Zarin's departure

They didn't have any chance of catching him, barely anyone paid attention to a snail on the street and even if they did, they just ignored him.

To Kaian's surprise, there were many people looking for him. It seemed that his target was not as insignificant as he had thought.

What else could he have done? His second personality wasn't interested in being careful and neither of them could read about the target anyway.

Thud, thud, thud

Still, the people with heavy armor running around didn't seem happy about it and Kaian crawled as fast as he could to escape.

By the time he did, it was already night and he changed back, getting hit by an intense wave of nausea.

Bending over and breathing heavily, he managed to force the feeling away. Even if this was the first time killing someone that didn't attack him, someone innocent, it wasn't his first overall.

That's right, Kaian finally managed to admit to himself that he killed before, to stop ignoring the things that happened to him.

Unfortunately, he wasn't quite ready to confront it yet. Maybe it was for the better.

Standing up straight, he sighed and walked to an inn. He deserved to sleep in a bed today. The price was cheaper than he remembered and he fell asleep fast, his emotions conflicted.

…

A golden beam of light tickled Kaian's sleeping face. He turned around in the bed and opened his eyes, looking around the room groggily and sitting down. The warm surroundings made him want to go to sleep again, but he resisted.

Stepping on the carpet, Kaian sat down next to the fireplace and contemplated what he would do. It wasn't raining right now, he wanted to go outside and enjoy the sun, to bask in its beauty.

Unfortunately, he would have to go inside to meet with Zarin. Eh, Kaian could convince him to chill outside, especially on a day like this.

Grabbing his vials and clothes, he quickly put them on and headed out, navigating through the maze into the tavern.

They used to meet in the inn, later deciding that a tavern was more professional. Kaian didn't mind it, the only reason he was in the inn was Azir and they played it in the tavern too. Not to mention that it was useless.

Kaian ignored the people selling wares on the streets, it was mostly raincoats and such, smashing the door of the establishment and walking inside.

Zarin waved at him and Kaian immediately noticed that something was wrong. His golden haired friend was always smiling happily, yet this time, his smile felt pained.

Concerned, Kaian dashed to the table and sat down, asking what was up.

"Hey man, you alright?"

"Ah, hey Kaian. Yeah, I'm fine. Sorry for bringing the mood of this celebration down." Zarin answered sadly.

"Don't lie to me, something has to be wrong. You aren't the type of a person to hide your feelings, spit it out."

"Hah…. Truly different."

Kaian tilted his head, confused.

"Huh?"

"Alright, I'll tell you. The truth is that I'm a noble. One that has avoided his responsibilities, running away into this, pardon me, shithole to be a hunter that doesn't even hunt," Zarin admitted. "I didn't want to become an ascender, I still don't want to."

"...."

"You know, ascending to godhood may sound cool and all, but reality is different. Do you know how hard gaining comp- Ah dammit, I shouldn't have said that. A-anyway, I'm sorry for keeping it a secret."

Staring at the table, Kaian thought about his answer. Although he could feel Zarin's fear and shame, he didn't understand it.

"I don't- ..Listen, Zarin. The reason why you're my friend isn't your background. It's your actions. Nothing will change that."

Both of them went silent for a while. Kaian wanted to say more, but the words didn't come. Zarin looked down and his eyes glistened. Finally, he looked Kaian straight in the eyes and genuinely smiled again.

"Thanks, Kaian. Thanks for making me realize what I should do. Even if I fail and die in the climb, I can at least say that I gave it my all, that I tried." Zarin spoke resolutely.

"Wait, does that mean you'll leave?"

"I'm afraid so, don't worry though. We will definitely meet again. With your determination, this city won't be able to hold you here. And as a parting gift I will give you the location of the information guild I kept a secret before, it's on the puddled path. "

Standing up, Kaian put his hand out to Zarin, Kaian could've said something, yet he didn't, it didn't feel right. Zarin smiled and took it, standing up as well. The hands shook and the men hugged each other.

"Good luck, brother." Kaian said after they separated.

"Same to you." Zarin returned the good luck wish and turned around, leaving first this time.

No matter how far their roads took them, even if they never met again. Kaian was sure to remember his first friend here. Forever.

…

The changer spent some time in the tavern, drinking and feeling alone. It didn't take long for him to get back up, remembering that there was still Hugh and Bean.

He also felt quite guilty for not revealing his own secret, however he couldn't, not right now. He was far from being powerful enough to survive the consequences.

Not for long, though. Kaian felt that his time to shine wasn't far off.

Paying for his tab, Kaian left the tavern and headed to the assassin's guild. His reward was waiting. Wait, how much was it again? Did they even tell him? Well, it didn't really matter.

The problem was which entrance to use, the sewer one or the main one. Kaian had trouble deciding until he remembered that saying, hide in plain sight.

It was like a sign from god itself and Kaian took it. He nearly danced his way to the guild's house, waltzing inside. Everyone stared at him speechlessly, but he didn't mind. This was as plain sight as you could get.

He opened the shady door and took the stairs down, his happy mood turning gloomy from the environment. Kaian sped up and opened the door upon reaching the bottom.

