Chapter 45: Problems solved with sneeze.

 On the second day of reaching Black Rock City, in the evening, Ray decided to visit the administrative building with Lily to confirm if any independent houses were available in the inner city for them to rent.

Ray gave up on the idea of buying a house in the city after finding out that Black Rock City wouldn't sell any of their land.

Ray: "Lily get ready, we will visit the administrative building today and get a list of houses available for rent and then we can come back and decide on the house we want to rent."

Lily: "Ok, I will get ready in a few minutes and come downstairs" She agreed and went back to her room to get ready.

Ray too went back to his room to freshen up and came back in a few minutes then waited in the hotel reception area.

In a few minutes, Lily came down and sat beside him.

Ray who was observing the people going in and out of the hotel saw someone observing them from the corner and saw a young man sneaking around the hotel area while keeping an eye on him.

Ray considered confronting him, but when he saw Lily arrive in the lobby and sit beside him, he decided to share his thoughts and pointed out the man to her.

But as soon as the man saw Ray pointing him out to Lily, he ran away.

Ray stood up and went outside to watch the man running away suspiciously. He thought about informing the city office about the incident and resolving it by filing a complaint.

Lily followed suit, stepped out of the hotel, and stood beside Ray.

Just as Ray lost sight of the suspicious man, he spotted Jay skipping and walking alone down the road toward him.

Jay arrived at the hotel and saw Ray and Lily standing outside. He happily walked over to Lily, stood beside her, and held her hand.

Jay: "Sister, I've come to play with you. Mom won't let me go outside to play, so I sneaked out to join you," Jay declared proudly.

Ray was stunned by Jay's announcement and considered sending him back.

Seeing Lily talking fondly with Jay, he decided not to send him back just yet. After a moment's thought, he chose to let Jay play with Lily while he went out to do his work. He would send Jay back safely once he returned.

"Lily, I'll go to the administrative office alone. You can play with Jay while I'm away, and we can send him back home after I return," Ray suggested to Lily.

"Don't go to suspicious places and get into trouble, we are still new here and don't want problems on us by involving any incident" Ray cautioned Lily.

"Okay," Lily agreed softly, with a happy tone.

Ray then said his goodbye and started walking toward the administrative building.

Lily watched as Ray left them to do the work, then gently pulled Jay into the hotel lobby to play with him.

Ray slowly walked down the main road and reached the city lord's mansion where the administrative office is located.

As he reached the place, a guard stopped him, asked his purpose, and after confirming his purpose, the guard showed him the location of the office.

Following the guard, Ray reached the office, it was a separate building situated right next to the city lord's mansion. The office was constructed with red bricks to distinguish it from the lord's mansion, which was entirely built with black rocks.

As he reached the office an old man walked up to him and asked the purpose of his visit.

"Hello sir, my name is Ray. I just arrived in this city yesterday and already like it here. I've decided to rent a house and stay for a few months. Do you know if there are any houses available for rent?" Ray asked the old man.

"Hello sir, renting here is quite expensive, and the price depends on the location and size of the houses. Do you have any preferences regarding the price and location?" the old man politely asked.

"Nope, I don't have any price or location preferences. If you have a catalog or list of houses, it will help me immensely in selecting a house." Ray asked.

Then the old man took a copy of the house prices and their locations and handed it to Ray.

Ray took the catalog, thanked him, and began noting down the locations of the available houses.

After noting them down, he returned the catalog to the old man and informed him that he needed a day to visit the houses and decide on one. He said he would come back tomorrow to the office and pay the rent for the house he liked.

The old man retrieved the catalog, escorted Ray to the entrance with a polite demeanor, and watched as he left the office.

---------------The suspicious man----------

As ordered by his master, he began scoping around the girl's hotel and watched the entrance for their exit. His waiting paid off as the man who was with the girl came down and sat in the hotel lobby while waiting for her.

I began observing him sneakily, but the man had quite sharp senses and looked in my direction with suspicion. To my happiness, the girl also came downstairs, but the man started walking towards me to confront me, which made me panic and flee without a second thought.

I heaved a sigh of relief after seeing him not following me, then I sat in a nearby alley and watched the man leave the girl and a small boy near the hotel and leave towards the city lord's mansion. After he left, the small boy began dragging the girl along with him out of the hotel and started roaming the stall area, which prompted me to start running back to my master's house to inform him of the information.

I saw my master had a serious face after hearing and a determined look as he decided something and left the house, with me following him. My master began trailing the girl, and when the girl entered a deserted path, he sprang forward to spray some pollen powder on her to make her faint.

I thought my master was a genius as he had practiced his footwork to such a great level where he could move a few meters with a few steps in an instant and began waiting for the girl to sleep and abduct her. But to me, the next moment was a nightmare as I heard a small sneeze, and the master I respected so much began to freeze into popsicles and died in front of me.

Then I saw the devil girl take the boy who had fallen asleep and leave the place calmly, which sent chills down my spine, and I decided to leave the city in a few minutes, or they would track me and kill me too.