Chapter 577: Three Targets
Hector stared at the names on the slip of paper in shock for several minutes as he tried to understand why his Great Uncle would violate so many of their long-held rules by putting together this list of targets. What was even more puzzling was the cruel poison that he was being asked to use. It was one thing to target women and children, but to use such a horrific method...
"Great Uncle," Hector said slowly as he looked from the paper to Marcel’s perfectly calm face. "Is this personal? Or professional?"
Over the decades since Marcel had taken over the family business, the vampire slowly carved sharp lines between different parts of his small commercial empire. Half of the business belonged entirely to his nephews and their descendants, and the only service they provided to Marcel and his Mistress was to act as a listening point, passively collecting information and functioning as places of safe haven when Marcel himself needed to travel.
Nestled alongside those businesses was a network of people whom Marcel employed to conduct ’personal business,’ either for himself or for Mistress Nyrielle. He cared little for the profits and losses of those enterprises, so long as they provided opportunities to influence the human world and undermine their enemies, they served their purpose as tools of the Black Merchant.
However, there was a third branch of Marcel’s business empire, one which provided not only a substantial source of funding for his operations but also served as a training ground for people who worked on ’personal business.’ The ’professional services’ that Marcel offered to a very exclusive list of clients included everything from smuggling to the sale of ’demon artifacts’ and even assassination.
Hector and his cousin Jean both belonged to this arm of the family business, though they were unique in that they knew their employer’s true identity. To anyone outside the family, Marcel was simply the Black Merchant, and even those who had met him in person believed that Marcel was only a mouthpiece for an older, wiser master who refused to be seen in public. But Hector knew full well who his employer was, and he knew Marcel’s unspoken rules about the professional jobs they would and wouldn’t take, and the three names on this list violated several of those rules.
"This is professional," Marcell said, leaning back in his chair and spinning a steel-tipped pen between his fingers. "And it’s personal. The client is Owain Lothian, and he’s the one who picked the poison and the targets. The chest of gold and jewels he sent along with his request must have set his personal accounts back by a number of years, and the favors he was willing to trade for your services are even more priceless."
"Lord Owain?" Hector said, blinking in surprise. "He wants us to use Spider Demon venom on a member of his own family? Why?"
"It doesn’t matter why," Marcel said, shaking his head at the young man’s question. Hector had grown into a very capable tool who was excellent at what he did, but in terms of his ability to analyze the situation beyond what was immediately in front of him, he was still far too lacking.