'What a sucker.'
Seriously, who would just take everything seriously like this ? Of course none of it was true !
Baoba finshed cleaning the last glass and put it away. It was now 10 am and the ordinary bar was losing all the early -or really late, depending on how you looked at it- customers. This was one of the lowest hours.
Stephanie came through the door, just in time. Seeing him, she went straight to the counter.
"Hi Bob ! Thank you for this, I really couldn't make it this morning."
She was the owner, and the usual barwoman. However, today, an unforseeable, completely fortuite, entirely unrelated situation had made it impossible for her to be there for her bar.
'Really sad. Thank god I was here to lend a hand, who knows what she would've done otherwise !'
He smiled wide. "Oh, I assure you, it was no problem at all ! Everything went smoothly !"
Stephanie took his place behind the counter, allowing him to leave. "Thanks again ! Take care !"
He didn't linger too long, waving goodbye as he left. He inhaled one big breath through his nose, and exhaled with his mouth.
What a great day !
'Who knew fooling the enemy would feel this good ? Oh wait, me ! I knew.'
He giggled out of nowhere, attracting a few strange looks.
Baoba didn't care. He felt quite happy.
This was a successful operation. Of course, the real objective wasn't some creature's blood which he could get an unlimited supply of if he put his mind to it. No, he and his team's goals hadn't changed since seven months ago. They were still searching for Noti, the knowledgeable deity.
Searching was the wrong word. They had found, it after all. More like they were trying to get it.
At first, the squad spent three months going deeper and deeper into the forest, avoiding almost every fight. As they found out, while actually strong monsters did start appearing, they were still rare enough for Pando to detect and dodge. They still picked a few difficult combat routes, one for baoba to get access to a particularly strong poison, and a few others to avoid major detours.
The team used this time to hone their tactics and get more experienced with traveling in this place.
After all that, they finally found the people -humans, as they found out- living in the forest. The mother was floored.
Literally, she hovered just inches above the floor for weeks after that.
Then, the team spent two and a half more months going from city to city, following rumors, doing sidequests in order to get mystical equipment, tracking down every person that seemed a bit too informed.
Finally, they ended up here, in Toulu. The city which currently held Noti. Apparently, they were in the form of an item. A very, very powerful item.
So powerful in fact, that even six weeks later, Baoba had not yet seen the damn thing. The church was simply way too protective of it.
It was all thanks to a little tradition bishop Anderson had going on. Every week, he would ask : "Is there anything we should watch out for ?" You know, to be prepared.
So six weeks ago, when he asked that question, he was very surprised to hear that an adventurer group would soon make an attempt at stealing Noti. As in, the elves' whole goal.
So the church was currently in a bit of a lockdown.
There would be no hope of succeeding, if not for a particular squadron that suddenly came here a while ago. A certain group who happened to look as foreign to this town as humanly possible.
Shifting the focus on them had been trivial.
Baoba hummed a tune while playing with his keys. He approached a house not too far away from the bar, and opened the door with them. After moving up two floors, he entered a modestly sized apartment.
"Did it work ?" A crimson haired, scar faced, lively, cheerful face immediately popped around a corner and asked.
"Oh, it went great. He somehow still didn't look tired, but you could tell he was pissed. Almost got him to raise his voice. I thought I knew humans, but this guy seems like a whole other species." As he took his earrings off, the air around his ears shook a bit, before revealing their natural, not-flat form. He set the items, which had been a pain to obtain, in a bowl next to the door. He also put the keys in there.
"Ooh, I wish I could've been there... " Capcsium threw herself face down on the couch. "Why do you get to do all the cool stuff ?"
Baoba sunk in a padded armchair with a deep sigh "Because I came up with all the cool stuff. Also, you wouldn't have lasted those five hours without setting fire to some cocktail."
She rapidly turned her head to him. "You didn't ?"
At this moment, Venus came out the kitchen, holding a slice of bread with some jam on it.
"You're back. How did it go ?"
"As I was saying, it went pretty well. He gobbled our excuse right up and accepted the deal. Now all we have to do is get the church to finally act and we can leave this town at last."
Instead of being overjoyed, as she should after hearing such amazing news, the giant woman looked down at her snack and said : "Oh. Guess I better enjoy this then. Are you sure you can't make this yourself ?"
He frowned. "No, but maybe I can learn once we get Noti and all the blessings Mother can give us ! Where is she, anyway ?"
Capcsium had buried her face back into the sofa, but answered regardless : "She went with Urtica. To hide him better."
Venus unceremoniously pushed Capcsium's legs off the couch so she could sit there. "This guy will not stop hunting, it's scaring me a little. I know we need money, but he's becoming too famous for an undercover mission."
Now with only half her body on the couch, Capcsium allowed herself to roll off and land on the carpet. Laying there, on her back, she continued : "I want a cool nickname. They're calling him 'The Purple Blade'. The rumors about him are going crazy." She fished out a box of matches from her pocket and lit one by touching it with her finger.
Baoba worriedly pushed the ashtray closer to her.
Pando opened the door of her room and walked out, face as blank as ever.
"Captain. How'd it go ?"
He sat up.
"I just told the- hold up, how do you not know ?"
She shrugged. "I know you two spoke for a little while. I know he went through all the clues in the correct order, with the correct schedule. But I didn't hear what you talked about."
He sank bask in his chair, massaging his nose bridge. "It went fine. The plan will be able to go forward with no deviations. Any movement in the church ?"
She turned away, going to the bathroom. It wasn't obvious, but after all this time, Baoba could tell she was slightly annoyed. "I'd have lead with that. No there wasn't."
Ever since the team had entered Toulu, she had been watching the church, in case an occasion showed up that would save a lot of trouble. For example, a transfer, a holiday with a lot less staff, of a few distracted guards. But they had all been examplary.
Baoba suspected he was the only one they didn't actually pay in this damned church.
"By the way, Urtica's here."
Right on cue, the door's lock made a noise, and a hooded figure walked out.
'Here comes the purple blade...'
Urtica took his hood off, revealing his pointed ears, and a small orb of light flew out of his coat.
After putting his keys in the bowl, his pale yet annoyingly beautiful face turned to the living room.
"Hi, Captain ! So how'd it go ?"
Baoba immediately buried his face in his hands.
'Oh, you have to be kidding me !'