The Slave Cage (1)

Nox leaned on the pillar of the inn, just outside the gate, and stared at the two moons over his head. The night sky was cloudy, and even the wind had gone silent, leaving the air quiet and stale.

'A smoke would have been preferable,' thought the man wearing the tracksuit, massaging his eyes.

Although he had quit chain-smoking ages ago, he still did it a few times whenever he felt uncomfortable. But, even if he somehow found a cigarette, the nicotine would hardly have any effect due to his poison resistance.

"So what have you decided to do?" inquired the serene voice of the beautiful, red-haired waitress coming out of the inn.

The pony-tailed man recalled everything Margaret had told him about Elizabeth and Liam's disappearance.

It so happened that a week ago, Elizabeth and Liam had come to Margaret to inquire about the gift shops in the city, and she had informed them of their locations.

When she asked what it was for, Liam replied that his sister's birthday was in a week, and after all that had happened, he wanted to give her some kind of a present. Margaret had wished to ask whether they had money to buy something but didn't think it right to interfere with their personal matters.

The very next day, the duo set out in the evening to select gifts for Ignis's upcoming birthday. Since then, they have yet to return.

"There were three places you told them about. Right?" Nox inquired, turning towards the red-haired woman.

"Indeed. I told them about the most affordable gift shops in the city," she replied.

"How far are they?"

"If you want to go and check at all three of the shops individually, then it'd probably take up an entire day since they're all in completely opposite directions," Margaret replied as she explained the locations of the gift shops.

A period of silence followed their short conversation as Nox fell into deep thought to devise a plan of action.

The waitress observed Nox's body language and asked, "So may I assume you won't be returning this night?"

"I guess so. I have to do what I need to do," replied Nox, bidding the waitress farewell and walking away.

After walking for a few minutes, he finally reached the clock tower of his locality, the tallest building in the vicinity.

Crouching on the ground, he used his legs as springs to launch himself into the air. With a swift movement, he grabbed hold of the railing at the top of the clock tower before pulling himself up.

He looked around, observing the dimly lit streets, the dark houses, and the brightly lit bars scattered about. Up so high, the calm wind gently brushed against his face, giving him a feeling of calm.

"Assassin, spear, come out," he called out.

Within an instant, the spear goblin and the assassin, the two of the most stealthy shadow soldiers he had, came out from his shadow and knelt down behind him.

"One of you, go to the south gift shop and the other to the east one. Send me a signal if you find something," he ordered.

Just as his shadow soldiers got up and were about to leave, he added, "Be stealthy. Don't let even an insect notice your presence."

His soldiers offered him a bow before finally carrying out their orders.

'As they do that, I'll head to the north gift shop,' Nox thought as he perched on the railing before launching himself at the building in front of him.

Jumping from one building to the other, he made his way to the gift shop. With his agility, it took little effort to move stealthily.

'Are those two alright? Should I have come right back after completing the second floor?...', a hundred doubts floated inside Nox's head as he jumped from one rooftop to the other.

He had grown attached to his former team. Growing attached again was something he had decided not to do. Still, after spending time with them in the tutorial, he had started caring for them like his own family.

Nox shook away these thoughts. What was important right now wasn't his thoughts but the safety of Elizabeth and Liam. For that, he needed to find them as soon as possible.

After about ten minutes of jumping through the roofs, he finally arrived on top of the building in front of the gift shop.

The gift shop was modest looking, neither too extravagant nor too thrifty. The glass panels at the front displayed various kinds of dresses, vases, lockets, rings and some other types of souvenirs.

The gift shop was right beside the main road and was surrounded by stores similar to it in all directions. An alleyway ran through its right side.

The road was almost empty, except for a few people roaming around.

'The alleys always have a more interesting story to tell,' the man atop the building thought, jumping down.

Without making too much sound, he perfectly landed on his feet and headed to the dark alley.

This alley wasn't any different to the usual ones. At its other end was the back of another building, making it a dead end. The plaster on the alley's walls was decades old and beginning to fall apart. He headed deeper into the alley, trying to spot something.

But except for a staircase leading to the gift shop terrace, nothing unusual could be noticed.

'I guess I'll need to come back in the morning to question the storekeeper aroun-'

His thought was interrupted by a signal from the shadow assassin.

"Did it find something?" Nox mumbled, turning towards the direction where the signal came from.

Although his shadow soldiers could send him signals, they couldn't tell him exactly what had happened.

"Dash," he mumbled, sprinting towards the signal.

Since he didn't know what the shadow assassin exactly wanted to convey, it was best to reach there as soon as possible.

With the help of his skill, which made him almost unseeable because of his speed, he reached the shadow assassin's location moments before the skill ended.

It stood atop a building, looking down at the street. It was almost invisible under the cloudy sky, which covered both the moons. The only thing which gave it away was the red light emitted by its eyes.

"What did you find?" Nox inquired, landing beside it.

After offering his master a slight bow, the assassin pointed at the alleyway beside the gift shop, which was more or less similar to the one Nox was just at.

In the dark alleyway, a boy in his early teens was surrounded by five hooded figures. The boy was cornered against the wall, and the hooded figures slowly approached him.

"A young teenager sells for a high price. The last I heard, some weirdo was looking to buy more than twenty men under eighteen," the man in the middle of the group said, eerily laughing.

"We've been hard at work for the past week. The people we captured within the past week itself has already exceeded two dozen," another man said.

The teenage boy tried swinging around a stick lying on the ground, but the hooded figure quickly grabbed and broke it.

Seeing the goons, which Nox didn't wish to think about, finally seemed more probable.

Elizabeth and Liam had been kidnapped.

Patting the shadow soldier's back, Nox said, "You did well calling me here at the right time."

Overflown with joy at its master's approval, it repeatedly bowed to him before finally returning to his shadow.

'Fighting them with my current disguise would only make my life less peaceful,' thought the man, opening the store.

"Ah, these'll work," mumbled Nox, buying a few items from the store.

[White mask (E)] [Price: 900 points]

[Assassin's cape (C)`] [Price: 55000 points]

Both the items he just bought made him far less perceivable and unrecognisable. Although expensive, the black cape he bought covered his entire body, and its hood covered his hair.

Although he could have used the identity of 'Menace', he didn't wish to. 'Menace' was created to be in the limelight while his usual self stayed neutral and average.

But, being tangled with the underworld was inevitable. As such, creating another identity for himself to carry out actions related to the underworld was the best course of action.

"Don't worry, you won't die from just this," one of the goons said, approaching the boy.

Raising his metal staff up in the air, he swung it at the boy's head.

Clang!!!

The sound of the rod clashing with a metal dagger rang across the still alleyway. The goons who were relaxed just a moment ago raised their weapons, readying themselves for combat.

"Ganging up on a boy isn't very elegant," commented the man, who had just appeared beside the teenager.