Gathering Husbands with a System in a Game Like World [BL]
Chapter 37: A cat by the window

Chapter 37: A cat by the window

Kai stood in front of the small mirror in Elias’s room and decided he was finished with the cloak.

He took a look at the bottle of black liquid dye he had bought from a store ran by an orc.

"System"

The system chimed

[Mhmmm]

"How basic would I look if i rub this dye?"

[Running analysis on the Bottle...]

In a moment information began loading in his vision.

[Answer! The bottle contains strong shape shifting spells etched into it’s properties, Applying the dye would make Host unrecognizable by fifty percent]

He sighed in relief, he was glad the dye would be effective.

He looked again at the cloak, he had worn it for too many days. It hid his face, yes, but it also made him feel like he was still running. He was tired of running from his own appearance.

With a deep breath he reached for the small vial of temporary dye and alteration salve. And did exactly as the orc had directed.

The process was simple. The Dark brown liquid was to be Applied on his white hair until it settled into a deep, ordinary shade. Then wait for exactly ten seconds and wash it off.

"If you wait for over a munite, the dye’s effect might become permanent" the orc had told him in it’s deep growling voice. And honestly? Kai was tempted to do it. He was genuinely tired of the cloak.

He washed the dye off and when he looked at his mirror after drying his hair, he looked like an entirely different person. His hair color was now deep black, his eyes had somehow settled into an extremely light blue color and

Somehow light freckles had appeared across his nose and cheekbones.

"Whoa!" He gasped. "That’s a Fantasy world to you!" He muttered. It was as if he had customized his character exactly as he did in the game but even with all those tweaks Kai was still captivating...but in a more masculine way now. His face was still his but it was no more a problem.

He left the picked the cloak and it dissapeard in particles of light into his ring of storage.

When he stepped back into the main part of the room, Elias glanced up from the table and raised an eyebrow.

"Interesting choice."

"How do i look?."

"The same..." Elias replied with a sly smile and Kai rolled his eyes with a humph.

Dexter, who was leaning against the wall with his arms crossed, studied him for a longer moment. His ears flicked once, but he said nothing. The awkwardness between them was still there, ever persistent. Kai did not meet his eyes for long.

Elias’s room was the largest of the two, which was the only reason Kai had agreed to use it.

Surprisingly Maps covered most of Elias’ table.

There were Ledgers, shipping records, sketches of routes, and lists of names were spread out in careful piles.

This time around, Elias was not smiling constantly or making comments at every inter al. He moved through the papers with the calm focus of someone who had done this many times before. Precise, Methodical, Dangerous in a way that had nothing to do with his fists and Kai could have sworn that he didn’t find this Elias attractive but he did... And that scaref him so bad.

Dexter added his own knowledge wherever he could.

He, as a notorious thief knew the thieves’ networks, the fences, the smugglers who moved goods through the lower districts, and the informants who sold information for the right price. Between the two of them, the darker side of Voltra took shape on the table.

Kai sat and listened...not attentively anyways.

The southern transit hub appeared again and again, during the investigation and although, Officially the place no longer existed. Unofficially it had become one of the largest black markets on the continent. The auction would be held underground. Entry required an invitation, proof of wealth, and a recommendation from someone the organizers already trusted.

Elias tapped one of the maps.

"I can get us in."

Dexter nodded.

"So can I."

Kai looked between them.

"Of course you can."

The conversation about identities came next. Their current names were compromised after the warehouse. They needed new ones for the auction.

Kai asked the question before he could stop himself.

"How many false identities do you have?"

Elias did not look up from the paper he was marking.

"Enough."

"That is not an answer."

Dexter’s tail swayed once.

"I have eleven."

Kai turned to him.

"You have eleven?"

"Twelve."

"You just said eleven."

"I remembered another one."

Elias actually laughed under his breath. Kai shook his head and returned to the map. Three nights. That was all the time they had.

Evening settled over the city while they worked. When the planning finally slowed, Kai stepped over to the open window for air. That was when he noticed the cat.

At first it looked ordinary, sitting on the ledge across the narrow alley. Then he saw the two small horns and the unusual colour of its fur, a deep green that shifted toward black. Its eyes were very intelligent and it were looking directly at him.

Kai murmured the command almost automatically.

"Run Appraisal."

[Activating Arcane Eye for the Appraisal of the creature Below]

The Eye opened. Information began to form.

[Failed! Appraisal Interrupted]

Before the analysis could finish, the cat was gone. One moment it sat there. The next the ledge was empty.

Kai frowned and leaned further out, scanning the alley. Nothing.

Far across the district, on a different rooftop, Nox Ravish watched through Midnight’s senses and allowed himself a small smile. The trail had led him to the right place.

Back in the room, Kai closed the window.

"We were being watched."

Elias looked up immediately.

"Where?"

"Across the alley. A cat. Not a normal one. It disappeared the moment I tried to read it."

"Read it?" Elias asked raising an eyebrow. Kai internally gagged, he had almost slipped up the fact that he possessed a special power.

"I...i meant understanding what it was.." he stammered, Elias and Dexter looked at him once and looked towards the window .

Dexter’s ears angled forward.

"I noticed someone earlier on the street while i was coming up. I wanted to see if they would follow but when they didn’t after an hour, i..."

Kai cut him off.

"And you said nothing?"

Dexter shrugged, the movement small.

"I was still deciding whether it mattered."

Elias’s expression had gone serious in the way it did during real work.

"Anyone or Anything who can approach that quietly and leave that cleanly is not an amateur."

"We are obviously dealing with a lay low stalker for now, so i suggest we watch our backs and continue the mission"

"Agreed"

They did not speak about it further. There was nothing solid to chase yet. The maps and the auction still came first.

Later, when the three of them stepped out into the evening streets for air and food, Voltra unfolded around them in its usual noisy brilliance.

Merchants shouted from brightly lit stalls. Beastmen moved alongside humans, elves, dwarves, demons, and races Kai still could not always name. Enchanted lamps floated high above the roads, washing the crowds in warm light.

Kai walked between the other two, newly darkened hair stirring in the breeze, freckles faint across his face. Two days remained until the auction. Two days to prepare, to watch for whoever had sent the strange cat, and to keep the fragile balance between the three of them from breaking.

"Hey let’s go eat some kraken eye balls" Dexter suggested to the two and they both gagged at the possibility of such concept that they were speechless.

_____

High above the street, Nox stood on a rooftop with Midnight perched on his shoulder. The demon cat’s tail swayed slowly. Nox opened a small notebook, glanced at the names already written there and sighed.

He closed the notebook, looked down at the three figures moving through the crowd, and smiled.

"Found you."