Chapter 79 As Per The Deal.
Lenna took a step towards the door and felt a minute amount of resistance on her shoulder. She stopped and waited for a moment. “Keep going. Just outside.” She heard Isaac whisper in her ear. Her next step was silent as shadows had started to wash over her allowing her to hear Isaac even though he had used his shadow cloak to disappear.
Isaac closed the door behind them and then reappeared. He looked around. “Where is he?” He asked nobody in particular. His eyes scanned the shops and stalls along the street until he found the familiar face he was looking for. “I’m getting hungry. Let’s get some skewers.”
Lenna followed his gaze and found who he was looking for. Thomas was standing a few feet from a food stall that was grilling up skewers of some kind. The pair walked over and Isaac ordered two skewers. After receiving them the pair stepped off to the side near Thomas. Isaac stored the one and winked at Lenna. “Thank you.” She replied. They did smell good even if she didn’t know what kind of meat it was.
Isaac took a bite and almost burned his mouth. “Ouch.” He said and Lenna shook her head at his impatience. Thomas just kept standing there casually eating his skewer. “Any of your friends around?” Isaac said casually without looking at Thomas.
“Not that I know of. Doesn’t mean they aren’t there.” He replied and continued eating.
“Good enough for a quick chat. In that building are two brothers. The older one is my new informant. The younger one is the one I’m worried about.” Isaac explained.
“I’m supposed to be shadowing you, not shadowing people for you.” Thomas reminded him.
“It’s not like that.” Isaac assured him. “I just want you to get a good look at him and let me know anything you happen to hear about him.”
Thomas nodded and replied: “If that’s all you need I don’t mind. What’s the deal with him?”
“He’s collateral on a loan. He agreed to it way before his brother did. I don’t like how ready he was to make a deal like that. Something doesn’t sit right.” Isaac explained.
“A loan?” Thomas raised an eyebrow. “You a loan shark now?”
“No. There’s no interest. The loan is eight years of the older brother being my informant in exchange for eight hundred gold. I’m paying them up front, hence the collateral.” Isaac went on. “Apparently they are in deep with this guy called Mr. Nobody.”
“I’ve heard of them.” Thomas replied.
“Them?” Isaac asked.
Thomas nodded. “Yeah it’s a small organization with a lot of gold and magic items I hear. Loan sharks and mortal traffickers. Default on the loan, get sold to the highest bidder type people. Reports are all over the place about them though. I’d keep my distance” He warned.
“All the more reason to know what they are up to.” Isaac replied. “What’s weird about the reports?”
Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
Thomas sighed and dropped his empty skewer in a bin next to the stall. “Either shape shifters or magic that makes it look like it.” He explained. “The guys at the top are concerned. There’s a chance, a small chance mind you, but a chance that it, they, are a doppelganger.”
“You think a shape changing monster that likes to kill people and take their place is running a mortal trafficking and loan shark ring under everyone’s noses?” Isaac asked incredulously.
Thomas shook his head. “Not just me. I told you this goes to the top. No one has been able to track them down. No one can find their base of operations.”
“Who's at the top?” Isaac asked about Thomas’ organization.
Thomas shook his head. “Nope. I’m staying out of that. There is no way I’m gonna get stuck in between you and my boss.” He answered firmly.
Isaac shrugged. “Worth a shot.” He wasn’t going to press. Having a good relationship with this spy was worth more than some information about who he answered to. Isaac was pretty sure it was Gio but there was always the chance that he was using someone else’s spies to keep an eye on them. “Thanks for the info.”
“You're welcome. Please don’t make it a habit. You’ll blow my cover.” Thomas replied.
Isaac smirked. “I’ll try.” He told him then turned to Lenna. “Let’s head back. We have stuff to do.”
“Understood.” Lenna replied and fell in next to but a little behind Isaac.
—
Back in their room Isaac pulled the chair out of Inventory and placed it against the wall. Lenna took off her helmet and raised an eyebrow skeptically at him. “What? Now we just need a little two person table.”
Lenna shook her head and then took the skewer that Isaac offered her. “Thanks.”
Isaac nodded in acknowledgement. “After you’re done we need to get that eighty platinum to James. The question is how?” Isaac stated. He sat down on their new chair and tried to think up a plan. “We can go get the coin easily enough. No one would ask questions or anything. The real problem would be getting it from the bank to James without anyone seeing enough to put the pieces together that he is working for us.”
Lenna paused her snack when she had an idea. “We could leave from here invisible. You can make me invisible too, right?” She asked.
“Yeah but only for a little while. Not nearly long enough to get downtown. Long enough that no one would see us leave here though.” He replied still deep in thought. “My cloak. You could use my cloak to hide who you are, I’ll follow behind you invisible and with your vest in my Inventory. There are a ton of people walking around in plate armor. With the cloak it would be harder to distinguish you from any of the other warriors walking around.”
“Maybe.” Lenna replied. The problem with the cloak as well as her armor was that damage was unique. If someone noticed a specific tear or singe they might be able to put it together. That was of course assuming that someone cared enough.
“You don’t think it’ll work?” Isaac asked.
Lenna shook her head. “It should. Unless someone is already tailing us. Is there any visible damage on your cloak?”
Isaac held it out in front of him and looked it over. There were a few battle scars on it but not many thankfully. “A few.”
“How lucky are you?” Lenna asked.
Isaac flashed her a grin. “I met you. Extremely.”
Lenna just shook her head. “We should be fine.”
“But still be careful. Got it.” He replied. Lenna nodded and finished her skewer. She put her helmet back on and got ready to leave. Isaac put his cloak back on and the two headed out to retrieve the promised payment.
—
An hour later they were back in their room. Isaac took the coins out of the bottomless bag and stored them in his Inventory. One less thing to be recognized was worth him carrying the extra weight. Lenna handed him her vest and he stored that too. She donned on his cloak and put the hood up. “Ready?” Isaac asked.
“Ready.” She replied. The pair exited their room and locked the door. Isaac put his hand on her shoulder and focused. Shadows engulfed both of them.
Once the circuit was completed Isaac gave her a nudge. “We need to hurry.” She nodded and they made their way outside and down an alley a few buildings down from the Celestial Dawn. Isaac took a few deep breaths when they arrived after he let their invisibility fade. “Give me a minute.” He wheezed.
Lenna turned from him and looked down the alley. The plan could be ruined if someone saw them together like that. After Isaac’s break to recover some of his mana he gave her a nod and disappeared. She finished heading through the alley and took a slightly different path to get to James’ house downtown.
By the time they got there and went inside it was getting late. Walking across town took a while especially when trying to make sure no one was following them. Once inside Lenna tossed the hood back as Isaac closed the door.
James was sitting at the table with Lenny eating food from one of the shops the pair had passed on their way there. The brothers looked up from their food and James sighed as Isaac appeared while standing in Lenna’s shadow.
“Don’t give me that.” Isaac told him and walked over to the table. James flinched when he got close. Isaac just shook his head and started dropping platinum coins onto the table. “Eighty platinum coins before the end of the day. As per the deal.”