Salisbury
ACVIVS ID VERBERAT (Let’s make it quick)
Motto of the Thieves’ Guild.
Sephiroth.
Salisbury
It became obvious as soon as Gray and I arrived in Salisbury that the city really did have a problem with thieves.
Some passengers had already had their luggage stolen.
How the bastards had managed to get into the baggage car and carry away nearly half the belongings was beyond me.
Still, they had worked quickly.
I had to give them that.
“Not bad.
These guys work fast.
You can tell they put their hearts into it,” I said thoughtfully, watching a man running around the platform after losing some kind of statuette.
“Am I imagining things, or are you actually impressed by them?” Gray began pulling off his shirt.
Given the current chaos, nobody paid any attention.
“Of course.
I respect professionals who do their jobs properly.
And these guys are clearly professionals.
And, Gray…
could you maybe not take your underwear off right in the middle of the crowd?” I pointed out his little problem while keeping the same completely indifferent expression.
“Fine.
Let’s get this over with quickly,” the Ice Mage hurriedly dressed again.
“I suggest we just grab the nearest ‘professional’ and beat the information about their hideout out of him.”
“Really?
That’s a little crude, but let’s try it.”
And try it we did.
Yeah.
Complete madness.
A young man who periodically seemed determined to put on a strip show ran around the square, grabbing almost anyone who happened to cross his path by the collar and demanding, with a savage expression, that they take him to the thieves’ hideout.
For God’s sake, I thought only Natsu had trouble thinking things through, but Gray too?
He’s a fighter, sure, but even a fighter should be capable of coming up with something vaguely resembling reconnaissance.
Apparently, I was asking for too much.
Still, while Fullbuster distracted everyone around him, I calmly marked ten people who looked suspicious to me and bought a map of the city.
Now all I had to do was wait until evening and see where the highest concentration of the people I’d marked appeared.
Meanwhile, Gray had attracted far too much attention from the city guards.
Judging by their enormous faces and the near lawlessness created by the local thieves, the entire noble city guard had clearly been bought and paid for.
Damn.
Just what I needed.
Well, I might as well enjoy the free show titled “Catch the Naked and Slippery Man,” starring the valiant mage of Fairy Tail and the considerably less valiant guardians of public order.
I was beginning to understand where Fairy Tail had gotten its reputation.
Anyway, while Gray entertained the guards, I could take care of my own business.
Apparently, one of those merchants who didn’t care much about where his merchandise came from operated in Salisbury.
Maybe he’d have something interesting, something not entirely legal that could be useful to me.
And Gray…
I had a mark on him, so I could find him myself if necessary.
But there was no reason to show my official face in a suspicious place like a shop selling stolen goods.
Hmm.
I’d also been meaning to create a second appearance for situations exactly like this.
I slipped into an empty alley and got to work.
Shorten the hair and change it to black.
Now the eyes…
red.
People in this world had seen stranger things, and this way there would be no obvious association with Sephiroth.
Adjust the shape of the nose and cheekbones.
Change the jaw a little too.
Then I altered my clothes slightly, just enough to make it clear that the shirt, trousers, and cloak were different while keeping the same general style.
Hmm.
That should be enough.
I definitely wasn’t going to mess with my height.
Constantly changing my center of gravity wasn’t good for movement coordination, and it consumed a ridiculous amount of resources.
Speaking of resources, I should probably eat something.
I spent about two hours in a cafe, taking my time with a meal while listening to the local news.
And the news was fascinating.
Apparently, some mage, a very handsome one according to the local girls, had caused absolute chaos in the city square by approaching people in a rather indecent state and demanding something from them.
Someone had reported him to the guards, and the troublemaker had been arrested.
The guards had even needed to chase him around for a while, which was probably good for their health.
It turned out that the offender was a member of Fairy Tail.
The chief of police had already sent a complaint to the city council, which would then pass it on to the guild master.
I rolled my eyes miserably.
Wonderful.
