Chapter 238: We’re not stalkers, are we?
After accepting the job, the team traveled to meet with the client so they could get all the information they needed. Unfortunately, their client wasn’t on the island and was on a different one. Thankfully, the island was close by, the nearest one in fact.
"I can see the island from here. Y’all just wanna teleport to it or travel there like normal people."
"Teleport." They all responded.
"Cool." Kai teleported to the island. They landed on the shore since the island was still a good distance away, but they still made it in one piece. Except for Amaya. She somehow ended up in the water, but quickly swam to shore and dried herself off.
"Did you just jump on my back when we teleported?" Kai asked. He had felt something nudge him, but he thought it was just the recoil from teleporting.
"Haha, yeah. But then I fell off and ended up in the water." Amaya looked embarrassed, but there was no regret on her face.
"Alright, team, let’s move out!"
There was a location on the paper that was revealed by magic after Kai accepted the job. It told them to meet in an alleyway during the night. Was this suspicious? Absolutely, but all six of them were strong enough to survive an ambush or assassination, so they weren’t worried.
"That’s the alley right there." Kai pointed to their meetup location.
"What now?" Amaya asked, walking over to the alley.
Kyana rested her hand on Amaya’s shoulder, stopping her from going toward the alley.
"We wait." She said. "We have no reason to stay here. We’ll look suspicious. We’ll go to a tavern, or roam the city until night."
"But that’s soooo long from now!" Amaya pouted and dropped to the ground.
"I agree. Let’s do something in the meantime so the day can pass by ’faster’." Kai said as he picked up Amaya.
"What do you want to do?" Gwen wondered.
"Ahem." Kai was waiting for this. He was hoping one of them would ask that question, so now was his time to shine. He even closed his eyes to avoid seeing their reaction.
"How about we train our SYNERGY?!" He extended his arms with pride and excitement, hoping they would feel the same. When he opened his eyes, the five of them were walking away and were already halfway down the street.
"H-Hey! Wait! Where are you going?" He ran up to them, blocking their path and forcing them to stop.
Gwen growled, her mouth steaming with flames. "Mention that synergy bullshit again and I’ll fuck you up!"
"How so?" There were many definitions of ’Fuck you up,’ and Kai hoped it was the one that needed them to be naked in bed together.
"You know what I mean!" Her hands morphed into dragon claws.
"Sorry."
"How about we go to a library?" Nadya suggested
"That’s not bad." Kyana nodded
"Great, then let’s-" Someone running by bumped into Kai without even looking back to apologize. Two guards were seen chasing after the man as well, making Kai believe that the running man was a thief.
"Hey! Get back here!"
"Stop him!"
"Wow, at least look where you’re going," Sasha growled.
"Heh, I’ve been waiting for something like this." Kai took a deep breath and smiled.
Amaya looked at him with a weird expression. "Waiting for what?"
"I carry a fake bag of coins on me, hoping that some idiot would try to pickpocket it. Then, when they do, they realize that it’s all fake, and that’s when I step in, beating them up for stealing. I have it all planned out."
"Well, what are you waiting for? Let’s chase him!" Amaya was ready to go. She loved that action, but Kai stopped her.
"Wait. He needs to shake off those guards first. Then he has to lead us to wherever he lives. Only then will we strike. So for now, let’s stay hidden in the shadows and follow him from a distance."
Everyone nodded, and they jumped on the roofs, using magic to hide their presence.
The thief ran around the city, jumping over food stalls, winding corners, moving like a pro as he escaped the pursuit of the guargs. They were left wondering where the man went and even asked people if they had seen him.
Unfortunately, the guards had no choice but to give up on chasing the man and go back to their stations.
"Heh, lowsy guards. Did they really think they could catch me? I’ve been doing this since I was five." The man, who was probably around 25, pulled out Kai’s sack of coins.
He whistled as he felt the weight of the bag. "That guy must be loaded because there’s no way someone is carrying this much cash on them without being from a wealthy family."
The man opened the bag and saw a ton of copper, silver, and gold coins. His eyes nearly came out after seeing how much money was in there. He could feel his heart skip a beat, and he held the coins to his chest.
"Sorry, pal, but thanks to you, I’m gonna be rich! I gotta tell the others!" The guy got up and ran to where his base was.
Kai and his team followed him to the slums, a place he never cared to visit. There, he saw how people lived and how horrible their situation was. But that was life. It was unfortunate, but it is what it is.
The man continued running until he arrived at the largest building in the slums, which was the base of the people who ’ruled’ the place. He walked in and greeted everyone with happiness.
"Guys! I’m here! You wont believe the catch I got today!"
"Oh, it’s Carlor. How were your rounds today?"
"Really good, boss. Here, check this out!" Carlor tossed his boss, an older, muscular man with scars on his face, and two bodyguards next to him. He grabbed the sack of coins, excited to peek inside the bag.
"Copper, Silver, AND Gold coins! The guy I took it from was absolutely loaded!" Carlor explained. "I had to hurry and show you."
The boss, getting excited from Carlor’s words, peeked into the bag only to be utterly disappointed.
"What the hell is this?" He asked, anger rising in his voice.
"What are you talking about, boss? Aren’t you glad we got this much money now?" Carlor asked
"Money? You mean a bunch of rocks?" The boss threw the bag toward Carlor’s feet, and rocks spilled out of the bag.
"H-Huh?" Carlor dropped to his knees, picked up the rocks, and looked into the bag. "I don’t understand. W-When I looked into the bag earlier, there were a bunch of coins! H-How are there just rocks now?"
"You played us!" One guard shouted.
"You hid the coins, didn’t you!"
"N-No! I didn’t! I swear! I came here right after shaking the guards! I promise I didn’t take anything!"
The boss stood up, grabbing his sword. "Then why are there no coins in the bag?"
"Because it was all a trick."
Everyone looked up at the ceiling where the voice came from. There, they saw six people sitting on the support beams, looking cool as hell with smiles on their faces.
"Now, what to do with the person who stole from me?" Kai dropped to the ground and walked toward Carlor.