Through empty hallways, Zack headed towards the bas.e.m.e.nt . .Going past aged corridors that stank of rusted iron, he stopped before a large door . He retrieved a key from his breast pocket and turned the lock . Checking behind him to make sure he hadn"t been tailed, Zack entered the room . .
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I heard the lock click as soon as the door was closed . .
I too checked my surroundings and seeing no one there, I revealed myself . .
I turned the door handle . Locked, as expected . .
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I jutted some slime into the keyhole and picked the lock . Lockpicking is something I learned in my past life so it was a breeze . What"s a power in the shadows if he can"t open a few closed doors?.
Incidentally, I have my slimes hidden inside my body so they won"t find anything even with a full pat down . .
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I checked the presences on the other side and, determining it to be safe, stealthily entered the room . .
It was a large, dimly-lit room . A celler of sorts . .
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At the back of the room, there was a lit lamp with a number of men gathered around it . .
I sneaked closer and hid behind a crate . I checked and the crate was empty . .
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The men were discussing something in the dark room . Zack was among them . .
"Boss, we"re all here like you ordered . ".
"Seems so…".
The man who the others seemed to defer to as their boss stepped forward . I"d imagined him to be something like a boss grunt, but he turned out to be a lot younger . .
In his early 20s, most likely . .
He had gray hair extending down to his shoulders and was well featured . He was no grunt . In fact, he even looked sort of intelligent . .
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From his musculature and posture, I could tell that he was trained in martial arts . .
He didn"t have the air of an prisoner at all . .
I like it . Breaking the mold and all that . .
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"Well met, brothers . The Doem Faction is pleased with your various contributions . ".
The boss said with a practiced voice, casting his gaze over the surrounding men . .
He then proceeded to ask each one of them what he desired . .
I see, so the thing about giving it to a guard was a lie . .
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"Zack, what about you?".
"I want— food . Good food and more of it . Enough for two people at least . ".
Nicely done Mr . Zack!.
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"Gonna put on "em pounds, Zack!".
Zack cringed from the surrounding jeers . .
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"Boss, let"s have another stripper show with the boys!".
"That s.h.i.t"s great, boss!".
"Again? …Try to keep it in moderation, men . ".
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Like that, Mr . handsome bossman listened to everyone"s requests one by one . .
And once he was done, his face turned serious for the first time . .
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"Brothers, we are in difficult times . Lately, there have been more attempts to cull our numbers . Why only yesterday, a coach carrying officers was a.s.saulted, resulting in 7 dead . ".
For a moment, I thought that was talking about me, but I didn"t leave the camp yesterday, so it must be someone else . .
"He"s skilled . Every time he"s killed, he"s done so without a sound . We"ve taken to calling him OWL . ".
OWL, eh… sounds important . .
"And believe it or not, there are signs that this b.a.s.t.a.r.d OWL is in this camp . ".
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That got a slight reaction out of Zack . .
"Zack, something the matter?".
"N-nothin", boss…".
Zack lowered his gaze to escape from his boss"s overpowering stare . .
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"This OWL likely wants to get in contact with Clara Oriana . We must find him before he does . Is that clear?".
All the men nodded . .
"Then that is all for now… no, there is one last matter . We have a traitor amongst us . ".
The bossman drew a knife and poised it towards Zack . .
"—You . ".
And with surprising speed, he threw it . .
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Other than me, none of the men gathered could dodge a throw like that . .
The knife grazed past Zack"s ears and sunk into the face of the man behind him . .
"This is the fool who dared to leak our info to the Royalists . ".
The other men simply looked on silently as the traitor bled and died . .
"That is all . You all may leave . ".
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And leave they did without a moment to spare . .
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"—Zack . ".
Zack, however, was the only one told to stay . .
"You"re— not hiding something, are you?".
The bossman looked at Zack with chilled eyes . .
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"N-never, boss . " Zack squeaked while seating bullets . .
"—All right . I will believe you . " The bossman patted Zack on the shoulder once, and left the celler . .
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Now left alone, Zack heaved a shuddering sigh and wiped off his sweat . .
Which is when I decided to also pat his shoulder . .
"Oo, ooooahh!? Wait what!! You!! What the actual f.u.c.k!!".
Mr . Zack got extremely freaked, and then seriously angry . .
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"Oops, didn"t mean to do that . Thanks for keeping the secret . ".
"Like I have a choice . He"d kill me soon as I told . " .
"Likely, yes . ".
"But d.a.m.n, so you"re really that OWL…".
"Truthfully, I"m really not . ".
"… Wait, you"re not?".
Zack didn"t seem very convinced . .
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"I never went out yesterday . This OWL is likely someone similar to me . ".
"Yeah, sure . You think you can pa.s.s any info about OWL to me? You saw it right? Bossman"s suspicious of me . Mainly "cause of you . ".
"It shouldn"t take me long to find out who OWL is . I can"t guarantee if I can have you know, however . There are few people in my line of business… those of reputable skill often turn out to be acquaintances…".
I said this so he doesn"t ask any more questions . Since I had no clue who OWL is . .
"f.u.c.k me . You gotta help me out, man . Boss is f.u.c.king ruthless, you saw him right? You might be fine . You can use your mana . But me, I got nothing" . ".
"Oh, by the way, your boss"s mana seal coller . It"s a fake . ".
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"Y-yer kidding me!?".
"Nope . ".
"Fuuuck… so he"s even stronger than you?".
"—What do you think?".
I did the instant mana release trick causing a small gust . .
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"Uh, yeah, maybe not…".
"It doesn"t really… oh? What"s this…".
Due to the sudden wind, a small piece of paper landed at my feed . .
I picked it up— and got a brilliant idea . .
"— Interesting . ".
I muttered cryptically . .
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"What"s going on?".
"A note from one of my agents . I know have a very good idea who this OWL really is . ".
"What!? That"s way too fast!".
"Take a look . ".
I handed over the blank piece of paper . .
"I, can"t see anything!".
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"It only responds to very specific mana signatures . Namely mine . It"s also an encrypted message . ".
"Seriously… looks completely white to me…".
Zack scrutinized the page from all sorts angles . .
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"Can"t you tell me something, even a hint?".
"… You"re sure?".
I closed in and whispered to him . .
"Code 0 . ".
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"Coat jeer?".
"Zero being the first of numbers, meaning—".
"Me-meaning what?".
Zack gulped . .
"—All will begin at last . ".
I said while simultaneously erasing my presence and moving out of sight super fast . .
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"— HUH!? He"s gone!? f.u.c.kin h.e.l.l, the door"s still closed, how…".
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Inside the empty crate, I stayed hidden until Zack left . .
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