Chapter 38: Chapter 38

After passing through the teleportation gate, Ethan found himself in total darkness. He immediately used [Mana Sense] to figure out where he was, but that made him even more confused. Only after lifting his head and seeing the vague light, it clicked. Seriously? A well? What’s up with these guys and wells? At least it’s a dried one, but I can’t even tell how deep it is.

He grabbed and opened his hood with both hands before turning to his left shoulder where Beet stood. ‘’Get inside buddy, I’ll teleport us out. But don’t touch to my nape or hair, otherwise [Blink] won’t work.’’

Beet jumped to the hood without a word and barely fit inside. Three [Blink]s brought them very close to the surface, so Ethan had to use the fourth one before appearing in the backyard of some old house. It was covered with tall wild grass all around, indicating that the house was unoccupied for a long time.

‘Minimap.’ Ethan gave a silent command and a circle-shaped map appeared in his vision. Contrary to what he expected, there were only 12 red dots on it, half of them were together, and the other half were separated. Did they go to the Mirasatra already? ‘Ani, expand the map’s radius to 10.000 miles.’

As the map covered an area ten times bigger, 22 more red dots appeared on it. Southwest? Wasn’t there another free city? ‘Ani, are they in that city called Kelvhan?’

‘No, they are in the Emerald Forest, but very close to the Kelvhan.’

Huh… I guess it’s better to ask others to learn what they are up to. Closing the map, he turned toward the nearest biochip user and made his way.

Another [Blink] carried him to an alley with a dead end where some kids with ragged clothes were playing a game. They were gathered around drawings on the ground which had some copper coins placed on them. None of the children noticed him as they were all devoted to the current game.

The kid who held the dice gave a look to another kid from the corner of his eyes, and the calmest kid among the group, who was wearing a flat cap hat, gave a tiny nod. As the dice rolled, the same kid turned to look at Ethan, a little taken aback.

Ethan offered a wink along with an amused smile before turning back to leave the street. He walked with short steps, taking everything Niamaris had presented. The city was similar to Ehrendil in an architectural way but different in everything else.

The most obvious difference was the dirty streets and the disorganized shops of Niamaris. Followed by the evident class difference and the poor people being in the majority. At a first glance, it seemed the rulers of Niamaris were doing a much worse job than the Ehrendils’.

Even with his relaxed walk, it didn’t take him long to arrive where his fellow earthling was, but the strange thing was everyone inside the three-story building was moving, whereas his mini-map showed that the biochip user was standing still. Using his [Mana Sense] to the extreme, he tried to tell who was the one he was looking for.

After a confusing minute, he noticed that someone was lying still on the roof with almost no mana leaking from it. He told Beet to wait for him here and come to the roof if he didn’t return shortly, activating the [Void Wrap], he used a [Blink] to appear next to the biochip user.

It was a girl in her mid-twenties, lying on the roof and watching someone from the tavern across the street. With her hardened eyes, she was giving a tough fight against sleep. Her cloak seemed to have an ability to change its color to blend in the background because only her short black hair that peeked out from the hoodie was standing out.

After a close look, despite the irregular mana fluctuations, Ethan realized that she was at early tier-3. That’s not [Mana Conceal]. Another skill? Or an artifact maybe? He lied next to her, looking in the same direction, opened his [Void Mute], and removed the [Void Wrap]. ‘’Why not go to the tavern and watch the guy from the next table with a drink?’’

The girl yelped and barely managed to not fall from the roof, thanks to Ethan’s grab. ‘’T-thro–’’

‘’Ethan,’’ he said, releasing her cloak and extending his hand. ‘’Sorry to spook you. I couldn’t think of a way not to.’’

‘’M-Michelle,’’ she said and gave a trembling handshake before looking between Ethan and the people on the street who didn’t seem to hear her. ‘’You… What? How?’’

‘’You know, skills and shit,’’ he replied, smiling slightly. ‘’So? What’s the occasion?’’

‘’I, uh, I’m on a job. We’re hired to trail someone and find evidence on a robbery that happened a week ago,’’ she explained, slowly calming down. ‘’Today is the last day, but there is still nothing to show. I was planning to cancel it before you came. What are you doing here? I thought you said you won’t join us to Rafael?’’

‘’An investigation, huh? Sounds fun,’’ he said, raising an eyebrow. ‘’I didn’t come to join you guys but to see a friend of mine, and since I’ll be staying in the city for a while, I thought about checking out what you guys are up to. Oh, yeah, do you know where is Pete at?’’

‘’He is on a hunting trip with others in the Emerald Forest. They should be coming back in a few days.’’

‘’A few days? That makes me alone in this terrible city, without a soul to trust,’’ he said, sighing. A second later, his eyes lit up. ‘’How about this? I’ll help you with your case, in exchange, you’ll show me around.’’

