Chapter 68: I want to sleep
"Sir! You’ve got a sharp eye, I can genuinely guarantee this necklace won’t disappoint you!"
The man voicing his intent to buy looked like someone who’d traveled from quite far away. Judging by his distinctive clothing, layered with several flowing scarves draped over his body, and his noticeably darker skin.
Eiros watched everything unfold closely. He listened to the customers muttering, shaking their heads, along with the staff letting out sighs.
Everyone seemed convinced it was nothing but a scam. That made Eiros notice someone standing right by the doorway—a man wearing a shiny black jacket, along with a round hat pulled low over his hair.
Watching the man quietly turn his head, shooting a sharp glance toward the merchant, made Eiros’s brow furrow.
He had no idea how many Black Genesis operatives were actually here, but since the system hadn’t mentioned just one, that meant there were several of them.
That realization pushed Eiros to start watching everyone else too. He pretended to take a sip, glancing discreetly over the rim of the drink the restaurant staff had just brought him.
’...Behind the man who bought the necklace, there’s a woman dressed the same as that suspicious man earlier, pretending to read a newspaper.’
But once Eiros noticed that, he realized there were far too many suspicious-looking people around. It felt like nearly half the customers in the restaurant were making him nervous that there might be a whole crowd of them.
Of course, that was probably just because he wasn’t a detective, or someone with particularly sharp eyes, so all he could do was speculate and hope that among all these suspicious faces, only a handful were the real deal.
"Hehe! This necklace just feels like some kind of blessing! I’m sure my life’s gonna get better after this!"
"That’s some great optimism, sir, I hope you live a happy life as well!"
Watching their transaction finally wrap up, Eiros lowered his cup. He then glanced at the staff member standing across from him, her expression resigned.
"...Mind if I ask something?" Eiros called out to her, keeping his voice low. The staff member, a grown woman, looked at him for a moment before finally lowering her head.
"Do you need something, sir?"
"Yeah..." Eiros glanced toward the merchant. "I’m curious, does he come here often? Why’s he considered a scammer?"
That question made the woman’s expression harden slightly. "Well, you probably won’t believe this. But the owner who manages this restaurant isn’t just some ordinary person, and he told us that merchant’s a scammer. So, we believe him."
’This restaurant’s owner...? Could that just be a story made up to keep the merchant’s goods from selling, so he’d give up and stop coming back here?’
That explanation made far more sense. It probably was rude to peddle wares right inside someone else’s business, and Eiros understood that well enough himself.
But...
’What that merchant’s actually selling isn’t something I can just ignore.’
It was impossible to ignore, to the point where the merchant couple themselves became two more targets Eiros needed to be suspicious of. It was entirely possible they were Black Genesis operatives, carrying out some kind of operation.
Especially that woman...
’She’s incredibly close to reaching Luminous.’
Fellow stigmata users couldn’t detect each other. They could only sense one another the moment either of them tapped into their own Soul Essence, and doing so would end up exposing their Soul Tier at the same time.
Then, as Eiros stirred his drink, letting the ice cubes in the cup clink together with a light, quiet sound, his eyes caught a strange movement.
No, he barely noticed it at all, and only spotted it thanks to sheer luck.
The woman holding the newspaper snapped her fingers in midair. That alone probably wouldn’t have caught Eiros’s attention, but the problem was, the man in the dark jacket tapped his finger loudly on the table right after she did that.
Well, that’s where Eiros’s suspicion kicked in. It might’ve been some kind of signal, though the odds of that were slim, genuinely slim. Except... why were those merchants suddenly packing up their wares so quickly?
"In that case, thank you for your time. We’ll be heading off, and we’ll be back again someday. Thanks once more!"
The man spoke casually, but his movements were smooth and swift as he packed up his belongings. The woman lowered her head, then hurried to help him.
’What? What is this?’
Were the man and woman in black jackets working together with the merchants?
And what did that signal even mean, why had they suddenly gotten in such a rush?
Something was clearly off. Eiros would have to be a genuine fool not to notice something like this.
"Haah... they’re finally leaving. I really do feel sorry for that customer, he definitely got scammed."
The female staff member muttered, but Eiros was too preoccupied to listen. He was lost in his own thoughts, his gaze sharpening.
’One hour, the time limit’s only one hour.’
If the system had given him more time, it was probably because these operatives would’ve stayed at this restaurant for a longer stretch. But with the time limit set at just one hour...
’That’s definitely because, once that hour runs out, these Black Genesis operatives will have already left and be out of my reach entirely.’
Then, after roughly ten minutes had passed since Eiros arrived here...
The merchants were the most suspicious of all. They’d looked perfectly relaxed at first, but after that signal, they’d suddenly seemed rushed, as though something were chasing them down.
Only people being hunted would leave in such a hurry, within under an hour.
The moment Eiros watched the merchants finally leave the restaurant, he didn’t waste any time—after settling the payment for his drink, he immediately left too, making sure to keep himself looking casual and unsuspicious.
***
About five minutes after Eiros left to tail the merchant couple, the restaurant, having gone back to business as usual, suddenly received a new guest.
It was a woman with short, dark blue hair, cropped close, looking like an office worker worn down by an overwhelming workload, judging by the dark circles under her eyes.
She wore a cloak that matched the color of her hair, paired with a white shirt underneath. Below that, she wore an extremely short skirt, not even reaching her knees, though she also had on long black pants covering her legs underneath.
The woman walked into the restaurant, drawing the attention of the customers with her striking appearance.
"...Wow, look at her..."
"For some reason, I feel like I’ve seen her somewhere before..."
"Ah, isn’t that Bell Fleis?"
"W-wait... that Bell Fleis? The direct disciple of the Tower Keeper of Agility?"
"Ah! Right! I heard she finally became a leader over at the Tower of Agility. Guess that’s true, then."
"Hm... but why’s she here? Did something happen...?"
Bell Fleis.
Bell didn’t so much as glance around; she walked in looking exhausted and drowsy, heading straight into the staff room, and looked at a man sitting behind a desk.
That was the restaurant’s owner.
"Ah! You’re finally here, Miss Bell!" The restaurant owner had looked pale just moments earlier, but he instantly felt relieved at the sight of Bell and broke into a bright smile.
"Where’d they go?" Bell didn’t waste any time—she didn’t greet him, didn’t show the slightest hint of interest, walking straight in and asking about the very reason she’d come. "Seems like I’m running a bit late."
The restaurant owner nodded, a stiff smile on his face. "Yes, ma’am! T-they’ve already left. But there was a man who bought a necklace from ’them.’ You should be able to track them from there."
Hearing that, Bell mulled it over for a few seconds, then turned around and left the room.
’I want to sleep.’
She thought.
***