The first thing that he noticed was Skolr talking with some guy who had his whole head tattooed and was bald. Since he was taught that interrupting wasn't good, he stood next to the door quietly, it definitely wasn't out of fear.

Eventually the two men nodded and Skolr sat down while the tryhard left.

"Kaian. Did you come for the reward?" The imposing man asked, cold as always.

Unconsciously finding himself copying the man's tone, Kaian answered: "Yes, my target has been eliminated."

"Good, there's your reward - 40 orbs."

Kaian doubted he heard that correctly. He managed to learn the actual costs of money thanks to his friends and 40 orbs was like $3500! That much for a short assassination, this was literally free money!

Naturally, other people would beg to differ. Kaian was, well, not born, but transmigrated with a golden spoon in his mouth.

With his jaw nearly falling to the floor, Kaian took the money and looked at Skolr.

"Don't get your hopes up, not all targets will be as lucrative as this. Now leave the way you came from."

Nodding, Kaian changed into dust and disappeared from the "office".

…

"..."

"..."

The cloaked figure broke the silence and spoke first: "What now, sir?"

Skolr responded by rubbing his temples.

"Now, we have to deal with this accident. Make sure to put surveillance on this Kaian, he's more capable than we thought."

"Yes, sir." The man responded and disappeared into the shadows again.

…

Kaian zoomed up the stairs and left the building while laughing creepily, attracting even more stares. The money rested in his pocket and he felt the burden of being rich. Very tragic.

The true tragedy, though, was the fact that he wouldn't stay that way for long. At least his goal of learning how to read was closer.

Asking some random person where the puddled path was, he got the directions and immediately went there. This one was quite the distance away and Kaian played the game he thought of while navigating this city.

It was simple, he just remembered the paths he took and made a mental image of it. Then he connected it to the rest of the city he made in his mind and tried to figure out the fastest ways to any location. He would consider how the parts he hadn't seen looked from the thing he could see and the drainage systems.

They had a pattern and they usually existed on the sides of the streets, this meant that he could predict where the streets were to an extent. Then he would walk these imaginary parts in his free time and in reality, perfecting his map. It felt very rewarding and was fun.

Thinking about the city, he walked into the puddled path. As always, the name was very literal, with the street being a straight line and the road having puddles because of the quality of the stone. Either nobody here had a naming sense or they liked simple things.

Kaian shook his head and walked into a house.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?!" A woman shouted at him, waving around a knife.

Kaian quickly walked out again.

Dammit, Zarin forgot to mention where it was specifically. Did he have no choice but to try every house here? Sigh, that was just his luck.

Thankfully, it would seem that he wouldn't be this unlucky today. A man appeared from inside a house and approached him.

"Hello Kaian from an outside village." He spoke mysteriously.

Even if Kaian had no idea why the man said that, he answered the same way to be polite: "Hello random man from a house."

That left the man obviously surprised and Kaian could see it for a split second before he adjusted his facial expression.

"Funny, are we? Are you still seeking someone that would.. Teach you how to read?" The weird person said while winking at him during the latter part of the second sentence.

Not having any idea on what this guy was on, Kaian said yeah and got led into the information guild. The weirdo introduced himself as "The Chicken" further cementing his bizarre look. He said it was because chickens were hard-working, curious and friendly, but Kaian wholeheartedly doubted that.

Chicken knocked on the door that revealed a lazy woman that was laying on a couch.

"I brought him here, boss." Chicken said formally.

His boss completely disregarded his tone and replied, sarcastic: "Congratulations, now take your leave."

Watching chicken leave, he turned around and started studying the lady. Her hair was as white as snow, falling off the couch in strands and tied into a surprisingly neat bun otherwise. Her dress was red with a white shirt underneath, nicely complimenting the hair and the green ribbon in it. All in all, she looked mature and was very attractive to Kaian.

"Seen enough, I assume?" She said flirtatiously.

Upon seeing Kaian blush, she laughed and properly sat down.

"Call me Ann, honey. Now, what exactly are you here for?"

Kaian coughed and started using his brain at last. He knew that she was just toying with him, hell, they clearly knew why he was here.

"I want to find someone who will teach me how to read."

"As much as I like you, darling, I can't give you that for free. You'd have to make it worth my while."

"...How much are we talking?"

"Aw, you're no fun. It will cost you 100 orbs, plus one for your behavior."

Kaian went speechless, managing to hide it at the last second. 100 orbs was a highway robbery, it would take him a lot of time even with the assassinations.

"I see, how much would information about a wealthy noble cost then?"

"50 orbs, why? Are you planning to rob one?" Ann said jokingly, unaware that it was exactly what Kaian planned.

"Maybe. I will buy it, only if the information is good of course."

"You can only expect the best here, sweetie."

And so Kaian spent all that he had on him, even the money he had made by hunting. At least, it didn't go to waste. The intel he received was top tier as they promised and he left the information guild, knowing that he would use its services again soon.

Looking at the sky that had darkened and the rain that was falling, Kaian clenched his fists and smiled. It was time for a heist.