The flight arrived at Mexico, in the City of Mexico where the airport was located, Gabriel, Mak and Nico left the airport and took a taxi to the village where Ozymandias was supposed to be located, the village was a bit larger than what Nico expected and as soon as they arrived at the village they had to make up a plan, they went straight for the motel where Nico booked the room that they were going to be staying and use as a base of opperations, as soon as they got inside the manager of the motel, a middle aged man, a bit short with signs of baldness and a big grey mustache greeted them, Mak was already prepared for that so he had cast the Language of Babel spell so they wouldn't run into an awkward situation...
Luis-Hello, my name is Luis, I am the manager of the motel, how can I help you?
Nico-Hello, I am Nico D'Renna, I have booked a room here for me and my two friends.
Luis-Mr.Nico, we talked over the phone, I have prepared a room for you and...
Gabriel-I am Gabriel.
Mak-My name is A...
Gabriel hit Mak on the head once he reallized what he was going to say...
Mak-Mak, my name is Mak.
Luis-Yeah, Gabriel and Mak, I will show you to your room, follow me...
Luis guided them to their room, the motel was an old building with visible craks on the wall, it was clear that it wasn't a five star hotel but it would have to do, their room was located on the upper floor with the door looking at a verandah with wooden beams supporting the roof, the wood was kind of cracked there as well but the overall structure was owned by Luis' grandfather as he explained to them, once they entered the room they saw a small room with three single beds, there was a counter with a sink at the wall, the room was decorated with wooden sculptures of birds and there was a big, red, round carpet that covered pretty much the entire room, the only other door apart from the exit was the door leading to the bathroom, a simple bathroom with a toilet, sink and a small drain for the water when someone takes a shower, there was no clear indication where to take the shower as the drain was in the corner and a shower head was attached to the sink, apart from these there was a round table at the middle of the room witth three wooden chairs and a lightbulb hanging from the ceiling, as soon as Luis showed them to their room, he went back to the counter downstairs.
Gabriel-Not a luxury suite I guess.
Nico-We don't have the need for luxury, we are only going to use this place for planning and to rest, remember, we are not here for vacation.
Mak-Hey, we have a clear view of the street from the window.
Nico-I asked for the room to view the main street of the village, there are shops left and right of the main street and at the end of the road is a chapel.
Gabriel-So we can also scout the area before going on foot.
Nico-That was my plan, the manager was kind enough to save us this room.
Mak-Something tells me that this place doesn't have any other residents.
As soon as Mak said those words, there was a knock on the door and a female voice saying...
Woman-Hello.
Nico opened the door to see who was standing outside their room.
Nico-Can I help you?
Renata-My name is Renata, I am staying at the next room and I saw that some foreigners came to the next room so I came to say hello.
Renata explained that she was staying at the room next to them, she was clearly from around the place as she explained that she owned a restaurant in the area, she was a young girl with long curly dark hair and clear Latin origin that showed from the color of her skin, she had big green eyes and a very attractive face, she was skinny but the baggy clothes she was wearing covered her body for the most part...
Nico-I am Nico, these are my friends, Gabriel and Mak.
Renata-Gabriel?
Gabriel-Yes?
Renata-Are you also from somewhere nearby?
Gabriel-No, I live in Europe.
Renata-Oh, I thought that... Because your name sounded Mexican.
Mak-I guess Gabriel is a common Mexican name.
Renata-Are you here for vacation?
Mak-Yeah, we came to see the place and have fun.
Renata-It's nice to see that this place gets some tourism, to be honest, we don't get many people from Europe, when you have time, you should come to my restaurant, I will treat you to something nice.
Nico-We appreciate your offer but we have some plans.
Renata-Plans?
Mak-What my friend Nico wanted to say is that we just arrived, we will pass by your place, don't worry.
Renata-I will be waiting.
Renata smiled and then went back to her room, as soon as Nico closed the door behind her, he asked Mak...
Nico-Why did you say that we would go to her restaurant? We have to search for Ozymandias.
Mak-Did you see that girl? She was very pretty, I am certain that under that hoodie is a fine body, if she owns a restaurant then the place must be very popular with men, we can start the search from a place like that, she also said that they don't get many foreigners so if we go there we can ask for a Polish dude and we will probably get a lead.
Nico-(He thought this through, frightening) All right, I guess we can unpack our stuff and get some rest, we will go to her restaurant in the afternoon.
Gabriel-Well, it's still early so I guess I will get some sleep, wake me up when you are ready to go.