Michelle rolled her eyes. ‘’It’s okay. I’ll show you around. As I said, this case is a no-go, not to mention boring as hell.’’

‘’Don’t worry. I’m not gonna help you stalk people from the rooftops. We’re gonna get directly involved. Come now, fill me in.’’

She gave a small sigh and shook her head. ‘’Whatever, it’s your day to waste. A week ago an antique shop got robbed. The thieves knew every trap and the runes inside the shop, without even missing anything valuable, they cleaned the place up. One of the two partners of the shop hired us, he said that he was suspecting from the other partner and asked us to find evidence in a week. If we don’t find anything until tomorrow, they are going to open a new business in Haldir.’’

Ethan listened with interest and turned to look toward the tavern. ‘’And you followed this said partner for a week, but didn’t find anything?’’

Nodding, Michelle also turned to the tavern, looking over a short middle-aged man with a dark face. ‘’The bastard definitely isn’t clean. When he is not at work, he is either in a tavern or a gambling house. He doesn’t even have a house, and instead lives in a hotel. Look at him, rather than brooding like someone who recently got mugged, he’s just enjoying himself with friends and spends even more on the gambles. Still, there is nothing that shows that he was involved.’’

‘’I see. Where is he going for the gambles and at what time?’’

‘’To the biggest legal casino, NGM. He’ll be there as soon as the sun goes away.’’

‘’Alright. Meet me downstairs in 15 min,’’ Ethan said and added looking at Beet who just arrived, ‘’You too, bud.’’

‘’What? Oh!’’

‘’Easy. He is my friend, Beet. By the way, what’s the pay?’’

‘’I-It’s 20 mana stones if we find the evidence, b-but I’m not sure if I could include you. Leo–’’

‘’Nah, I asked because there might be other expenses. I don’t need a cut,’’ he stated and appeared on the street with a smile, thinking of Michelle's expression when she saw Beet.

With a short walk and some [Blink]s, he arrived at the same blind alley and joined the kids silently. Once again, the only one who noticed him was the one with a flat cap. Pleased with the sharpness of the kid, ‘’Wanna make some money?’’ he asked.

‘’What is it about?’’ the kid asked back like it was the most natural thing in the world.

‘’You’ll see. Follow me.’’

They walked back to the tavern side by side without a word. Ethan was able to tell that the kid was nervous, but to his credit, he barely showed. As they were passing in front of the tavern, he looked inside and spoke in a low voice, ‘’The one with the dark face and thick eyebrows. You see him?’’

‘’Do you mean fickle Neil?’’

‘’Fickle Neil? You know him?’’

‘’I know everybody who lives in this neighborhood,’’ the kid replied with certainty as they kept walking.

‘’Why the nickname?’’

‘’It’s because he gives different prices to everyone who comes to his shop.’’

Ethan smiled and hoped the guy wasn’t only fickle with his price tags. ‘’His shop got mugged a week ago, and there is a possibility that he was working with the thieves. Five mana stones if you can find solid evidence and one mana stone for a good lead. If you can’t find either, I’ll need you to learn everything about him, especially the things that not everyone knows, and come inform me. Meet me in front of NGM at sunset.’’

The kid listened attentively and nodded when he finished before turning into a different alley.

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Ethan took a roundabout route and arrived by the side of his companions shortly. Michelle was waiting for him, standing stiffly. Beet was on top of some empty wooden cases, looking around everyone with interest, deep in thought like planning an afternoon massacre.

He gave a smile and a wave at the weird duo. ‘’Plan A is in motion. Now, we need to prepare for Plan B. Do you know anyone selling high-quality clothes? Preferably, not too expensive.’’

‘’We can go to Jasmine’s mother, she is a tailor. Jasmine is from our mercenary band but she is a local,’’ Michelle informed and started leading them. ‘’Why are you so interested in this? Can’t we just go someplace and spar instead?’’

Noticing the eagerness in her voice, Hm? A battle maniac, perhaps? Always loved those types, so easy to communicate, he thought. ‘’It’s a job for a day, we can do that tomorrow. Honestly, I’m sick of killing dumb and ugly birds. Rather than a fight, an old-school investigation sounds much more fun to me right now.’’

Beet threw him a look, likely offended on behalf of its shades.

He noticed Michelle’s pursed lips and added, ‘’Why did they out of everyone put you on this mission, anyway?’’

‘’Kind of a punishment.’’

‘’What did you do?’’ he asked, cocking his head.

‘’I started a bar fight.’’

‘’That’s all?’’

Michelle scowled and deepened her voice. ‘’We shouldn’t attract more attention to ourselves than we already do, said the golden boy.’’

