Fishing in Troubled Waters

Dominic narrowed his snake-like eyes, and a chill permeated the room. Ciel shivered at the sudden change in temperature, and saw two shapes formed of dead mana appear on each side of Dominic. 

"First brother, escort my friends back to Fatalite. Second brother, go to Commander Seth and inform him of the situation if he doesn't know yet. We'll all gather at the plaza."

Both figures nodded silently and the shorter prince dissipated into mana pieces. 

"I'm sorry but our conversation will have to continue another day." 

But as soon as Dominic finished his words, Ciel waved away the first prince, who was approaching. 

"Um, I'm also going to the plaza. If you don't mind, we can go together?"

Before Dominic could say anything else, Erin had already wheeled Ciel to the door. Dominic speechlessly let them hitch a ride. 

Anyway, after the previous incidents, Ciel's inclinations were obvious. If he didn't take Ciel, Ciel would take himself.

***

Rushing to the plaza, the group was greeted by the sight of a big crater where the fountain had formerly been. The dust and smoke that had swirled around the hole dissipated just as Ciel arrived, revealing a single figure standing calmly in the center. 

"Dominic, don't go closer." Ciel stopped Dominic when he wanted to take a closer look at the figure. From the looks of it, this Commander Seth hadn't arrived yet. It would be dangerous for them to get closer.

Dominic stopped out of surprise, Ciel had stopped making fun of him. 

"He doesn't seem to have any intentions to move yet." Cedric pointed at the figure. From far away, the children could see that the disappearing smoke had revealed an old man wearing the signature white priest clothing of Novus Vita. 

Ciel slumped lazily into the back of his wheelchair, looking at the soldiers who had also rushed to the scene and started to shut down the plaza. The Anatol soldiers were a lot funnier than the stiff ones in his past life. The sunset red uniforms stood out starkly in the smoke and rubble, like flames guiding the way. 

"Everyone calm down! Move out in an orderly fashion!"

"—Don't get injured from a stampede when you weren't injured from an explosion!"

"That lady over there! —Yes, the one with a bright yellow hat! Please don't take the opportunity to grab stuff from the stalls!"

"If anyone takes the chance to commit robbery, we will visit your house tomorrow!"

"You there! I've memorized your face and I know where you live! Put that bracelet back!"

He was at the site of a terrorist attack, but why did Ciel feel like laughing? 

In the midst of the chaos, the old man in the pit muttered something in a low voice. Although his volume wasn't loud, Ciel knew what he had said. 

{ Oh no, I can't let our audience run away. Big brother will get mad. }

With a wave of his hand, another boom sounded, and a tall building near one of the plaza's entrances collapsed.

Immediately afterwards, the second, third, and even fourth and fifth buildings started to fall like dominos.

"Ah ah ah————"

"Run! Run quickly!"

"Crash! Bang!——"

Just like a stone dropping into the surface of a lake, the calm was shattered. Tens of thousands of citizens screamed, and the scene instantly devolved into chaos. The order the soldiers had painstakingly tried to build crumbled along with the buildings.

…

As someone with sensitive ears from growing up in the silence, Ciel found everything too loud. He frowned on the outside, but inside, he was jumping with glee. He knew that the capital city had been bombed, but he didn't know when. After all, the bombing of the capital city had been summarized in a single short sentence for the protagonist by the third fish:

{ That bastard's aim wasn't to kill indiscriminately, but to create doubt. }

Thankfully, after meeting Beelzebub, Ciel knew that the incident should be happening soon because Beelzebub was one of the main culprits with the bombing incident. He was lucky that Beelzebub had chosen the same day he had chosen to meet with that green-eyed man to claim his debt. Since the plan was going to be rushed, the green-eyed man would have to work harder, but that was none of Ciel's concern.

The hoarse voice of the old man was amplified by mana sliced through Ciel's thought as it silenced everyone in the plaza at once, "Shut up, or I'll drown out this annoying buzz with a louder crash. I'm not confident I'll miss anyone this time round." 

Ignoring the old guy who was currently all bark and no bite, Ciel turned his head behind him—the second prince was here, along with the tall burly man who had thought that Ciel was crying back in the mountains. 

'Huh, so he was Commander Seth. I should've known. Well, the commander of the public militia of Anatol was a useful person with dual mage and combatant properties, so these guys should be safe for now. Time for me to go.'

"We'll take our leave now, don't act too recklessly, little crown prince." Ciel gave a wink that went unseen under his blindfold. 

As per Ciel's earlier instructions, Erin had started to wheel him away when they saw that the second prince was back.

"Tch. I'm not you." Dominic folded his hands across his waist. 

"Yes yes, ok then. I hope you two are both well and healthy the next time we meet." Ciel gave his last wave, "Erin, go to the dessert shop I told you about last night."

