Shangri La Pt. 1

65: Invitation

"Are you sure it's a good idea for you to be helping me with all this? Won't your fellow knights start to worry about you?" 

"Tch– It ain't their business to know what I'm doin' anyway. Besides, Gin's takin' care of my part so it's not like they'll notice what I'm off doin." Katsuki answered. 

"W-Well... I know, but this is a two week process." 

"Ha? Two weeks? Why the hell are we doin' this for 2 weeks?" 

"Were you not listening?!? The Moon Festival is only 2 weeks away, and for me to get more of those wealthy people and their attention, I need to build up my reputation for the next 2 weeks so I can finish this mission faster. That's why I wasn't sure if you'd be willing to help me this much." Izumi explained, even as the blond scoffed at the idea of being her personal bodyguard longer than he expected. 

"Hah~" 

"You're... Still gonna protect me, right?" 

"Ain't no one else is gonna do it." 

"Phew~"

So the following night after both the greenette and blond had figured out a plan, their process for each time a new customer was to approach the same were successful. Of course it would start with Izumi putting on her act and trying to persuade an older–wealthy–man to speak with her in a separate room that was far from everyone so they wouldn't be heard. 

Then when they would enter the room, Izumi would light an incense that would be the scent that would knock out the person she was aiming for to go unconscious. While Izumi and the customer would be talking, Izumi would give said person a drink that had the mixture of an herb that will eventually cause the customer to lose part of their memory the next time they wake up. And once they did go unconscious, then Katsuki would jump down from the ceiling–where he was hiding–while Izumi took the jewelry that she needed off said person. 

Finally, Katsuki would be the one to carry the unconscious person out of the house and through the back alleyway and rest the customer on a wagon. By the end of the night, the wagon would be filled with unconscious people that are covered with a large cloth and be dragged–on the wagon–all the way out of the city where they were never seen again.

To say that neither Izumi or Katsuki knew what happened or where these people were taken after they left the city was a question for anybody.

And though they'd done this same plan and process over a hundred times, no one had suspected them of this kind of thievery and drugging. 

Not to mention the fact that Izumi's stage name–the Jade Goddess–had gained quite a large reputation that she got a surprise when she arrived at the brothel just the night before the official Moon Festival. 

"Hm? I got a letter? But that doesn't make any sense, Melissa." Izumi noted as she took the scroll out from the blonde's grasp. 

"As much as it doesn't make sense, I would say you should be careful on your last night as being the Jade Goddess." Melissa remarked. 

And when the greenette opened the scroll, her eyes widened when she could easily recognize the golden Phoenix that was engraved at the top of the scroll before she could actually read the invitation.

"No... This is–" 

"I thought you said you were gonna be careful when you worked here, which means this could cause problems for my business, Izu." Melissa sighed, as she waved her fan over her face. 

"M-Melissa... Did you read this?" 

"How could I when I already knew it would be bad news just from seeing the palace sigil? The second you outshine someone from the palace, you're in a lot of trouble."