Another Productive Day

Friday morning came. The street was bustling with people as usual while the sun wasn't able to cast its light upon the land; the thick clouds were blocking the warm, yellowish light. The sounds of people chattering, birds chirping, and engine running were all mixed together to create a disharmony that filled the ears of everyone present.

Graham woke up in his hotel room and stretched his body and yawned widely, almost cramping his jaw in the process. He then did some simple exercise by twisting his body to the right and to the left with his arms in front of his chest.

"Good morning, Val. What do you think will happen today?" asked Graham with a smile.

He got up from the bed and went straight to the bathroom to relieve the built-up liquid during the night and to wash his face, especially the area around his eyes. After flushing the toilet, he stood in front of the washbasin and looked at himself in the mirror.

"It's really the best to use our own appearance, Val. We're not that bad-looking after all," he said in amusement as he was checking his face closely in the mirror.

He gave his stubble that had grown a bit too long a quick trim and then proceeded to wash his face.

"I wonder if Jacco's sold everything out," he wondered while feeling the rough texture of his freshly trimmed stubble on his fingertips.

Once he was done, Graham went back to the bedroom to get dressed, squatting near the large suitcase that he had brought along. He was only wearing his pajama pants without anything on top. The large scar on his back was quite visible, but he actually didn't mind people seeing it since he thought it actually looked cool.

"The scar from the war, Val. Or has it been around even before that? I really can't remember for some reason, which is odd. My memory should be better than this," he muttered curiously as he was taking out some clothes from the suitcase.

Before putting them on, Graham had to change his appearance again because he was staying at the hotel under a different name. It would be odd if he suddenly showed up there using his original appearance.

"I, in the name of the Deity of Cunningness and Transformation, hereby change my whole being to that of Hansen Müller!"

His skin began itching all over as his body underwent a transformation process. His body became bulkier and more muscular while the tone of his skin became a little darker. He grew several centimeters taller and the scar on his back disappeared rapidly. He turned into a completely different person in less than thirty seconds.

Using the new appearance, Graham put on a pair on a pair of grey stretchy cotton pants and a large white shirt. He actually felt kind of bad for Valentine because whenever it was Graham who woke up, he would wear cotton pants that Valentine wasn't a fan of. However, he didn't really like the feeling of denim pants against his skin, so he didn't want to wear them deliberately.

"Sorry, Val, cotton pants again today," he said apologetically.

Once he was fully dressed, he left the room and locked the door behind him before going down the corridor to the dining area of the hotel. He quite enjoyed the breakfast in the hotel and would take the chance to eat there whenever he could.

"We've paid for the whole week, might as well enjoy our stay while we can," muttered Graham joyfully as he walked down the stairs to the dining area on the second floor.

The dining area already had several people eating in it at that hour, which was not even eight in the morning. It was a buffet-style breakfast, so he could get whatever he wanted. After grabbing his tray, Graham went around to get a piece of rare steak, mashed potatoes, a slice of apple pie, and a cup of hot chocolate with mint. He carried his tray of food and went to sit at the outdoor table, from where he could look at the street below.

Graham was just about to get a piece of his food when suddenly, he got a terrible headache! It was much worse than the headache he usually got when he reached the limit of his abilities; the sensation was like several people were banging his brain with metal hammers while at the same time, iron spikes were stabbing it repeatedly.

The color red began taking over his face as droplets of sweat filled his forehead, running down his cheeks. He wanted to shoot himself in the head just to stop the pain, but he knew he couldn't do that. He gritted his teeth and tried not to shout as loudly as he could while his head felt like it was about to explode, but wouldn't. It was stuck in a state of painful loop.

"Argh!!!"

Groaning in pain, he held his head tight with both hands, hoping that the pain would go away. People around him began noticing his abnormality and fear mixed with concern surfaced on their faces.

Using what strength he could muster, Graham began chanting quietly and hastily.

"I, in the name of the Deity of Cunningness and Transformation, hereby plant the thought in my own head that the headache I'm feeling is painless!"

He felt that something entered his brain and since he knew it was his own ability and its effect, he didn't give any resistance. The thought, being unconstrained and even welcomed, manifested quickly and the painful headache he was feeling was slowly receding. His head still felt pounding, but the pain wasn't as unbearable as before.

With the pain gone, now Graham could finally focus on his surrounding. He didn't realize that at some point, tiny illusory letters had formed in the air and if he hadn't used his ability to stop the pain, he wouldn't have been able to notice the letters because of the unbearable pain.

Carefully, he began reading the floating illusory letters that would pulse as his head pounded, following the order that they presented themselves before him.

"Fool ten individuals using transformation to get their most precious valuables plant into their brains the memory of a scapegoat, someone who will take the blame,"

Once he had finished reading the floating letters, they disappeared along with his headache, leaving people around him wondering. Graham didn't pay attention to those people, but rather, he began analyzing what had just happened.

"So, a messenger from the Deity just came... They always come at a very unpredictable time. And now the way to please the Deity has become even more complicated. Fooling ten people? Blaming someone? Does the Deity want me to become a fraudster?" he muttered weakly as he took a bite of his food.

