章節 15: Blind Spots
A letter.
Who would've thought that a single piece of paper could ruin a prosperous company? Or at least, that was the thought of the owner.
Watching him from a distance, the old man was sweating and fidgety. He kept tapping his foot to the floor and looking around for the person who he was supposed to meet. However, the whole time, he kept his fingers on the space ring.
I looked around trying to find everyone that was watching this exchange. A few people stood out and all had a common pattern. They looked exceedingly poor. Their shirts and pants were brown with mud.
It hadn't rained in days, so I assumed they just wet the dirt and put it on them to try to blend in. No one else in this area dressed in that manner making it even more odd.
I continued to analyze them and looking for more signs that they were with the weapons company. Fidgeting? Check. Discretely looking at the owner? Check. Looking around with purpose? Check.
Honestly, you couldn't get any more obvious. Actually, I think that if someone in a cop uniform asked me to buy drugs from them, I would believe them more than these guys.
"I see five people watching them." I said to our group. It was made up of the shop keeper, Andres, Leo, and Hanson. "They have mud on their clothes and what looks to be swords."
"Sounds delightful." The shopkeeper said. "Are we ready to begin now?"
"Yeah, you and Hanson get into your positions and we'll get things ready here."
"Alright." The two of them nodded before beginning to walk to the park.
I readjusted my suit and took out my deck of cards. "Now for the fun to begin." I told to the remaining crew.
"Same betting amount?" Andres asked.
"No, we need a much bigger audience." I told him. "Triple it."
"Triple." Andres repeated before laughing. I smirked before beginning to attract a crowd.
"Come one, come all!" I yelled out. "Double your money right here!"
-----
The shopkeeper started walking on the pathway at the entrance of the park. Hanson, trailing behind, stopped at the entrance and began trying his best to look like he belonged.
The old shopkeeper smiled as took small glances at all the undercover people. He slowly made his way closer to the fidgeting owner.
The shopkeeper approached the bench and began sitting down. The owner immediately snapped his head and was shocked upon seeing who it was.
"You?! You're the person blackmailing me?!" The owner yelled out.
"Lower your voice. We wouldn't want anyone overhearing this conversation." The shopkeeper said in a quiet voice as he put his finger up to his mouth. "And no, I'm only representing a client."
"Do you know what he blackmailed me with?" The owner asked.
"No, only the client knows and I can assure you of that." The shopkeeper said. He took a quick turn to see how the preparations were going. The audience was still quite small compared to what the situation demanded. He realized that we still needed more time. Luckily, the desperation of the owner bought him the time needed.
"I'll pay you this entire amount to reveal his identity." The owner declared as he displayed the ring.
The shopkeeper clicked his tongue. "You should know of my reputation. I protect their anonymity."
"Even for 75,000 gold coins?" The owner tried tempting the shopkeeper even more.
The shopkeeper sighed. "There's a certain point where money stops mattering for individuals and it's a lot lower than you think. With just 1,500 gold coins, you could easily spend 2 lives living comfortably. However, you'll always be in the pursuit of luxury. And that pursuit will destroy you. Having less, in that case, is better."
The owner took a deep and angry breath in. "I never expected those words from you."
"Because I'm quoting my client." The shopkeeper admitted. "Personally, I think their words are stupid, but he has a unique view."
"So you're valuing your client at 75,000 gold coins?"
"Let's just say that they are an interesting individual." He said. "I know he's going to succeed no matter what, and I'd rather be acquaintances than give him up."
The shopkeeper took another discrete glance back and saw the huge crowd that had formed. It was time.
"Enough chit-chat, I'll be taking the payment." The shopkeeper slid the ring off the owners finger and began to walk away.
"How do I know your client will keep his end of the bargain?" The owner asked while on the verge of tears. He watched what he had spent half his life building up walk away like nothing happened.
"I give you my word." The shopkeeper said, not bothering to turn back as he continued to Hanson. As he got nearer, Hanson stuck his hand out. In one motion, the shopkeeper tried to discretely place it in his hands.
The shopkeeper went one way, and Hanson went the other. To the crowd. The hidden workers saw the exchange and began to follow Hanson.
-----
In order for it to not get traced back to me, deception was necessary. Sure the shopkeeper could've taken it back to his shop, but it would be trivial for the security to watch over the shop for anyone notable.
To avoid suspicion, I had to give them targets. Many targets. Too much targets for their minds to process and follow.
I began to move the cards around.
