"Six-thousand dracs for the three Lang gang members brought to custody. I only see two." Officer Kain complained to Shiro and Kurosu in his private office.
"I thought we had a deal!?!" He growled.
"Your deal didn't include one of them abandoning their own brothers at the warehouse." Kurosu explained as he sat across from Kain.
Shiro hated this part of the job the most: dissatisfied customers.
"We did our part and caught you a criminal, so YOU didn't have to. We gave you two with no casualties on your end-" Kurosu said nonchalantly.
"B-but I needed the big one! The one calling the shots! I needed Liu Lang! Not these idiot lackeys!"
"That wasn't the deal you made with us!"
"I guess YOU didn't read the fine print! I needed to catch these guys before the upcoming election, and you half assed it!"
"Then maybe you should do your own damn job!"
Shiro stepped in between the two dragons.
G-gentlemen! Hey! Hey! There's no need to shout. " Shiro tried to soothe both dragons down
"I'm taking my friend aside for a moment. Excuse me, "
Shiro pulled on Kurosu's arm and guided him to the far corner of the room.
After some furious whispering, Shiro guided Kurosu back to face the officer.
"Ugh…will hunt down Liu Lang for you. Give us two days, " Kurosu relented.
The Town Officer growled.
"...two days…or else you can kiss your jobs goodbye"
The officer rang for his secretary.
"Sir,"
"Get them out of my sight,"
The blue haired secretary escorted Shiro and Kurosu out of the town's guard headquarters and onto the streets.
It was sundown, and many of the other guards were out celebrating the arrest that was told had been made by none other 3rd Town officer Kain. No one was out on duty.
Meanwhile, Kurosu and Shiro walked down the empty street, meandering as they didn't quite know what they were doing next-at least, that's what it seemed to Kurosu.
"What a lying sack of shit!" Shiro thought to himself as he kicked the ground in annoyance at having to sweet talk this sleazy officer all for some measly six thousand.
The dirt left a huge pothole from where he had kicked it.
"It barely covers the rent! Dammit! I'm going to get back to the bastard! Just you wait!" Shiro thought to himself angrily. Fuming at the audacity of Officer Kain for treating like hunting dogs to do his work for him and not get his hands dirty.
"I can't believe you agreed to that asswipes demands," Kurosu complained as the two walked down the street.
"It's for a good reason! I have a plan!" Shiro yelled up to his mentor.
"Right…" Kurosu wasn't buying it.
"Oh, come on! We can make this guy our bitch! I can find this LuLu guy tonight!"
"Liu Lang"
"Whatever! I can find him! But first, I need four things!"
"Really?"
Shiro nodded his head vigorously.
"I need chalk, paper, a knife, and Kade!"
"Last I checked, Kade isn't exactly seeking out to be in a blood sacrifice"
Shiro scowled, "you know blood sacrifices are illegal right?"
"Then why the knife?"
"I'll explain it later! Time is of the essence if we're going to catch this Lola guy!"
Kurosu sighed and rubbed his temple.
"I just want to go home and cut our losses but I can't say no to him anymore because he'll just do it anyway…I'm becoming a pushover now."
"Fine, I'll get Kade but he's probably drinking at the moment" Kurosu deliberated.
"Grab the knife too! I don't care how big it is, it will do the job!"
"..."
"Pleeeeeeeassssssseeee!!" Shiro tugged on Kurosu's purple scarf, begging loudly.
Kurosu groaned and was still not entirely on board with Shiro's wacky idea to complete this mission.
"I can't say no to him! Why!?!"
Shiro gripped Kurosu's waist tightly and hugged him with a tight grip, unintentionally letting his strength hold Kurosu in a compromised position.
"Come on, just trust me on this one!" Shiro chided him. "I'm a mage so I have my ways!"
"Ngh!" Kurosu blushed slightly, still not used to Shiro's physically expressive nature.
"It's not that I don't trust you but I'm not exactly sure what you're planning." He answered, his diaphragm felt like it was fire
"Now let go before you crush me again. I can't breathe, Shiro!" Kurosu gasped.
"O-oh! Right!" Shiro lets go swiftly, allowing Kurosu to breathe more easily.
"We still need to work on that beastly strength of yours" Kurosu groaned as he staggered away.
"I can't help it!"
Shiro yelled as he ran in the opposite direction of Kurosu to grab the other items on the list.
"Meet up at the south gate!"
Kurosu fell down to the ground trying to regain his posture.
"I need a minute!"
Soon Kurosu managed to drag Kade and was greeted by Shiro drawing on the ground with chalk.
