Netori: Stealing The Hero's Party!

Sitting on the ground inside her bedroom, everyone looked at her with their bellies churching still. However, the moment the witch was done packing, she had everyone follow her out into her shop. There, she handed her bag to Vlad and pulled herself a seat behind the counter.

"Sit down, I have to talk to you before leaving," Linkle ordered, correcting her golden earrings as well as her light-stringed necklace glimmering with self-crafted diamonds.

"What is it?" Raven asked, taking the seat before everyone else.

The others, being as disoriented as they were simply leaned against the walls, all the while, Linkle plucked a lipstick out of thin air. Conjuring a mirror next, she quickly applied the bright pink lipstick before letting it disappear into thin air–soon replaced by a small box of vanity.

"Well…" Pursing her lips, she rubbed them together before opening them back up with a loud pop. "Soon I\'ll have a treasure trove of resources. I may leave this city once I\'m done selling the stuff I make from it, or I may not, but one thing\'s for sure."

Letting down both the box and the mirror, Linkle set her hands down and looked into Raven\'s eyes. Shimmering like a star her gaze was flooding with dreams of better days, and the lavishness of her slitted dress and makeup, reflected how she felt on the inside.

"I\'m done dealing with gold, it\'s cheap," shaking her head, she kept her eyes glued on Raven. "I never liked gold, it\'s hard to acquire, even harder to play with, but secrets and souls, well they have worth far greater than any pile of ingots."

Her words made no sense to Raven, after all, he\'d often seen her as a gold-hungry witch. Yet now she was complaining that that\'s not what she wanted, then what exactly did she want?

"A merchant that doesn\'t like gold? Hard to believe to be honest," leaning towards her as well, Raven wanted to hear more of where this was going.

The word \'soul\' also drew interest from the rest of the group as both Erika and Liliayana decided to lean forward against the table.

"You\'ve been dealing with a devil?" Erika questioned, her expression soured by the memory of her head priestess; sacrificing her sister nuns to a devil.

"Oi, wait a second…" Moving in between the two, Amedith slammed his hands on the desk as well. "You were accusing the Mistress of being a devil and you\'re actually the one shaking hands with who knows who?!"

Turning her head across at everyone, Linkle moved herself back on her chair and rolled her eyes. Then shifting her eyes to Mel and Aria, she beckoned them closer as if giving them a chance to complain as well.

"You guys have anything to say too? Go on, don\'t let the crowd chase you away," she mocked the entire party for criticising her shady dealings.

"Linkle! Answer me!" Slamming her hand against the table, Erika\'s eyes turned a crimson red with anger. "Have you made a deal with a devil?!"

Noticing the change in her eye\'s hue, Linkle leaned forward with a smile.

"Oh sorry, am I talking to the devil sitting in that empty head of yours? Or maybe those cow tits since they apparently don\'t know when to stop growing!" Quickly shifting to Amedith before her words even registered in Erika\'s head, she grabbed him by the collar and pulled him closer to her face. "And you\'re fucking a devil, so don\'t ride your high horse like she\'s probably been riding you!"

Red in the face at what she\'d just said, both Amedith and Liliyana were left stuttering through their words. Even covering her face in embarrassment, the fae devil only looked at the witch through the gaps between her fingers.

"S-sh-shut up!" She screamed, angrily.

"What the hell?! My breasts aren\'t even that big you jealous bitch!" Finally catching up as well, Erika tried to fire back at Linkle, but it wasn\'t as effective.

Moving swiftly onto Aria and instantly her gaze alone had her tensed, Linkle looked at her hands once adorned by a pair of silver gauntlets.

"And you\'ve been sacrificing your blood to a devil for power god knows how long," quickly shifting her gaze to Mel, Linkle glared daggers at her for a moment before speaking. "And you…where do I even start? Because believe me the goddess of bounty may not have blessed you with in the departments that matter, but she definitely overpowered hypocrisy."

"WHAT?!" Catching stray even though she hadn\'t said anything, Mel felt a sudden pain in her chest just from Linkle\'s words alone.

In the meantime, the witch turned back to Raven, but instead of insults, she had something else entirely to say.

"You have some sense, an opportunistic bastard like me, why don\'t we talk without these idiots dropping in?" Familiar with his any-means-necessary approach to any problems, Linkle wanted to lean him into her side, especially since he was also the leader of his group.

"So are you gonna criticise me for my deal with the devil or hear me out and maybe earn my favour for any future help that you might need?"

It wasn\'t even a question, as Raven knew how integral Linkle had become for their operations. Especially with the teleportation rings–most of them now distributed to every one of his girls in Elenaris. Even so, turning his head towards his party members, he looked for any signs of dissent.

However, after being called out by Linkle for their hypocrisy, none of them had the galls to continue going against her.

"Like Helga taught us," shifting his attention back again, Raven took a deep breath and sighed. "Any means necessary, that\'s how you win wars."

And to his answer, Linkle once again smiled.