So much for doing everything quietly.
Now I’d have to listen to another lecture from Makarov, even though I had absolutely nothing to do with it.
How depressing.
And there was a very real chance I’d hear from Mira too.
No, she definitely wouldn’t make a scene or chew me out, but just imagining her disappointed look made me uncomfortable.
Hmm.
Why was that?
No, she was obviously a beautiful girl, and she had a wonderful personality too…
She was intelligent, apparently knew how to cook, and…
Hey, hey.
Earth to Sephiroth.
Come in, Sephiroth.
Can you hear me?
Isn’t it a little early to be falling in love?
You’ve barely known her!
Yes…
but on the other hand, I’d followed her story for more than a year.
And although it was wrong to transfer a drawn character’s image onto a real girl, it would be stupid to deny that I was attracted to her…
just as I was attracted to Lucy.
I hadn’t met Erza yet, but I suspected the same thing would happen there.
Yeah…
a harem was apparently much more complicated than I’d expected.
I’d think about that later.
Damn, should I ask Loki for advice?
A pleasant female voice pulled me out of my heavy thoughts.
“Excuse me, could I sit at your table?
All the other seats are taken.”
A fairly attractive girl with bright red hair was looking at me.
She was very appealing, but something about her seemed off.
Just in case, I looked around.
Hmm.
There really weren’t any empty tables.
“Of course.
I was going to leave anyway.” Let’s see.
Did she need a table, or did she specifically need me?
“No, please don’t.
If you leave, it’ll look like I drove you away.
That would be rather rude of me.” The girl smiled and shook her magnificent hair.
I couldn’t help admiring it.
Mmm.
What an amazing scent her perfume had…
Perfume?
Wait a minute.
It felt as though someone had dumped a bucket of ice water over my head.
The symbiote analyzed the scent and gave me an emotionless report.
For God’s sake.
That wasn’t perfume containing pheromones.
It was pure pheromone with a perfume scent!
An interesting combination.
An ordinary man should already have been drooling over her and confessing his love.
Things were getting more and more interesting.
Fine, I’d play along.
“How could I refuse such a beautiful lady?
Perhaps you’d make me even happier by telling me your name?” Smile and wave, gentlemen.
Smile and wave.
“Dalia,” the redhead introduced herself.
“And you?”
“Cedric Lansher,” I replied, continuing to play the idiot who had fallen for her perfume.
Hmm.
Not bad.
I think I’ll keep that name for this identity.
“I think we should celebrate our meeting.
Wine?”
“Just a little,” she replied, but the satisfaction in her voice was obvious.
If I were actually affected by those pheromones, I wouldn’t have suspected a thing.
The wine arrived quickly.
After that, everything was painfully predictable.
Some man walked past and “accidentally” bumped into me.
While my attention was occupied, Dalia, assuming that was even her real name, poured some kind of substance into my glass.
Were there really people using knock-out drugs in this world too?
Fine.
I’d play out the final scene of this little performance.
Then I’d hand out the audience choice awards.
I drank the wine while analyzing its composition.
Hmm.
Not the same drug, but clearly the local equivalent.
The difference was that it didn’t merely knock someone out when combined with alcohol.
It worked perfectly well on its own.
Well, let’s see what happens next.
Surely she wouldn’t search my pockets right there in the cafe.
Obediently, I “lost consciousness” and watched the performance.
A little later, I was carried outside like an old friend being taken out for some fresh air.
At least, that was how Dalia explained it to the worried cafe staff.
The man doing the carrying was the same one who had distracted me earlier.
They didn’t carry me far, just to the first deserted alley.
Then they dropped me on the ground, and the carrier immediately began searching my pockets.
“Good job, Milena.
Another rich idiot.
Damn, where are his pockets?”
“Heh.
I have to admit, he lasted a little longer, but…
never mind.
What have you got?”
“Nothing yeghh…” The hand of a man who should have remained unconscious for another three hours suddenly closed around the thief’s throat.