Skymender silently made his way over to the third one's house. Without being spotted at all, he left an envelope on the kitchen table.
However, with so many people living in this house, he was not the one who found it. Instead, it was his sister. She looked at it, saw it was addressing him, and gave it to him. He looked at it for a moment and opened it in front of everyone. He read it aloud to his entire family, even showing off the poison vial.
Skymender shook his head. This was not going to work out. These people were a group of close knit family members that would not hide anything from each other. It was unacceptable.
Therefore, since this was the situation, there was only one thing to do. Skymender threw a vial in their house through the window.
It was the same poison that had damaged his breathing years ago. There were no survivors.
This left him with only two people who had joined. The so-called Third Moon and Western Guardian.
Skymender had no understanding of where their nicknames came from, and he didn't plan to find out.
With this, Skymender was almost ready to go into business. He had a leader, himself, the assassins, Third Moon and Western Guardian, and only needed someone out on the streets. This would be the person, or people, who would find assassination jobs, as there was no point in creating such an organization if there was no business.
Ideally, it would be someone smart and fast, with vast connections.
Although it would be ideal to be able to make such a person loyally enter his organization, it would also be nearly impossible simply due to how their status would be.
Instead, it seemed that he would have to find a person to make deals with.
Someone trustworthy and involved in the underground.
He spent a few days and nights doing some digging before finally finding someone. He dealt with information gathering and trading. It was not impossible for him to go around and find people who would pay for an assassination. He was also someone considered to be incredibly smart.
Despite his high reputation in the underground, he was surprisingly easy to find. During the night, he sat in his living room reading a book under the candlelight. Suddenly, a shadow appeared behind him.
He spoke without looking back. "Who are you and what business do you have?"
He didn't seem to have the slightest bit of fear, as though such a thing was regular.
Hearing that word, the once confident man turned around in shock. He saw Skymender standing there with his mask on.
"So you are the legendary Skygod. I've heard theories that you were a group, or merely a cover up of a police massacre, but it seems that you really are the real deal." His words were laced with deeply hidden caution.
"I have a job for you." Skymender said.
"How can I help you, sir Skygod?" He asked.
"I need you to find people willing to pay for assassination." Skymender said.
The man thought for a moment. "That is not impossible, but in such a small city, there won't be many willing to pay."
Skymender had already thought it through. "It won't be such a small city for too much longer, it seems. During the addition of newcomers, assassination will be a valuable service. Also, as far as I am aware, the assassination market is completely open for takeover."
The man nodded. "Indeed."
"You will get 5% of the price paid by the person requesting assassination."
The man nodded. "Reasonable. Are there any that you don't wish to accept as targets?"
Skymender thought for a moment. "Nobles."
The man nodded. "Smart."
What Skymender didn't say was hat Sky city was just the beginning, where he could get an easier foothold. When the time came, he would move on to greater places, such as the Royal capital, and maybe one day, the Imperial capital.
"I'll see what I can do, sir Skygod. How can I find you?"
"I'll find you." Skymender said as he left.
The man waited a while after he left before heaving a sigh of relief. Meeting newcomers was always stressful.
Skymender waited a week before once again appearing in the man's house.
"Welcome again, sir Skygod. I never introduced myself before. You can just call me the informant."
Skymender nodded. "What do you have for me?"
"Three tasks. All three are from wealthy individuals and are targeting enemies or those who have offended them. I made sure that the prices were sufficient."
He handed three papers to Skymender. The money was high, as expected of the price of taking a life.
Skymender nodded. "All three can be completed."
"As a middle man, I can give you the money after the task is confirmed completed. Don't take it personally, it is just what I do."
Skymender nodded and left. The next day, an envelope appeared on the counter of Third Moon's and Western Guardian's houses.
They had been waiting for this day. As they read the envelope, they got an understanding of the situation.
For each task, they would be given 35% of the price paid, which could be increased with repeated good work. They would get one vial of poison for free, and more by giving up a percentage of their earnings, that percentage depending on the price itself.
The free poison would be the one most suited to the task.
They read information about their targets, provided by the customers in exchange for a slightly lower price and a higher success rate.
As the night came, the two set out. Skymender did so as well with the third task. He kept the most difficult and expensive one.
Although he personally made more money by doing the missions himself, he needed to create a system of assassins for the future.
His target was a higher up of some middle sized gang, a little bit smaller than the Dark Sky Gang, and not nearly as infamous.
It was a rather simple in and out job. He simply snuck into the man's room and slit his neck while sleeping. He didn't even need to use any poison.