Ester hurriedly ran through the marketplace with sweat beading on his forehead, his breaths came hurried and laborious as his eyes traced the stone laid Merchant's street.
Dodging and weaving past the numerous pedestrians going on their way, Ester hurriedly bypassed a group of women who had just turned the corner slamming into them.
*Bang!
"Sorry! Sorry! I'm running late!"
Tripping over his own words, Ester hurriedly gave his apologies and ran away as the red-haired woman he had just collided against shouted something that was lost to the hustle and bustle of the crowd.
Wildly unkempt silver black hair bouncing in the air as his footsteps swiftly slapped against the ground, numerous thoughts quickly went through his silvery white eyes.
'On the left the road is still under construction and at this time of day, the right is probably congested with foot traffic.'
Recalling the heavy industrial machines working on the road, clearing out the inhabitants living in the sewers, Ester immediately crossed that path out of his mind.
'Not running through the construction area after what happened last time.'
Tightening his grip on the heavy metal package in his hands, Ester quickly ran forwards and immediately drew itself to the abandoned plot of land that had been bought by some unknown figure but hadn't been developed like the rest of the city.
'That'll do.'
Since its purchase ten years ago, it had been undeveloped for ten years on end after the buyer disappeared and it probably wouldn't start any time soon as no one seemed willing to buy this piece of land that was far from ideal
And his gamble paid off.
Hurriedly vaulting the particularly useless walls that could be overcome by any determined individual with his left arm, the sound of gears sounded out from underneath the thin clothing, locking and pistoning as they dragged him upwards.
A particularly useful investment of his earnings as it hadn't failed him yet.
Eyes brightening as he vaulted the thick brick walls covered in vines and moss, his eyes scanned the untouched plot of land before swiftly dropping down and running across the plot of land.
Knee high blades of grass brushing past his shins as a particularly startled snake hissed loudly as Ester passed through its small hidey hole, Ester ignored it all as he reached the other end of the plot of land
Adjusting the important package under his right arm, Ester immediately jumped up, left arm outstretched as five metal spikes left the tip of his fingers, digging into the wall and allowing him to drag himself on the wall, Ester immediately began clambering the wall like a man possessed.
And honestly? If a passerby were to chance by, they would be absolutely terrified as a grey shadow clambered up the wall like some sort of undead demon.
Not that Ester cared as soon enough if he didn't get there on time, then when he returned, he would personally see a demon manifest.
And honestly speaking, Ester preferred to not visit the Architect of the dead when he hadn't even fulfilled
Sweat poring out of his head as the sound of gears ground against each other in an effort to drag him upwards, Ester hurriedly dropped into a roll, taking particular care to not harm the previous package that was way more important than his own health and safety.
'To the next obstacle!'
Swiftly getting up and sprinting forwards, his labored breaths made visible by the chilled morning air left his lungs as his eyes scanned his surroundings that were similarly suffused with foot traffic underneath the light of the dawning sun.
It was surprisingly lively, considering it was five in the morning, the time when everyone but nightshift workers and early birds were asleep, but then again, considering the event that was going soon in the coming week, then it honestly made sense.
Briefly thinking about said event and how many of the important figures of the city were going to make an appearance on that day, Ester quickly reminded himself of the fact that he had to be alive to appreciate the day and swiftly made the executive decision to avoid the foot traffic.
'To the alleyways!'
Energetically heading straight towards the high-risk high return pathway that usually did its job to get him towards his destination faster than taking the people saturated streets, especially during this lively time, his memory swiftly took action as the mental map of the city unfolded itself before Ester's very eyes.
Ephemeral arrows manifesting in front of his eyes as he took the many twists and turns of the cities poorly designed alleys hidden in between the buildings, more than once Ester had to suck in his gut and squeeze between the buildings and people.
If anything, he was actually pretty lucky that he could take advantage of the very large empty plot located in the industrial area as at the least he didn't have to navigate the ridiculous collection of buildings that were an Obsessive Compulsive persons nightmare.
Navigating past the randomly placed buildings that seemed to have no set plan following their creation, Ester clambered up the many bridges, walls and any other obstacles in his way, making sure to reference the mental map of the city that he had in his mind.
It was one of the things that led to his success albeit it led to a lot more attention from the demon.
Turning a corner, Ester accidentally bumped against a figure hurrying by, hood making way to reveal a brief flash of a unique purple hair.
"Ah! Sorry! I'm in a hur-!'
Eyes briefly widening as the glint of a knife swiftly entered his vision, Ester instinctively reacted, left arm bouncing upwards as the knife collided against it, creating a series of yellow sparks as the metal underneath the thin cloth revealed itself.
Frowning as he stared at the small scratch donning the brass exterior, Ester spoke while now observing the other people around him.
"Hey, that was very rude."
In total, there were three people in this small alleyway standing between him and the Heaven away from the devil.
A duo holding a… rusty pipe and what could be likened to a glass shank, drunkards Ester concluded and a figure tightly bound in a cloak as they hurriedly hid the purple hair underneath their hood.
And knowing what the purple hair meant, Ester didn't blame her although it seemed that the two drunkards certainly did as the one who had initially tried to stab the figure until he got in the way shouted.
"Gyet out of de way kiiid! Dis isn't prObLem your… Huh?"
Staring at the two figures, Ester couldn't help but mentally nickname them with the horrible habit of his that seemed to always backfire on him the moment the demon heard of it.
But with how the Demon beat his ass until it was turned inside out, the demon was an apt name, especially the time they had broken a few laws in their attempt to beat up Ester.
Terrifying times.
Turning his head to the one that was being assaulted, a tall figure with a pair of slitted eyes stared at him causing him to flinch at the eyes which glowed in the relative darkness in the alleyways.