"I know, the one with the raven on it." 

The description given by Ciel had been very vivid, and Erin swiftly escorted Ciel to their location. 

Thankfully, this shop was among one of the few buildings that had escaped the domino effect.

As the shop's door swung shut behind them, Ciel could hear the hoarse voice's cackling fade. At the same time, he saw the green eyed man sitting leisurely at an empty table with a veiled man next to him. 

"Yo. I thought you long forgot the favor I owed you!" Verdalite patted the chair next to him. "Come sit, no wait, you're already sitting. Ok, you, the youngling with the long hair, come sit."

He pointed at Erin, who was flustered at his friendly attitude, and looked instinctively to Ciel. Ciel grinned, pulling Erin down onto the seat. 

"So is the one next to you going to help you repay your debt?"

Verdalite scoffed. "I wish. He's here to monitor me. Like the one next to you."

The veiled man formed a fist silently, and Verdalite quickly changed his words, "Just kidding, haha. He's here to ensure I don't do anything out of line, and not get pitted again." 

He smiled meaningfully at Ciel.

"..Oh. How small-minded. I just gave you your money back. It wasn't my fault the casino decided to go after you." 

Ciel shrugged innocently as he continued to speak. 

"I'll save my question for later, I'm here for that unconditional request you owe me."

Verdalite shivered as he felt a cold glare coming from beside him. He could feel Azar's contempt piercing his chest when he responded.

"Speak your request."

"It's very simple. You only have to obey all my commands until midnight today. Don't worry, I won't endanger his life." 

The second sentence was for the veiled man next to the green eyed man. He could feel that as soon as he spoke those words, the frosty aura from the veiled guy had reduced by half. 

"Wait, isn't that cheating?" Ciel could make any number of requests before midnight. Verdalite hadn't seen such a cheeky child for a long time.

"If word goes out that a high ranked official in White Night broke his promise with a child, would customers still trust you guys? But if you don't want to, then I can't do anything. After all, I'm just a weak, wheelchair-bound kid." 

Ciel smiled, trying to appear harmless and weak. It wasn't that hard considering that he was small and thin to begin with. The contrast against his black hair and pale skin further enhanced his aura of a sickly seed. 

After having a stare down that wasn't actually a staring contest because Ciel's eyes were blocked by his blindfold, Ciel was satisfied when the green eyed man gave in. 

"Fine."

"Ok, Greenie, let's go." 

Hearing this, the silent man finally spoke, unable to endure it anymore. 

"Call him Elder Verdalite. And don't be so informal. He's much older than you." 

"Sure sure. Let's go, Verdalite. Your first task is to carry me." Ciel was flexible when it came to pushing people's bottom lines. Anyway, it was fine since Verdalite didn't seem to mind as he carefully picked up the thin child from the wheelchair. 

"How light." Verdalite remarked. "Does Jadiel not feed you?"

Ciel was not surprised that he knew about Jadiel. Although White Night did a small side business of smuggling customers across borders, its main identity was still the biggest information guild in the novel. 

"Even if he didn't feed me, I would still be able to eat. So, is your monitor following us?" Ciel pointed at the veiled man. 

Feeling the temperature drop again, Verdalite quickly blocked Ciel's mouth, "I spoke wrongly ok? Azar's my partner, my most trusted friend."

"So he is." Ciel impatiently removed the hand. Normally he wouldn't mind dawdling but he was short on time today. 

Novus Epoch's people were insane, no matter how friendly they normally appeared to be.

"I'm coming." Azar got up. 

"Hurry up then. By the way, you two don't have anything against eves right?"

The two men shook their heads. 

"Erin, looks like you can come with me then." Ciel stretched his hand out to Erin, who had folded the wheelchair neatly up into a square. Erin put the square against the wall and transformed into a black snake. He fluttered his tiny feathered wings up to Ciel's hand, and wrapped his entire body around Ciel's forearm, like a wide cuff with gaps. Unless someone saw him move, they would think that Erin was just an accessory.

Ciel was disappointed no one was surprised at Erin's transformation. Even if he had expected it, no reactions were not fun. 

"Verdalite, when we go out, immediately grab what I tell you to grab. Got it?" 

Veradalite's gaze was disapproving. 

"Are you using me to rob people when it's chaotic out there?"

Ciel thought about it before laughing. 

"Yeah. Something like that."

Mini Theater:

Ciel: I choose you, Greenie!

Verdalite: To think that I, an executive of the illustrious information guild, would one day stoop down to be a little boy's partner in crime. (TT▿TT)

Azar: Blame it on your own stupidity to lose a bet against a kid. o(一︿一+)o

Ciel: Shut it. We're moving out. (◠‿◠)