Bella Hier was the daughter of a wealthy merchant. Her father had moved to Town of Hajin, decades ago in hopes of making it big, and through many years of sustained effort and clever business, he had managed to achieve immense economic success.
The Hier Industries was a premium esoteric material supplier, this trading company acquired high-grade esoteric matter and resold them in manufacturers at remarkably high markups, earning huge profits with each exchange. Its journey to the top of Hajin was textbook execution, it established robust supply chains that minimized logistical and inventory burdens while maximizing supply.
It even managed to grasp retired Martial Artists to permanently join the company, drastically reducing the cost of acquisition of certain high grade esoteric resources that could only be acquired through Martial Artists, which would be quite expensive if done through the Martial Union.
The Hier family grew in wealth and commercial prosperity for quite a long time, even until recently.
Until recently, that was.
When the company began expanding into other esoteric resource industries, aggressively encroaching onto the space of more accomplished companies. It had bitten off more than it could chew, the Lowminers esoteric suppliers was a company that had competed against the Hier family. The entirety of the market of the Town of Hajin and the surrounding lands were the battle ground between these two behemoths.
However, their bitter struggle ended when the Lowminers managed to expand and monopolize certain esoteric markets quicker. The Lowminers managed to eventually to corner and suffocate the Hier family commercially, and eventually had enough capital to buy a huge proportion of the shares of the Hier family through various third-party entities, effectively ripping apart a chunk of its rival from it.
And that is when Bella Hier’s life crumbled.
Her father passed away.
(‘No, he was murdered.’) Bella clenched her fists
Her father died due to blunt force trauma caused by tripping and falling down staircases, and had died within seconds even before attendants who heard the noise came to help him. However, Bella was almost certain that this was staged and that he was assassinated without a doubt. Her father was an extremely careful man. The idea that he would clumsily trip to such a degree that he died on the spot as a result was an absurd notion. She was certain that the Lowminers had a Martial Apprentice, since the Martial Union would never agree to accept such a commission.
What was beyond her expectations was that her father had long prepared a will, in the event he was to die. He had passed on all of his ownership of the Hier Industries to his daughter; Bella Hier.
This was outside the expectation of the Lowminers to some degree. Part of their goal was to cannibalize the remains of the Hier Industries to achieve complete dominion over the esoteric matter market of the Town of Hajin.
Now, the problem was no closer to being solved, not as long as Bella Hier was still alive. She, who had been groomed and raised as the successor of her father, grew pale when she read her father’s will as she understood the consequences.
On one hand, her father had passed on his legacy to her.
On the other, she bore immense responsibility, and risk.
Especially risk at the current moment. Inheriting her father’s dominant shares of the Hier Industries was effectively putting a target on her back. The Lowminers would come for her without a doubt.
She fled her home estate immediately. Her fears were confirmed when she received word that the Lowminers had broken into her estate. She immediately when into survival mode and began planning for her survival first and later her return.
(‘I need to leave Hajin immediately.’) She had immediately concluded. The Lowminers were too powerful within the town of Hajin, if she stayed here, she would simply be too powerless to accomplish anything, and she would die quickly.
She had immediately charted out a plan to leave Hajin aiming to use her connections to the best she could, but the problem was that it was not really possible by herself, she would almost certainly be caught. Going to law enforcement wouldn’t help, companies with economic might usually had ears inside the law-enforcement branches and even some degree of influence. Furthermore, without concrete evidence of threat to her life she would not be able to obtain protection, the whole endeavor would be no different from announcing her presence to the Lowminers.
(‘That leaves the Martial Union.’) She sighed inwardly. The Martial Union was the strongest private association in the Kandrian Empire, a local behemoth limited to a single town or two had no influence on it. She would be able to commission a Martial Apprentice bodyguard through a third-person, her trusted attendant, and that is exactly what she did.
But there was a problem.
(‘The bodyguard isn’t here yet.’) Bella gulped. She almost considered shifting, because staying in her current location for too long was too risky. Because of her sudden departure, and lack of the elaborate preparation she would have ideally liked, she had been unable to move in a discrete manner. She knew it was only a matter of time before the Lowminers narrowed down her possible locations and completely shut off any escape.
KNOCK KNOCK
Heavy pounding on the door drew her attention. She glanced warily as she heard a muffled dispute on the other side.
“Sir, you cannot barge into our establishment violating our and our customer’s privacy! We will report you to law enforcement!”
KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK
“Open the door!” Another gruff voice insisted, ignoring the man’s reprimands.
“Miss!” Her attendant urgently insisted. “You need to leave! Go!”
Bella did not hesitate as she opened a window and jumped out. She had purposely requested for a room on the ground floor with an unbarred window, so that she would have another escape route. Just as she landed, a burly voice called out to her.
“Going somewhere?” She turned around in terror as the man caught her, effortlessly restraining her.
“Let go of me!” She struggled
“Hehe.” He chuckled as he dragged her towards the front of the hotel. “You’ve given us quite the trou-“
THWACK
p Suddenly, she felt his grip over him loosening, watching as her apprehender wordlessly collapsed.
“Hm, you’re definitely Bella Hier.” The voice of a young boy rejoiced. “Thank god, it would be so embarrassing if I lost my client on my very first mission!”
She turned around in shock, standing face to face with a masked young boy who couldn’t be older than fifteen, wearing the Martial uniform of the Martial Union.
“I don’t know what kind of mess you’ve gotten yourself into, young lady.” He said. “But we need to get out of here.”