What should have been a two-day-max operation dragged out to a week.
Marie-Josianne was losing her patience, her heel slamming into the accelerator. The car swerved past a truck but otherwise, the road was empty and she was free to speed to her heart’s content. Which, in hindsight, wasn’t a good idea, especially when she hadn’t slept for two days already.
But more than anything, she just wanted the operation to be done as soon as possible.
The worst part was that when this was all over, she still couldn’t catch a break from the aggravating clown that was Hugo Ritcher, and the even more infuriating asshole called Felix Anderson. But the reason why this operation lasted so long wasn’t even due to their buffoonery, though it did play a part.
The team that was assembled to take care of the Higher Demon breach was one that stirred up a lot of talk in the hunter’s world. And should they had had the full gang as disposal as they should have, Marie-Josianne was confident that this entire little witch hunt could have been finished in a single day, perhaps two if there was transit to take into consideration.
But there were only the three of them.
Saint Graham was still technically on vacation and for the first time in that damned Saint’s entire existence, he seemed to have found something of more interest than work to occupy his time. Good for him, Marie-Josianne supposed.
Jong Seoyun had her own affairs to attend to and missives given to her by the Sanlongyan. She too was unavailable for this duration of time.
Out of the six-strong, it left four A-list hunters to deal with this particular mission.
Of these four, only three turned up.
And the Association didn’t even care to supplement the team’s loss!
In truth, three A-ranked hunters were more than enough to deal with a couple of witches. While the Black Lily Coven was highly regarded among the witches’ society, they were still helpless against an experienced lot of hunters. Collectively, they might have posed a B rank threat but individually they were but C+ rank at best. The Black Lily Coven was to pay for summoning the Higher Demon.
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
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See, Marie-Josianne could respect and even sympathize with Jayden’s opinions on the matter, but she, unlike him, would never allow her personal feelings to interfere with her professional life. Who did Jayden think he was? The bastard, leaving her alone with the two most infuriating members of the team.
Marie-Josianne harbored her frustration the entire way to her destination. It was the only thing that kept her awake behind the wheel.
When she arrived at the designated hotel, Marie-Josianne then donned her easy, professional smile. “Marie-Josianne Lanoise reporting for duty,” she singsonged as the hotel door clicked closed behind her, “Since these two grown men couldn’t handle one weakened witch by themselves.”
“Why so aggressive, sugarplum?” Felix had that south-mid twang that she hated listening to. The auburn-haired sentinel was leaning over the vanity table, where vials were lined up. He was wearing a wife-beater and camo pants, his tattoos on display to the world. Even those, like his fashion, were in poor taste because Marie-Josianne spotted some shitty pinup next to the words, ‘MOMMY’S BOY’.
He drew the symbol of the God of Light above the vials, the clear water within began to glow with blessed power.
Marie-Josianne felt her lips twitch, “Maybe if you weren’t so patronizing I’d be a lot more amiable. And plus, I’m here, aren’t I? So cut to the chase and let’s get this over with.” She crossed her arms over her chest, defensive, and leaned against the wall, not willing to go any closer than need be.
On the inner bed of the two cramped in the small hotel room, was a blond-haired man, hunched over an array of totems and relics. From wooden effigies to jewelry and gems, they were all attuned to carry a dummy human soul; to which demonic energy would then latch onto.
Hugo Ritcher looked up from his work and smiled, “Now, now. We’re a team, aren’t we? Let’s set aside our differences and play along. Even if we’re from different factions and corners of the globe we’re still working towards the same goal. There is no reason to get all snippy.”
Felix clicked his tongue after he had finished his incantation, topping off each vial with a lid. “Ain’t me who started shit, now is it, girlie?”
“I’m not your girlie,” Marie-Josianne said through her strained smile, “Would it kill you to show some respect? I don’t have to like you guys to be professional. The job’s my one and only priority.”
“Ouch,” Hugo clutched his heart with fake dramatics, “Even though I tried so hard to play mediator, why am I being thrown under the bus as well? Aren’t you a bit too cruel?”
“Save it,” Marie-Josianne snapped. Which only caused Hugo to laugh. His amber eyes glimmered with mirth as he looked upon her. His gaze only served to make her feel uncomfortable, as though she might have been but an interesting toy he was scrutinizing. Felix Anderson might be a jackass, but Hugo Ritcher was a creep. “Why does it matter if I like you or not? And plus you’ve done a terrible job at ‘mediating’.”
