“The item?” A woman blindfolded by a piece of black cloth on her face held her hand out to a man hiding under a hood. She was a human with dark hair that seemed to hide an attractive face under her mask. She was sitting behind a desk near a large door.
“Here” The hooded man presented a package in the shape of a locked wooden box to the blindfolded woman.
“Good work, Kadota. I will bring it to Father later. you should rest now.” The woman smiled and stored the package under the desk.
“Thank you, Valina, I will. I have an early shift today.” Kadota nodded.
“Oh? Which identity?” Valina tilted her head in curiosity.
“A city guard. It’s a new one I just made. I figured being one would help me learn rumors and hearsays...although I don't know for how long I want to maintain it... I’ll tell you about it later, Valina. Good night.” Kadota excused himself and walked deeper inside the building.
“Good night,” Valina replied as Kadota walked away.
The interior of this building was quite peculiar. Large numbers of doors seem to line the hallway with no single open room. There was no living room nor dining room. Kadota found a staircase at the end of the long hallway and made his way upstairs. The sight didn’t change. Another long hallway and a staircase at the end of it, almost identical to the first floor if not for the lack of an entrance. Kadota did not take the staircase again to the third floor and stopped in front of one of the rooms. All of the rooms were numbered and he stood in front of number 46 before inserting a key and entering the room.
Kadota walked inside to reveal a one-room apartment complete with a door leading to a bathroom and various furniture like a bed and desks present. It was not a room without any personality. On the contrary, the amount of it was quite overwhelming. Various posters of events, paintings, and sketches were hung on the walls or littered throughout the floor.
“Another job finished.” Kadota started to take off all of his equipment and reveal his true form.
Kadota is a tiefling. A humanoid species thought to be the descendants of the devils with horns on their head and a long tail on their behinds. His red skin would terrify children and his pure black eyes with a distinct lack of pupils would turn away anyone that has the misfortune of meeting his gaze.
“Father still has not told us what he needs with those packages I stole for him.” He muttered to himself.
He wore a simple black garment before laying down on the bed.
“I have assignments until next month at least….” He sighed. “ I need some time off. I haven’t watched a play in ages.”
Kadota stood up from the bed to reach his work desk where various notes were strewn about. He sat down and picked up a quill and a single sheet of paper. The paper was not empty, he was continuing on something that he worked on before. On the bottom right of the paper, the number 52 was written, seemingly indicating the page number. It did not seem that it was a conventional piece of literature that he was writing, but rather a chronological description of events coupled with the dialogue of characters written one line at a time. Besides the paper he was currently writing in, a stack of paper was also there. The top page reads “Pink Skies and White Flowers”.
This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.
He wrote for a while before stopping. Kadota ruffled his hair in frustration as his hands stopped moving the quill.
“How do I introduce the villain?”
Kadota muttered words to himself before giving up and going to bed again. This time, he shut his eyes and traveled to dreamland.
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“Hey! Cole! Don’t nod off at work you bloody wanker!" A bellowing voice of a man shouted to a young human male with blonde hair.
"Huh? Ah, don't worry! I'm alert! I'm sorry Captain Jack!" Cole shook off his daydreaming state and stood upright.
"Don't let me catch you do that again if you don't want a double midnight shift!" Captain Jack, a man in his 30s with a magnificent mustache reprimanded Cole.
"Roger that, Captain! Won't happen again!" Cole saluted.
Captain Jack frowned and left without replying.
Cole, or rather, Kadota, sighed in relief after his captain's departure. He was currently tasked with being one of the guards outside of a nobleman's mansion. It was quite often that nobles have their own knights that they hire but this particular noble seemed to not be influential enough to do that and thus the King provides these types of low nobility with protection from the city guards. Of course, their low status still allowed them to have such a thing as a mansion, Kadota thought, which was something out of the reach of mere peasants. So perhaps it was not so bad after all.
It's currently quite early in the morning and the city was basked with premature sunlight that only illuminated some parts of the metropolis and cast shadows of tall buildings on the streets. As King's Crown is one of the most advanced cities in the kingdom, many businesses and workers have already started their daily routine. Shops were opening and people were commuting in a new technology called trams, where a large carriage that runs on tracks carry large numbers of people at a time—courtesy of the artificers hired by the city.
"Five hours to go...." Kadota sighed.
Suddenly, a young boy that separated from the crowd approached Kadota. He noticed the boy and bent down.
"Are you lost, boy?" Kadota made a warm smile.
"I am. My father is a butcher from downing street. We just lost our kitties to the worg." The boy made a sad expression and delivered his words with an equally sorrowful voice.
Kadota's face turned serious. He neared his face to the boy as if he was about to whisper something.
"What's the message?" Kadota whispered.
"Father wants you to go inside the mansion and find the appointment book of Baron Vasquez. Don't steal. Just copy the last two weeks to this paper." The young boy handed a piece of paper to Kadota. "End of message." The boy finished talking.
Kadota stood up and started to point in a direction.
"You see that intersection, boy? Your father's shop should be there if you turn left. Don't worry, you're not lost." Kadota said in a cheerful manner.
"Hurray! Thank you, mister!" The young boy quickly ran off.
Kadota inserted the piece of paper to a pouch on his belt. He turned around to gaze at the mansion behind him, which was protected by a wall.
"Well, anything is better than just standing here." He smirked a devilish smile.