The queen walked over to the brightly lit room and entered. Ning walked behind her and arrived there a moment later.
When he looked around the room, he was shocked. "So many pearls," he said as he looked at them. "Why are they used as decorations?"
"They are not decorations," the queen said. "They are here to gather spiritual energy from the ocean above and give it to me. I had my leg broken, so I had to bond with a beast that needed an incredible amount of energy before it could heal me. As a result, I had this place made for me alone."
"I see," Ning said as he looked around. "This is a good meditation cave, I'm not gonna lie."
He sat on one of the chairs that didn't seem to fit the room while the queen sat on the massive bed in the middle of the room.
"So, what did you want to talk about?" Ning asked.
"I had a few questions," the queen said. "First of all, have you killed anyone before?"
Ning was surprised to be asked such a serious question right off the bat. "Umm, why do you ask?" he decided not to answer immediately.
"Outside, when I ambushed you. Your first reaction was to kill me, wasn't it?" the queen asked. "If I hadn't dodged in time, you would've killed me for sure."
Ning gave an awkward smile. "Well, you did ambush me. I didn't know what else to do but fight back," he said. "I'm sorry."
"Oh, don't worry. I don't mind you fighting back if that's what you're worried about. In fact, that's what made me certain that you were the one I needed," the queen said.
Ning's eyes narrowed. "You need someone that can kill?" he asked.
The queen shook her head. "That's a great bonus, but I really just need someone that can fight back at a moment's notice."
Ning's eyes narrowed. "What is it that you really want, your highness?" he asked.
The queen's eyes flashed anger when she heard that. "I want revenge. I want revenge against those who betrayed me. Against those who betrayed us. I want to kill the woman that poisoned me and left me to rot in the ocean."
"I want to gouge the eyes of the man I once thought as my father figure. I want to kill all those that I once called my family. I want vengeance. I want Justice," the queen said.
"The people you called your family tried to kill you?" Ning asked with a serious look.
"And you want to kill them back?" he asked.
"Yes, that's why I am planning to start an organization of my own. So that I can take my revenge. Will you help me?" she asked.
Ning fell silent, not saying anything. "Can you tell me about this organization? Is it going to exist for the sole purpose of killing these former family members of yours?" Ning asked.
"No," the queen said. "The main goal is to empower the weak girls that are either orphaned or left behind by others, just like I was first saved by my mentor."
"And I'm joining just because of my strength huh?" Ning asked.
"Honestly, strength like yours is hard to come by even in the west. People like you are prominent figures of power in the west. I'm surprised you are fine with working for the summoning circle in such a backwater country as this."
"Well, I enjoy what I enjoy. I don't find being a prominent figure that much fun. You are instead plagued with a responsibility that I would just very much like to avoid," Ning said.
"It's fine if you want to avoid them. I can see how being unfettered is an advantage to some too. I would assume many people that are tied down by such positions would want to be unfettered," the queen said. "I just ask you that you use your power for this one time to help me defeat those that are clearly evil."
Ning sighed. "I will have to learn more about them. What did they do exactly? How did they betray you?" he asked.
"They," the queen sighed as well. "My mentor was the head of the group. He was the one that initially formed the group with his friends, but they had died along the way, leaving him as the sole leader."
"He did his job the best he could, gathering more and more people to his own cause," she said. "After a while, however, the rest of the people didn't see his vision. They hadn't suffered as he had."
"So, when they saw the chance to change the leadership, they took it. They assassinated my mentor in cold blood, while also trying to kill everyone that would follow him"
"A war broke out between the two of us. One that wanted change, and the other one that wanted to punish them for what they had done."
"Unfortunately for us, the ones seeking justice were vastly outnumbered. As a result, most of us died, and even I was killed, or at least they thought they did."
"That bitch poisoned my legs and tossed me overboard. Fortunately, I had an antidote for the poison with me. Unfortunately, I couldn't take it before it wrecked my legs," the queen said.
"I floated until I was found by a fishing boat. Then, through a few ships, I ended up here where I seduced a man to find shelter. Who would've thought the dumb, big man was actually the king of this country," the queen laughed to herself.
Ning nodded as he heard that. "This argument the people had with your mentor, what was it about?" he asked.
"Well, we were good at killing, so they wanted to go into the fields of assassins, but my mentor wanted to keep helping people in poor countries. He—"
"Wait, wait, wait," Ning quickly spoke up to stop the queen.
"What did you say this organization's name was again?" he asked.
"I didn't," The queen said. "But if you must know, it is known as the Shadow's Anarchy."1