The delicious food entered his mouth and improved his mood instantly. Graham began chewing faster and stuffed more pieces of the warm, juicy steak into his mouth.

"I don't think I can do that just to random people. Being blamed for something they don't do? Isn't that the worst, Val? But I still need to please this Deity nonetheless-- if not for getting stronger, at least for preventing me from turning into a 'monster' like that woman Marieke," he said.

Graham continued eating while his brain was wandering, thinking of a solution as hard as he could. He considered all sorts of scenarios in his head while the meaty, savory steak was being chewed into smithereens by his teeth.

"I think I'll just do this, Val. I'll find a criminal who hasn't been sentenced for some reason. However, that alone would be difficult since it means they must be a strong person. The Police have divinators, so if someone managed to evade punishment, they must have some sort of abilities themselves or a powerful back-up," he paused.

"Now-- after we find such individual, we'll read his memory or use divination to find out ten people connected to him in some way. We'll then target those ten people to steal their valuables while putting the blame on said criminal. That at least should draw the attention of the Police to that individual, so they can be convicted for their actual crime. The crime of fraud would just be the icing on the cake, Val," said Graham with conviction.

Once the solution had been thought of, he continued finishing his food with relief. He ate happily and quickly and before long, everything on the table had been wiped clean; not even crumbs were left behind. Graham took the last sip of his hot chocolate and left the table.

"Let's go back to our room and do some divination, Val," he muttered merrily.

With light steps despite his huge body, Graham quickly made his way back into his hotel room on the third floor. However, he didn't go straight upstairs but made a detour down to the lobby where he snatched that day's newspaper, tucking it under his armpit. He then walked back up to room number 13 on the third floor.

Before entering, he took a glance at the room next door where Luuk should be staying.

"Is he still out? I wonder if he's successful in stealing the scroll," muttered Graham in curiosity, "He has Purloin, so it should at least help him out a bit."

Graham closed the door behind him and locked it from the inside. After that, he sat at the table and used a cheap lighter that he had left there to make a fire after putting the newspaper aside.

"I ask that you float," he commanded.

The flame left the lighter and was suspended magically in the air. After that, Graham began concentrating and asked a question in his mind.

'Which criminal hasn't been convicted yet?'

He waited for the flame to burn brighter as usual and an image to appear. However, after waiting for more than a minute, nothing happened. He didn't have enough information to go by with his divination, so it had failed!

"I guess divination is not all-knowing after all, Val," he muttered jeeringly, "It's a good thing we have this," he said while pointing at the newspaper.

Graham got up and switched on the light to help him read. He didn't have Valentine's night vision, and the cloud outside blocked the sunlight, making the room too dark for reading without the artificial light. He didn't want to rely only on the flame's illumination either because it wouldn't be good for his eyes.

"I'm looking forward to the day when I can use Order without limit, Val, so life will be much easier. Right now, we don't know when we will be dragged into a fight like yesterday, so it's safer to keep it in case we need it," he said self-mockingly.

With the light on, Graham returned to the table and sat on the wooden chair leisurely while flipping the pages of the newspaper to get straight to the crime report. He began to carefully read today's report while memorizing the information in his mind.

'A dead body of a baby was found yesterday night in a dumpster near the shopping center...'

'A man had his genitals chopped off by his angry wife and girlfriend after found cheating...'

'Culprits of serial burglary finally caught...'

'Mayor suspected of embezzlement cleared out of all charges,'

The last piece of news got Graham's attention.

'The mayor of Hoorn was under investigation for allegedly using the city's money to fund his own and his family's mega businesses. The mayor, Lars Gullman, was first reported by a local newspaper agency called Hoorn's Hours, after they did their own investigation, which was then reinvestigated by the local Police investigators. However, it has been found that the allegation was false, and Mr. Gullman is now pressing charges against the news agency for slandering him.'

Graham stopped reading after that piece of news and then put the newspaper away. He leaned back on his chair and rubbed his chin with his right hand as he opened his mouth.

"Val, I smell foul play. Let's see what our divination has to say on that matter. We should have enough information to go by right now," he muttered, and then focused on the floating flame above the table.

'Is Mayor Lars Gullman guilty of embezzlement?'

The flame burned brighter as usual after a short while. However, instead of an image appearing, Graham got a painful headache that felt like someone was stabbing his brain with iron spikes. Although it wasn't as painful as before, it was still not a pleasant feeling.

"Crap. My divination was interfered with, Val. It sure looks even more suspicious now," he muttered.

He massaged his head and once the headache subsided, he concentrated on the flame again and asked another question.

'Is it dangerous for me to go to Hoorn?'

The flame burned brighter again and this time, an image finally appeared. It showed a piece of paper being burned from the bottom right corner. The flame consumed the paper little by little, slowly turning it into ashes, and it didn't stop midway. After a while, the whole paper had been turned into ashes, but the rate at which it happened was slow enough. The image then disappeared after that.

"It's safe enough for us to go there, it seems. I guess we're going out of town again, Val, but let's wait for Luuk to return Purloin, shall we?"