Mak-Didn't you sleep aboard the plane as well?
Gabriel-Yeah, so?
Mak-Lazy ass.
Gabriel-You slept on the plane too.
Mak-But I am not going to sleep again.
Nico-Not now, Gabriel, as soon as we unpack our stuff, I want to begin asking for Ozymandias.
Gabriel-Well, it's not like they are just going to point us to him, I mean, he might have collaborators.
Nico-I don't think so, he is in hiding since the bombing of the Silver Sector, he probably works alone.
Mak-Then it's possible he goes with a different name.
Nico-Maybe, he can't change his appearance though, we can start by asking about a foreigner at first.
Gabriel-Ok.(If you want to join this dude and get some authority, you can't slack off Gabe.)
Gabriel, Mak and Nico unpacked their bags and then went downstairs to see Luis...
Mak-Hello, Luis.
Luis-Hello Mr.Mak, your dinner will be ready in a couple of hours, until then you can enjoy a drink at the verandah or down here in the lobby.
Mak-No need, can I ask you something?
Luis-Of course Mr.Mak.
Mak-We met a girl, Renata.
Luis-Renata is staying in the room next to you, she is a good girl, she owns a restaurant and runs it by herself, many people go there.
Mak-Right, she said that this place doesn't get much tourism, do you know where foreigners like us go to have fun?
Luis-We don't have many foreigners, Mr.Mak, apart from you three there is another couple that goes to Renata's restaurant on daily basis, I go there myself, it has great food and I have a relationship with Renata where I give her a discount for the room and she treats me when I go there, she is very friendly, I send customers to her very often and they all enjoy the place.
Mak-Sure, sure, we already plan to go there, there is no need to convince us, so apart from us there are only two other foreign people here?
Luis-No, there are also some boys that have come here for vacation, they stay in a different motel not far from here, a dump.
Mak-I am sure it is...
At this point, Gabriel took off his pack of cigarettes and lit one, since there was an ashtray on the coffee table of the lobby, he thought that he could smoke there, he was aware of such things since he has been in situations where people yelled at him for smoking where it was not allowed, as soon as Luis saw him he said...
Luis-Mr.Gabriel, do you smoke?
Gabriel-I saw the ashtray and I thought I could.
Luis-Yes, you can, I just wanted to tell you that I also have a business with tobacco, I produce my own brand of smokes, maybe you might want to try one? It is popular with foreigners.
Nico-Really?
Luis-Yes, the locals here all have their own homemade smokes from tobacco so they don't buy mine but foreigners love it when they come to visit, there was one time where a man bought five cartons to take back home.
Nico-Who else smokes your cigarettes?
Luis-There was another foreigner, I think he was from Europe, I can't remember his name.
Nico-Was it Oz...
Mak-Woah, what is this Nico? Did you fart?
Nico-What!?
Mak whispered in Nico's ear...
Mak-Maybe we shouldn't just throw his name out there, from what I got, Ozymandias is probably a smoker, you wanted to ask if he smokes Luis' brand, right?
Nico-Yes, it slipped my mind. (He figured that out in an instant, how careless of me to not think of that? We can't just ask for him, if Luis starts talking then word might get out and Ozymandias will find out that there are people looking for him.)
Mak-So there is another guy in the village and he likes your smokes?
Luis-Yes, I can't remember his name at all though, he was here a couple of days ago and bought cigs from me.
Mak-(A memory wipe spell? If Ozymandias studied with the Silver Sector then the Memory Wipe spell would be an easy way to not leave any traces, it deletes any information that the person has of the caster, the Silver Sector has wielded some crazy magic, a spell like that isn't anything special for them, there is a way around it though...)
Luis-I can't recall his face either, strange, I don't see many people who are willing to buy my smokes, I must be getting older.
Mak-Do you know if he goes to Renata's for dinner?
Luis-Yes, I remember he said he liked the food there.
Mak-Ok, we will buy a pack for now so Gabriel can taste it.
Gabriel-But I prefer my...
Mak-Come on, I am sure it will be good, if this foreigner that Luis is talking about is smoking them then they must be good, after all this foreigner is buying from him, isn't that right Mr.Luis? This "foreigner" is buying your smoke and he likes to smoke your cigarettes.
Gabriel-Why are you talking...
Nico whispered in Gabriel's ear...
Nico-Take a hint, please.
Gabriel-Oh...Yeah, I'll take a pack.
Luis-Good, I will get them from the back right now, give me a minute.
