Chapter 044

Alvin walked into the Half Inch Bar, disguised as a random person. He wore the mask and was disguised, but he did not change his body shape, as had earlier noticed that doing so would cause some instability in his gait, at least in the current low Sequence he was in.

He walked up to Frank, who did not recognise him, and ordered a glass of beer. He decided to wait here for a while, and observe every person coming in to see if they were having an orb with them.

He felt a gaze on him from somewhere, and when he turned around, he saw Cheryl. She would sometimes hang out in the bar when she was bored, and she had stopped for a while due to the fear of losing control. Now that she had mastered the acting method, she no longer had such concerns, so she came to the bar regularly, and ran a fortune telling service at the side.

Meeting Alvin's eyes, she smiled. Alvin also subtly nodded back at her, realising that she had seen through his disguise, either with her intuition as a Seer, or because she was quite familiar with his body shape.

He then knocked on the counter in a specific manner, hearing which Frank approached his side.

"Keep an eye out for any members of the Zmanger Gang going around. The same for any random people who go to multiple bars like the two highlanders did a while ago" said Alvin.

Frank nodded, and went inside. He then went back to the counter and went back to manning the counter.

Alvin slowly sipped his beer, as he waited. After a while he nodded to Cheryl and went back outside. He then thought about his next location went there.

Alvin was sipping his 4th beer in his 4th location. He did not find the man carrying the glass orb anywhere. But he was patient, prepared to wait it out in the same routine for hours for him to get a glimpse of his prey.

Just as he walked out of this bar, he encountered Cheryl outside.

"Whew, I finally found you" she said breathlessly.

"What happened?" asked Alvin.

"A while ago, a guy came in with a glass orb, and after staring at it for a few seconds, he left" said Cheryl.

"Do you have a description?" asked Alvin.

"Even better. I had his pocket picked while he was in the bar. I have his wallet. There is some identification, and I can use dowsing rod to seek him out" said Cheryl.

Alvin nodded, as he hauled a trackless carriage. After instructing the driver to listen for his instructions on where you go, he boarded the carriage with Cheryl. She immediately got to work, using the dowsing rod to track the man. Soon, they found themselves in a small grocery store.

Alvin paid the driver, and covered his face with a cloth mask, and went inside with Cheryl, who donned a similar mask.

There were only two people in the store, a middle aged man behind the counter, and a young man to the side, dragging large sacks around. Cheryl gestured towards the younger man.

Alvin walked up to the middle aged man, showed him his revolver and said, "Get out from behind the counter. Do not even think of reaching for that shotgun"

The terrified man obliged, and came out.

"Go to the coffee shop opposite, have a cup of coffee, and then you can return" said Alvin, hearing which he immediately fled.

Alvin then turned around and faced the terrified boy, and said, "We need to talk"

The boy composed himself, and hurriedly said, "I was paid 10 soli to walk into a bar while holding a glass bead. After I did it, I returned the glass bead, and I left. I don't know anything else"

"Aren't you the smart one, figuring out what we want by yourself?" said Alvin.

"That is the only thing out of the ordinary I did today" he said bitterly. "I can't imagine you would want to know about the goods I drag around otherwise" he said.

"How did the man who gave you the bead look like?" Alvin asked.

"His face was covered. He wore a brown hooded shirt, and black pants, all tight fitting. He had a rough voice, and dirty fingernails" said the man.

After asking a few more questions and confirming he wasn't lying, Alvin said, "Well then, we have everything we need. I will be leaving now. I am guessing you will be fired after your boss comes back with the police. You can run now if you want to not be arrested" said Alvin as he walked out with Cheryl.

They both noticed that the terrified boy fled as soon as they left the shop.

"Why did you do that?" asked Cheryl.

"To buy some time. The earlier guy will have definitely called the police. The carriage driver can identify us when the police come by. This is an upscale neighbourhood, and the police in charge here are exceptionally persistent even with incidents like this where no actual crime was committed, and they might cause some trouble by declaring us fugitives. If that guy flees, the police are going to spend some time looking for him. After this mission is complete, I can just talk to the Nighthawks and make this thing go away" said Alvin.

"What now?" asked Cheryl.

"You go back to Frank and inform him to tail people back to the source if someone with a glass bead comes to the bar for a second round. I will go back to the old routine, hoping to encounter a break by the convergence of Hunter characteristics" said Alvin.

He then called a carriage for Cheryl, and randomly selected another bar to go to.

Just as he walked in, he saw a guy who did not look like he belonged in a bar. As Alvin secretly looked at him, he saw him take out a glass bead in a small box, look at it, and then put it back in his pocket.

"Looks like I am in luck" thought Alvin, smiling.