"When do you think they'll make a better mode of transportation? Like teleportation or something.l"
"I dunno, I just wanna collapse into a bed… are they done with the check in yet?"
The two bows, Kevin and Elijah sat down on one of the benches, Kevin had a towel around his shoulder, wiping his face while all Elijah could do was wipe his sweat with his hands. The five of them had gotten off a car and travelled on foot for maybe 2-3 hours in the hot shining sun.
They had to get off their car because cars were considered a luxury, and riding a car to a remote village would be pretty conspicuous wouldn't It?
"Your shirt looks like it was more water than the fountain we walked past earlier"
"I should've dived in…"
"…"
Ignoring azreal's piercing gaze, Elijah picked up his phone and sent a message
Kevin once again laid his head on Elijah's shoulder
"What cha texting?"
"I'm just imforming the director that we've reached our location. Why must we do this undercover anyway?"
Azreal sat next to Elijah, fanning himself with his shirt
"So we have more freedom. We can disclose our identities if needed"
Kevin spotted the girls coming forwards them with keys
"Oh, they're done!"
Springing up from his sit, Kevin ran forwards the girls
"So! We got a luxury room right? 5 different rooms- etc?"
"Nope, two rooms 3 beds and 2 beds in each"
Saoirse held up the keys
"Let's go to the room, we're all sweaty"
***
Elijah walked out of the stall, a towel around his waist and wearing his shirt
"One of you go tell the girls the toilet is ready now, I'm going to take a nap"
"A nap? Shouldn't we go out and talk to the locals?"
"I'm tired, you can do it"
Elijah walked off, ignoring Azreal and lied down on the bed, quickly falling asleep.
"He fell asleep so quickly…"
Azreal stared at Elijah's sleeping figure and sighed, lying down on his bed.
Kevin, who had just returned from the girls room after informing them of the shower room, quickly jumped onto his bed and landed on a thus
"Ow.. this bed isn't as soft as I thought it'd be"
"It's not a luxury room after all, we should be grateful we even got 3 rooms"
Kevin stared at Elijah's sleeping figure before walking up to him
"Gonna wake him up?"
"Nah, I'll go out alone later. has his injury gotten better yet?"
"Yep, he probably can wield a sword in 3 days again. And I'll go out with you. The flowers here are pretty nice"
"You're not just going out for the flowers are you? Were suppose to laze around!"
Leaving Elijah's bed, Kevin laid down next to Azreal on his bed
"We should at least be aware of any awakened people. I'm just gonna scout while lazing around, that's all"
***
The plaza was buzzing with activity, people were taking walks, eating, taking photos.
Nearby were restaurants full of mercenaries and people eating.
This would be a strange sight for an otherwise obscure town, but the blond boy paid no mind.
He walked around the plaza, scanning the surroundings to search for someone
Having grabbed quite the attention from a few people, he quickened his pace, he didn't want to get bothered after all.
"Black hair.. teenager… white eyes… star on his back"
Under his breath, he kept muttering the same few words, like a machine repeating orders.
"Hey pretty boy! What cha doing walking around here for so long? Wanna get some food?"
A shopkeeper called out to the boy but he paid it no mind.
Soon, he walked into an alley way, where he bumped into a crime scene
'A dead corpse?'
The boy stared at the person in the alley, its body was mutiliated. The chest was cut wide open, with the heart missing.
'…?'
He kneeled down
"Missing heart and some organs.. they didn't harvest the body though. Is this just someone who got their organs robbed? Or what"
"Stop in your steps"
"..?"
The boy felt a piercing gaze at his back, with murderous intent.
He immediately side stepped, and the place where he was originally squatting at had been impaled by a knife
'Not aiming at vital organs'
He stared at the dagger that was stuck to the wall, before gazing at the two men in the alley.
***
'The flowers here are pretty nice, aren't they?"
Azreal walked around, admiring the garden.
"You know Azreal, I've been curious, why are you so interested in flowers?"
Kevin, who was walking next to Azreal, asked curiously
Azreal simply plucked out one of the flowers and twiddled it around his thumbs
"… no reason"
He placed the flower back onto the ground
"Also, is it me or is there a lot of people for what is suppose to be a town in the outskirts? Why are there so much mercenaries here?"
'No clue, maybe they're taking commissions of fighting the demonic creatures? They do pay a lot"
"That's beside the point, the mana here is too dense, most the mercenaries here are B ranked at least, with some A and C ranks in between"
"Then why don't we go to the alley? We're not lazing around anyway and those are the areas destined for crime"
"Sure"
The two boys walked into the alley, ignoring the ruckus surrounding them.
After walking for a while, Azreal stopped in his footsteps.
"Azreal? What's-oh."
A blond boy as squatting next to a dead corpse.
He couldn't tell much of the boy's features other than the blond hair and the fair complexion
'Subdue..'
Kevin immediately readied his dagger and threw it, aiming at the boy's shoulder.
To his surprise, the boy, who seemed to have felt his presence, immediately dodged the dagger aimed at his shoulder.
Just as Kevin was about to charge in, Azreal raised his hands
"Wait"
"..?"
"He's at least an A rank"
"Why.. did you attack me?"
The blond boy tilted his head
Azreal stared at the boy's navy blue eyes
"You, why did you kill that person?"
Deciding it'd be better to just get some information, Azreal asked a few questions
"Kill…? I didn't kill him, I don't have a motive to"
"Then why were you squatting next to the body?"
"To investigate it, a body found in an alley that was multilated, who wouldn't?"
"An average person would report it to the police, no?"
"That's besides the point, can I ask a question?"
"…?"
Azreal gave a glance to Kevin, who was standing next to him. As Kevin nodded, Azreal turned his head back to the blond boy and nodded, giving him the permission to ask.
"Have you seen a boy? Probably 17 years old? He has black hair, white eyes, looks muscular and tall and… has a star in his back"