Luis left from the back door and went to the storage to bring the smokes, meanwhile since they were alone in the lobby, Mak felt the need to comment on Gabriel's slow thinking...
Mak-I swear, you are the stupidest person that lives on this planet.
Gabriel-Fuck off, I just wanted to smoke a cigarette for fuck's sake, I didn't have my mind focused on our target.
Nico-Still, If you want to work for the Vatican, you have to pay attention, you will probably have to work undercover many times, being clueless like this isn't very good.
Gabriel-Why are you both picking on me? I said I am sorry, I wasn't paying attention, I got an idea, maybe we can prioritize looking for a polish man who smokes this type of cigarettes then!
Mak-Oh shit, you really had no idea.
Gabriel-What?
Nico-What Mak wants to say is that this was also part of the plan, he has already thought of this plan...
Gabriel-Oh...
Mak-I swear, you are dumb as fuck, I have seen goblins smarter than you.
Gabriel-Did any of them cut off your tongue?
Mak-Ok, I'll give that one.
Luis-I am back, here are the smokes, I will put it in your tab, no need to pay me now.
Gabriel-Thank you, pops.
Luis-See you later.
After he got his smokes, Gabriel tried to light one of them, he didn't really like or hate it but he smoked it anyway, Mak made sure to memorize as much as he could the smell of the smoke in order to identify it later when he has to, it was still early so they decided to take a walk, as they looked around they saw many wooden houses, it was clear that this village wasn't really wealthy and the people there were struggling with money, despite that, there were plenty of places were children played in the streets and in one corner just at the base of some stairs leading to a different level of the road, there were a couple of old men playing chess and many people, young and old were spectating their game, the village was lively and it made it a bit difficult to single out a specific person so they decided to keep walking untill they reach a place with fewer people, they kept walking towards the place that Renata said was her restaurant, the street was almost emty apart from one man who was sitting outside of a house on a wooden chair and smoking, he had a sad look on his face, he was an old man and he was wearing a cap with the Mexican flag on the front as a logo, the middle aged man greeted them as they passed in front of him and a few meters away was Renata's restaurant, the place was full, as soon as they got inside the saw many people drinking, eating and dancing, despite being early afternoon, many of them were quite drunk, there was also a couple of guys playing poker in one corner of the room, there was a big table covered with a green sheet and about five guys were playing, there were no chips, they played with actuall money and at the end of every round, four of the five men would yell and swear at the one who won, Mak walked at the only table that was free, Nico and Gabriel joined him and sat down, a couple of minutes later, they saw Renata, she walked out of the back room that was probably the kitchen and once she saw them she walked towards them, she was wearing a way different outfit from the one they saw her earlier, this time she had strech pants on that showed exactly the nice curves of her waiste and her butt, she also had a strapless shirt that was really hugging her chest and despite the fact that it wasn't very large, all the men in the room turned to see her as she walked out of the kitchen, it was clear that she was really the reason most men went to her restaurant and she was probably aware of that...
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Renata-I am so glad you guys came, how are my neighbors doing?
Gabriel-Oh...Hi.
Mak-Hello Renata.
Nico-Hello, Ms.Renata.
Renata-The place is quite busy as always, do you want to order something now, if you want any drinks, the first round is on me as a welcome.
Mak-We will take you up on this offer, bring us three cold ones.
Renata-Be right back.
Mak-What did I tell you? She is smoking hot.
Gabriel-What? Did we find the smoking guy?
Nico-What are you talking about?
Mak-Leave him be, he wasn't paying attention, I mean even I wouldn't pay attention to me when an ass like this is walking in front of me.
Gabriel-I see you are an ashole as always.
Mak-Like you weren't looking at her butt.
Nico-You guys should be more focused on the task at hand, we can't waste time looking at women.
Mak-Relax, I took a good look on the faces of everyone here, there is not a single guy who is not Mexican.
Gabriel-What should we do now?
Mak-Well, Renata said she is bringing us beer, I say we sit around for now, who knows what might happen, Ozymandias might walk through that door and have a drink with us.
Nico-I suggest we leave as soon as we are finished with our drinks.
Mak-You are really that into free beer.
Nico-It would be rude to not finish the drink she is offering, that's it.
Mak-The problem is that many people are smoking in here, it would be difficult to recognize the smell of these particular cigarettes with so much smoke around.
Gabriel-I guess your plan to use your nose to find Ozymandias is going down the drain.
Mak-We can just look for his face and the brand of the smokes, if the two match, I think we can do a subtle approach and talk with him. Not anything out of the ordinary, we don't want to startle him and make him run away, with so many people around, we can't just break out a fight.
