Waking up to the system's notice that he managed to finish the level 3 training and get the reward trites was enough for Uriel to not care about Nika's failure to et with the governor, dusa's sucker punch and even Luna's ill concealed attempt at studying his body without his consent.
Nevertheless, that didn't an they didn't deserve any punishnt for their actions and Uriel was more than willing to deliver.
Contrary to the old tis when people were protected by law, companies had full authority over its mbers and the higher ups could do with the employees whatever they wanted, including but not limited to physical punishnt.
This usually applied only for big corporations since small companies paid too poorly for their employees to accept being mistreated. After all, they always had the choice to quit instead of receiving the punishnt.
"So, what's it going to be this ti?" Nika asked, knowing full well that Uriel wouldn't let them off the hook. During her stay at the Mapple corporation, punishing people under her was one of the things she enjoyed the most and now that it was her turn to be on the other side, she couldn't help but feel anxious.
"I'm thinking..." Uriel muttered in front of the three guilty huntresses. He liked to keep his hands off the business as much as he could and whenever the dungeon Raiders made mistakes it fell upon the founders of the company to take care of it, though it was mostly sending Dragonfang on cleaning duty due to her annoying character.
However, when it ca to Luna, dusa and Nika, the only one allowed to bestow a punishnt was Uriel.
He remained in front of the three unrepentant sinners for a while thinking hard, but his task was difficult to say the least. The problem was finding an appropriate form of punishnt that would get them to reflect on their actions. Sending them to perform nial tasks would only stain their image and aside from dusa, they didn't have any issues with tidying up or cleaning.
He wasn't against physical punishnt either, but it felt wrong.
'Nika failed a difficult task which shouldn't be a problem, but letting it slide will set a dangerous precedent as it would an that this company allows failure. dusa hit when I fell asleep and was defenseless which again, shouldn't be a problem, but the fact that she doesn't regret it is a big issue.
Luna trying to do weird stuff is just Luna being Luna, but by not asking for my consent she broke one of the laws of ethics she says she follows to the letter.
Her morals are even more twisted than mine and if I can't trust that she'll follow the bioethics code I'll have to watch my back all the ti.' While Uriel silently pondered about the punishnt, the smug on dusa's face disappeared and Luna started fidgeting her fingers. On the other hand, Nika was simply bored and thought of the wait as part of her punishnt.
"I got it! The Dolminicos have yet to pay the money, you'll have to go and collect the debt on my stead as punishnt."
"Huh? How is this a punishnt?" For so strange reason, Nika sounded disappointed.
"No, please. Not that." Luna said almost like a robot, but she actually ant her words. The gacity of Hollywood was too colorful and too filled with people to her taste.
"That would an going outside while we're being investigated by the local authorities. That's the very reason why we're stuck inside this ship." dusa pointed out.
"It wouldn't be a punishnt if it was easy, would it?" Uriel said with a grin.
"What if they catch us?" dusa rebuked.
"They'll never catch ." Nika shrugged with the confidence only a trait like hers could provide.
"If they catch any of you, It would be a failure for the team and that won't be tolerated." dusa couldn't see Uriel's expression, but he knew him well enough to know he was smiling.
"Fine." dusa sighed and they all went to prepare themselves for the task at hand.
"This is perfect." Uriel complinted himself as it was both a punishnt to them and also an important mission that would help the entire company.
With Luna's help, tracking the Dolminicos location shouldn't be difficult, dusa had connections with them which should make collecting the debt easy and despite Nika's trait, she would be unable to leave the rest of her team behind as it would also an failure for her. It was both a punishnt and an incentive to get the job done properly to make up for her past failure.
But that wasn't the only reason why the punishnt was so perfect. By sending them away, Uriel was finally able to go outside without being nagged at. As soon as the girls left, Uriel hurried back inside the ship hiding his presence, then grabbed his backpack and headed outside making sure no one saw him.
Sneaking out without anyone noticing was impossible as there was always soone watching the entrance to make sure no doppelgangers entered the ship. The last doppelganger they encountered was during the fall of their city, but that didn't an there couldn't be any in other gacities and taking precautions was better than being sorry.
Luckily for Uriel the one on watch duty wasn't the nosy Miss Dragonfang but Liam. Uriel didn't know him well and one of the few interactions he ever had with him was their short match back when Nika tutored them in college, but from what he had seen in the past he was a pretty straightforward and honest.
"I'll be coming back right before curfew." Uriel nodded at Liam who opened the door for him.
"Sure thing, boss!" Liam didn't miss Uriel's sneaky behavior or the fact that he went out right after sending the girls on a mission. It was a behavior he had seen many tis before on his fellow Armstrong comrades whenever they wanted to go to the red light district behind the backs of their lovers or spouses, but rather than judging him he just winked at Uriel with complicity as he passed by him.
Needless to say, Uriel noticed the misunderstanding but decided to ignore it. Besides, even if he wanted to refute it, nothing would change the fact that he was indeed heading to the red light district, though not for the reason Liam thought.
The first ti Uriel visited Hollywood was a less than pleasant experience, but he was now starting to grow fond of it. Buildings were properly maintained and painted, streets were clean and people looked neat, even beautiful. If not for his mystical sense telling him otherwise, Uriel would have thought the entire population of Hollywood gacity was comprised solely of heavenly rank hunters.
It was as though everyone had made a previous agreent to look their best at all tis, with stylish clothes and matching jewelry.
Uriel was able to tell with just a glance that it was only a facade as most of the garnts worn by the inhabitants were of bad quality and both jewelry and watches were imitations. Even then, they were tasteful instead of tacky just like the buildings and their decoration which made the city a sight to behold.
However, it wasn't appearances what brought Uriel to like the city but sothing he learned from Jon Hunter during their brief stay at a five star hotel. "As long as soone has the money, anything can be bought here." He muttered to himself as he walked into the first questionable establishnt he found in the middle of the red light district.
"What's it gonna be, handso. Food, drink or maybe you want so company?" The waitress asked in a seductive tone of voice.
"Yes." Uriel replied, unfazed by the miles of cleavage on her dress or her deep green eyes.
"Excuse ?" The woman tilted her head in confusion.
"Food, drink and you, in that order." Uriel replied in an overbearing tone of voice trying to put into practice one of the lessons Jon taught him. He never stopped nagging at Uriel for being too polite to the hotel staff or people in general, telling him that if he wanted people to cooperate he needed to act arrogant and entitled.
lina blushed slightly, embarrassed for not picking up on what Uriel said. To soone in her line of work, following the lead of their custors was among the most important tasks and despite performing a job most would consider the lowest of the low, she still did it with professional integrity.
Uriel was taken to a secluded room with a small table with just two chairs and an oddly shaped couch designed specifically for certain activities Uriel had no intention to partake in. He didn't like the atmosphere of the place or the company, but he very much appreciated the privacy as the door closed behind them.
Reviews
All reviews (0)