But nevertheless, to the crux of the matter, the duo of drunken drunks.
Raising his hand in hopes of placating the drunken drunks fatty short and skinny tall, he hoped to deescalate the situation.
"Look guys, you're drunk and definitely not in your right minds, even if you try to kill this person who has absolutely no connection to the Twilight Disaster, all that it's going to do is just get blood on your hands, and you seem like the decent sorts."
"Fuck you kid."
'Ah, degrading, not a good start.'
Raising his hand, the left one, Ester spoke slowly while keeping in mind the suspiciously cloaked figure behind him.
Who knows? They could stab him in the back if the stereotypes of purple hair was correct.
Well that and the fact that Ester realized the drunken duo he was facing didn't seem to be carrying the dagger which had left a mark on his left arm which already said a lot since Ester personally made it out of a personally smelted alloy.
Meant to specifically not get scratched in high pressure situations like this one.
"Look kind fellows, I'm in a hurry, so if you could just let me and my friend go, that would mean the world to me."
"Hah!" The man on the right, fatty short with two friends on his chin laughed loudly as they brandished the large shank that was definitely illegal in today's law. "Hoo saysss thaT yu 'r yer friend could leeve?"
"Yeh!" The other man, skinny tall and all bones, mirrored Fatty short with multiple folds began brandishing their rusty pipe that was definitely wasn't up to code, so another broken law. "Unlesssssss… yu give yus all of y'r valyubles den yu can leave!"
"And hoo knows! We might still styab yu and sell your organs if you don't have anything valuable!"
Fatty short with drinking problems greedy eyes landed on the tightly bound package in Ester's right hand "But today's yr luky day kid, if ye juust hand over that thing in yer hands, we c'n let yu go"
"Yah! Then we wen't sel yer or… gans!" Mimicking Fatty Short sausage fingers, Skinny Tall little brain hit the crust covered stone walls "In the Butcher shop!"
Ester frowned as his hands tightened against the package that stood as the key between Heaven and Hell
Honestly speaking, he would've just let the two drunks go on the principle of not wanting to waste time, but now that negotiations had broken down well…
'I guess the guards won't mind if I say this is in self-defense right? I doubt they would mind that I'm cleaning up the trash'
Left hand splayed wide open, his arm began to glow with an ethereal blue glow in the darkness causing the duo to flinch as the same five spikes he had used to clamber up the wall also simultaneously appeared.
"Fuck! HEEees a Splicer! Ya didn't tell us y 'r a splicer!" Skinny tall unstable fool, who was obviously the more unstable drunk of the duo shivered as his pale face dotted with sweat tightly held their cheap knock off sword that had several noticeable flaws in its creation.
"Shut up Ham!"
'Ironic'
"There's two of us and only one of him! We can take him!"
Fatty shorts with chronic diabetes eyes shined with greed as he stared at Ester's left arm which had now had moved from energy saving mode to the much more dangerous standby mode. "And if we succeed, we can take that arm and sell it!"
"Yeah!" Skinny tall with a punchable face's eyes lit up with realization and sudden sobriety as they held the pipe loosely, now pointing towards at Ester. "Then we won't have to worry for a day in our life Jam!"
'What in Helio's name were their parents thinking to name Jelly belly Jam?'
Thinking that as the duo slowly advanced, threateningly brandishing their weapons. "Kid, Give us your arm or leave a corpse."
"Corpses can't walk Jam."
"Shyut up Ham."
'Thank god the Empire is forcing mandatory education for children aged below ten.'
Now belatedly realizing what a gift to the world the Third Princess was doing by giving free education to children aged ten and below, Ester's eyes flashed with hope.
'Now there won't be any idiots in the world!'
Suddenly hearing the sound of air splitting as the pipe flew through the air with a reckless throw Ester instinctively reacted, left hand clasping around the rusted over pipe aimed at his shoulder, several gears suddenly sprung to life as they easily broke through the not up to code pipe as blue flowed through his inhuman veins.
Pulling his left arm back with a grunt, the sound of cloth tearing sounded in the air as Aether visibly flowed underneath his shirt, turning quickly in the alleyway as Ester immediately returned the favor by planting a leather coated foot into the face of Skinny who was stupid enough to try and hold onto the weapon that was clearly less important than their skull.
"Now then! Come over here you Slung-goid?"
Awkwardly brandishing his left hand that had held what little remained of the rusty piping, they were held in a brown colored carapace of metal alloys fused together seamlessly as the innards built out of gears, pipes, pistons and many other things revealed itself without the covering of the thin cloth membrane that had tore itself apart upon collision with the pipe.
Staring at the empty alleyway, the unconsciously groaning skinny stared wide eyed at the sky as they opened their mouth filled to the brim with broken teeth and blood.
'Ugly before, even uglier after.'
Scanning the rest of the alleyway that was still empty, Ester rubbed the back of his head and felt the cool metal touch his neck
'It seemed that the famed honor among thieves only amounts up to this huh?'
Making that snap conclusion as he realized Fatty no honor had left Skinny broken face to his doom, he quickly turned around to face… nothing.
It seemed the purple haired figure had already left while he quickly kicked Skinny ugly face in the face.
"Well not like I wanted thanks or anything." Grumbling to himself, Ester raised his left hand and unconsciously glanced at the clock embedded into his forearm, reading its face as he did so.
'5:57 in the morning and I need to get there by 6:00…' feeling the blood drain out from his face as if a vampire had started feasting on him he had a belated realization.
"Oh God, they're going to kill me."
Swiftly leaving the vicinity of the alleyways and running towards his destination, unbeknownst to Ester, a pair of slitted and glowing eyes hidden in the darkness traced his path as they quickly swept their purple hair back into their hood.
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