"Why not just have Julius blow up the building if you're just going to kill them anyhow?" I asked.

Micah moved down the staircase ahead of me with his white coat fluttering behind him. I rushed after to keep up.

"There's a difference between setting something to explode and putting someone out of their suffering," Micah replied. "Julius can only do the former. Besides, before blowing up that building, I want to investigate and see if there are any ledgers on who the buyers were."

He walked out into the sunny and empty street of C-17. This part of East Genise was more well-off, and the enormous structures were spread out and walled off for privacy, similar to our manor. It was a residential part of the city, with little to no shops and thereby little foot traffic.

Micah finished rummaging through his coat's pockets and pulled out several artifacts.

"Here, put these on." He handed me a gray moth-eaten wool cap and an ugly golden mana-stone-encrusted brooch to me.

I took the two items and allowed the Item Information to come up.

[ Item: Cursed Wool Cap ]

[ Description: Allows the wearer to blend into the background and lowers noise from their voice and movement. Has a 65% effectiveness. Effectiveness goes down if additional attention is brought to self. ]

[ Warning: The cap is damaged and will cause a migraine headache to the wearer for one whole day after wear. This adverse effect compounds if the cap is worn multiple days in a row, regardless of the length of time. ]

Oh lovely.

I inspected the golden brooch next.

[ Item: Defensive Reflective Brooch (Quality: #!@&) ]

[ Description: Shields wearer from 70% of the impact from physical attacks. Does not protect against magic attacks. ]

[ Warning: Has the adverse effect of numbing one's ability to feel any impact or pain when wearing the object, not just from attacks. Ignorance may result in severe injury or even death. ]

I whistled. The brooch's quality wasn't showing, but I assumed it to be decent. At the very least, it wasn't 'Poor.' However, the adverse effect was a double-edged sword. Pain, while unpleasant, was a critical sense. It was the body's way of warning you that something was wrong.

"The cap will help disguise you in case we run across anyone, and the brooch will reflect attacks and prevent pain," Micah explained while putting on an old cap over his own head along with additional artifacts.

I didn't bother asking about the adverse effects, but Micah still reviewed them.

"The cap will cause a migraine tomorrow, but it's worth the benefit. If you find it too painful, you can wear the brooch tomorrow as well, but you'll have to be extra careful because it negates all feelings to the skin. If you feel even the slightest pain, let me know right away. I'll ensure you don't get hurt accidentally."

"What's the plan now?" I asked.

"We're heading there through a back gate." Micah pointed to one of the four-story towers Julius had planned to explode. It was a white stone building with windows barred with black mana stone-enforced metal.

Now the design choice made more sense.

"The goal is to avoid any unnecessary combat, so ideally, we'd sneak in, take care of business, and get out," Micah explained while walking. "Julius said that there were only two guards for that tower, neither of whom exhibited any mana. And they appear distracted with the transportation setup, so we should be able to get in without too much trouble."

However, while he was saying we'd avoid combat, Micah was also tightening two white mana-enforced gloves on his hands. I didn't need to pull up an item description for them to recognize them; I had seen Micah practice with them in the training grounds. The gloves created an explosive attack depending on which finger was snapped. After Micah died in my original life, Elda inherited them, but they disappeared after she passed away.

"You're certainly preparing for combat," I noted.

Micah shook his head and rounded the street corner.

"This is just a final precaution," he said. "I don't intend on myself or you getting involved in any battles if I can help it. I realize the plan has shifted far from the original plan, and I don't intend it to shift much further."

The sound of horses to my left caught my attention. I turned and noticed a carriage with drawn curtains parked in one of the far-off alleys. No other people or animals were in sight on this street, so it was particularly notable.

I squinted, recognizing the insignia.

The Ozeryn crest? What business does the mining powerhouse have in this part of town?

The Ozeryn Duchy was figuratively and literally a gold mine; much of the phoenix eyes mined and traded across the continent came from its region. As were a slew of other precious metals and gemstones. However, unlike the Genuiver and Maudel Duchies, the caretakers of the Ozeryn Duchy lived far less flashy lives. They were relatively private, seldom showing up to the capital and sending their vessels instead.

I did have a smidge of respect for the Ozeryn Duchy's caretakers. When war broke out with the Kobar Empire, they granted financial support to Grandov and The Order's efforts in fighting off the attackers. We ultimately lost, so it proved to be a poor investment for them, but it gave us a fighting chance.

If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

That reminds me, I should invest in shovels before the Osocester Cavity is discovered. Winning the bet at the Gilded Siren netted me an excellent fortune. Still, it didn't hurt to earn an even greater profit in the future. Wars were expensive, after all. And given the impossible Game odds that no other Player managed to beat, I needed to take whatever advantage money could buy.

"Luca?" Micah called over from the gate's entrance. "Don't fall behind."

I hurried after him inside the pair of ivy-overgrown gates. The air felt cooler the moment I stepped into the shadows of the space. A narrow path of broken stone led to the white tower. Crows sounded above us in the twisted trees and ivy surrounding the walls and courtyard of the building.

"It looks abandoned," I commented.

"Probably was. It was likely used as a short-term storage place," Micah said. "I wouldn't be surprised for a rebuild project to take root tomorrow."

Compared to West Genise, which rarely changed and maintained its legacy, East Genise was constantly evolving, with buildings rising up and crumbling down, with something new to reappear in their place soon after. The further east you went, the more chaotic the city was. But even more affluent areas like C-17 and B-18 experienced the turbulent real estate landscape of East Genise.

