I sent just two of them. This way, we could get the job done without attracting much attention.

"Okay, come to my location and bring Old Ben along with you. It's about time I upgraded you guys." Butcher Bob is a huge company. Underestimating them would be a mistake. Therefore I planned to send three of my strongest calamity daughter gems to get the job done.

"Yes, Boss. And one more thing, I have found a bunch of suitable candidates for the Sin Squad."

"Great! How many within the Sky blossom city?" I asked with tremendous enthusiasm. Sin squad is going to be my shadow army. The TSR guild, Tiger Squadron, Bright Lions, and Fine Gold are the forces that have a presence in the society, and using them to do some questionable tasks would not be wise, so I needed an identity-less shadow army who could move in darkness and solve my troubles without any fingers pointing back to me. And Sin Squad was just that.

"4 Card Lords and 21 Card Grandmasters. If not for the presence of Southern Watch in the city, the number would be much higher." Van specified the number of candidates that have been able to locate for the Sin Squad

The absence of Circle in the city has brought in many new predators to the city, even with the presence of the temporary base of Southern Watch. Once the Southern Watch leaves, all hell will break loose in the city. The first ones to suffer will be the citizens, of course, and next will be the organizations that have fed on the Circle's remains. That means Bright Lions would soon face territory war against the immigrant predators.

"It's okay. I don't need all of them. I only need those that can get a job done without anybody taking notice of it." There are many options to recruit from, but I only need the capable ones.

"That leaves us with 4 Card Lords and 7 Card Grandmasters. These guys are more ruthless and cunning than demons. They are involved in all kinds of crimes one can and cannot imagine. But nobody has ever been able to tie them with their crimes. These maniacs are very meticulous and never leave behind tracks. But when they are done, you know they are to be blamed but can't do anything as there is no evidence to prove it. Interestingly they never engage against someone stronger them no matter how many advantages they have." Van stated the number of capable candidates for the Sin squad.

"Sounds like the people I am looking for. And I have forwarded my location to your grimoire. Hurry over. Tonight is going to be a busy night." Ruthless and more cunning than a demon, meticulous people with patients to cover their tracks, these are people I wanted in the Sin Squad.

"Yes, boss. Right away." Saying that, Van hung up the call.

"I thought tonight was my night." As I hung up the call, I heard Anna complain.

"It still is. Just excuse when I ask for a bathroom break. There is no need to ruin a perfect night over nothing. Speaking of which, by chance, did Luna send over the platinum grimoire she promised?" I know I was hypocrite by asking about work even though I stated otherwise.

"With the demon cult attack on the base, she didn't have time to attend to your request. But here are some platinum grimoires I collected from the demon worshipers." Anna answered with a frown, and her gaze seemed to be saying, 'I will forgive you this once. If it repeats, I am out of here.'

'A few? That's a dozen of platinum grimoires.' I thought, inspecting the storage card handed by Anna.

"Would you like to continue our dance?" I asked Anna politely and reached my hand to her with noble manners.

"No, I don't want to. Let's gaze at the stars if you don't mind. I want to borrow your body to lean on." Asked Anna with her gaze stuck on the starry sky.

"Since when did you start caring about my consent for borrowing my body."

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