I’ll take her advice and build a better relationship with Delilah.

You get ready for the day and shower before going to the lobby. However, when you see who’s behind the bar, you realize Delilah isn’t working. You also realize you’re not working either, so now that you have free time, you could wrap up your last contract before the weather gets any worse.

You return to your room and find Arabella with the twins. They all greet you, besides Arabella, who looks more surprised you’re back than anything else. You look at them and then all your gear. “Read that last contract on the table and get the gear you think I’ll need. I’m going to get some supplies.”

Arabella shoots up. “What supplies? We shouldn’t pack anything extra you won’t need.”

“Gloves,” you tell her. “I’m getting better gloves, so don’t pick anything more than that.”

Arabella sucks in her lips and takes the contract notice as Mikko hands it to her. “We’ll have it ready for you, master.”

When you get back from the store, you find that your new companions packed as you would have done yourself. They plucked out the same rifle you used before. The scent of oil and bore cleaner is heavy in the room, so you figure they took it apart, cleaned it, and then applied everything again. It’s a little redundant, but you guess that's why you bought more gun oil and cleaner…

You go over some stuff with them. You’ll be back just as Delilah is ending her work day, but if you don’t return, you don’t want them to panic or go out looking for you. They listen to you as if their lives depend on it. About halfway through your explanation, you guess it kind of does.

On your way out, Arabella stops you. “What happened this morning? With Delilah?”

“She wasn’t here,” you say. “She usually closes, so I thought I should get this out of the way.”

She smiles. “Oh, good. I thought you were avoiding her, or something went wrong. There’s no backing out now. I’m too invested in your story for you to back out now.”

You smile. “I’m too invested in Delilah’s story to back out too. Don’t worry.”

It’s only a 20-minute hike outside the town where Tiny’s Tavern resounds. Unfortunately, the weather is shitty, and it's snowing again before you make it to your destination. Your mind is split between the contract you’re working on and Delilah...

Delilah was always in your mind anyway, but now it was different. She didn’t leave your mind until you were knocking on the door of the house that requested the contract to be dealt with. An old man answered the door. He had a coat on and was holding a coach gun.

“Hello,” you say. “You had a contract request for a needed search party? I understand it’s a little late now, but–”

“Oh,” the old man gives you a crooked smile. “Are you working with the others too?”

“Uhm…others?”

The man nods. “A blonde girl and an Asian man came with my contract and asked if I still needed help.”

If this was a serious contract, you might have stopped and gone back, but this contract's material shouldn’t have drawn the attention of anyone indecent or brutal. “Don’t suppose you’d know which direction they took, did you?”

The man steps out and points to a trail just north of his house. “Down there about 10 minutes ago. Are you a friend?”

“Not necessarily,” you feel a slight churn in your stomach but disregard it. “But, what kind of crowd could a contract like this attract?”

“Oh! You don’t seem like the types that would want to fight needlessly!” He laughed, but it didn’t make your senses seem any less tense.

…

…

The trail was busy until your “partners” started to hide their tracks. After that, it became increasingly difficult to find where they were going and how many were there. It was lazy at first, but the longer you followed them, the harder it became to track them.

And then, just as you thought it was better to start your own side of the contract, you stumbled across two figures in an icy stream looming over a carcass of a person.

You tried to look casual, but your tailored uniform and rifle painted you into an immediate threat to the others involved in the contract.

You’re positive you would have taken the shot to the heart if it weren’t for the sudden yank on your waist. The rifle’s report is quick as it cracks through the forest. Oddly enough. As you drag yourself through the snow, there’s peace in your mind— calmness too. "Fibsa," you think, crawling. "They're shooting at me?!"

That sense of security melts away only when you slump against a rock. Another bang goes into the air, and then a snap of a bullet rushes over your head. You ready yourself behind the rock and take a quick, nearly blind potshot at the shorter one bounding out of the stream. You could have made the follow-up, but you’re quickly suppressed by the other.

“Alright! Alright! Hold on!” You shout while you try to change positions. “You guys doing this contract for that old guy, or what?!”

All that responds is the stream at first, but you get a voiced answer eventually. “Yes!” Someone suddenly shouts. “Don’t tell us we nearly killed a fellow contractor.”

“Likewise,” you say. “I would’ve dusted that one that was coming out of the bank if it weren’t for your buddy!”

“You missed me!” A girl says, closer than you like.

“Well,” you grimace, looking back to where you nearly shot the first one. “Looks like we both suck.”

“Beginner’s luck,” the girl shouts back.

“This isn’t my first shootout, girl.”

“First shoot out with our outfit,” a man, a little further out, replies. “We are seconds away from killing you.”

Delilah comes to your mind, and you change your tone. “No killing. Let’s break cover and talk. No need for unnecessary **** here.”

“Come out first, then,” the girl says.

“You shot first, and there are more of you. So cut me some slack and step out,” you say, gripping your rifle.

“No.” The girl says. “Step out, or we’ll drag you out. Dead or screaming.”