Netori: Stealing The Hero's Party!

Left alone in her workshop, Mercedes the merchant had many plans to attend to–from doing the bidding of her master to providing weaponry to the demi-human uprising in the city. To this end, her eyes scoured every news pamphlet handed to her by young children while she toured the streets as well as the direct letters from the revolutionaries trying to uplift the demi-humans and the beastmen.

Everything reads the same, give us this and we'll reward you, give us that and we'll reward you. On the one hand, the ruling class and also the brains of everything mechanical in the city–the humans, offered great value in helping them through the newsletters and dare she hand over the opposition, she could've been easily rewarded beyond measure. Yet, that wouldn't sate her patron, for on the other hand were the demis and beasts, forever treated as cheap labour while the humans drew the fruits of their work.

'Not enough fuel to fire, you say?' The voice of her patron was pushing her further, she knew what her task was, but how to achieve it as of yet? There was one way to find out. Rummaging through the many letters that she'd received, Mercedes picked out an invitation to a nearby hideout for the revolutionaries. She'd been invited a few weeks ago, and coincidentally tonight was the last day the demis and beastmen would be waiting for her before changing their hideout.

"I suppose a visit won't hurt," folding the letter back into its envelope, the merchant looked around at her astral soldiers and without a word ordered them to keep her shop safe while she was headed outdoors.

Locking the door with magic from the corridor, she further tightened the security before slipping out of the inn–although not without getting caught in the watchful gaze of the owner. Being as short as she was, Baba had been snoring on the couch until the moment before Mercedes came rushing downwards. Keeping quiet, however, she simply watched the merchant heading off in a rush.

'This can't be good…' She knew, but at her age–she was beyond chasing after delinquents.

As for the merchant herself, she was already drifting through the wind with her body taking the crimson form of a fairy. Glittering crimson through the streets, she flew towards the rocky edge of the secluded city and after looking for quite a bit she found a false opening in the rocky mountain that was sure to lead into the secret hideout of the revolutionaries.

Resting her feet at the edge of the steep hill, she knocked on the false rock with the slightest opening on its side. For a moment, nothing happened but then a slit opened on the false rock and after just a quick look at her from the person inside, the door opened and she was quickly invited in.

"What took you so long, we've been waiting!" Barked the hunched-over racoon-man, his body buzzing with flies and scratches full of disease.

"Just take me to your leaders, will you? I don't have to talk to animals," she said, surprising the beastman since everyone further in-even their leaders had animalistic characteristics. Continue reading on empire

Squeezing his fist with a raging glare, he scoffed and spit before swallowing his pride to lead the woman deeper in. Following the man's lead inside that abandoned mine reinforced into a secret hideout for the revolutionaries, Mercedes was surprised by how even the supposed witless can be quite prudent when necessary.

'Guards at every step, obvious string traps and death pits…' Closely examining the place as she was being cautioned over everything, Mercedes committed everything to memory in case she had to return to this dank place.

After only a few minutes of travel, the man led her to an open space where everyone preparing for something greater gathered. From men with the heads and tusks of boars to plain demis indistinguishable from humans, every ilk and every like was crowding the place, each with their own worries about their roles in this city.

The moment the merchant's presence was known, however, the room fell quiet and everyone subsided to the edges. Moving through the crowd came a tall and fierce demi-wolf, his body more beastly than human. Following right behind him was a winged woman with pink hair and bird-like claws, and just behind her was a Rhino-man, as wide as a wall and just as resilient.

"You're finally here, eh?" Betraying the fierce look in his eyes, the fair wolf extended a gentle hand at Mercedes.

Although reluctant at first, the merchant shook his hand regardless before quickly pulling them out of his clutches.

"Takes some time to consider an offer like that, besides I can't let the humans know that I've picked sides with the enemy," being a human herself, pairing with the outcasts and the labourers was akin to declaring herself a traitor, and recognising that, the beastmen smirked before cackling behind razor teeth.

"Well, you chose right…" Stepping aside, the demi-wolf directed his hand towards a lone table. "How about we discuss this a bit more comfortably? Perhaps even with something warm to ease the cold you must've suffered while on your way here?"

"As long as you drink it first," Mercedes responded, and the smirk returned to the beast's lips.

A sharp mind was all that they were lacking, it was the very reason none had been entrusted with anything but harsh labor after all. The humans took credit for their work and they were left to toil for the most minimal of rewards. But now they had a chance to change it, by wit, unity, and if needed sheer force. A bloodbath would ensue, and knowing that the patron behind Mercedes's lens snickered about sinisterly.

"So how did this all start, exactly?" As soon as she was seated, the merchant pointed to the many facilities incorporated inside the hideout. "Must've taken quite a bit of gold to get everything here, not to mention buying equipment outright–that's an ordeal on its own."

"Before we tell you that," moving beside Mercedes, the winged woman leaned onto her. Smiling while holding her gaze, she added. "Allow us to tell you why we had to gather here in the first place."

Grabbing the woman's hand, Mercedes moved it off of her body.n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om

"I think I know, I've been coming in and going out of the city for years now…"

"True, but it helps to have our bases covered, doesn't it?" With no signs of the girl backing off, the merchant shrugged her shoulders and gave up on trying to convince her otherwise.

"Well great, then allow me to start from the very beginning, the beginning of when it all began going down for us demi-humans and beastmen and women!"

And with that declaration, the winged woman began to recount their history–one filled with deception, betrayal, and worst of all, unjust persecution of their people.