Ethan burst out a laugh and patted her shoulder. ‘’I think I’m gonna like you. What were you doing before the shit hit the fan?’’

‘’Actually, I was playing Cut-Throat as well, even joined The Dominion three months before it disbanded,’’ she said, looking at him intensely. ‘’I told that stone-faced Adrian that I want to fight you, more than once, but the bastard ignored me every time. I never even saw you.’’

He chuckled wryly, remembering his ace. ‘’Yeah, it’s not his fault. I wasn’t in the best mood at those times. Even if he told me, I’d have ignored you myself.’’

‘’How about now? Are you in the mood?’’

‘’Nope. I have a headache.’’

‘’Come on! It’ll be quick!’’

‘’Not feelin’ it.’’

‘’It doesn’t have to be rough, we can take it slow and see where it goes.’’

Accompanied by weird stares, they arrived at the tailor shop. After some jokes back and forth, Michelle became more friendly but she was still eyeing Beet cautiously and didn’t even ask what was up with the evil-looking mantis.

The shop’s staff was already familiar with Michelle, so they let them walk to the warehouse at the back without a question. There, they found a tall middle-aged woman, elegantly cutting a red fabric with a golden pair of scissors that brimmed with mana.

Michelle called for her while looking at the half-finished dresses. ‘’Audrey, why must you do all the work yourself? Your staff is lazing around while you’re constantly busy.’’

‘’It’s a matter of choice, darling. You should know me well by now. I wouldn’t lift a finger if I didn’t want to,’’ Audrey replied and turned behind to look at them with a smile. ‘’Oh? I thought you only fight men. First time seeing you walking together with one.

‘’It’s an investment,’’ Ethan piped in. ‘’A good fight is waiting for her, but I’m not so cheap. She has to win my heart first.’’

Michelle gave him a light elbow as Audrey laughed. ‘’Stop it. She’ll misunderstand.’’

Audrey rolled her eyes to her. ‘’Please. I know he is joking. I saw how you were looking at Jasmine.’’

Like a caught rabbit, Michelle was stunned. She opened her mouth only to close it back, looking at Ethan for help. Sadly, Ethan was enjoying the show with a smirk. ‘’W-What are you s-saying? Jasmine has a boyfriend. I-I would never–’’

‘’What’s that got anything to do with the boyfriend? Darling, you think too much. Just tell her your feelings, if it’s also how she feels, then you’ll work over the details.’’

‘’Uh, s-sure. Just don’t tell anything to her,’’ Michelle said, before turning to Ethan with a glare. ‘’And you didn’t hear anything.’’

‘’I’ll be cheering for you!’’ he said with an animated smile and a thumbs up. ‘’Silently, of course.’’

As Michelle turned back to Audrey from Ethan’s wink, a shade of crimson started to creep up from her neck. ‘’So, this is Ethan. Please help him out. I’ll be waiting outside.’’ With that, she left the store like someone was chasing her.

Audrey watched her back with a smile before turning to him. ‘’If I knew she would be this cute, I’d have teased her long before. So, how can I help you, Ethan?’’

‘’Well, aside from a lot of casual clothing, I’m in need of something fancy. Something that’d make me look like a rich kid from the Union. Do you have any suggestions?’’

‘’Hmm… That’s not difficult, but do you want to look like a random rich kid or a scion of a big family? In any case, just a dress won’t do, you’ll need some accessories as well as a haircut.’’

‘’Sure, just tell me where to go, as long as it’s not too expensive, I’m down. As for the rich kid image, how about a wastrel of a big family?’’

Audrey was much more helpful than he expected. Without asking what this was about, she even gave him a note to show her friends to help him out. Her prices were also reasonable; the dozens of casual outfits were only 3 mana stones while the fancy robe he asked for cost 5 mana stones.

Not even half an hour later, Ethan left the shop with a bunch of bags, but after Ani’s reminder, he went back in and found Audrey again.

‘’What did you forget?’’ she asked.

‘’I have another order,’’ he said with a big smile. ‘’But this one is a bit special.’’

After getting the promise from Audrey, he left the shop and walked up to Michelle before dropping his bags to the ground. ‘’Hey. Can you put these in your spatial bag?’’

‘’You don’t have one?’’

‘’I do, but it’s full,’’ he said, noticing her doubtful expression, he nodded and added, ‘’yeah, full, as in you can’t put a needle in it full. I’m hoping to sell most of what’s inside today, but first, let’s eat something, after that much fake food, I’m craving something good and real!’’

‘’What do you mean by fake food?’’ she asked as she stored his shopping bags.

‘’It’s mana shenanigans,’’ he said, grabbing her by the arm and pulling her to the crowded street. ‘’Come, I’ll tell you on the way.’’

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