"You are free to leave"
The guild members lift their heads in confusion doubting their ears, looking at the little girl who sits casually looking down at the kneeling assassins.
She didn't emit any terrifying killing intent like before as if the storm was finally calmed down, instead, it feels like they are in the presence of a Lord they need to obey.
"I won't force those who longed for freedom"
Lucy who stood behind Grizel glanced at her Lord and smiles, she is the one who understands the meaning of freedom the most, she could feel the indescribable happiness among the members who found light in their dull life, but...
Freedom is like a vivid dream for these assassins, once reached, it disperses and left nothing but emptiness.
Neither friends nor family exists for them, nor roof to live, what was left was the sins and the blood-stained hands, who would want to employ a killer without a slave seal to ensure their safety, to live and work they will only be enslaved once again.
It was far too late for a normal life, changing their way of life is easier said than done, even if they moved to somewhere far away and conceal the identity of a former killer to live in a brand new environment, the violent habits will still haunting them around.
Moreover, they refuse to accept the society that betrayed and sold them to the dark side of the world, likewise the society that refuses to welcome the sinners out of fear.
Without the slave seal, they wouldn't be trusted since Humans are such fragile creatures who are easily swayed by their emotions.
"But..."
Grizel added to interrupt the abrupt saddened atmosphere of the people who lost their future since exposed as Rogue class awakeners.
"You are free to stay either"
Though their lives pretty much revolve around slavery, however, there is someone who could shelter these former assassins without the slave seal, someone who is far stronger as the same Rogue Class awakeners compared to them, and need no such a cheap thing as a slave seal as a guarantee.
The members of the guild look at the little girl who sits with her leg crossed busy tapping her finger to the armrest, behind her were a woman in her early twenties and a young man that seems like just reached adulthood, both of them stood still guarding their master who sits on the throne-like chair casually.
"And you can stay without the slave seal"
They were startled disbelief by her words. Keeping them without a slave seal is like petting wild beasts without a cage, it needs more than mere trust, confidence, or bravery. Though it's not impossible for the one who could dominate the beasts like her.
She is like a new ray of hope for those who lost their future as former assassin slaves.
"I want to talk about the employment contract with those who choose to stay, the rest are free to leave now"
4 people started to stand up and bow before leaving in hurry hiding their pale faces, Levi opened a little hole in his barrier that envelopes the whole building after Grizel permits him to do so, she has planted her illusion seed in them and will be activated whenever they step outside of the barrier.
3 of them will forget everything happened in the bar, what they remember is the guild master was assassinated and they are freed, except for one person, a man with greenish hair and ebony eyes, he will remember every detail of tonight's nightmare for the rest of his life.
In contrary to Grizel's prediction, out of 89 members, only 4 wish to leave, 62 choose to stay, and the rest of 23 members are on missions that probably prefer to flee when they realize that the slave seal is gone without knowing the situation of the guild.
"My Lord, all the 4 spies planted in this guilds were already left"
Lucy bent down to whisper in Grizel's ear, she has investigated the origin of each member and found 4 spies planted within the guild with fake slave seals. The stupid guild master didn't realize that and bought them as potential assassins from the fake slave traders, the slave magic contract for him to sign was fabricated as well.
Grizel nodded, she purposely let that greenish hair spy out without her illusion and let him report to his real master.
Alright...
"Levi"
"Yes, My Lord"
Levi who understands Grizel's order without any words takes out a pile of magic scrolls from his ancient storage rings and walks towards the guild ex-members, he gives each of them the scrolls which contain employment contracts for them to read the rules and the contents of agreement.
"Remember, it's not a slave contract. if you find me violate any of the rules, you have the right to complain, and vice-versa"
"Yes, speak"
Grizel said to someone who raised his hand to ask a question about the contract.
"T-the last line of the contract said if we choose to quit our job, you will erase our memories. P-please explain it in detail"
His voice is still slightly shaking but he collected his last drop of courage to ask Grizel and represents the other members.
"I can not say the method but rest assured, it's painless. I will only erase the memory during the time you are working for me to prevent any information leak and I won't touch things except that, from there on we are strangers"
"Any other questions?"
The rest of the members shake their heads in terms of agreement with the rules written in the contract, it was a fair trade, they couldn't find any unfair rules like the usual slave contracts.