Nico-I agree, we can't drag these people in a fight, someone might get injured.
Mak-For the time being I say we just get to know each other better.
Gabriel-What?
Mak-Not you and me, isn't anything you want to ask Nico?
Gabriel-Now that you mention it, what's it like to work for the Vatican?
Nico-The work is normally nothing out of the ordinary, we help the priests as much as we can, the thing is, a Paladin is mostly considered a warrior, even if we interact with the people inside the Vatican, our group is a small one, apart from the seven Paladins including myself, there is the council that consists of seven members and there are a few selected bishops that know the true side of the group, the archbishop is, of course, aware of it.
Gabriel-So, most people don't even know what you guys are.
Nico-Yes, as a Paladin, I go on missions where there is need for combat, the bishops and the archbishop mostly deal with paperwork and the funds of the organization.
Gabriel-Funds huh? Does it pay well to be a Paladin?
Nico-We don't get paid, the Vatican has covered our needs for food and housing, we stay in groups inside the building, we can't really go around and talk about what we do, we are a secret group, we spend our time mostly training and helping the priests.
Gabriel-You don't get out at all? I mean, you can't really train all day, you must have some free time. And why aren't they paying you?
Nico-As I said, the Vatican is covering our expenses, we get funding for missions like this one, I can't complain about the lifestyle, we are living under somewhat luxurious circumstances, the food is plenty and balanced in nutrition, the building that we stay in has enough space for seven people to feel comfortable and there is also TV, internet access and a hot tub inside, you could call the place a suite, to be honest, I don't think anyone has a problem with staying there for exchange of our services, of course, there is the matter when someone gets too old for the job, at this point the Vatican offers a relaxing place to spend the rest of your years, since there is always the chance of someone spilling secrets when they get old their mind isn't in a perfect state, the organization can't really let people who know all this to just leave.
Gabriel-Oh shit, this is like a camp of some sort but you can't escape once you are in.
Nico-You won't have to worry about your freedom taken away, the situation isn't exactly as bad as it sounds, we are all taking part in this because we want to, there is also the option of the Vatican letting you stay in specific houses and live any way you want, all the expenses are covered.
Gabriel-Why isn't everyone doing this then?
Nico-We really want to help the organization, none of the people there want to just loaf around, of course, if you really want to help us you will have to sign a contract that says you are prohibited from telling anyone about the group and you can just live in any way you want, as I said, it's a privilege working for the Vatican, not a restriction.
Gabriel-I see, what happens if I didn't want to join then? Since you have already told me so much about the organization, I can't really refuse now.
Nico-No, as I said, this mission is of my choosing, the Vatican doesn't even know about you, as a Paladin, I take responsibility for what happens, from the little I have known you though, I doubt you are the kind of person to cross my trust.
Mak-Gabriel isn't that kind of a person but he is an idiot, he will say something by accident.
Gabriel-How about we kill him? A goblin also knows too much, I say we kill him to be sure.
Nico-I can see that you two share a strong bond.
Gabriel-Not at all, if I ever find a way to take all the information out of his head, I am going to smash it open.
Mak-I like you too.
Renata-Sorry for the waiting, here are your drinks, on me.
Mak-Thank you beautiful.
Gabriel-Thanks.
Nico-We are thankful.
Renata-Don't worry, once I have some time, I might join you, I don't get the chance to talk with foreigners much.
Mak-I can't wait.
Renata-See you in a bit.
Nico-I thought we were leaving as soon as we had our drinks.
Mak-I want to see if I can get some information from her, plus she is hot.
Gabriel-What is your filthy mind thinking about?
Nico-I want to ask you something now, Mak.
Mak-What is it?
Nico-It's about the reproducing system of your kind.
Mak-We fuck just like any other animal.
Gabriel-I didn't need to hear that.
Nico-That's not it, I want to know why are goblins using females of other species to reproduce, I have seen female goblins and I know about how goblins can just basically grow from the ground.
Mak-There are no female goblin.
Gabriel-Wait, when I was in your village you said that there was a waitress.
Mak-Yeah, let me explain. Goblins are all born male, apart from the "growing out part" which happens rarely we can reproduce by mating with any female of any species, the offspring is always a goblin but it takes characteristics of the female as well, like intelligence, strength and inherited memories.
Gabriel-We already know that.