"According to Julius, the guards are at the other entrance setting up the shipment," Micah explained as we rounded the narrow path. "We have a small window to get this done, so we'll have to move quickly."

Click.

His looking glass sounded, and Micah popped it open, only to swear under his breath.

"A little late on the warning, Ridley," he whispered and locked it shut.

"What is it?" I asked.

"He sensed an enormous amount of mana energy suddenly appeared near us," Micah replied.

He peeked around the stone wall's bend and swore again.

I leaned below him and looked at the surroundings beyond the building's side.

The entrance to the white tower was unguarded; the two men, probably the ones Julius saw, were at the other end, near a much larger gate, conversing with a woman in an enormous decked-out yellow hat. It had a long veil on the edges that draped all around her sides and to the floor, making it impossible to see the woman's features inside.

I flinched, recognizing the signature hat. I understood why Micah swore; it was none other than The Alchemist herself.

"What is she doing here?" I whispered.

The plan was now entirely off the original road and bolting through a wild forest.

"I guess she wanted to ensure her creations were safely transported," Micah softly said. "I've heard she cares deeply about her products."

The Alchemist motioned toward someone behind her, and a man and a woman, both clearly mages, walked into view.

"Get all of the crates. Bring the ones on the top floor first," she ordered. Her voice had a deep and booming tone to it, commanding respect.

Micah pulled me back around the corner.

"What now?" I asked.

"We're going back. We can't continue," he said. "They're already in the process of loading up the product. And if she catches us…."

His voice trailed off.

"It's a fate worse than death," I completed his sentence. "We'd risk more than just our lives, but our sanity."

I noticed Micah flinch at that last word.

The Alchemist was one of the most powerful mages in existence. She had people that worked for her, but she didn't require protection; no one was stupid enough to take her head-on. I once heard a story about how she angered one of the great twelve syndicates within Genise and brought the entire wrath of the group upon herself. However, the end result was what came to be known as Ethereal Park in M-42 of East Genise, a twisted garden comprised of all the syndicate's members.

Micah bit his lip. "Yes, it's not worth losing our minds over. If we had only arrived here earlier… and perhaps had more help, we would have stood a chance."

He rounded his head around the bend once again.

"One… two… Yes, if we had just two more with us, one being a mage, we would have been able to pull this off before her arrival," Micah mused.

"SCAWWW!"

A loud pained shriek sounded.

Micah and I stared wide-eyed at one another before turning our heads to peek around the bend again.

The lackeys working for The Alchemist rolled out a crate of seven stacked cages, each reinforced with black-mana stones.

The creatures inside were most likely human at some point, except for a coiled-up black snake, but it was impossible to tell now by their disfigured shapes. In the largest cage, from which the shrieks continued to sound, was a creature that looked almost beautiful.

Its twenty or so arms, reminiscent of long shimmering seaweed, flapped elegantly. When the sun's light hit them, they radiated in rainbow hues. The torso was a pile of shimmering sludge upon which sat an exotic-looking bird's head that was making the howls.

My stomach churned.

The eyes on the creature were human. They were small and obviously that of a child. Worse, they were wide and made it evident that the kid inside was still fully conscious.

"SCAW! SCAW! SCAW!" It continued to call out helplessly.

I had seen some of The Alchemist's creations that underwent a round of questioning. Usually, just one or two limbs were irreversibly altered; she stopped once she got the answers she sought and let her victim go. That was why getting caught by her was technically considered a better fate than being caught by The Farmer. Not that getting caught by either of the two lunatics was desirable.

But this is my first time seeing one of her "living art pieces," as she liked to call them.

I could see why Micah was initially so adamant about putting her victims out of their suffering, despite the short window of time. Especially given how they were being shipped off to clients of The Red Lanterns. Their fates were only going to worsen then.

"If I at least knew the trash who bought those…." Micah's voice sounded menacingly behind me. "Tsk. But we ought to get out of here before we get caught."

[ Level 2 Random Character Check in progress for Apophis ]

The blue character checker screen suddenly appeared. However, I couldn't tell exactly for whom it was because, annoyingly, it hovered over the stacked crate of cages. Nevertheless, even though the text was tiny, I could still make it out, thanks to whatever sorcery the System provided.

The screen rolled through in its usual slot-machine-like manner until it stopped in place.

[ Curse: Banishment of a #$ Years ]

[ Due to acts that have resulted in serious physical harm and significant property destruction that go against !@#+? 's guidelines, Apophis is cursed to be banished from !@#+? for a duration of a #$ years, as defined by the standard, linear timeline of &^%@. ]

Eh? What sort of bafflegab was this?

[ Intelligence: +1 ]

[ Intelligence: 60 ]

Huh.

"Luca, we have to go." Micah tugged me back behind the wall.

"One moment." I pushed away from Micah and looked out toward the moving crate again.

Even though it was jargon, the System indicated that there was something of importance there.

It wouldn't have bothered increasing my Intelligence and notifying me if there wasn't. But who is it for?

There were three cages that it could have been.

No. Cross that one out.

I ignored the small cage with the snake and focused on the two cells that held what appeared like a giant white poof ball with tiny human feet and hands sticking out and the still shrieking seaweed-bird-child.

[ Intelligence: -0.5 ]

[ Intelligence: 59.5 ]

"What?" I spoke aloud out of surprise.

The System had always granted positive points. I had never seen it retract them, except on a Round Reset.

Was the Character Checker for the snake??