Chapter 839: Cut Loose

Outside the Seashell Inn, the four Shadow Capes that had been following Blue Tiger around all day had been swapped out for others that were specialized for stakeouts. A few people on the street set up chairs in front of their windows while others were laying on roofs and watching every exit of the Seashell Inn as well as the many windows and balconies. There were many in the city that earned some side income from the Shadow Capes as watchers and a disturbing number of former targets that became employees. Even though the Shadow Capes prevented them from ever leaving the city, they still chose to work for them to keep track of others. Without access to the lucrative returns from hunting outside the city and no way to leave, if they didn’t have a Profession, how else could they make enough money to support their previously lavish lifestyles?

They noted each and every person leaving and entering the building, as well as those who even entered the same floor as Blue Tiger. They had watchers inside the Seashell Inn on the floors above and below his room, as well as another on the same floor watching his door. Sage’s absurd disguise was easily picked out and when he entered Blue Tiger’s room there was a flurry of activity as the more conspicuous members of the Shadow Capes were called up to be ready for action. The Depths were filled with an extremely diverse set of people with many strange and unusual powers, so the Shadow Capes had seen many things.

The fellow with the heavy cloak and conical straw hat finally exited Blue Tiger’s room and they immediately set a team of Shadow Capes to follow them out of the building. Then a few minutes later another fellow wearing an identical heavy cloak and conical straw hat exited Blue Tiger’s room and went down the stairs. Another team of Shadow Capes followed after them. The watchers chuckled at the naivety of thinking a simple disguise could fool them, but then the door opened up again and a third person wearing the heavy cloak and straw hat stepped out.

“We’ve got a third one.”

More Shadow Capes were called in to follow the third figure, and a team was prepared to head into Blue Tiger’s room but before they could a flood of identical figures rushed out. Dozens of people wearing the heavy cloak and conical straw hat walked out one after the other. They marched up and down the stairs, filling the Seashell Inn and then the street below. Those that walked up to the roof gave up any pretense of disguise and leapt over to the roofs of neighboring buildings. One of them lost their hat in the process and a bald head and scrunched up face was revealed. The first few teams of Shadow Capes gave up their simple act as tails and rushed forward to nab the people they were following.

One of the first three was nabbed as the disguise pulled off. The face beneath the hat was the same scrunched up pasty look with a bald head. They reached in and pulled at the person’s face trying to tug off a mask or reveal whether this was a puppet, but the face didn’t come off. The other two of the first three figures broke into a sprint, racing away from the Shadow Capes. Tens of Shadow Capes that had been called in as backup rushed onto the street, pouncing upon the dozens of cloaked people that were rushing away from the Seashell Inn in every direction. They spread over the span of a few city blocks before hundreds of Shadow Capes flooded in from every direction to block the intersections and box them in.

In a dark room across the city, a handsomely dressed man with tasseled epaulets that looked like he’d come right out of a military ball was glaring at a thin man wearing a quilted green and gray cape that was delivering a report very hesitantly.

“We’ve captured over thirty of them so far, but seventeen of them were able to break through our perimeter and escape into the city.”

“Just charge the client ten times the fee. You should know this policy, why are you bothering me at this time?”

“It’s not just that they’ve escaped, but their disguises…”

“Who cares about that terrible outfit and face transformation? We've beaten much worse than a simple alchemical potion. Just distribute the antidote sprays.”

“It’s not just the outfit and the face transformation. We used the ‘first traitor lives’ interrogation method and killed a few of them to make one talk. That’s when we found out they had an extra layer of disguise. When they died they transformed into completely different people entirely. We can’t just use the antidote spray to find their true identity. So, if those seventeen that escape remove their own face transformations it still won’t reveal which one is the real target.”

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Upon hearing this, the other man’s hand curled into a fist, “So, we have no way to find out their original identity other than death?”

“We’ve got everyone working on it. They’re combing the target’s room for hair or nails right now for the Voodoo Priests, and Witches to use. All of the fortune tellers are being blocked somehow, and the trackers have too many trails to follow. The decoys are not puppets, clones, avatars, or anything else we recognize.”

“Useless. What am I paying you people for? Isn’t there anything useful you can tell me then?”

The caped man hesitated again before giving an answer, “One of the old timers said that he saw a seal on a man’s chest when one of them died, but when they killed another one there wasn’t anything there.”

“A seal? Those do disappear when the target dies and can be placed anywhere. Hmm, a disguising seal. Can it really be?”

The caped man was surprised at how knowledgeable his boss was. None of their people seemed to know much at all about Seals but the boss was already thinking deeply about them.

“Very interesting. I haven’t seen one of those Seals in a very long time. Strip one of them naked before killing them. There should be a Seal hidden on their body that shows up as they die and disappears a few moments later. Record it and bring it to me, I need confirmation.”

“It will be done, Sir. What about the seventeen that have escaped?”

“Forget it, you’ll never be able to track them down. If theren’t aren’t any pieces of the target's body still in the room there’s nothing we can do. The target has never been shown to have any connection to Seals, correct? Look into each and every person they associated with in the past few weeks. I’ve decided, this is your new priority. Just refund the client searching for the old target. Use all of our manpower to find the Seal Master, understand?”

The caped man nodded hurriedly and then fled from the room with quick steps. He wiped sweat from his brow, glad that the failure this time hadn’t ended badly for him. His own position was nothing more than a glorified manager and there were a hundred others eager to take his job. He brought out a rectangular piece of paper covered in strange symbols while he spoke to himself, “Thank the heavens that the Lord cares more about finding this Seal Master than punishing me.”

The piece of paper lit on fire, the lower corner smoldering slowly while a strange energy was released. He lifted the Communication Talisman towards his lips and spoke with a commanding voice, “Cease pursuit of the seventeen decoys. Conduct a deep investigation of the target’s every acquaintance in the last two weeks. The Lord has authorized the full use of all manpower, refund every other job and put new business on hold.”

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