Elmer sneezed.

Am I the topic of someone’s conversation? He asked himself, recalling one of Mr. Billard’s many lectures he had received whenever he’d taken to reading at the man’s bookstore.

This one went like this: “When you sneeze all of a sudden it’s because someone somewhere is talking about you. Most likely someone who is infatuated with you.”

It was funny to Elmer when the elderly man had said that. After all, who would sneeze without prior knowledge of its arrival?

Well, so much for that question. He had just done so.

Tsk. It would be no one else but Pip. The monkey’s probably using me as some sort of conversation topic in order to hold Mary’s attention… Elmer chose his culprit.

At least he had not caught a cold.

Depleting his spirituality completely at Hanky’s home had left him fearful of what his health would become. It was the first time such had happened after all.

I have to take caution with what I engage in, at least for today. The strength of a body is interwoven with that of the spirit, I don’t want to drop dead.

Elmer chuckled in a weird amusement all of a sudden as he recalled his past night’s exploits.

What a good host Hanky became.

Yes. He had spent the night at Hanky’s place after their ferocious bout.

Ted and Sarah had not liked it—Ned was still out cold—but since his promise had basically turned him into their guardian Angel, it was only right that they protected him from the curfew, no?

Well, as usual, he didn’t sleep, but with what rest he had been able to scrounge up from just lazing around their hearth, enough of his spirituality had been restored, and with it quite a large quantity of vigor.

Elmer yawned, tears welling up in his eyes.

So much for vigor.

He reconnected his focus to that of the Sunday silence he was ever so pleased with, and the familiar facade before his eyes. One which was bestowed to a certain pub he frequented quite a lot. The Orb of Fate pub.

Who would have thought, what he was seeking had always been right under his nose.

It made for a good laugh.

Maybe there were more surprises waiting in store for him once he got to the Underground Cartel’s base. Just maybe.

Elmer strode forward, dressed in black, his outfit a combination of a trench coat, vest, and shirt, with the last the only one of the color: white. He also had his postiche on, and on his brown, spiky hair sat a cabby hat.

It had been a sort of low scale war to return his hair back to its usual color.

By the time he’d snuck back into his own home during the wee hours of morning, the same way he’d snuck out, the black dye he had used on his hair had already begun to take over its natural brown.

Luckily, though, he had bought a bottle of vinegar for such instances beforehand. That was what he used—-the whole bottle to be precise—to wash his hair. His scalp had been ruined in return, but the essence of vitality had helped restore them to their original state.

Being an Ascender had its perks, he won’t lie.

Elmer walked into the Orb of Fate pub, each of his breaths heaving out a visible white puff, as the doorbell rang above his head.

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Without wasting a single moment, he repeated the usual procedure he took to head down into the Black Market. And a few minutes later he was there, the sharp grating of brick scratching on brick shrieking in his ears as his view transitioned from a stair well lit by torches to the familiar one-way jampacked street.

Elmer studied the area, the varying clothing styles of the people within it, their differing demeanors, the never-ending road everyone was on, then heaved out a sigh. It was one of exasperation brought about from the recollection of the directions Hanky had given him.

I haven’t even started walking and I’m already exhausted.

He sighed again then took the first step, resolving himself to put up with it.

The money he would make if everything turned out the way he’d planned would cover up for the stress he was undergoing currently.

…

A few minutes later, and soaked out of his mind in his own sweat, Elmer was stumbling on the edge of giving up in frustration.

He was about to take off his trench coat and hat, including his postiche, when he finally caught sight of two hefty doormen dressed to the nines standing in front of an alley.

Furthermore, in a similar way to how the walkway of the Golden Eye bureau was always left scanty, a certain range from their positions was left unbothered. Though that was because of the netwire fence demarcating that area, making it obvious that it wasn’t a place meant for just anyone.

Elmer was still baffled at how everyone within the Black Market, despite their ridiculous number, always kept to their own businesses.

No fights. No arguments. Nothing.

Humans were humans; it felt impossible for things to be so calm. But, the same as before, he knew the answers weren’t in store for him at the moment. His attention shifted back to his money making scheme.

Clearing his throat, Elmer replayed the scenario he had cooked up in his head over and over, then approached the hefty doormen standing before the netwire fence.

As expected, they both stretched forth their hands at the same time, motioning for him to stop his advance. He did.

“Off limits,” the one to Elmer’s right said, and he had to look up considerably to view their gaunt faces. They were way larger than he was. And… he saw it, swirling about their chests… they were Ascenders.

His answer to their disguised question was meant to be: ‘Hivemind’, as Hanky had told him. But if he did that, he was giving up his role as the guardian Angel of Hanky’s family, since he would have to expose who he had gotten that information from down the line. It would probably do well to get him past this checkpoint and into wherever was within the alley, but then he would have to explain how he knew the code to get past but not what to do while inside—if there was anything.

In short, he didn’t want to betray Hanky, and he didn’t want to build distrust with the Underground Cartel before he’d even begun working with them.

In that regard, Elmer answered, “I’m here for business.”

“Move along,” the doorman to his left said without delay, shoving him by the shoulder and sending his feet stumbling back a few steps.

Nothing of his exchange with the men was new to him, so he didn’t get angry. Deep down he was still a peasant after all.

He simply readjusted his coat and returned forward.

“I’d prefer you directed me to your superiors,” Elmer insisted. The doormen’s guises didn’t change. They were apparently used to people requesting for such.

“Move along,” they simply repeated like service men advertising their goods.

Elmer scrubbed a hand over his forehead and sighed. He had a plan, but it was not yet time to put it into action—he didn’t even want to resolve to it. He was hoping the doormen would at least have a little bit of wit about them and not act like they couldn’t make reasonable choices for themselves.

“Again, I’d prefer you took me to your superiors.” Elmer said, his gaze well hard on their faces. “I have something here for them.”

“Again,” the same one to his right, who had been doing the talking while his second did the shoving, said, a tad strongly this time, “Move along.”

Elmer dragged in a deep breath of the stuffy air in the Black Market and heaved it out unpleasantly.

The doormen had inched forward, closer to him now. It seemed like they wanted to get him away by any means possible.

That settled it; they had no wits about them.

Thankfully, they had shoved him backwards, so everything was set for his plan. He had already taken five steps while he had been repositioning himself, and it had not been a minute since then.

“Alright,” Elmer said, well knowing that it wasn’t. He was about to become a blur to them when all of a sudden…

“Let him through,” a voice uttered from within the depths of the alley. And it struck a chord in Elmer for some reason.

The doormen turned around briefly, while Elmer tilted his head and focused his gaze on the tall feminine figure which slowly manifested. His eyes widened in momentary amazement, then his eyebrows fell.

Oh… This was not what I had in mind when I expected more surprises.