An empty jug of beer sailed past Shika's head just as he entered the tavern. Shika quickly ducked, saving him from a nasty concussion. The jug hit the door with a thump and broke into pieces. "That was a close one" he thought. Silence filled the tavern as everyone stopped their conversations and turned to face the newcomer. Silence lasted for quite a while and Shika fidgeted due to the stares. People went back to their conversations, deeming the newcomer as uninteresting. Shika walked over to the counter and sat on one of the stools. The barkeep who was an old man with a round tummy was wiping one of the jugs with a rag. He was so busy cleaning that he didn't notice Shika sitting down.
"Al, the regular please?" Shika told the barkeep, startling him.
"You scared me there, lad" Al replied.
"Well, it's not my fault that you weren't paying attention, old man" Shika retorted. Al shaked his head disapprovingly.
"One beer coming up" Al said. He filled the jug with bright yellow beer. Foam started to fill up the top of the jug, making it look like a cloud.
"Here you go, lad" Al handed the beer to him.
Shika nodded and took the jug from the barkeep's hand. He took a small sip. It had a biscuity taste and it felt light. "The same old taste" he thought. He took another sip and placed it back onto the counter.
"Did anything new happen?" Shika asked Al. There was a reason why he came to this tavern. He needed information and a good drink. Al is the best person to get information from because lots of people ranging guards to criminals visit his establishment.
"Nothing interesting happened, kid" Al replied. Shika gave him a deadpan look. Al raised his hands in mock surrender.
"You know the drill, kid" Al replied.
Shika took out the merchant's pouch and took out a gold coin. Al whistled and Shika handed him the gold coin.
"Now can you tell me?" he asked.
"Of course, lad" Al had a big smile plastered on his face.
"The Little Crows and the House of Rats are now in a turf war, there are rumors that there is a new player in the mafia business, and tensions are rising between multiple crime families" Al listed off all of the information that he had currently.
"What do you mean tensions are rising? Is there going to be a war or something?" he joked.
"Yes, there is going to be a war" Al said seriously. Shika almost spat out his drink. He couldn't believe it.
"Why, though?" he asked out of curiosity
Al just shrugged. "Don't know the reason, but it must be something big" he said.
"Huh, interesting" Shika said aloud. He started tapping the counter with his index finger. "It looks like it is not safe here anymore" he thought. He frowned at the implication.
Al saw his expression. "Don't worry, lad" he patted Shika on the shoulder.
Shika looked up at Al and looked back down at the jug. "It's their problem...not mine" he thought. He finished the beer and slammed the jug on the counter. He handed Al five silver pieces and dropped down from the stool.
"Well, it looks like I need to go now" he said.
Al gave him a small nod. "Goodbye, lad" Al said, giving him a small wave.
"Goodbye, Old Al" Shika said with a smile. He walked away from the counter and lightly kicked the door to open it. He left the tavern and walked back to the entrance of Backshade Alley. The sun was out and darkness filled the sky. He had to be careful due to it being nighttime now. This is the time when thieves strike at oblivious people. He passed the cursed object store when he heard footsteps behind him. He paused and the footsteps stopped. He started walking again and the sound of the footsteps resumed. "Oh great, people are following me now" Shika thought. He took long strides in order to gain more distance, but the footsteps got closer and closer. He took a right turn, leading him to a narrow alley. He stopped in the middle of the alleyway and turned around to face his stalkers. It was a group of eight middle aged men. Some of them wore bandanas and one of them had a black eyepatch on his right eye. The man with the eyepatch stepped forward. He had a cigarette in his mouth and a hand in his pocket.
"How's your day going, lad?" the man asked. Shika gave him a bored look.
"Not a talker, eh" the man took a step forward. Shika took a step back to get further away.
"Let's get down to business then...give us the money peacefully or we will take it from you" the man with the eyepatch said.
"Get lost, this is my money" Shika said bravely. The man looked at him and laughed.
"Well, your wish then" the man took a pocket knife from his pocket and waved it threateningly. The man lunged to stab him, but Shika dodged it by moving to the right. The man stumbled and lost his balance, hitting the ground with a thump.
"Boss!" the other thieves yelled. Some thieves went up to the leader and checked if he was okay. The leader started to cough on the ground.
"Catch the boy!" he yelled.
