"Sigh, the pay better be worth it…"
It was another dark, cold night in the country of Avarice. Roaming on the top of these buildings provide me a spectacular view of the town, but there is nothing great worth seeing. In fact, it is quite the opposite. A foul smell of filth haunts the streets–the scent will make you wish that you were cursed to be without smell. No doubt that the source of the stench is from the homeless bozos that litter the streets. Well, at least primarily
Can you blame them though? This dumpster is only a reflection of the utter incompetence of the noble rulers of this country. Incompetence? No, that would require a heart to care in the first place. The thought of it makes me shake my head in disapproval.
A restless wind blows through the avenues, creating a tumbleweed of trash that spreads far away from its origin. Some perhaps too far away.
"Hey, you jerk; I told you not to leave your food scraps on my stuff!"
"That wasn't my fault, you dummy; you know that the wind is strong this time of year."
Two street bozos began to bicker: a large man and a thinner, but slightly above average sized man. These commotions are far too common, even at this time of night. In fact, I don't think there's ever a moment when there aren't folks roaming around doing god knows what. Tonight is no different; although not nearly as busy as the day, the night is still active…a bit too active for my liking. I would much rather relax at home at this time in peace; well, as peaceful as it can get around here. But the bills won't pay themselves.
"Wind, smind. You can't keep blaming nature; your curse is the blame!"
"Well, I can't help it, ya dirtbag; the colder I get, the more wind I create. Move to another corner or deal with it!"
"'Dirtbag'?! I'll deal with it alright, starting with you!"
The thinner man summoned a cloud of dust and casted it at the big guy, giving him a murky brown coating. Needless to say, he was not too happy about that, and the two of them went back and forth with wind and dust respectively. Combined, their curses made a dirt cyclone (still mixed with trash) that spread to the people surrounding them. Now instead of just two idiots fighting, the whole street is at odds. These "curse battles" tend to break out at the worst times for me; perhaps it's a result of my misfortune.
"Tch, I can't see anything down there anymore. Oh well, I didn't see my target anyway; gotta look elsewhere."
I jump across a few buildings in search of her. Who is "her"? No idea. All Crawley told me was that she was a teenage girl who was wearing the peridot pendant. Not a peridot pendant, the peridot pendant. It means nothing to me either way, but apparently it is worth a lot of money on the market. According to his "sources", she should be around here at this time.
"Aha, I've finally found you.", I said in relief. Finally, the hardest part of the job is over!
I jumped down the building to get a closer look. The girl is wearing a dark cloak that's connected in the center by an insignia of an orange thunderbolt. She did indeed look like a typical teenage girl, though a bit on the younger side. To do this kind of "work" at such a young age means that she has some experience; I must take care not to underestimate her too much.
"W-who are you?!", the girl shrieked.
I can tell that she was on edge, and I managed to catch her by surprise. She must have thought her victory was within reach. The look on her face gradually changed from surprise to disgust.
"I'm just a guy with an eye for fashion. That peridot pendant around your neck looks fabulous. Mind if I take it?"
"No, you're mistaken! This is my birthstone, a gift from my late mother. I need to return home now before my big sister worries herself to death."
"Save the sob story; I know that you don't live in this country."
"How could you say that? You're an insensitive monster!"
"Even the dumbest idiot knows not to wear anything valuable in public in Avarice, lest she wants trouble. Besides that, you are literally wearing a cloak with Gannet's insignia on it. Rookie mistake."
The girl's face turned red as if she were sunburnt; I can feel the embarrassment oozing from her.
"Okay okay, you got me. But I am not giving this to you; I stole it fair and square!"
"How foolish. When it comes to stealing, there is no such thing as fairness; we do whatever it takes to win. Anyway, you're pretty young; younger than the average guys I deal with regularly. So, I'll give you one more chance to resolve this peacefully but be warned; I don't go easy on those in my way. Bratty teenage girls included."
Psew psew!
"?!"
Suddenly, small, gooey orbs shot in my direction; a couple of them got on me. It looks like some yellowish slime.
"Aw come on, you ruined my best cloak! What are you, some slime girl?"
"Hmph, I can make gooey projectiles after drinking fluids; the sweeter the drink, the stickier my goo becomes. Unfortunately for you, I made sure to drink an extra sweet tea!"
She shot more and more goo bullets in my direction. Her precision was lacking, but I guess it doesn't really matter when she can spam a bullet hell of goo. I attempt to weave through the goo storm and close the distance, but unfortunately, the goo is accumulating on me, hindering my mobility.
"Ack, almost there…"
"Not a chance, weirdo. Take this!"
Despite me getting closer and evading most of the bullets, my legs were completely covered in goo. Hmm, perhaps her less than stellar aim was done on purpose in order to target my legs, preventing me from approaching her. Clever girl. This is why I can never underestimate anyone in battle.
"Dang, there goes my shoes."
"Don't worry, the goo will wash off eventually if you take a nice, long bath. Looks like you needed one anyway! Have a good night, Mr.Goo."
The girl, smug as the brat she is, blew a raspberry, taunting me from a distance. She turns around, beginning to run away victoriously.
"I may be stuck here, but rest assured, you will not get away from me.", I shouted.
"Sorry, can't hear you from here; I'm too busy getting away!"
Suddenly, the air darkened as a brown filter poured down the street in our direction. The girl finally notices the sea of dirt and filth behind her, doing her best to run from it. Unfortunately for her…
"Huh?!"
Dust clouds the girl's vision, causing her to stumble into heaps of trash and lose her balance.
THUD!
Although the filth affected me too, it seems to have weakened the moisture of the slime, allowing me to break free and catch up with the brat.
"Cough cough. How did you–?"
"Dunno, I'm not completely sure myself. Something to do with my curse, I assume. Guess those bozos were useful after all. Anyway, playtime is over, so I'll be taking the–?!"
"Aaaah!"
GULP
In an act of desperation, before I could even reach for the pendant, the girl put the pendant in her mouth and swallowed it! Why must she make my job harder?
"You just won't give up, will you? You're not as smart as I thought, not that you were a genius to begin with. I've already told you that I will be taking the pendant."
"Well, looks like the only one taking it is my stomach. As you said, there is no fairness; we must do whatever it takes to win, right? There's no way for you to take the pendant now, so leave me alone, or I will report you to the authorities as a creep who tried to have his way with me!"
"Heh, I wouldn't be so sure about that. I know a few ways to get the pedant out of your gut, but it won't be pretty for either of us."
I start cracking my knuckles and clenching my fists. The girl is on the ground, trapped in place by garbage with her belly exposed. The perfect target. Upon realizing this, as if reading my mind, the girl's face turned blue.
"H-hey n-now, y-you aren't s-seriously thinking about doing that to a young girl l-like me, r-right?"
"Open wide."