21 Settling Debts; Collecting Interes

Amon noticed the bloodthirsty aura that Bel emitted but paid it no mind. His hunger for battle would be a boon to them in the conflict that awaited them. Or at least, as perfect as they could make. Since his two associates agreed with him, Amon proceeded to discuss a perfect battle plan with them. Without sufficient preparation, even a new helper wouldn't be enough to save their life, that lesson they had learned the hard way. Since they would be interfering with the battle between the operatives at the safehouse and the combined forces of the Holy Knights and the city guards, they wouldn't have to face the full power of the Order's military. It might seem heartless to say it like that, but the Ravens' assassins would use their allies as a distraction for the military, which would allow them to kill the Holy Knights. Such a plan wasn't necessarily detrimental to those allies either as the death of the Holy Knights, the leaders of this operation, would push momentum to their side and allow them to suppress the rest of the military. Of course, the requirement for such a reversal was that the Ravens' assassins could accomplish their mission.

While they were discussing, Ven brought a point that the other two had failed to consider and they for a moment surprise flashed in their eyes, as they couldn't believe they had forgotten something so basic. "It's good that we're confident that they'll strike today, but do we know when exactly? It'd be good to know how much time we have on our hands because if they plan to attack by noon, we better hurry up.

Amon thought about her question for a while and theorized what would be the ideal time from the Holy Knights perspective. It couldn't be too early in the day since they still needed some time to adjust their plan at the last minute. Nothing was stopping them from attacking during the night but doing so would allow the Ravens' operatives to flee more easily by using the cover of the night if things went awry.

Another concern would be the traffic in the streets. Since the safe house wasn't someplace remote, but instead in the heart of the business district, if they acted at times where there was more circulation, like during lunch time or directly after work, they would be impeded by the citizens. Although they could make use of roadblocks, such apparent preparation would alert the operatives in the safehouse way too early.

As such, it was likely that they would strike after lunch but before the end of the day, sometime between two in the afternoon and four. This gave the assassins enough time to prepare and get in position before the start of the Holy Knights' cleansing.

After they were done discussing their plan, Amon once more pulled out his luggage from underneath his bed. They had lost some equipment and used others in the fight yesterday, and if they wanted to be as prepared as possible, they needed to worry about what they would bring. Since last night was a recon mission, they hadn't brought their whole arsenal.

When he opened his luggage, Amon immediately picked a new retractable sword since he had lost the previous one. He also stocked up on knives again and offered some to Ven who gladly took them. She didn't have as much equipment as the two assassins as she was an intelligence operative and didn't need as much weaponry.

Amon and Bel also stocked up on grenades and looked at the other weapons that Amon had. Ven was slightly interested in a handle somewhat similar to that of a retractable sword but noticeably slimmer. Amon noticed her curious look and explained what it was."This is a whip, though the actual whip is stored in the handle. The thong is extraordinarily resilient and won't even be cut by a sword. It's got quite a solid bite, but it's also useful to restrain an opponent's movement or disarm them.

Amon had used his retractable sword in a similar fashion, but it couldn't compare to the whip when it came down to it. The whip was more flexible, longer and lighter, making it a great weapon for mid-range combat.

-If you want, you can take it; it might prove a strong combination with your gust augmentation.

-I won't restrain myself then.

With a sweet smile, Ven picked the whip and hung it at her waist. Amon wanted her to be as armed as possible since she didn't have a protective armour like Bel and him. Since most weapons made by the Order were retractable, both for the sake of convenience and to look more inconspicuous, most of the weapons Amon pulled out next were just a handle. As he looked at the half-a-dozen handle sprawling on the bed, Amon couldn't but smile at how absurdly minimalist the Order was in terms of design. All the handle looked very similar, and he wondered if there was even a need for every weapon to be retractable. He didn't bother questioning it as it meant it was easier for them to be concealed, but he still found it funny nonetheless.

Bel declined to choose any more weapon, preferring his trusty oversized sword. However, he picked up a pair of gloves. Without asking Amon, he took them with a grin and wore them. Amon helplessly shook his head. Those gloves were explicitly made for hand to hand combat and were reinforced to maximize damage and protection.

For himself, Amon didn't take anything as he felt like in this type of mission, gadgets weren't going to make much of a difference. Amon looked at the other two and who nodded, signalling they were ready to head out. In their eyes, he saw resolution, and he couldn't help but be moved as he thought back to his youth.

Amon was not his name; it had never been his name. However, he couldn't remember the name his parents had given him if they ever even gave him one. He was born in the slums of Cairo, as so many children before him. When the Order took over the world, the latter was in shambles. The former centers of power had either been irrevocably crushed or weakened beyond belief. There was a need for a true leader, for an organization to take the reigns and guide the world back to prosperity and away from war. According to the current history books, the Order took on that role and chose to establish themselves in Cairo due to the change in the population mass of the world. Since Asia and Africa were less affected than Europe, with the two Americas out of the picture altogether, Cairo presented itself as a middle-point between the two main parts of the Order. Over the years, Europe rebuilt itself under the guidance of the Order, but it was still far from its former glory.

Soon after the Order established itself as the new overlord, many families chose to emigrate near Cairo, since they felt the proximity to the new center of the world would make them safer. They were not wrong, but in doing so, they had caused a problem of overpopulation to arise in Cairo. All around the world, the Order had managed to improve the living conditions of the population at a degree that was almost unimaginable. It would be a stretch to say that poverty had been eliminated, but the living standards had been vastly improved. However, these ameliorations were late to make their way to the outskirts of Cairo. These slums always gave a headache to the Order, and they didn't do much to improve the situation in the past centuries.

In the meantime, there were nearly thirty-two million people cramped in the outskirts of the city, living either in crumbling clay houses with barely functioning plumbing or in cramped communal housings. It was a far cry from the towering skyscrapers and elegant apartment buildings of New-Paris. Amon was born from an unknown mother in such communal dwellings. There were tens of other families living in an enclosed space. Since he had been abandoned by his parents, Amon was raised by other mothers living in the same housing. He couldn't remember much from his early life, but a vivid memory was of one time asking why he had no name and being told that since he came from nowhere, a name was of no use to him. Their exact words were: "You, who came from nowhere and will go nowhere, why would you need to identify yourself? Names are for those who exist in this world."

Amon's earlier memories were of fleeing that house and fending for himself in the streets. He was one kid among thousands more who could only depend on themselves to survive. Sometimes, these kids would form alliances, but with mistrust and betrayals, they would rarely last long. To people of the outside, that kind of life was like hell but to Amon it was all he knew. His heart held no rage, no recrimination against the ones who forced him into such a situation. There was nothing behind the empty eyes of his youthful self, apart from a flicker of will to live.

One day, he had tried to rob a stranger passing through the slums as they were usually prime targets. Some strangers came with the intention of helping them; others came to gawk at the spectacle and others were merely passing through. They all had one thing in common; they didn't know the rules of the slums and didn't know how to protect their belongings. It was easy for thieves to take advantage of their ignorance and carelessness.

However, when Amon had tried to rob that stranger that day, his whole world collapsed. For years after that, Amon would often wonder what would have happened had he not met that stranger. Would he have died among the sewer rats and the insects before being thrown in a communal grave, a euphemism for a big pit full of dead children? Would he have grown up to be as lifeless and uncaring as the people who had raised him from birth? Or would he have made his way out of misery towards glory? He often toyed with these ideas, but it wouldn't change the way that one stranger toppled everything he knew.