Into the Lion's Den (City of Kore)

The party that had delved into the heart of Demeter Woods came to sickening discovery that the mayor of Kore was fabricating lies and propaganda in an effort to shatter the trust the city folk had for the Midara within the forest. Doing some info-gathering thanks to Ryofu, the group have elected to try and deceive the mayor, sweet-talk him, and make him lower his guard to try and gather evidence of his wrong-doings. How well will their plan play out?

"So we all know the plan, correct?" A behemoth of a man, clad in metal, followed the group. His hands twitched, as if desiring nothing more than to grab his weapon and smite the heretical individual they were going after. Alas, he had been told that going in guns blazing would sadly not be the best of options.

"Naturally." Ryofu fluffed her hair out, a little tired from all they've done so far but not letting any of it show. She had changed her outfit for something far more formal, a black suit with sunglasses to play up her role. She'd gotten a set for Dixi as well, through her connections. "Barky, don't go too crazy waiting. The second we get our info, that'll be up to you to boom it out as loud as you can in grand fashion. You're good at that, it'll come naturally."

She looked at Ferro next. "Ferro, Dixi and I will support you as best as you can, but once we get in there, it's all you. We're right where we need to be. You can do this, right?" She tilted her sunglasses down as she spoke.

Dixi had just finished putting on the new clothes that Ryofu had gotten for her, they fit her like a glove, and were pretty stylish to boot. When she came out to meet with the others, she was adjusting the gloves. "Man. I like this style." She had the sunglasses raised, since she had been inside until now, but, now that she was with the others, the brawler put them down, covering her golden eyes. "Alright. Ready as one can be."

"No concerns here on that front," Ferro added, knowing the plan full well, since it was kind of his idea they settled on. Looking to Ryofu, he did feel a bit of the pressure when he was reminded that he'd be doing most of the talking, but he trusted himself to do some acting and tell the mayor the sorts of things he wants to hear. "I'll be okay, I just need to get into my asshole rich guy role..." 

He took a deep breath, cleared his throat, closed his eyes and, after a moment of silence, opened them up and put on his best charming smile. "Hey ladies, I see you're packing suits today. Why not make it pleasure instead of business?" After which he immediately felt a bit of embarrassment and asked the group, "Uh, how was that?"

Despite what he might have expected, Ryofu's face beamed when he saw the display, and clapped once. "Perfect! Channel that energy. He's probably like that by default. We'll play along with whatever route you go on. Do what you need to make it look convincing. That's why we'll be there with you." Ryofu flipped her shades back down and tightened her gloves. She and Dixi were playing the part of the personal bodyguards, and they didn't have to do much to make it convincing: the fact that both were more than competent in a fight made that work extremely well.

Dixi was pretty impressed by Ferro's act. He must have seem a fair share of rich kids... Or had a pretty good example living close to him. "Not a bad act. If this whole peacebringer thing fails, you could become an actor." Dixi was joking, she believed that the young man had the heart to dedicate himself to his mission but some cheerful jokes would always come in handy. "Alright. Everything is ready. Time to kick this plan into action."

"Right!" Ferro took some time to get himself prepared before slipping fully into the Asshole Act, heading off to go to city hall and set up a meeting with this mayor. Arriving in the lobby, a young woman sat behind the front desk, looking utterly beat and her hair neglected. "Excuse me, madam, would the mayor, by any chance, be in?" 

The woman looked up at Ferro and then gave a quick peek to Dixi and Ryofu before returning her gaze to the young man. "He is. Why, did you want to set an appointment?" 

"You could say that. I'd like to have a word with him, and I refuse to wait." He leaned over the desk, placing his elbows on the wood and propping his head up in his hands, looking at the exhausted woman. "You can do that, can't you, darling?" 

This was a side the group had never seen from Ferro and, under normal circumstances, never would've expected from him given what they'd seen so far. They'd be right not to, but despite his preference against being seductive, he was fairly charming. He certainly made the desk lady blush, the woman already reaching for the phone and sputtering out her next words. "U-Um, certainly, sir... C-Could I get your name? F-For the appointment, of course!" 

"Magia. Ferro Magia. Do try to remember it, I'd love nothing more than to know a gorgeous woman like yourself is thinking of me."

Both the Ryofu and Dixi were with him one step of the way, two attractive women in suits and stone faces, acting as paid bodyguards to their employer. It was all to keep up the act, and she felt they had a good shot at this. Ferro had naturally set himself into the role well enough, and was even turning on the charm. That was good. He needed to look like a prick, and he was rocking the look.

All she could hope for was that he didn't go too far into the role. The sunglasses that she had on perfectly shielded her gaze, and luckily no one would see that she rolled her eyes a little at how over the top he was being. It was what they wanted, but she couldn't help herself.

"R-Right, um..." The woman phoned the mayor's office and informed him of Ferro and the others wishing to see him. After some time, they were allowed up, the three of them preparing themselves for the moment of truth.

When they arrived at the office, they found a man sitting at a finely polished desk made of shining reddish wood, everything was haphazardly organized, Tetris'd together at the outer corners and sides of the surface of the desk. The man behind the desk had a clean gelled back brunette haircut with a suit unbuttoned a bit, and on his face was a grim and examining expression on his face.

Dixi analized the room, it seemed like your run of the mill politician office. Everything so neatly arranged and clean... Unlike the man in question's morality, which couldn't be more rotten and dirty. She did her best to hide her disgust, luckiky, she knew how to play the part she had been assigned to play. She would remain silent until addressed and then she would talk, for the rest of the time, she would just watch and listen, playing the bodyguard act.

