Kornacis, Money District, the Smoker's Den.

At the rooftop of the Smoker's Den, men and women were smoking, huffing, and puffing clouds of smoke into the air.

"What are we doing here?"

Jake asked as he leaned his back against the railing with his right arm, enveloped in a white arm cast, resting on top of the railing.

"Stay silent, and observe."

Aren said, the hat casting a shadow over his face, and watched as the Lamp Wardens below on the street started to light the street lamps for the evening.

It was already pretty late, as it took them several hours to get Jake patched up enough to not bleed out and die.

In that moment, Aren pulled out a spyglass and watched over to the Gambler's Den's back alley, which was just barely noticeable from this rooftop.

There was an empty wagon standing outside, and the back door of the Gambler's Den was open with people moving about.

"You said that the Gambler's Den usually moves their money to the Steel Bank in Tuesday's, and Thursday's. Is that the wagon used to transport the money?"

Aren handed Jake the spyglass, and with one hand, pointed it towards the back alleyway, and pressed his eye to the lens.

Jake saw few familiar faces—some of the people he played mystery poker with—and, of course, happened to lose.

So he was quite pissed off when he saw their faces, especially because they were in that room, laughing at his suffering when Mr. Fortune shattered his hand.

"Yeah… You see that curly-haired man with a big belly and a toothpick in his mouth? That's one of Mr. Fortune's close associates, Dice LeRoux.

"He is usually responsible for driving the money wagon over to the Steel Bank. He told me about it while we were drinking and gambling."

Jake said and handed him back the spyglass.

With the spyglass, Aren looked over to Dice and thought that his hair looked like seaweed, only in the wrong color.

'Blond… If he dyed his hair swamp green, he would be a perfect merman.'

Aren found his target, and he quickly tapped his forehead to check Dice's information.

[Name: Dice LeRoux]

[Pathway: Alchemy]

[Level: 3]

[Class: Randomizer]

'…Alchemy, perfect. He is a non-combatant.'

Aren then shortened the spyglass and slid it inside the pocket of his long coat while looking around the rooftop.

Everyone was smoking, so they paid no attention to them, and some were smoking a little heavier substances than tobacco.

"Tell me more about the transport. How many men does Dice have with him?"

Aren asked.

"D-Don't tell me that you're planning to hit that transport? That's lunacy. They have many High Rankers protecting that transport. You'll just kill yourself!"

Jake almost shouted but realized they weren't alone, and thus, whispered the rest of his sentence.

"Go back to your place. When are you due to meet with Mr. Fortune?"

Aren asked, pulled out his timepiece from his pocket, and checked the current time.

"Later today… Doesn't matter when, as long as I bring him the money today."

Jake said.

"…I'll get your money before the day's end, and you can go back to him to pay off your debt."

Aren said.

"…If you succeed, that is, and if you do, Mr. Fortune has much greater things to worry about than my debt."

Jake said worryingly and saw that Aren had no intention to speak with him any further, and thus, he turned around and fled back home.

'…Shall we pretend then?'

Aren touched the Human Flesh Mask inside his pocket, formed a smile on his face, and then left the rooftop with a sound of whistling wind.

…

Kornacis, Money District, in the back alley behind the Gambler's Den.

"Put them in the wagon already. We have a couple of hours left to finish the transport before the doors of the Steel Bank close!"

Dice shouted at his men as they carried metallic safety deposit boxes into the back of the waiting wagon.

"Come on, hurry up!"

He shouted and accidentally bit through the toothpick, but he had more of them in his breast pocket and just pulled out another one.

In that moment, as his men put the last of the safety deposit boxes at the wagon, they stopped momentarily to look over to the street.

"Whoah…"

"Well, well, well…"

"Look over, boss!"

Dice frowned, turned around, and his eyebrow jumped like a rabbit as he saw something quite interesting.

Standing on the sidewalk, her back turned, was a woman with the most beautiful hair he had ever seen.

Dark waves of ebony hair, glossy as raven feathers, cascaded in careful curls pinned with jeweled combs, framing a pale complexion untouched by sun.

The high collar of her gown, fashioned from midnight silk and trimmed with lace as fine as spider's thread, accentuated the graceful line of her neck.

The tightly laced bodice gave way to her sweeping skirt, tightening around her supple thighs, and left her ankles bare to leave men wondering what lay hidden beneath her elegant attire.

Dice's men, and he couldn't see her face as she was turned away from them, but they could see her buttocks pushing the skirt back, and that was enough to make their hearts race.

"…Get everyone ready; we'll be leaving in a while."

Dice said, still looking at her, and his men grudgingly went back inside the Gambler's Den, as they were still working.

With a tug of his purple tie, Dice approached the woman, lingering his gaze low on her butt, and then cleared his throat.

"Excuse me, miss… Are you lost?"

He asked.

In that moment, the woman turned around, fluttering her eyelashes, and smiled sweetly at Dice like a descending angel.

The pure, untouched, and innocent face of a maiden stared at Dice, and he was completely swooned, as it was clear that she was a woman untouched by any man.

"I am… Do you know where Mr. Fortune is? I've come to meet him, and I heard that he is somewhere here."

She said.

'…Of course, tch. I don't know where boss man found her, but I am tired of him getting all the good ones. Leave something for us too!'

Dice thought sinisterly inside his mind, and then he forced a smile on his ugly face.

"Of course, follow me, and I'll take you straight to him."