Mak-Let me continue, in goblin societies, there is a hierarchy of the strong, since many goblins are born weaker than others, they take a more feminine lifestyle like doing chores, this gets in their head and they act more feminine as time goes on, in some occasions they really think that they are females and they even hit on other goblins, as they serve stronger goblins they get emotionally attached to them and they even fall in love, their brains work like female brains, I personally think they are just gay.
Nico-I see...
Mak-The goblins that you described as females are just feminine male goblins who have forgotten their original selves, there is no way for goblins to reproduce with one another, even if some have tried...
Gabriel-What? What did you just say?
Mak-You know, up the butt.
Gabriel-Fuck! I really didn't need to hear that, what the fuck is wrong with you?
Mak-Nico asked me a question.
Gabriel-You didn't have to say anything about gay goblin sex, for fuck's sake.
Mak-Let me finish, goblins have also taken characteristics from humans, through mating and of course growing in the same place as a dead person and absorbing the DNA, as such they have also adopted that thing that men discriminate this feminine behavior, these feminine goblins are frowned upon and they are treated like shit, in this kind of hierarchy, if you are not the strong one you are the weak one and weak goblins are viewed as simple trash, I have managed to bullshit my way around and the fact that my village is close to human settlements meant that the goblins there were more understanding and compassionate with one another, this waitress I mentioned was called Jacob, he had inherited his memories from a human that has lived there years before the village was built, the male goblin you fought there with the strength of a gorilla on steroids was his master, he had him oppressed for as long as I can remember and he turned into a...gay dude.
Nico-In modern society people know to not discriminate against minorities, homosexuals are not treated the way they used to, in western society of course.
Gabriel-I am not comfortable with men grabbing my ass to be honest.
Mak-But you have learned to not oppress them, you are not going out of your way to lynch them and you live with the idea that people have different sexual preferences than you, in a goblin village there is no such thing.
Nico-I see, so abducting females have been the only certain way for goblins to reproduce.
Mak-Yes, that's instinct, as humans view human females sexually so do goblins for any female with high social value, an alpha female of some sort.
Nico-Why have there been so many attacks on humans then? Couldn't the goblins just mate with animals?
Mak-I can't really answer that, I don't know why would a goblin choose a human, maybe because of their place in the food chain, a human female is socially ranked above any other female animal.
Nico-Talking to you has changed my view of goblins Mak.
Mak-It shouldn't.
Gabriel-You really don't like your own kind?
Mak-Not at all, for one reason or another I have been born with the memories of a dragon, I know things that no other goblin does, I have images of things that would petrify you two, even if I wasn't there it feels like I was, I am a young goblin by age but these memories have filled my head with all kinds of information and expiriences, I have taken the viewpoint of a dragon and in the eyes of a dragon, goblins are just insects, I can't view them as something more than flies just wandering around shit, in my eyes they are insignificant, humans would also be in such a place to me if they haven't killed so many dragons, there have been cases of humans killing, teaching and learning from dragons, the intellect of humans has changed the view that dragons had for them and that's why I also view humans as such, I have also spied on many humans by using the Glamour spell and going to see their lifestyle, I have learned much from them and in order to survive in this world you must be on good terms with humans, what they lack in power they have in wits and technology, some years ago they didn't have any way to protect themselves against bears and now they have weaponry that threatens every other species on this planet, I learned to view them as they view each other to be the best way to survive at this moment and this is to treat them as equals.
Nico-I don't know what to say, I can't believe that a goblin would have such ideals, I want you to know that you have earned my respect, Mak.
Gabriel-Oh, is he done?
Mak-You didn't hear anything, did you?
Gabriel-Nah, I fell asleep around the part where you had the memories of a dragon and some other crap.
Nico-If it was my place to do such a thing, I would have already recruited someone like you.
Gabriel-Why? Did you really enjoy the part about the goblin gay sex?
Nico-Now you are the one who is getting foul, Gabriel.
Mak-Who cares, let's just keep an eye out...
And so, Gabriel, Mak and Nico are all drinking at Renata's restaurant, apparently, Ozymandias has been there himself, Mak found out that he has used some form of memory wipe spell on Luis, the only information that they could get from Luis was that Ozymandias is also smoking the brand that Luis is producing and that he goes to Renata's from time to time, despite Mak talking about himself and Nico explaining the lifestyle inside the Vatican, they are all sharing experiences apart from Gabriel who has been quiet, he never really talked about himself and he doesn't feel like doing it now, for the time being, they are keeping an eye out for their target and Mak wants to find more information from Renata this time, she said that when she has some time free, she will join them at their table...