The Thainan shopkeeper sitting behind the counter flashed a smile at the customer coming to pay the bill, the sun-tanned middle-aged man stood up, "Take it slow, old sir."
"Thank you, young man." Approaching the counter, Andy opened his wallet, "How much?"
"One pot of clear tea, fifty cents, sir." The shopkeeper finished speaking and lifted his head at the sound of footsteps, his face revealing surprise.
Andy’s hand, holding the wallet, dropped the wallet and reached into his trench coat to draw his revolver.
A crossbow arrow pierced the Thainan shopkeeper’s forehead.
They needed a live one! Andy turned and, with his empty left hand, grabbed his cane, stabbing it towards the girdle of the burly man rushing towards him. The pointed end of the cane tail went through the man’s palm, which he had put up to block, and then into his leg.
Spiritual energy fluctuations of the spell formation circulated within the coffee shop, and Andy set the burly man aflame as he fell — the recoil would help quickly raise the barrel of the gun after killing him.
The gun barrel did indeed rise, but Andy didn’t hear the gunshot — a silence area had taken control of the place.
At the moment of pulling the trigger, Andy’s hand was raised, the old man had long since let go of the cane, pulling a short dagger from within and stabbing it into the ribcage of the man, a spring-loaded blade popping out from the cane’s handle that should have been able to pierce his heart.
Then Andy was pushed down, and as his head hit the counter, the old man passed out.
"They’re both dead," confirmed one of his companions, the burly man lifted his head, "Lee, this guy is definitely trouble."
"Let’s ask him and we’ll know," Lee finished speaking and, together with the burly man, carried him towards the back of the shop.
The door’s lock automatically engaged, and the sign indicating the shop was open flipped to the closed side.
Glancing at the city gates, the half-human Linz smiled — the city guards at the entrance still seemed half-asleep as they checked the pedestrians entering and leaving.
This meant their actions had gone unnoticed, everything was going smoothly.
Walking past the main road, into the alley, and squeezing through the wall at the end of the alley that opened suddenly, she saw her subordinates and the tall competitor.
The latter looked at her with disdain, "Got the goods."
"Of course, the rest is up to you, my old friend, Susan." As Linz said ’friend,’ the Northerner, her biggest competitor, took the bag and confirmed its contents, "Excellent, next I’ll take it underground. Your part is done, Linz, my good sister, why don’t you find a place to relax properly?"
"Certainly, if I can, I will take a coach to Romuki City in the North, where there’s a pub that half-humans love, and I will relax properly. I leave this to you all," Linz said with a smile, retreating from the meeting point, not wanting to expose her back to this ’good friend.’
"Goodbye, old friend," she said with an authentic smile on her face.
"Goodbye, good sister," she replied with pure joy on her face.
Leaving the alley, the half-human signaled her followers to depart, waited at the alley entrance, and then hopped onto the city’s touring carriage, "Call me when we get to the Western District."
Settling into the carriage, she was lucky today, no other passengers shared the cramped space, just a small doll sitting across from her.
As the carriage started, as the carriage was reinforced, as the curtains on the carriage windows drew shut, the small doll opened its eyes: "Sequence zero, Miss Linz Mowish, good morning."
"Good morning, Lady Nuo, just my name will do," said Linz with a serious face, settling down like a child in school, pursuing a protocol that was almost ceremonial.
"Okay, Miss Linz, congratulations, your mission is complete," the doll stood up, "The next work will be handed over to the National Security Operations Section."
"Yes, the arrays installed in the sewers by the cultists should have several nodes. Just destroying them should halt the transformation and summoning rituals..." Linz fell silent for a moment: "I hope all these sacrifices and efforts will be rewarded."
"They will, Miss Linz. We have prepared for ten years for today’s operation, the Church’s upper echelons will come to this city for the ceremony. It’s a great opportunity to catch them all at once; there’s no better choice than today." The doll said this, its wool and cotton-filled hands making a motion to straighten its head: "Miss Linz, the carriage will assist you in evacuating from the city, please enjoy your trip to the biggest half-human pub in Romuki City, have fun, Miss Linz."
"...Lady Nuo, you eavesdropped on me again, didn’t you." Linz narrowed her eyes.
The doll’s neck tilted to one side very humanly, and then it slumped over in the seat, inert.
Linz rolled her eyes and pulled open the carriage’s small window: "Coachman."
"Miss, your orders?" The coachman asked without looking back, and Linz smiled, "Karl, take me home, I need a good bath."
After seeing her competitor leave the alley and get on the touring carriage, Susan raised an eyebrow, then signaled her followers to open the manhole cover to the sewers, and carried the goods down.
"Madam, aren’t you worried that little bitch will betray us?" A gaunt old man followed her down.
"Don’t worry, my old Ter," not looking back, Susan led the way, while answering his question, "Linz is indeed my rival, but she’s one of the few mind readers in the sect who can get information from the upper channels; her loyalty is beyond question. If she were to betray us, then our sect would hardly have any loyalists left."