The other thieves menacingly walked up to Shika. "I have no chance against all of these people" he thought. He turned around and started to run deeper into the alleyway with other thieves following him. He stopped near a ladder and started climbing it. One of the thieves also climbed the ladder and Shika kicked the man's fingers with the back of his foot, causing the thief to lose his balance. The ladder led him to the roof of a building. Shika ran to the edge of the roof and stopped. Next to the building was another building. "I could just jump and possibly break bones or fight them off" Shika looked back at the thieves who were on the roof with him. "I think option one is better" he thought. He took several steps back and ran back to the edge of the roof. Once he got to the edge, he jumped to the other roof. He landed on the other roof and rolled to minimize the impact. He quickly stood up and dusted himself off. He ran again and jumped to another roof. He ran to the edge of the roof and jumped down into a narrow alleyway. He tried to run, but one of the thieves caught him and tackled him. The thief pinned him to the ground and Shika tried to escape from his grasp, but failed.
"I got you now, boy" the man whispered in Shika's ears.
"In your dreams, dunderhead" Shika replied. He grabbed the man's hair and tugged it as hard as he could. The man whelped in pain and loosened his grip. Shika kicked him the ball causing the man to wince in pain again. He then pushed him off and crawled backwards. "Go, go, go, get out here you idiot" Shika mentally berated himself. He stood up using the wall as support and limped away from the man. Shika shaked his legs and left the alleyway. He ran across the street and hid behind a pile of crates that were neatly stacked to the side of a warehouse. "They are still chasing me...I need to find a hiding place now" he thought. He heard some sounds and looked behind. He saw a door that was slightly ajar. "I can go hide in there" Shika mentally patted himself on the back. Shika tiptoed to the door and silently opened the door. He quickly entered the room and closed the door. He could only see black due to no light and almost tripped. "Too dark, I should have picked a better place" he thought. He could hear voices outside of the door and crouched down.
"Where did he go?" a voice asked.
"Well, he is not here so I don't know" the other voice replied.
"I already know that, you blockhead" the first voice said.
"Boss won't be happy" a third voice interjected.
"Tch...let's go look over there" the first voice said. They walked away from the door. Shika sighed in relief. "Two encounters in a single day...will this day get any worse?" he asked himself. He put his head against the wall and sighed again. "I guess I have to stay here for a while" he thought. He could see a window on the other side of the room. It didn't look like a traditional window because it had bars instead of glass. "Wait, does this room lead to another room?" he thought. He walked closer to the window, using his hands to guide him. He grabbed one of the bars and peered through the window. Outside, he could see another room and the room looked absolutely stunning.
It was a small foyer with a giant staircase in the middle. The staircase had gold handrails and railings. On top of the room was a chandelier made out of clear crystal. The crystals twinkled in the light. There was a table in the middle of the foyer and on it was a golden vase with a flower design engraved into it. "This is a jackpot...the vase alone might be worth over 50 gold goins" he drooled over that thought. He wiped his drool and stared at the room again. "I wonder whose place is this?" he thought. "Who cares though...all of this stuff will be mine" he silently cackled. He walked to the other door and slowly opened it to check if there was anyone in the foyer. No one was there and Shika slowly creeped out from the room. "This place looks abandoned, but it looks clean" he walked to the table. He looked at the vase closely. "I shouldn't take the vase...it will be too obvious" he walked away from the vase and looked for more stuff that he could pickpocket. On the wall, there was an iron shield. Shika ran his hand across the shield. It felt cold and bumpy. He walked down the corridor, looking at the various items with interest. He saw a small figurine made out of gold and picked it up. "This could fetch me a lot of coins" he thought. He put the figurine in his pocket and resumed walking. In front of him, he could see light coming from a door. "Strange, the lights are still on, but there is no one here" he sighed and walked over to the door. He entered the room and shut his eyes due to the brightness. He opened his eyes and found himself in a large library.
He could see many books of various sizes and colors sitting idly in the large, brown bookcases. A large chandelier made out of clear crystals was on the ceiling and the crystals twinkled brightly as the light shone through them. "This place...it's marvelous" he opened his mouth in awe. "These books might be worth a fortune...if I steal them, I won't need to steal again" he whooped in joy. "But I don't have a bag to put the books in so I guess I can't steal anything" his smile fell. "Well, I guess I will take a look at them instead" he thought. He took a left turn and walked, eyeing at the bookcases with interest. His hand ran across the books as he walked by the bookcases. He suddenly stopped when he felt that one of the books was out of place. He tried to pull the book out, but it didn't budge. Instead, a blue light came from the bookshelf and it moved to the left, revealing a secret passageway. "Strange…" he mused. He didn't know if he should enter or not because it looked shady to him. "Well, it doesn't hurt to look," he sighed and entered the dark passageway.