Chapter 90 - It's Just a Cat

Derek Hays sighed as took a pull of his cigar, enjoying the smoky feel of it, before letting it out, and flooding the area in front of him with smoke. It drifted away quickly, hastened by a quick use of mana to create a gust of wind. It was basic and the least of what he could do, but he always enjoyed using his mana for whatever he could, though he knew it annoyed the others.

Unlike most in the Graywake's underworld, he was past the mid-tier stage of the novice rank and was able to use his mana far more efficiently than most, he'd even been offered a promotion to become a branch leader in one of the nearby towns, but he'd refused. He liked Graywake, it was his home and where he'd grown up and where he intended to rule one day if things went according to plan.

"You actually gonna help or just stand there and smoke?" One of the enforcers with him said, grunting as he lifted a heavy box and placed it within a wagon.

Derek took another pull and took his time in letting it out. "I don't see why you need my help, you've got it sorted. I'll just continue to watch and guard."

The enforcer let out a growl but didn't respond. He knew he couldn't force Derek to do anything. He was just a normal human, no kor or mana at all, he wasn't even a base-level novice. He was just brawn and not much else. Compared to Derek who was an 8th rank novice with a natural wind affinity, he was nothing, and far less valuable to the guild.

"We wouldn't have to be doing this if that new king wasn't increasing security and changing everything," Another enforcer said in an annoyed voice.

Derek had to agree with the man. If this new king who was the talk of the entire kingdom hadn't been making changes left and right then they wouldn't have to do this and instead they could just pay off the city guards to do it, but changes had been made and now not a single guard could be paid off, in fact, most of the guards and authorities in the city had been pushed aside and replaced, and those who'd been found guilty of crimes? well, they'd been hung or beheaded.

It was causing all sorts of problems for the guild who was trying to find ways around it. Derek wasn't as worried, he assumed this was just a show of power from the new king and that things would eventually calm down and go back to normal, then Derek could resume his plans. He hoped things wouldn't last too long like this since he knew there was a certain time limit, and his connection in Ventrin wouldn't wait forever.

As he took another pull from his cigar he spotted a black cat standing on a nearby rooftop. There is a quiet part of the city where the city storehouses were located and there was plenty of food in some of the storehouses so it wasn't odd to see a cat, but this cat seemed odd. It looked average enough, but it was staring directly at him and as Derek stared into its eyes, he couldn't help but frown. Its eyes, unlike that of normal cats, seemed to hold an intensity to them and intelligence.

"Do you guys see that?" He asked, still looking at the cat.

The three enforcers stopped and followed his line of sight.

"It's just a cat," The largest of the enforcers said.

"Bad luck," Another one commented. "Black cat on a night with clear moons."

"Both of you shut up and get back to work," The one who'd originally complained said. "The quicker we get this done, the sooner we can leave."

Derek tore his gaze away from the cat to look at the progress the men had made and smiled. They were almost done.

He turned his attention back to the cat but frowned when he noticed it was gone. He glanced around to see if he could find it, but then he shrugged.

The enforcer was right, it was just a cat.

-----

"So, can you confirm it was him?"

Blair let out a soft meow before turning back into her human form. She stretched comfortably and summoned a floating pumpkin to sit on before turning to face Leone. "Yeah, it was him. The same one the report told us about. Should we kill him or bring him in?"

Leone leaned up against the alleyway wall as a thoughtful look appeared on her face. "let's wait until everything is ready for the raid. It's best if we don't tip them off, we'll bag him with the others we plan to take."

"Ok," Blair responded. "How is everything by the way. Are we still going with Zombiemans plan?"

Leone nodded. "Yeah, it's the quickest way to get rid of them. If we try and go piece by piece, then most will go into hiding and then things will just take longer and we'll need to change our approach. Best if we deal with most of it in one go, then hunt down what remains."

"And the quicker we get this done," Blair said. "The sooner we can get back to master. I miss him."

Leone sighed, but couldn't help but agree. While it had only been a few days, and they'd talk through some magical devices, she wanted to see him in person. It was one of the main reasons as to why she was going with Zombiemans plan. The criminal underworld of Larra was surprisingly extensive and all the major cities had branches of the guild that operated in Graywake which at first didn't seem like the place where one would build the main branch, but its complete lack of crime was the perfect disguise.

Leone had to admit, she hadn't expected this, but in the end, it didn't matter. With the resources they had and the power at their disposal, there wasn't actually any worry of something going wrong. This was at the end of the day an extermination and cleaning of filth, that was all.

"Come on," Leone said. "Let's get back to Domino and see what she's found."