Zodiac Circle

Chapter 42: Grandmaster Job

Tamie and Kokujin were soon transferred to the second floor, as the newly arisen Grandmistress and her muse. Once, when she was eyeing the papers of Grandmaster jobs on the second floor, she heard a familiar manly voice:

"Hey, Tamie..."

She turned around.

"Ah, Shiba! Good morning!"

"Morning. You're looking for a job to take?"

"Yeah. It's my first time ever taking a Grandmaster job, but I guess since they give more money for those, I'd like to try my luck..."

"Well then, can I ask you to accompany me as a partner on one of the jobs I chose? You'd gain more experience if you took the first job as a partner, and furthermore, I'm in dire need of your language skills," Shiba shyly grinned, scratching the back of his head, and showed her the paper, "Lord Nick says you speak nine languages, and I need a Japanese speaker to accompany me..."

Tamie blinked surprisedly at first, but once she carefully eyed the paper, she understood Shiba's request - the job demanded Zodiac Masters to arrive in Kenshin and stop a dark order that operated from behind the shadows in one of the little towns, and, as Tamie knew, they spoke Japanese in Kenshin.

"Well, what would you say?" Shiba smiled, "You are a strong Zodiac Mistress too, so I wouldn't mind splitting the income".

Tamie looked at the reward and gasped - five hundred and thousand Yans?!

"Damn..." she grinned at him: "I'd gladly help!"

"Oh, thank you so much! Then it's settled. We'll go to the harbour this evening, so pack your things up".

Thus, Tamie got her very first Grandmaster job. She immediately rushed into her brother's room first and happily told him everything, jumping joyfully before him and hugging him tightly. Nick chuckled and congratulated her on such a grand event. Then she ran down into the hall and told everything to her 'sisters'. They too were truly happy for her.

"Congratulations, Tamie! You rock!"

"Thank you so much, girls! The paper says we must hunt down a dark order called Shadow Ninja. I'm so excited - I'm going to Kenshin for the first time in my life, and to fight a whole order!"

"Hmm... Shadow Ninja Order? That's one of the most famous orders in Kenshin..." Riza furrowed her brow and put a hand to her chin. "Are you sure only two of you can make it?"

"But Shiba is strong. I hear he is the Tamer Class, Beast Rank. That's the highest rank of the Tamer Class," Jannah noted.

"Hmph, the Tamer Class? He doesn't even have a pet. How can he be the Tamer Class? Right, Blizzard?" Tiger caressed her dog, which barked and joyfully wagged the tail at her.

"Hmm, I wouldn't agree with that, Tiggie," Rianna cut in, "Shiba had a pet when he first joined our order - a giant dog, Bruno... a Saint Bernard breed".

"Really? Then where is he now?" Tiger wondered, petting her three animals at the same time.

"They say he died the day Shiba reached the Beast rank when he was gone on one of his missions," Olivia said, "At least that's how Nora told me".

"Ah! That is... so unfortunate..." Tiger looked down, now regretting she had talked so harshly about Shiba.

Silence fell for some minutes, but then Riza broke it again:

"Still, I don't think it's good to let only two of you go alone, even if you are both Grandmasters".

"Yeah, I think so too. That's why I've decided I'm coming with you!" Tiger grinned and grabbed Tamie's hand, embracing her. 

Riza widened eyes and put hands on her waist:

"Now hold up, there! How can you accompany them? You're not even a Grandmistress yet, Tiger. It's dangerous!"

"Aww, come on! Shiba's a Tamer like me. I'm sure he'll teach me a lot if I accompany them," she argued. Christo walked up to them and rubbed Tiger's feet, meowing proudly. "See? Christo agrees with me!"

The girls laughed at such a remark of hers, but Riza was still uncertain. She sighed:

"Then I'm coming too. I can't let you go alone".

"Hurray!" Tiger and Tamie jumped happily and gave each other a high-five. Riza chuckled at their childishness. 

When in the evening Shiba and Tamie, both of whom had packed their things up, met at the door as they had promised, so great was Shiba's surprise that Riza and Tiger too had accompanied Tamie!

"Huh? I thought only two of us were going..." he raised an eyebrow.

"The plans have changed, bro. Deal with it," Tiger stuck out her tongue.

"We were too wary to let you two go alone," Riza explained, "Even if you are Grandmasters, Shadow Ninja is a dangerous order, and what's more, it's across the ocean, in a foreign country... I think one cannot be too careful in this case".

"Don't worry, Shiba," Tamie tried to justify her action in front of the stupefied partner, "I promised the girls I'd split my share with them".

"Ah, no, that's not the issue at all! We can share the whole income in four, I don't mind. Are you all ready?"

"Yup!"

"Um... Have you alerted the Magister, Riza?" Shiba then fearfully smiled - he didn't want to receive Edmund's wrath for taking his girl on such a dangerous mission without his permission. 

"Of course. He gave in to me and let me go".

The friends laughed. They left the Order building, heading towards the harbour, from where their new adventures would start...