Chapter 150
150 . Code 0
Through empty hallways, Zack headed towards the basement .
Going past aged corridors that stank of rusted iron, he stopped before a large door . He retrieved a key from his breast pocket and turned the lock . Checking behind him to make sure he hadn’t been tailed, Zack entered the room .
I heard the lock click as soon as the door was closed .
I too checked my surroundings and seeing no one there, I revealed myself .
I turned the door handle . Locked, as expected .
I jutted some slime into the keyhole and picked the lock . Lockpicking is something I learned in my past life so it was a breeze . What’s a power in the shadows if he can’t open a few closed doors?
Incidentally, I have my slimes hidden inside my body so they won’t find anything even with a full pat down .
I checked the presences on the other side and, determining it to be safe, stealthily entered the room .
It was a large, dimly-lit room . A celler of sorts .
At the back of the room, there was a lit lamp with a number of men gathered around it .
I sneaked closer and hid behind a crate . I checked and the crate was empty .
The men were discussing something in the dark room . Zack was among them .
“Boss, we’re all here like you ordered . ”
“Seems so…”
The man who the others seemed to defer to as their boss stepped forward . I’d imagined him to be something like a boss grunt, but he turned out to be a lot younger .
In his early 20s, most likely .
He had gray hair extending down to his shoulders and was well featured . He was no grunt . In fact, he even looked sort of intelligent .
From his musculature and posture, I could tell that he was trained in martial arts .
He didn’t have the air of an prisoner at all .
I like it . Breaking the mold and all that .
“Well met, brothers . The Doem Faction is pleased with your various contributions . ”
The boss said with a practiced voice, casting his gaze over the surrounding men .
He then proceeded to ask each one of them what he desired .
I see, so the thing about giving it to a guard was a lie .
“Zack, what about you?”
“I want— food . Good food and more of it . Enough for two people at least . ”
Nicely done Mr . Zack!
“Gonna put on ‘em pounds, Zack!”
Zack cringed from the surrounding jeers .
“Boss, let’s have another stripper show with the boys!”
“That shit’s great, boss!”
“Again? …Try to keep it in moderation, men . ”
Like that, Mr . handsome bossman listened to everyone’s requests one by one .
And once he was done, his face turned serious for the first time .
“Brothers, we are in difficult times . Lately, there have been more attempts to cull our numbers . Why only yesterday, a coach carrying officers was assaulted, resulting in 7 dead . ”
For a moment, I thought that was talking about me, but I didn’t leave the camp yesterday, so it must be someone else .
“He’s skilled . Every time he’s killed, he’s done so without a sound . We’ve taken to calling him OWL . ”
OWL, eh… sounds important .
“And believe it or not, there are signs that this bastard OWL is in this camp . ”
That got a slight reaction out of Zack .
“Zack, something the matter?”
“N-nothin’, boss…”
Zack lowered his gaze to escape from his boss’s overpowering stare .
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“This OWL likely wants to get in contact with Clara Oriana . We must find him before he does . Is that clear?”
All the men nodded .
“Then that is all for now… no, there is one last matter . We have a traitor amongst us . ”
The bossman drew a knife and poised it towards Zack .
“—You . ”
And with surprising speed, he threw it .
Other than me, none of the men gathered could dodge a throw like that .
The knife grazed past Zack’s ears and sunk into the face of the man behind him .
“This is the fool who dared to leak our info to the Royalists . ”
The other men simply looked on silently as the traitor bled and died .
“That is all . You all may leave . ”
And leave they did without a moment to spare .
“—Zack . ”
Zack, however, was the only one told to stay .
“You’re— not hiding something, are you?”
The bossman looked at Zack with chilled eyes .
“N-never, boss . ” Zack squeaked while seating bullets .
“—All right . I will believe you . ” The bossman patted Zack on the shoulder once, and left the celler .
Now left alone, Zack heaved a shuddering sigh and wiped off his sweat .
Which is when I decided to also pat his shoulder .
“Oo, ooooahh!? Wait what!! You!! What the actual fuck!!”
Mr . Zack got extremely freaked, and then seriously angry .
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“Oops, didn’t mean to do that . Thanks for keeping the secret . ”
“Like I have a choice . He’d kill me soon as I told . ”
“Likely, yes . ”
“But damn, so you’re really that OWL…”
“Truthfully, I’m really not . ”
“… Wait, you’re not?”
Zack didn’t seem very convinced .
“I never went out yesterday . This OWL is likely someone similar to me . ”
“Yeah, sure . You think you can pass any info about OWL to me? You saw it right? Bossman’s suspicious of me . Mainly ‘cause of you . ”
“It shouldn’t take me long to find out who OWL is . I can’t guarantee if I can have you know, however . There are few people in my line of business… those of reputable skill often turn out to be acquaintances…”
I said this so he doesn’t ask any more questions . Since I had no clue who OWL is .
“Fuck me . You gotta help me out, man . Boss is fucking ruthless, you saw him right? You might be fine . You can use your mana . But me, I got nothing’ . ”
“Oh, by the way, your boss’s mana seal coller . It’s a fake . ”
“Y-yer kidding me!?”
“Nope . ”
“Fuuuck… so he’s even stronger than you?”
“—What do you think?”
I did the instant mana release trick causing a small gust .
“Uh, yeah, maybe not…”
“It doesn’t really… oh? What’s this…”
Due to the sudden wind, a small piece of paper landed at my feed .
I picked it up— and got a brilliant idea .
“— Interesting . ”
I muttered cryptically .
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“What’s going on?”
“A note from one of my agents . I know have a very good idea who this OWL really is . ”
“What!? That’s way too fast!”
“Take a look . ”
I handed over the blank piece of paper .
“I, can’t see anything!”
“It only responds to very specific mana signatures . Namely mine . It’s also an encrypted message . ”
“Seriously… looks completely white to me…”
Zack scrutinized the page from all sorts angles .
“Can’t you tell me something, even a hint?”
“… You’re sure?”
I closed in and whispered to him .
“Code 0 . ”
“Coat jeer?”
“Zero being the first of numbers, meaning—”
“Me-meaning what?”
Zack gulped .
“—All will begin at last . ”
I said while simultaneously erasing my presence and moving out of sight super fast .
“— HUH!? He’s gone!? Fuckin hell, the door’s still closed, how…”
Inside the empty crate, I stayed hidden until Zack left .
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