Okay okay, do I really need to justify my choice more?
It was between a place I was planning on exploring. With a man that looked average, if, to be honest. Mighty suspicious considering what I just heard, and that little secret meeting. Are they spies? Secret duper spies? Or like ninjas if we're in Japan? Did I saw super duper ninja spies?
Cooooool!
And worrying.
Wait aren't we mid war?
Now if that guy is a super duper secret ninja I'm even happier from following him instead of the two crazies behind.
If I can crush the brothel, AND crush enemies soldiers before they crush me, I won't say no.
The girls are weird as fuck too. But....hell nah, they crazy.
Nah. I don't feel like you get it.
Me and my friend the super spy, we're chilling right now, we're getting up the stairs and I can look up at his black hair, and his chapped lips knowing that he's a normal guy. Even if he's a spy. I can feel in my guts that this guy is fiiiiine. But like?
The other girls?
Urgh.
If they were here walking up the stairs with me I would be puking everywhere. They just LOOK weird. NOBODY CAN BE SO AVERAGE!
They don't look like they have a life. Even if they do.
And maybe that's mean. But the blond bitch almost hurt me with her heels a second ago, so I don't care. They look like they have no life.
They LOOK like someone who drew a scar on themself to make people think they're a tough bastard that can fight, they look like they dragged skin on their face and deliberately drew a fucking mole on their body to make it look ~normal~ they're so fucking creepy it's crazy.
They give me chills the more I think about them.
The worse is that they didn't felt weird when I first saw them, they looked like completely average, if cute, girls. That's all. And NOW THEY'RE ELDRTRITCH IN MY MIND!
HOW DIDN'T I NOTICE HOW WEIRD THEY WERE ON THE FIRST TRY!
Urgh, I wouldn't even be shocked if I saw they had a sixth finger.
They're just that weird.
Okay. Maybe I'm lynching them a bit, but actually? I don't. Fuck them. How can you feel queasy by looking at someone? Damn, I had a literal headache the more I tried to look at them and figure out what's wrong with them.
Urgh, yeah, I much prefer my boy the staff. He looks average, but at least he looks and feels alive. I never saw someone that looked THAT average before, so average it looked....WEIRD
never, never NEVE-!
Well...my father pal. Steady-hands. He was mighty average looking too.
Oh we're upstairs!
Looking around. Upstairs...doesn't look like what I expected. AT ALL!
The first thing I notice is the warmth, it's way warmer than below, even if it was warm below. Now it feels similar to the fireplace room, to the lobby.
And the reason for this is simple. The second you finish clearing the stairs and reach the second floor, you're greeted by a hallway. Another one. This one is pretty long, but it's also not made of velvet. Just wood, a bit of a twisted wood, even if oiled well. In this hallway, there's almost no doors.
There's just one who grabs attention directly when you stare ahead. In front. Directly when you finish clearing the step. A single door in front of you, far away at the end of the hallway.
Nobody close to it. Nobody knocking on it. It's locked. Nobody, from all the staff around get close to it.
Because yes. There is staff around. A lot of it.
Most of them are in the hallway, moving, but there's a lot on the right, in some kind of lobby. Similar to the one below, first room I've ever seen of the brothel. Just better. There's a fireplace under a chimney that lead smoke outside, and that's what makes everything warm.
In this lobby there's...people. Staff. All wearing the same kind of black uniform like good little minions, some lounging on the wall. On the couches inside the room, drinking something from a warm looking cup.
Most though, are busy walking around. Carrying some papers.
An old looking woman which isn't Sana talk to another man staff "When is Youta coming?" The man staff stops running to answer her, but I don't hear him as I keep following the back of the suspicious staff.
We're slinking between people. He nods at people, talk to some, give wide smiles. And ignore everyone getting up from the lobby and joining the rush of operation.
The more time passes, the less people are resting. Some do stop running around like headless chicken to sit down in front of the fireplace from time to time though.
