Through empty hallways, Zack headed towards the bas.e.m.e.nt . .


    Going past aged corridors that stank of rusted iron, he stopped before a large door . He retrieved a key from his breast pocket and turned the lock . Checking behind him to make sure he hadn''t been tailed, Zack entered the room . .


    .


    I heard the lock click as soon as the door was closed . .


    I too checked my surroundings and seeing no one there, I revealed myself . .


    I turned the door handle . Locked, as expected . .


    .


    I jutted some slime into the keyhole and picked the lock . Lockpicking is something I learned in my past life so it was a breeze . What''s a power in the shadows if he can''t open a few closed doors?.


    Incidentally, I have my slimes hidden inside my body so they won''t find anything even with a full pat down . .


    .


    I checked the presences on the other side and, determining it to be safe, stealthily entered the room . .


    It was a large, dimly-lit room . A celler of sorts . .


    .


    At the back of the room, there was a lit lamp with a number of men gathered around it . .


    I sneaked closer and hid behind a crate . I checked and the crate was empty . .


    .


    The men were discussing something in the dark room . Zack was among them . .


    "Boss, we''re all here like you ordered . ".


    "Seems so…".


    The man who the others seemed to defer to as their boss stepped forward . I''d imagined him to be something like a boss grunt, but he turned out to be a lot younger . .


    In his early 20s, most likely . .


    He had gray hair extending down to his shoulders and was well featured . He was no grunt . In fact, he even looked sort of intelligent . .


    .


    From his musculature and posture, I could tell that he was trained in martial arts . .


    He didn''t have the air of an prisoner at all . .


    I like it . Breaking the mold and all that . .


    .


    "Well met, brothers . The Doem Faction is pleased with your various contributions . ".


    The boss said with a practiced voice, casting his gaze over the surrounding men . .


    He then proceeded to ask each one of them what he desired . .


    I see, so the thing about giving it to a guard was a lie . .


    .


    "Zack, what about you?".


    "I want— food . Good food and more of it . Enough for two people at least . ".


    Nicely done Mr . Zack!.


    .


    "Gonna put on ''em pounds, Zack!".


    Zack cringed from the surrounding jeers . .


    .


    "Boss, let''s have another stripper show with the boys!".


    "That s.h.i.t''s great, boss!".


    "Again? …Try to keep it in moderation, men . ".


    .


    Like that, Mr . handsome bossman listened to everyone''s requests one by one . .


    And once he was done, his face turned serious for the first time . .


    .


    "Brothers, we are in difficult times . Lately, there have been more attempts to cull our numbers . Why only yesterday, a coach carrying officers was a.s.saulted, resulting in 7 dead . ".


    For a moment, I thought that was talking about me, but I didn''t leave the camp yesterday, so it must be someone else . .


    "He''s skilled . Every time he''s killed, he''s done so without a sound . We''ve taken to calling him OWL . ".


    OWL, eh… sounds important . .


    "And believe it or not, there are signs that this b.a.s.t.a.r.d OWL is in this camp . ".


    .


    That got a slight reaction out of Zack . .


    "Zack, something the matter?".


    "N-nothin'', boss…".


    Zack lowered his gaze to escape from his boss''s overpowering stare . .


    .


    "This OWL likely wants to get in contact with Clara Oriana . We must find him before he does . Is that clear?".


    All the men nodded . .


    "Then that is all for now… no, there is one last matter . We have a traitor amongst us . ".


    The bossman drew a knife and poised it towards Zack . .


    "—You . ".


    And with surprising speed, he threw it . .


    .


    Other than me, none of the men gathered could dodge a throw like that . .


    The knife grazed past Zack''s ears and sunk into the face of the man behind him . .


    "This is the fool who dared to leak our info to the Royalists . ".


    The other men simply looked on silently as the traitor bled and died . .


    "That is all . You all may leave . ".


    .


    And leave they did without a moment to spare . .


    .


    "—Zack . ".


    Zack, however, was the only one told to stay . .


    "You''re— not hiding something, are you?".


    The bossman looked at Zack with chilled eyes . .


    .


    "N-never, boss . " Zack squeaked while seating bullets . .


    "—All right . I will believe you . " The bossman patted Zack on the shoulder once, and left the celler . .


    .


    Now left alone, Zack heaved a shuddering sigh and wiped off his sweat . .


    Which is when I decided to also pat his shoulder . .


    "Oo, ooooahh!? Wait what!! You!! What the actual f.u.c.k!!".


    Mr . Zack got extremely freaked, and then seriously angry . .


    .


    "Oops, didn''t mean to do that . Thanks for keeping the secret . ".


    "Like I have a choice . He''d kill me soon as I told . " .


    "Likely, yes . ".


    "But d.a.m.n, so you''re really that OWL…".


    "Truthfully, I''m really not . ".


    "… Wait, you''re not?".


    Zack didn''t seem very convinced . .


    .


    "I never went out yesterday . This OWL is likely someone similar to me . ".


    "Yeah, sure . You think you can pa.s.s any info about OWL to me? You saw it right? Bossman''s suspicious of me . Mainly ''cause of you . ".


    "It shouldn''t take me long to find out who OWL is . I can''t guarantee if I can have you know, however . There are few people in my line of business… those of reputable skill often turn out to be acquaintances…".


    I said this so he doesn''t ask any more questions . Since I had no clue who OWL is . .


    "f.u.c.k me . You gotta help me out, man . Boss is f.u.c.king ruthless, you saw him right? You might be fine . You can use your mana . But me, I got nothing'' . ".


    "Oh, by the way, your boss''s mana seal coller . It''s a fake . ".


    .


    "Y-yer kidding me!?".


    "Nope . ".


    "Fuuuck… so he''s even stronger than you?".


    "—What do you think?".


    I did the instant mana release trick causing a small gust . .


    .


    "Uh, yeah, maybe not…".


    "It doesn''t really… oh? What''s this…".


    Due to the sudden wind, a small piece of paper landed at my feed . .


    I picked it up— and got a brilliant idea . .


    "— Interesting . ".


    I muttered cryptically . .


    .


    "What''s going on?".


    "A note from one of my agents . I know have a very good idea who this OWL really is . ".


    "What!? That''s way too fast!".


    "Take a look . ".


    I handed over the blank piece of paper . .


    "I, can''t see anything!".


    .


    "It only responds to very specific mana signatures . Namely mine . It''s also an encrypted message . ".


    "Seriously… looks completely white to me…".


    Zack scrutinized the page from all sorts angles . .


    .


    "Can''t you tell me something, even a hint?".


    "… You''re sure?".


    I closed in and whispered to him . .


    "Code 0 . ".


    .


    "Coat jeer?".


    "Zero being the first of numbers, meaning—".


    "Me-meaning what?".


    Zack gulped . .


    "—All will begin at last . ".


    I said while simultaneously erasing my presence and moving out of sight super fast . .


    .


    "— HUH!? He''s gone!? f.u.c.kin h.e.l.l, the door''s still closed, how…".


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    .


    Inside the empty crate, I stayed hidden until Zack left . .


    .