"Alright, the moment you sign up for the contract, you are part of my shadow unit"
They glance at each other and nodded, they bite their thumb to sign the scroll contract in their hand, it was a magic contract similar to the one uses in a slave contract, though the contents of the contract are different from the slavery agreement, the function is the same, to be the medium to connect the contractors.
And the biggest difference from the mass-produced low-grade slave contracts which need to be signed by both parties, these scrolls are made using the ancient technique and imbued with Grizel's mana to build a strong connection between the contractors.
"Ah"
"What is it?"
"A new slave seal?"
"Oh, no"
"N-no Way"
"Wait, I couldn't feel any restrictions in this seal, rather than seal, it feels like..."
The appearance of a new symbol on their hands caused a commotion among these former assassins, they are wondering what was this symbol appears suddenly on their hands right after they signed the contract.
"Rest assured, it's the symbol of our organization, as you can see the symbol didn't restrict any of your free wills"
They heaved a sigh of relief, most of them almost freaked out of fears to be enslaved once again.
"We, we are sorry"
All of them bowing in regret as they point out their doubt to their Savior earlier, it was unsightly of them to be suspicious of someone who is giving them a chance of freedom, even though they did it unconsciously due to how often they were betrayed and cheated in the past, but still, it was an awful behavior.
"Lift your head, I believe you have been suffering a lot from the past, and the deep distrust of human is not the only issue carved into your core, but I wish you to move on the new path I created for you"
Grizel stopped a moment before continuing her speech, she uses a little bit of her golden aura to show a portion of the Supreme Monarch's greatness.
"Welcome to the Tartarus Organization, from now on, all of you are the official members of the shadow unit called..."
She smiles as she stretches her arms open wide to welcome her new members.
"Lunar Squad"
Lunar is the name representing the moon, the peak juncture when the shadow of the darkness dominates the world.
"Lucifer"
"Yes, My liege"
"Hereby, I appoint you as the executive member of the Lunar squad"
Following Lucy, new members of the Lunar squad kneeling in front of Grizel.
"I shall accept. As the Lunar child, We vow to live in darkness and for darkness"
Lucy said then followed by all the rest of the new-formed intelligence division of Tartarus.
"We vow to live in darkness and for darkness"
Grizel smirks while sitting on her comfy throne, the intelligence unit has been formed, information and knowledge are part of her 3 basic survival plans.
Power, wealth, and wisdom.
Wisdom. for now, consists of her knowledge of future events gained from the novel and her insight into the ancient history of the world due to the blessing of Athena, she grasped both the uncertain future and the lost history, yet the puzzle is not complete.
Past and future, the missing part of the puzzle is the current time because Grizel's influence as an anomaly in this world will surely change the flow of fate, by managing the current information, she could at least predicting the diversity of the future events.
That is why instead of assassination, the main duty of the intelligence division, or, Lunar Squad is to gather information and more focused on espionage.
Therefore, the main goal of her wisdom will be considered as complete when she holds the flow of solid information networks around the world, just like her former self as Angela Samael.
Even though it will take decades to reach her goal, today is undoubtedly the very first step to live happily ever after that she is aiming for.
Grizel has formed the squadron to shelter the slave assassins, there will be a lot of slaves that wish to be free will tried to contact this mysterious organization, with her gluttony power which can eat the seal, she didn't need to kill every slave masters here and there, all she needs to do is gathering the victims and turned them into her subordinates.
It will be the start of the chaos among the power balance in the empire.
'What a great thing if this news spread and more guests come to me to set them free, hahaha'
Grizel laughs inwardly as she looking at her 62 new subordinates.
And now, her next step is Wealth, the monetary source of the organization in the form of the financial and business division to earn more gold, fortunes, and prosperity.
Fortunately, the contract has been approved by the Emperor. After all, she was the fearless merchant who trapped the Emperor and the Crown Prince of the great Azure Empire to approve her demanding business contract without a hitch by using the Empress assassination and the traitor's information.
"Lucy, sharpen the Lunar Squad before the next plan"
Lucy widened her lunatic smile that sent a shiver down her Lord's spine because Grizel is not sure what kind of decent methods will be used in the training and she refused to imagine it.
"My Liege, I shall never fail you"
To be continued...