"Where do you think the Queen is sir?" I asked one of the people who had fallen for the scam. He pointed to the middle. I flipped the card over, revealing the newly made Fool card.
"Ooo, sorry sir. Better luck next time." I said as I slid the coins over to me. I looked up and saw Hanson approaching the crowd. Not only him, but the other security guards.
I looked to my left where Andres and Leo were waiting. I winked my eyes, signaling them to begin.
"Alrighty!" I exclaimed, telling Hanson that we were beginning. He got closer to the front. "Would you like to place a bet sir?"
"15 gold coins." Andres declared as he put it on the table. I smirked. "Watch carefully."
I picked up one card and revealed it before picking up another card and showing it as well. As I flicked my wrist, I let go of my middle finger causing the top card to drop instead of the bottom. I let go of the other card and began mixing the cards around fast.
When I finished, I looked up to him. "Show me the lady!"
"The one on the left." Andres said confidently. I flipped the card over, only to reveal the Fool.
"What?!" Andres exclaimed. "But it was right there!" He turned to face the audience looking for people to back him up.
"Sorry sir but you lost." I said as I began reaching for the coins.
Andres quickly snatched them back. "You hack!" He yelled out as he began charging into me. He pushed me back with great force, causing me to go back about a foot and a half before falling onto the ground near Hanson.
"Oh my." Several people in the crowd said as it began shuffling around. As I stood up, Hanson pushed me again so that I was right next to Hanson. Several people were shuffling around us and blocking the view, no doubt making it harder to see us.
I began to slide a ring off my finger as I reached into Hanson's pocket with my first two fingers. As I got about half-way, I put my finger through the ring in his pocket and slid the one on my hand out, switching them. When my hand came out, I used my thumb to put the ring back.
It took less than two seconds for me to execute this. The sudden movements and yelling from the crowd made it that much harder for security to see what happened.
Andres began to flee as Leo went over to me. I was stumbling as I got up. I felt the pain from the shove and it was harder than I thought it would be.
"Are you okay?" Leo asked.
"I'll be fine." I responded. Hanson began walking over to us. "Looks like your plan is working."
"Yeah, we just need to finish off this performance." I said. "Start moving to the alley."
Hanson nodded and began walking away. I watched as the security goons began to follow him. I looked over to Leo and we began to trail behind them.
We followed for several minutes until security finally spoke up. "Halt!" They ordered Hanson as they started to approach him and grab his hands.
"Find the ring." One of them ordered as they began searching.
"W-what are you doing?" Hanson asked in a distressed voice as they took out the ring. "You have no right to search me!"
"Shut u-" One of the guards began to say before Leo and I interrupted them.
"Just what is going on here?" I asked, drawing the attention of all the security. "Why are you searching one of my personal guards?"
"Just who do you think you are?" The person who ordered Hanson to halt said.
"I am Zack Zephyr, youngest son of Lord Henry Zephyr." I declared.
Everyone took a gulp and realized their mistake.
"F-forgive us," The guard said as he got on his knees. "We didn't know! We were under orders to follow him due to suspicious activities."
"You were watching my guard?" I asked, faking outrage.
"They were watching me at the park." Hanson added. "I assume when I started going over to you that they began to follow me."
I put on an angered expression. The guards seemed like they were sinking to the ground. "Let me tell you something. I tasked him to protect me and look for any threats. Now, since you followed him, does that mean you were trying to threaten my safety? Not only that, but you stole my personal ring."
What I said was completely bullshit, yet they were too scared to even have the thought of challenging it. I even tapped on the ring and out appeared a random sword. All they could think about was that they got the wrong person.
"N-no, it w-wasn't like that! Our employer-" The security began to say out quickly.
"I'm feeling quite generous, so get out of my sight before I have you executed." I said, spitting on the ground. The guards quickly got up and began running away.
After a minute, the three of us were left alone. I could hear footsteps beginning to approach us. It was Andres and the shopkeeper.
"So, did everything go to the plan?" Andres asked as he got closer.
I held up the ring and did a quick tap as gold coins began to spill out.
"Yes, yes it did."
I gave Andres and the shopkeeper their cut. By the end, I still walked away with over 69,000 gold coins.
Time to change the world.
創作者的想法 
Zarc
Zarc Going to have 2 or 3 more chapters to develop some characters more. Looking back, some characters, especially Zack’s siblings didn’t fit in well with the story. This “arc” is just introduction into the world and I plan on having bigger stakes in the next arc. As always, thanks for reading!
每周推薦票狀態
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榜單 
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