It was night again and we still haven't talk about anything.
We were supposed to but all of us were too lazy to do anything in the morning and we ended up procrastinating until it was night time.
Nocturnals would understand.
For now, Shin and I were rummaging through the items River and I brought with us to the Black district. Tonight, River was doing the cooking.
"Hmm?"
Suddenly, my back felt itchy.
I turned around and saw Shin looking at me with an unreadable expression on his face. His hand was holding the women's clothes I wore to enter the Black district.
Well, only mine remained since River made his dress look like a tattered rug to make his head bandages.
His unreadable expression soon became one filled with disrespect. It was so bad that just looking at it made me feel abused.
I immediately told him to stop.
"Shin, wipe that insulting look in your face."
He rolled his eyes.
"Why do you even have these? No matter what anyone says, we're too young for that."
'What the hell is going on in his head? Did he think that we went to some brothel?'
I was about to refute but instead, I smirked playfully. I jokingly said back.
"We didn't go to such places."
"Really? Then what's this?"
He waved the dress around the air before throwing it at my face. I caught the fabric with a fake frown on my face.
"Ah, really. Your lack of faith in me is painful."
"I met you just yesterday, in case you forgot. Why are you denying it even when there's a proof?"
"This? Oh, that's just River's hobby of cosplay---OUCH!"
BAM!
A knife flew in my direction and hit the back of my head.
The precision was perfect and if it wasn't the back of the knife that slammed to be, or if it would have been faster than necessary, then my skull would have a hole in it right now.
"Dark."
"Sorry!"
I apologetically smiled at River who was probably killing me over and over inside his head.
Might I add that he was butchering something? Blood was dripping from his hands and apron. He looked nothing short of a serial killer that recently killed its victim.
Gulp.
SHING!
He raised a butcher knife, the placing of lights and dim vibe of the room made it seem more horrific than natural, and then he glared at me.
Even without words, I could tell what he was going to say.
'Stop fooling around.'
I nodded, slightly sweating, and faced Shin, who looked pale for some reason, then told him the truth.
"Disguise purposes."
"O-Okay."
Both of us were silent after that.
Not soon after, we started eating dinner.
It was then that we told him our side of the story. Well, most of the time it was only me since River was a man of few words.
Shin listened attentively and kept his questions until we finished speaking.
"So, let me get this straight. You think that the people who brought you here are the same ones trying to trick me?"
I chewed on the cabbage leaf and nodded.
Shin swallowed what he was eating and took a few gulps of water before looking at me suspiciously.
"How can you say for sure that's the case?"
I get where he's coming from.
Currently, he must be thinking that the chances of his supposed to be dealer and our abductors being the same is low.
After all, his knowledge was limited.
Therefore, I had to explain further.
"Do you know how many chunks of ancient stone exist?"
I asked and raised four of my fingers.
"Only four pieces. Two of them are in the Capital Church, one is in the Royal Palace, then where do you think the last one is?"
The answer was the third most powerful place in the world, the Black district.
"Oh."
Realizing this, his eyes widened, ushering the dawn of information inside his all too innocent head.
"But are you sure that one of the families has it?"
"Yes."
I agreed with absolute certainty.
"It's a common rule among villains to monopolize anything powerful. Making it free access to others greatly hurts your business, even if you're allied with them."
River, who has been angry at me for a while due to my little joke earlier, finally spoke up. He still glared at me though.
"It probably belongs in a house that runs a human trafficking business. Also, it's going to be heavily guarded."
"So, we can't just steal it."
Shin's eyes looked down with a thoughtful and problematic look in his face.
Ever since we gave the idea that he's being tricked, he's been waiting for a chance to strike the bastards down but hearing these new pieces of information seemed to discourage him more and more.
Right now, he looks like a puppy that got abandoned in a garbage dump somewhere in a desolate alley.
I felt slightly bad so I cheered him up.
After all, just because the pieces of news were bad doesn't mean that they're not disadvantagous.
"Now, now. Stop looking like a dog with a deformed face, Shin."
His mouth hung open and closed and opened again. It was like he was unsure of what he's going to say before actually speaking.
"Is that you're way of telling me to stop frowing?"
"You can tell?"
"It's not working."
"Really? That's sad."
I shrugged it off.
"But hey, because of your information, we can strike them."
"What do you mean?"
Shin's eyes suddenly lit up.
I started telling him about the deductions I formed earlier in the morning when we were all doing nothing.
"We suspected that a naming ceremony will happen soon."
Shin's attention was on me so I carefully explained.
"You told me that the meeting time those bastards gave you would be three weeks from now, right? That means they'll take out the stone from its hiding place around that time."
The two of them listened attentively as I grabbed a pen and paper. I moved the empty plates to the side and started formulating everything.
INFORMATION.
MAP.
SPY.
"These are the top three essentials that we need to start planning. We need all kinds of information starting from who the main enemy is, where the ceremony will be held, shifts and density of security, how and who many are involved in the process."
I circled the 'INFORMATION' term and pointed at the next one.
"The second most important is the map. This includes blueprints of the location and the areas around it. Knowledge about geography is needed in formulating a secure escape route. We also need to prepare at least three other backup routes in case they get blocked."
I circled the 'MAP' term and pointed at the last word.
"This one is the trickiest. We need an inside man. This person comes in handy in more ways than one."
I would like it if we can inflitrate the security ourselves but I'm pretty sure that the qualifications are high and the ones checking it are thorough.
Fourteen years old like us don't stand a chance.
"We need a person that can supply us with information that we can't get from outside leaks. If something goes wrong, we can make a set-up and blame it on the person. However, the risk is high and we're at risk of being backstabbed."
I explained the prons and cons of the third requirement for our plan.
A naming ceremony is rare to happen in the Black district since it costs a lot of money to hire people and make tight security. However, it's precisely because that it's a huge event that there will always be a news leak.
I circled the 'SPY' term.
'No matter how powerful a leader is, there will always be rats inside an organization.''
Identifying them is the tough part.
After adding a few more details, it was time to give them their work.
I first looked at River then to Shin.
"River, you'll go find the information."
"Mm."
"Shin, you're going to steal the map."
"Noted!"
I smiled in satisfaction and started cleaning up the table. I looked up when I saw that they weren't helping.
"What?"
Why are they looking at me like they're waiting for me to say something?
"I'm done speaking."
"Hah?"
Shin looked like someone splashed his favorite white tuxedo with mud and fecal matter.
"What are you gonna do?"
I pointed at myself.
"Me? Laze around of course."
'What do they expect me to do when I'm useless in this situation? Geez.'
I shrugged as they both glared at me.
"What? I don't have special genes like you creatures. My body is nothing but bones and flesh."
I even specified this by moving my limbs weakly.
"You..."
"Haaa."
They looked at each other and sighed before finally helping me clean up the table.
River ushered me to stop clearing the table and just head up. Even when I said I could do it, he slapped my arm. Shin also shooed me away.
Left with no choice, I headed up. But not without leaving them a final note.
"Don't start doing the tasks immediately. Though some people aiming to ruin the ceremony may already be sniffing around, they'd be densest on the week before the event. Do your tasks by then to blend in."
After that, I finally headed up and silently lay on my bed.
Staring at the ceiling, I can't help but feel frustrated at the fact that I can't do anything. Shin and River, who did a terrible job at hiding it, were trying to be considerate of my feelings.
I exhaled and closed my eyes.
'In my own way. I will help in my own way.'