She could only assume that Ferro's natural charm had carried him this far, entirely on its own. It seems like he was doing fairly well in his role. Both of them were on hand just incase things went south. In hindsight, playing the role of a womanizer actually helped his case when it came to the two of them: Someone like the character he was playing would spring for bodyguards like them for eye candy. Whether he was doing that intentionally or not, it was helping his overall look.

And there he was, the man they were here for. Looked exactly like the information they had gotten, too: indulgent, in every way. This was still in Ferro's hands, and they had their role to play, that being the silent caretakers of this kind of person. It was in his court, and all they could do is hope he stuck the landing.

"Hello, welcome to my office, it's such a pleasure to meet you!" The man got up from his desk and walked around it to approach his guests. For a brief moment, his eyes wander at his bodyguards. Well that giant red thing is....intimidating to say the least and only a Magia would afford such a brute. The two other, well they were quite fetching to say the least and his gaze lingered a bit on their feminine features before he pulled his attention towards Ferro. "What an honor for a member of the Magia family to visit me. How is your stay in my city, and to what do I owe the pleasure." He offers Ferro his his hand.

"Well thank you for the kind words, Mr. Mayor. I'm actually here on personal business and, don't worry a mite, I've been enjoying my stay in your lovely city." He gauged the man's demeanor, already being reminded of the men that would try to brown nose to his father or even himself during business meetings and parties. Forced and fake enthusiasm and a hidden agenda... "You could say I've been scoping out the city's landmarks and taking a vested interest in one."

The man's gaze on the two of them was definitely noticed, and felt, by Ryofu. If she wasn't trying to put on an act and remain as stoic as ever, she would have let out a disgusted shiver. But the fact that she was noticed as such meant that everything was going according to plan. In a way, that worked out well for them. If Ferro was going to keep up the suave and chauvinistic attitude, having the two of them present will only add to the act; someone like him would want bodyguards like them.

She made no motion to show she noticed the attention, keeping up her own act. Cold and emotionless, as a bodyguard should be.

Dixi noticed the mayor's gaze and felt disgusted by it. She knew this was to be expected but she was prepare to hide her disgust for the man, she had to play the part... Even if she wanted to punch the jerk on the face, Dixi stood still, keeping her act of cold bodyguard.

The mayor looks surprised for a moment before watching Ferro with curious gaze, almost cautious gaze.  "Really now? It's always good to hear of a vested interest in my city?"  Inwardly he was starting to grow a bit worried.  His main policies have been aimed towards Demeter Woods and the midaras that inhabited there.

"Indeed." He kept his eyes locked to the mayor's own, judging his gaze and keeping a close watch for any discerning change. "The forest neighboring your fair city, Demeter Woods, was it? It's quite interesting, you know...

"I learned some interesting things, Mr. Mayor. Things backed up by what I found inside that forest, namely that it used to be a public place. I'm sure most would assume the Midara just forced themselves in, but the ones I've met seemed to know those woods like the backs of their hands, and a lot of them weren't nearly as aggressive as some I've seen before. Almost as if they've always been there..." It might do to test his response before deciding what to say next.

The politician stiffens as he felt sweat start to form at the back of his collared neck. Wait, he knows about that? He wasn't exactly doing a stellar job hiding his discomfort with his slight fidgeting. "W-what do you mean?"

It wasn't too difficult to see through his tells, something that was surprisingly easy. They still needed hard evidence of the mayor's wrongdoing though, so he elected to ease the tension, giving a mirthful laugh. "Oh, why so nervous, mayor? I'm not going to reprimand you, I'm here to applaud you! Clearly that forest is something of a remnant of the leadership of a prior mayor, right? I can't imagine you'd be idiotic enough to allow that in your city. No, you've been working very hard to turn your city's people against those Midara, and may I say you've done an impressive job, mayor."

"A-ah, Y-yes... it was the mayor two generations, yes, before that created the set up with the public nature walk, and the mayor before me that kept it going..." The mayor was half expecting to be lectured or reprimanded for his actions, but the compliment of his action caught him completely off guard by the compliment that Ferro has given him. And boy was it a relief to him. After a moment, he has calmed down a bit though a bit of sweat still drips a bit from the side of his head from the previous moment.

"I see, then the openness of the woods to the public must have been going on for quite a while before you came in. Turning things around like that must've taken quite a lot of hard work and clever thinking, and from the looks of it, it's working." Ferro had noted the mayor only confirming the work of his predecessors, not his own intentions. Not a bad move, all things considered... Right now, aside from the mayor's visible tells and nervous ticks, it was a "neither confirm nor deny" situation, trying to feel out his guest's motives first before he says anything truly telling. "Congratulations, mayor, you're well on your way to straightening up that forest."

The mayor felt relief that he was not in hot waters at all.  Then a bit of greed and ambition start to creep up on him.  Maybe her can be able to get further into his good grace and perhaps be able to be rewarded for his actions.  "It's been a pleasure.  But is there anything else that I can be able to help you with?"  The politician's tone makes it sound a bit too eager to please.

It took quite a bit of strength for Ferro to not respond with "Yeah, you go right to hell". It was very fortunate that the mayor was so easy to convince, but now that the bastard thought he was in the clear he was quite readily showing his true colors. "Yes, I was actually hoping to talk business with you. Perhaps you and I can have a discussion about your city over drinks this evening?"

"But of course. Any particular place that you wish to go? I am sure that you have had some opportunity to tour much of my beloved city?" The portly man reaches up to his cabinet...well he had to go on his tippy toe to grab a scroll from said cabinet due to his short stature. His hands unravels the scroll on his desk showing the entire city layout along with several locations marked such as markets and taverns.