"Hey, Ratt." The blonde man called out his companion. He was wearing a faded t-shirt, blue jeans and sandal shoes. His hair was shoulder-length and messy, as if he never bothered trying to control it. He and his other two comrades were walking down the streets of Hanson, somewhere in Louisiana, strolling around to see the sights of the city. The blonde man looked vaguely annoyed, if the expression of his face told anything. "Can I say somethin'?"<br/><br/>"Permission to speak granted, Neo." Rattus replied monotonically. The bespectacled man's short blue hair was wavy, almost bordering on curly. In contrast to Neo's outfit, Rattus wore double-breasted black suit, tie and dress shoes. He was carrying a nondescript briefcase with him as he walked alongside his two subordinates, just minding the way in front of him while he also was about to listen to Neo's musings.<br/><br/>"Have I told y'all dat I hate this fuckin' shithole of a state?" Neo started to rant, not minding anyone who will hear him. "I've been 'ere way back befo' mah tour of duty in fuckin' France 'n' I can say that wit' authoritah. Luizziane is one of those states in this union where the people ain't fuckin' 'Mericans at all. They're Frogs. As in Frenchie Frogs, rejects from a backwater corner in Soviet Canuckistan. Goddamned cheese-eatin' papist surrendah niggers. They dun even speak proper Frogspeak 'ere."<br/><br/>"Neo, have you forgotten that the French have logistically and militarily aided the Colonists during the American Revolutionary War?" Rattus retorted, still keeping his deadpan tone. "Without their intervention, the English Colonists would have a harder time fighting for their independence from the British Empire, assuming that they succeed at all. And that is not to mention that the French have invented many concepts and technologies that modern militaries use until today, like smokeless powder and bayonets."<br/><br/>"Dude, these mo'fuckahs here ain't properly French either. They're neither French nor 'Mericans, man. They're Cajuns. They don't even speak proper fuckin' French 'ere. They speak Cajun French. Dat ain't proper French, nigga. So the frogs 'ere don't croak like them Euro-Frogs. They're mo' shitty." Neo acerbically replied to him.<br/><br/>"Neo-san, please do not start this again." She pleaded to the blonde man. She was one of their colleagues walking alongside the two men. She had a long, dark green hair tied like a ponytail in the back, and she was wearing a green yukata with white trimmings. She also wore white thigh-high socks and wooden geta sandals. "Every time we go to a new city, you always speak bad of it."<br/><br/>"Well, no shit, I'll talk shit 'bout this fuckin' state, ya' fuckin' retard." Neo snapped back at her. "I've been in dis Bumfuck state befo', goddamn it. There's a prison 'ere in Luizziane the locals like ta call Angola fo' some fuckin' reason. I had mah stay t'ere when the pigs got me by the ass one time durin' mah Mississippi Merrymen days, and I was ass-raped upon getting to mah cell. If I didn't fuck da guy who fucked me in the ass back, I would have been his bitch. But I'm nobody's bitch, ya' heard? So dat's why I can say that this Cajun shitpit is fuckin' bad."<br/><br/>"But that was long ago, is not it?" She responded to him. "I am sure that things have changed in that prison, or in this place too, right? Places do not stay the same forever, do they?"<br/><br/>"I agree with Yukina's statements." Rattus affirmed her, pushing back his glasses by the bridge. "The Louisiana you once knew back when you first came here isn't the same as it is today. So I suggest that you keep any judgmental comments on the place to yourself, before I make that request into a formal command."<br/><br/>"Fine, ya' asshats." Neo conceded. "As fo' me, as long as I don't see good shit in this city, I'll keep sayin' it is shitty, y'all undah'stand?"<br/><br/>"And that is why we will find good things in it!" Yukina enthusiastically said.<br/><br/>"But yeah," The blonde man changed the subject. "Why da fuck are we 'ere anyway? Business trip again, or some shit like that?"<br/><br/>"We will attend a funeral, Neo." Rattus directly told him. "The deceased is a close business contact of mine. His body lies in wake here in Hanson, and we will visit him."<br/><br/>"That is saddening, onii-chan..." Yukina remarked with all child-like somberness. "I am sorry to ask, but how did he die?"<br/><br/>"That's one of the things that we will have to find out for ourselves, schwesterchen." Rattus said to her. "Post-mortem examination reports state that the cause of death was cardiac arrest, but his last conversations with me via electronic means explicitly indicate that there are multiple written and symbolic threats being sent to him by an unknown personality. More so, witnesses say that, hours before his body was found lifeless in his living room, a couple of unidentified men were seen walking out and leaving his area of residence."