Jack could sense his minions' inquisitive gazes.
"You guys want to know why we didn't save that young lady?" Never had heads wagged up and down so fast. "Because we won't get a reward before being vetted."
The foxes opened their ears wide as he kept explaining.
"Rich families will obviously be wary of scams. They'll want to make sure we're not working with the robbers.
"But if we ask the Flame Lord to vouch for us, she'll know we sneaked out."
— GASPS! Dramatic Fox Noises! —
The poor creatures shivered. She'd be super mad!
"Keep this in mind: never take a situation at face value without considering the possible ramifications. If you're confused, just ask me." he enlightened them.
Amidst pondering foxes, they arrived.
"Soldiers, this is our target: the Royal Dawn Library!"
It was a magnificent five-story building that radiated an ancient aura. The books Jack wanted were in there! As for how to access it… there was only one entrance.
The place seemed protected by mighty gargoyles, one for each of the leading powers in Dawn…six total! Whenever someone passed next to them, they waved a magical token their way.
"Magical guardians, access token required, and a place crawling with people." Jack sighed as he dressed a mental list of what they'd need:
1. Fox disguises
2. At least one entry token
3. The most opportune timing
4. Information on the layout of the place
The latter two would definitely require preemptive scouting of the inside of the place. He had to understand how it worked precisely. But for now…
"Alright, you all. Follow me! Let's accomplish a miracle!" Jack chuckled.
He led them back to the alleyways, and they went hunting for cloaks! That day was a terrible loss for the washing lines of the City of Dawn, countless orange blurs raiding them!
As for the owners…. they shivered, thanking the gods for surviving the supernatural encounter! They locked themselves in their home, resolved not to go out, especially not to report it!
Soon enough, the foxes had stolen enough for them to gear up.
His troops were assembled in a certain empty courtyard in the middle of nowhere.
They wore their new cloaks proudly and stood at attention and upright as they tried their best to act human. One had to admit that they looked dastardly cute!
Jack "praised" them:
"You guys might actually pull this off…" his minions beamed. "… If the people in the library are all blind and deaf. Salivating? Swaying? Shrinking? Are you even trying?"
He called their flaws one after the other, their faces showing shock. This was so hard! Who knew being human was that troublesome?! But the next part had them super hyped:
"Alright, I'll teach you how to be human."
"Woooo!"
Jack began teaching them acting….or acting human at least.
From posture to gestures and even how and when to walk. He was showing them everything from scratch, using his past life as a delivery man as source material!
After all, he had seen people from all walks of life back then. From humble to snobbish, he could do them all! The more he performed, the more awed the foxes became.
One had to say that they were the most avid learners Jack had ever met. In close to no time, they had already learned the basics. Now was time for the next part!
"Hehe. Alright, let's try this again!… Except that this time we'll play Follow the Leader!"
As Jack explained how they simply had to copy his actions, they all scoffed. This was way too easy. They could do something like that in their sleep! They were full of confidence!
But then it began….
A few minutes into the game, not a single fox could follow.
It wasn't that Jack did anything special: walking, dancing at worse, but they kept committing mistakes!
"Number 8, you're out! Did you forget that we're human training right now? You did the same movement, but you showed your tail! SCRAM!"
"Number 9, you bent your torso way too much! Heck, are you even a fox or a snake? SCRAM!"
"Number 3, did you just shit on the floor?! SCRAM!"
Only now did they realize that 1 + 1 was sometimes way more difficult than two! Acting human was fine on its own... but doing it while doing something else? IMPOSSIBLE!
They couldn't believe it, their admiration for Jack only increasing.
This young one was AMAZING!
Jack almost expected them to give up, but this only redoubled their ardor!
They'd do anything to succeed! At first, he was stunned by their loyalty, but then he understood that there was more. They weren't just doing it for him but for themselves too.
There were so many places that foxes were banned from! However, wouldn't everything change if they could mix with the other humans?! This was their ticket to FUN!
"Hehe. You guys sure are valiant! How about we increase things up a notch even? Walking or dancing is one thing, but the real challenge is fighting!" Jack chuckled.
He was half-kidding.
Half, but they took him seriously.
"Woooo!" They were instantly on board!
Thus began the Human Games, its participants all having a Hunger for victory!
It was a colossal fox Battle Royale with a simple premise: Hit each other while looking as human as possible. No paw sticking out, no fur showing, and especially no mauling!
Jack acted as the referee:
"Let the Human Games Begin!!!"
It was the most heated fight ever!
Action, action, ACTION! They fought so quickly!
Even though they tried to look human, they were still beasts.
Their "human" performance made them all look like bloody ninjas! They fought while jumping from wall to wall, putting Parkour experts to shame!
"Oh god! That's amazing! I'd pay to watch this—"
Jack gasped, taking mental notes to open an arena. People would pay good money for this! Something in the style of Ultimate Beast Ninja Eternian Warrior would be popular AF!
But he was suddenly brought out of his reverie by the action getting very heated… LITERALLY!
Jack opened his eyes to a courtyard on fire, fireballs flying everywhere!
Actually, no, it wasn't just the courtyard that was on fire…
"Oh, Crap…RUNNNNN!"