"Ya never said we were doin' arts and crafts on the sidewalk, K!" Kade groaned
"To clarify this is waaaay more than your sorry ass could doodle! Now Kade, stand in the middle so I can sacrifice you to the gods!"
Shiro said with a smirk signaling for Kade to step inside.
"...wait-!" Kade ran but was grabbed by the much taller and stronger Kurosu.
"I thought you said no blood sacrifices!"
"I'm not, I was joking. But I still need the knife and Kade in the circle."
Kade screamed more, "Can I go home now!?! I wanna live!"
"You're not dying yet, tomato head. Now get in the circle. We got a bad guy to catch and rent to pay!" Shiro yelled loudly.
Kurosu got Kade in the circle which wasn't just one circle but two and in the center was a plank sheet of paper. Several symbols that were unfamiliar to Kurosu and Kade are littered all inside the first and the second circles.
"Oooo! I've wanted to do this for so long!" Shiro jumped giddy at the prospect of doing a tracking spell after so long away from the Academia.
"Wait, have you ever done this before!?!" Kade questioned worriedly.
Shiro crouched down and held out his hand for Kurosu to hand him a small kunai .
"Hmmm….I think i tried this out…two, maybe three years ago??? Maybe????" Shiro finally replied.
"Wait!!! Ya sure you know whatcha doin'!?!" Kade yelled now hyperventilating.
"Be quiet! Or I'll definitely fuck it up!" Shiro yelled.
Both Kade Kurosu stayed silent as Shiro closed his eyes to concentrate.
Shiro pooled all his energy into his focus.
"Tracking spells work as a compass to find literally anyone or anything…as long as you can conjure a strong visual in your mind to be a focus for your mana. Some mages cheat and use an object or physical item that belongs to the person you're searching for, but we don't have that ....so I have to create my own focus."
Shiro thought to himself.
Shiro continued to visualize a good representation of Liu Lang. Strong emotions can help in creating your focus.
Shiro felt his body come engulfed in a wave of intense heat. His energy is pooling together now.
Shiro began the next step: incantation.
Shiro spoke in an archaic language, not intelligible to either of his companions.
"ሀ ቧሃጣኪ ኳኚ ኴጤየኒ ኴጤ ኲኑኴኲ ሀ ኳሃኚ ኴኪሃጣሣኑ ሢጤጣ ጤኡኪ የየኑጤ ሀኴ ጣኡጤየየኡ ቧየኲ ኡጤኲ ኴኪኪኡ!"
Shiro's body became hotter. The energy he had absorbed was intense and seering as he kept up the incantation, now shouting even louder.
The chalk circle began to shimmer as the spell had begun to take effect.
Shiro felt his body get hotter as he knew the spell was in its last phase.
He used the knife to cut a small scar on his finger, the blood dripping down from the fresh cut and onto the paper.
"Liu Lang!" Shiro yelled loudly to confirm the name of the person he was searching for.
The blood seeped into the paper and began to spread in various directions. Creating a map with a small circle being the target they were looking for.
With the spell complete, the circle went dim, and Shiro felt his body cool down, and he fell over, finally feeling like he could breathe without feeling like his lungs were full of flames.
"Shiro!" Kurosu gripped Shiro tightly as he sat him up. Kade joined in to help.
"Dude, what was that!?!" Kade yelled in shock.
"Be quiet. My ears are about to explode," Shiro groaned as his body swayed.
Kurosu held his partner up. Shiro was extremely hot to the touch and sweating profusely.
"Took a lot out of me. That tracking spell is a tough one. " Shiro chuckled before coughing.
"Gods, I'm going to be sick,"
"A tracking spell, wait! You mean you can find someone without having to actually go look for them?" Kade interjected in shock at such magic.
"Kade, be quiet. Just grab the paper, and let's get out of here. "
Kade waved his hands around as he hurriedly grabbed the paper and looked at it.
It was a detailed map with a large dot in an area that looked familiar to Kade
"Wait! I know this place! It's in the Brón Marshes. It's not a bad hiding spot if you are looking to get away!"
"That's why I asked for you, dummy!" Shiro laughed a bit as he got to stand on his own with the aid of Kurosu.
"I can just carry you!"
"Fat chance! We now know where we can catch this guy, so there is no time to lose. "
Kurosu wasn't too convinced that Shiro was completely fine as he wobbled away, gripping the alley wall for support.
"Kade, lead the way. I'll follow you. "
Kurosu grabbed Shiro and threw him over his shoulder.
"H-Hey!! I can walk!"
"Not anymore. Now stay still. "
"Kuro!!!!"
Kurosu just rolled his eyes as he kept going to follow Kade out of the south gate.