<br/><br/>"Well, howdafuck are we so sure it ain't no coincidence, man?" Neo asked him. "I mean, he died of heart attack. How the hell do you kill someone that way, without involvin' magic or shit? I mean, does he even know magic exists?"<br/><br/>"That's another point I want to contest, Neo." The man in business suit replied. "He told me once, again via electronic means, that he accidentally witnessed the murder of a man which involved one of the assailants simply touching the victim's forehead for a couple minutes, before collapsing lifelessly on the floor. He said that these men who did the murder spotted him and he has been receiving threats on his life and safety ever since, until his recent passing."<br/><br/>"It does sound like it involves magic, Rattus-san." Yukina commented. "But how did we know anything about what the witnesses saw and the cause of his death?"<br/><br/>"There was a colleague in this city that was contacted by the local law agency an hour after his death. He was the one who told me about the wake. They said to him that a neighbor, in turn, notified the authorities after he saw these two suspicious figures leave the supposedly scene of the crime." Rattus answered. "It was under thorough investigation until the necropsy results were released, prompting them to entirely rule out murder as a cause of death and halt further examination."<br/><br/>"Okay, let me geddis shit straight." Neo intervened. "So this dead guy's buddy told you that your contact is dead. But t'is dead nigga told you via e-mail that he's bein' dogged up the ass by a buncha magefags before he died. So, does his buddy know about the whole fuckin' story too?"<br/><br/>"He told me that he does suspect foul play regarding the death of his colleague, although he has no idea about the circumstances around his death, or the motives for anyone murdering him." The businessman continued answering questions. "In fact, that is part of the reasons why we will attend the funeral, to discuss anything regarding what happened."<br/><br/>"Um, I have another question." Yukina said. "What is the dead man's name? And what is name of his friend who told you that he died."<br/><br/>"The deceased man's full name is Maynard Taylor. Mister Taylor has been a business partner of mine for almost a decade, and his job is to ensure that the merchandise delivered to parts of North America get there without any undesirable intervention from the local authorities." Rattus entertain her questions. "Mister Jonathan DuBois, his closest colleague, is the one who notified me of Mister Taylor's death, including the circumstances surrounding it. He will soon be succeeding him as my distributor, which is partly a reason why I want see him."<br/><br/>"So yeah." The blonde began to speak up. "That's a part of the reason, ya' say. But why da fuck we have to talk to him 'bout Taylor's death, huh? I mean, you could just tell DuBois that he'll be yo' man 'ere in Luizziane from now on and get da fuck outta here. So, why do we have to bother ourselves 'bout why he died and who killed him? Because it sounds like we're going to get our asses into some deep shit again."<br/><br/>"Indeed we will investigate for ourselves who killed Mister Taylor." Rattus confirmed to him.<br/><br/>"Why?" Yukina asked again. "Does this have something to do with your arms dealing?"<br/><br/>"Yes." Rattus then exhale deeply. "Because I want to make sure that the people who killed him isn't an clandestine syndicate or underground organization who wants to seize control of territories here in Louisiana, especially if they use magic. Because those kinds of organizations may intervene in business dealings, therefore reducing profit."<br/><br/>"Dude, I assure ya' that yo' hidin' shit from us." The messy-haired man told him off. "No matter how ya' try to say it's purely for fuckin' profit, I'm pretty damn sure that ya' have a hidden agenda. So spill it out, Ratt. Ya' ain't fooling nobody."<br/><br/>"Alright then..." Rattus exhaled again, then pulled out a hip flask from his suit coat and drank from it. "My other concern is that this magical underground organization, if such exists, might pose a danger to the people in this city. Remember that Mister Taylor isn't their first victim, as he only witnessed one of the murders done by this group. We have to find out this organization's motives, and if they are a threat to public safety or not."<br/><br/>"See? I'm fuckin' right." Neo quipped. "Damn it, Ratt. Why ya' gotta have them principles if yo' goin' to be a gun runner, man? Yo' supposed to not fuckin' care 'bout this shit."<br/><br/>"You know very well that I can't do that, Neo." Rattus said.<br/><br/>"Um..." Yukina then began to speak again. "When do we meet DuBois-san, Rattus-san?"<br/><br/>"We will meet him when we get to Mister Taylor's funeral by tomorrow, Yukina." He then took another drink from his flask, before finally keeping it back on his suit coat. "As for now, we should take our time to acquaint ourselves in this city."<br/><br/>"Yeah, let's go find shit to do here." Neo agreed with his superior.