Hugo only kept his gaze on her and ignored the jab completely. Instead, he raised a brow and pointed at his cheek, mirroring the spot where a plaster sat on her face. “What happened here? Don’t tell me it’s an in-field injury.”
Marie-Josianne rolled her eyes. “What do you care? It’s quite literally a scratch.”
“You’ve been long enough on the field to know that a scratch isn’t always just a scratch. Tsk, tsk, tsk.” Hugo waved his finger mockingly, “Rookie error, love. And judging by your swift arrival I take you haven’t stopped by a Sanctuary. Let old Anderson take a look at you.”
“I’m fine,” the female hunter spat, looking away. She was ashamed of the injury but at the same time, she used a special plaster that was developed by the DASR, meant to purify and cleanse any curses and minor anomalies from an injury.
But Felix made an obnoxious clicking sound with his tongue before pulling out a stool next to him. “Get on over, Missy. I’ll take a look at ya. Don’t dawdle, dammit.”
Marie-Josianne felt herself bristle, “I said I’m fine—”
“Did it sound like I was asking for your opinion?” Felix snapped, “Get your ass over here.”
To that, Hugo only chuckled, “Merrivans are always so hilarious with their choice in vernacular. Go on, Lanoise, you know he’s a good guy at heart.”
As if, Marie-Josianne gritted her teeth. Felix had no respect for anyone that didn’t reach the same patriotic allegiances about the NUM as he did.
But she still bit back her pride and stormed over. If nothing else, it was merely to keep the peace. Peace was important between teammates, Marie-Josianne learned over the years. She could save her insults for once the job was over.
Without a word she plopped down into the stool and turned her face, showing Felix the wound. He might be a piece of shit, but his rank as a sentinel spoke of his skills and reliability.
“Now that wasn’t too hard, was it, Little Missy?” he spat at her, causing annoyance to flare up once more.
“It’s quite hard, actually,” she couldn’t help but retort, “When I have to put myself in your general vicinity. Do you even shower?” But she held still while Felix pulled the plaster away and leaned in to examine the tiny scratch marks.
“Don’t be a brat, and hold still dammit,” he scolded as though talking to a child. “I’d give you a good spankin’ if you were my kid.” She was disgusted. While Felix was older he was hardly old enough to be her father. She almost recoiled when he pulled out a needle-like instrument from his pocket. He peeled away the plastic on the tip and sprayed it with a putrid disinfectant before dipping it into one of the vials.
Marie-Josianne let out a protesting groan when Felix put his greasy hand on her jaw and roughly pulled her face toward him, only to jab that needle into the wound. “I’m fucking serious about moving,” he growled at her, “Unless you wanna lose a damned eye. Looks like there’s still something lodged inside, you outta be seriously numb not to notice this shit.”
She held back her grievance for no other reason than in fear of Felix fucking up on her face. After a moment or two, he tossed the tool out in the trash and showed her his palm. “See? Look what you left in that pretty little face of yours.” It was so small that one had to lean in to spot the tiny little sparkle in the center of his palm.
Marie-Josianne scrunched her nose in distaste and bitterly bit out, “Thanks.”
Behind her, Hugo laughed with a mocking tone, “Since our little princess is all patched up and good to go, why don’t we take care of that witch, hmm?”
“Fucking finally. Sick of waiting on you useless lot,” Felix hissed as he cleaned up his station and gathered his vials of holy water.
Wasn’t that what Marie-Josianne was saying this entire time!? Just who was waiting on who! She screeched internally, counting down the minutes till this was all finally over.
Author: More side characters…doing side character things! I promise they aren’t all always so hateful ahahah. I really like questionable personalities weeps
Side characters yay
Thank you for the chapter!!! ❤️❤️
<3 <3
WEeeWWeeeeeee
This girl has it tough, wow, those two may be professional but what’s with the attitude? So, will this witch be an easy target or cause some more serious problems?
Thank you for the chapter!!
I based these speech patterns off people I know…you can guess how much I enjoy those people’s company LOL
eek I would have killed someone already! Marie has serious patience to deal with those two. I’m glad they are side characters >->
thanks for the chapter! <3
LOL! Not going to lie when I encounter people like Hugo and Felix in real life…I also want to stab them AHAHAHHA
Eurgh those guys are the fkn worst!! I absolutely adore MJ ^3^ <3