The next day.
"Hmmphh..."
June slowly opened his eyes as the warm, soft sunlight danced through the windows and shimmered on his face, like a warm and gentle hug.
Sitting up, he let out a yawn while covering his mouth before looking at the lake outside through the windows of his motel room.
It's still quite early, it seems, the sun had just risen not too long ago.
Last night, when he arrived at the Citadel, he asked around a bit to see if there was a man by the name of 'Quiver' staying here. Though the people whom he had asked, including the receptionist doesn't recall anyone who had recently come here going by that name.
Even though that was unfortunate, it did confirm his earlier suspicion. Quiver and the Pandavar's other smugglers are definitely using a memory to hide their identity.
June let out a sigh before stretching his arms and legs while sitting on the Twin XL-sized bed.
Rubbing his eyes, June stood up from his bed and headed over to the communal bathroom. The motel built by the Dragonet Clan isn't particularly modern compared to the ones in the three great citadels, due to the fact that it's set up in a citadel where there isn't much human settlement. Because of this, the room doesn't have its own restroom, and everyone had to use four large ones that are located on each wing of the motel, near the lobby.
If June were to guess, this would change in the next few years, due to the constant migration of humans from the Waking world entering into the Dream Realms due to the chain of Nightmares.
However, the fact that there are only two bathrooms here can actually play into his favor currently. After all, everyone had to use the same four bathrooms for their basic necessity, and because of this, it made finding people much more easier than normal, where he had to go out of his way to search for them.
This is something that his late Grandfather once told him when he was young, that people are much more relaxed when they're in the bathroom as it's one of their 'safe spaces' and more inclined to lower down their guard.
Because of this, it makes finding people who are perhaps hiding their identity much more easier as well.
Though he didn't expect anyone to be up and in the communal bathroom this early in the morning. Most mundanes and Awakened are still currently sleeping comfortably in their beds and won't be up for quite some time.
The only reason why he usually wakes up early was for having more time to make strategic plans for missions to be more faster and more efficient.
Though he had to admit that he's been facing chronic sleep deprivation for some time now, due to staying up late while working on missions and waking up early in the morning the next day.
'Ah, that's a problem for another time.'
With a sigh, June shrugged it off as he headed over to the left-wing bathroom of the motel.
The Communal Bathroom wasn't that far from his room, in fact, it was next to the paintings that depict the submerged European city that piqued his interest last night while walking to his room.
After a few seconds of walking down the corridor of the motel, June halted for a second as he turned around and entered the male bathroom.
'Ah, as expected, there isn't anyone here currently.'
June frowned as he walked over to the showers to have his usual morning shower.
It was quite unfortunate that there wasn't anyone in the bathroom, as it would probably make identifying who's a Pandavar's smuggler much easier. But atlas, there wasn't anyone here at the moment, so he would need to focus his thoughts on other things.
June covered his mouth with a palm as he let out another yawn.
Shhh Shhh-
He closed his eyes as the liquid ice from the shower poured down like a cascade onto his chiseled face.
Now that June thinks of it, because he's now near the Storm Sea, there's a good chance he would run into the infamous executive 'Hangman'.
'How troublesome.'
June thought to himself as he washed his body with the soap provided within showers.
The elite executives of the Black Market can generally be separated into two types: Purlieu and Routier.
The 'Routier' refers to the executives like June, who tend to take up contracts for missions all over the place. While the 'Purlieu' referred to those who are territorial, they tend to take up contracts that are from a specific area.
The Hangman is perhaps the most notorious Purlieu executive that he had heard of, and from his knowledge, that guy... tends to stay in the Storm Sea and the areas that surround it.
Which is why running into him is going to be difficult, considering how they are pretty much are after the same target.
June took a deep breath as the glacial water flowed past his feet.
'The chances of fighting another executives just had gone up again.'
June pondered as he left the shower area, grabbed a towel, and rubbed it against his hair.
Executives normally don't know much about each other, which is why fighting against another one is going to be difficult. Due to their nature, the battle could happen anywhere, at anytime and most importantly, the aspect is a complete unknown as well.
June rubbed his eyes in annoyance as he brushed his pearly whites.
For an Awakened battle, figuring out the other aspect's abilities is perhaps the most crucial, as it allows one to be more equipped and prepared. This is why normally when June prepare to kill another Awakened, he tends to try and figure out their abilities and even flaws, before doing anything drastic.
Because it's better to enter a battle knowing what your opponent can do and cannot do, than going in blind. In fact, if June had known about Worf's aspects and his usage of Soul Dust, then he wouldn't have come out of that fight that injured.
June shook his head to clear up his mind before changing into his normal clothes.
Because currently he had to stay low in order to find and catch the Pandavar's smugglers and to avoid the Hangman's suspicion, wearing civilian clothes would be his best bet.
His outfit was quite mundane, consisting of an ebony black shirt that he had rolled up the sleeves of and a pair of charcoal-grey coloured trousers to complement it.
After putting everything on, June looked in the mirror one last time before heading to the door.
Suddenly, he noticed something small in the corner of the room. It was so subtle that he doubted most Awakened could even spot it; June himself only noticed it after a while due to his dormant ability.
On the floor, underneath one of the seats of the bathroom, there seemed to be a single dark blue coloured hair strand.
'That is odd, blue is not a normal hair colour for someone to have.'
June thought to himself before shrugging it off and walking out of the bathroom entrance.
As he entered the dining area, he could now see that there were a few people already here having breakfast.
Yesterday, while asking for information about the smugglers, he had also asked the receptionist about this motel as well. According to him, 'Rest Easy Inn' breakfast is actually a mini buffet, which had caught June by surprise as he didn't expect this establishment in the middle of what might well be the wilderness of the Dream Realm to serve a buffet. Though when asked, the receptionist did say that it was a personal choice from the patriarch of the Dragonet Clan himself.
'Ah, legacy clans, huh? Saint Jest must be one courteous guy.'
Grabbing a few eggs, meat, and a small black coffee, June sat down at the table that stood beside the window.
After eating for a while, he noticed something strange in the crowd. It was quite hard to notice initially, but thanks to his ability to perceive things in slow motion, he managed to discern it.
Certain guests here... they're speaking at a lower tone than normal, and their body movement looked stiff.
Upon seeing this, his lips subtly quirked to one side.