But most people are in movement. And thankfully, I have a back to follow, even if I'm sure I could have parted the sea of staff around, still don't want to risk it though.
As we keep walking. I see more interesting stuff. For a first. Staff dissapears.
Just like that, they get in the staff resting room on my right, then they dissapear. With a quick slide closer, I managed to peek inside and see stairs.
There are stairs INSIDE the staff resting room that leads down.
Couldn't see more before I needed to rush back and weave between bodies to find the one I'm following again.
He's a pretty charismatic man. I think? At least that's what I think his coworkers take him for. But he's also a sneaky little bastard.
Why you ask?
Well?
Because he greets someone, shake his hand and tell them to be careful while joking about today's work and how they're all moving like crazy today, but then, when the one he greets turn around and get into a jog to descend and do his job. He fucking sweep him.
It wasn't particularly fast. Because I managed to dodge the sweep. But damn.
It was smooth.
For a second he was talking. I was waiting behind his back, and the second soon-to-be-sweeped pass him and go, the spy leg extended back almost touched me but I just took a step to the side because I saw him, I was focusing on him, the jogging guy wasn't though and my spy foot locked around the other man foot and...
And he face planted.
This caused multiple things. First.
Panic.
As I needed to push myself on the left wall to avoid being crushed by the mob that all noticed what happened.
The fall.
And only the fall. Not the sweep.
Then even more panic as I couldn't see the secret spy anymore. Because there was this old woman who talked about Youta, she's kind. And she directly went to help the guy that fell, he fell STRAIGHT in front of her, but she's week and struggled to help him, but seeing the old woman trying to help a coworker standing up. A guy that was running with a pile of clothes under his arm, kneeled on one leg and slid his arm under the fallen man to help him get up, then another man went closer to help, attracted by everyone helping like some kind of mutton.
Soon enough. The group effect took hold.
They helped the man up, and a small circle I was smothered in formed, they started worrying about the man
"Are you fine"
"Ah yeah, sorry, don't know"
"Oh, you're bleeding, bri-!" And I started ignored them to slink between bodies, trying my best to find the spy again.
But it was way too late.
Way. Too fucking late. I couldn't find him again, I didn't know where he was.
Well...
At least, I wouldn't, if I didn't had fucking magic in everyone head.
Closing my eyes for one second, I spread my arms to the side, slowly at first, scared of touching anyone, but soon enough, my arms are spread to the side. And everyone is tilting and turning around me to avoid me, not even noticing the way they tilt their bodies to avoid my hands. Focused and worrying about the fallen guy.
Again. I spread a sea of people.
Ignoring the shit eating grin on my face I sprint away from the mob, only to see the spy fake worrying about what happened. A hand on his mouth as he shoves some sort of bandage in another guy's hand. Pushes him toward the mob and the hurt man, confused but cooperative, the man rushes toward the crowd, and the hurt man.
The man dodges me, doing an unnecessary step to the left. And leave me. Alone.
With the spy.
He's standing there. Looking at the chaos he caused.
He turns around, making sure nobody follows him, his eyes glaze over me, the magic in his brain messing with his view too much.
And without any hesitation, he goes toward a window, on the left wall of the hallway, showing the poor district. Get on the ledge, and fucking jump.
Three seconds of sprinting later, I'm at the window, I look down but see nothing but the vast expanse of the poor district from above, from a window I couldn't see before because it was on the BACK of the building.
From there, the only thing I can hear is the rough voice of Yamato, I can't see him, he's in front of the building and I'm looking at the back.
But I can guess what he's doing.
Gathering the homelesses. For x or y reason, and the spy want to see that.
And...
Did he....just climbed on the roof to look at it right now?
I can't confirm, because a second later, the staff get back to their usual job, one passing in front of the window, slinking around me without realizing it. The spy distraction having done it's job.
WHAT THE FUCK IS HAPPENING!? WHAT IN THE GENUINE FUCK IS HAPPENING!?