Picked It Up (1)

Cyril was in an excellent mood as he walked through the warehouse-style store.

Although the store was ransacked, had no lighting, and the interior smelled rank due to the rotting food, to him it was a veritable treasure box.

First, he had Alexei take him to the loading docks, where he just stuffed everything, including the shelves and forklifts, into his bag. Although it mentally didn't make sense to him, he just rolled with it as there might be a use for it later.

Then, he began going down the aisles, grabbing things that were sure to be valuable in the future and hadn't been ransacked yet.

"Can you bring those pallets down? Just line them up on the floor, please." Cyril asked Alexei as he pointed his flashlight toward the pallet of cereals and snacks located on the top shelf.

Crash!

Thud!

"Thank you~ get the next row, please."

Aisle by aisle, large pallets of food, drinks, and any items that caught his interest were dragged from the top shelf by black chains before being magically absorbed into Cyril's small black backpack.

"You know this would be more efficient if you just lifted me to the top. I could just walk along the shelves."

"So somebody can tackle you like the last place? Absolutely not." Alexei pointed his flashlight at the small group of men with blue bandanas tied on their faces following them before continuing, "Just move faster. What's next on your list?"

"Toiletries, home decor, clothing, and big electronics. After that, the gun store, then the home improvement store."

"Move in front." Alexei's voice was cold as he pointed the industrial strength flashlight at the men who weren't back off.

"Got it~"

As Cyril walked after casually waving, Alexei immediately stepped behind him to block his body, his chains positioned around Cyril like snakes preparing to strike the group following them.

He could see them eyeing the bag in Cyril's hands with an almost uncontrolled lust and gauging his skill. It was understandable; after all, they were seeing a magic bag that could store anything in real life, and the person who held such a good item didn't seem to be that strong and displayed no special ability, making him an easy target.

But understanding didn't mean he would accept such foolishness.

"Hey, young man, why don't you let me hold onto that bag for you ey?"

"Yeah, little buddy, let's hold onto it for you. Just to keep it safe, you know?"

"Hey, little boy, are you ignoring me?! Tell me where you got the bag!"

The harassment continued, but Cyril just hummed while stashing the goods in his backpack and deciding what he wanted to eat later.

After all, this was the third group aiming for him. The trusty bodyguard would deal with it appropriately.

"Let's try not to kill people this time. You'll stain my clothes."

"Tsk."

"Hey! Are you two mocking us? While we're speaking nicely, you better hand that bag over! Otherwise, your coins are mine!"

Catching sight of a man with a blue bandana tied around his face rushing toward him with a knife in his hands, Cyril pointed the blinding flashlight directly at the man's face, causing him to stagger, then watched as one of Alexei's chains accelerated, first whipping the man across the face, then wrapping around his leg and flinging him into the group of people wearing blue bandanas just like he was before another chain grabbed at a shelf and began tugging.

SCREEEEEEEEEEEECHHHHHHHH

The painful sound of metal being bent sounded out as chains pulled out a shelf, ripping it out of the concrete floor and swatting at the blue bandana group as if they were a ball.

Bang!

"Eeeeeeek!"

"Aghhhhhhh!"

The group was sent flying through the air, and without any hesitation Alexei threw the entire metal shelf at them with his chains…

CLANG CLANG!

As the sound of the metal shelf bouncing against concrete rang out…

BANG! BANG! BANG!

Gunshots were heard.

With a practiced motion, Cyril immediately ducked to the ground, turning off his flashlight as a bullet ricocheted against a shelf where his head had been, tucking himself into a neat ball.

Alexei then activated his Prowess ability, dashing to grab Cyril while one of his chains flew toward the origin of the sound, lightly sinking into something before wrapping and flinging it into the ground.

Thud-

DU DU DU DU DU.

The sound of items heavy items falling rang out, along with screams.

"Agh!"

"Shit, run!"

"Gun! There's a gun!"

The sound of people running filled the warehouse, and Alexei considered chasing them before staring at the limp burden in his arms.

"Annoying."

Another chain was used to grab the ceiling before retracting, dragging Alexei upwards until he dangled from the ceiling. The remaining chains were used to cocoon Cyril as he waited for another shot to come.

After hanging in silence for five minutes, waiting for any more attacks, Alexei dropped to the ground, heading for the exit without releasing Cyril.

"Hey! I'm not done yet."

"We're heading back."

"But the gun store-"

"I can't protect you from guns in this type of place. We're heading back." Alexei firmly refused before slinging the chain-wrapped body over his shoulders and began exiting the building.

A check had already been slipped under the employee door and since this was the 10th location he had been forced to take Cyril to, enough was truly enough.

As he stepped out, greeting the sunrise, the sight of a crushed motorcycle and sidecar greeted him in return.

"Oh. Gutsy. They wrecked your ride. I told you to let me put it in my bag. You should have listened."

Alexei: "…..."

"Are you going to Spiderman around the city~?" an amused voice sounded out, and rather than acknowledge the nonsense coming out of Cyril's mouth, Alexei just tightened the chains and activated his prowess ability, and began running at high speed back to the waystation, purposely allowing Cyril to bounce unsteadily on his shoulder while wishing motion sickness on him.

Unfortunately, his target was having a blast.

"Alexeiiiiiiiiiiiii stopppppppp attt the bakkkkkeeeeerrrrryyyyy onnnnnnn 32nnnnnnddddd. I wannnt a croissssssssssaaaaannnnt" Cyril cheerfully shouted, thoroughly enjoying the human rollercoaster ride he was experiencing for the first time. Alexei was moving faster than any sportscar he had ever ridden in.

"No."

"Cigggggaaaaarrrrr aaaaaannnnnddddd lllliiiiqqqquuuuoooorrrrr."

"……"

As Alexei began to turn streets toward where he wanted to go, Cyril laughed to himself.

Truly, he was as easy to trick as he had always been.

ICyril was thoroughly enjoying himself.

He was going so fast that everything seemed blurry, and his eyes could barely stay open, but the air was crisp, the wind felt great, and the sunrise was beautiful.

Even though he was tied up in chains and bouncing up and down, he felt a thrill and wished for a second he had the ability to do so himself, but that soon slipped from his mind as Alexei quickly brought him back to the waystation instead of the bakery despite his complaints.

"That was amazing; I want to do that again."

"No."

After being set down on the grass, he immediately bent over and vomited from dizziness before sitting on the outside porch and smiling brightly as a mild wind blew over him, cooling his heated forehead.

"I'll be back."

As Alexei quickly tried to leave, Cyril interrupted him.

"Don't quit your job."

"Reason?"

"First, I'm illegally occupying this place, so I need you to deal with that."

"Size? And Who owns it? Alive or dead."

"4 by 2 miles. Private. Dunno."

Alexei was silent for a moment before nodding, "I'll handle it. Secondly?"

"I'm uncomfortable with some of the things you told me, and about what happened in the dungeon, so go to work properly and get more information. And find the people I told you to find. I don't plan on going outside today, so shoo. Shoo shoo." Cyril shooed Alexei away before slamming the door shut.

Alexei: (ಠ_ಠ)

When did he become a bug?

Before he could say anything, Cyril poked his head out once more with a familiar machine in his hand.

"Tap here."

He couldn't even protest as the machine was automatically tapped against his hand.

"Sign, please."

His finger was forced to scribble on the machine.

When he touched the black band on his wrist, he saw that 100,000 Life Energy Points had been removed from him.

"One year's rent. Thank you in advance, " Cyril said with a bright smile, his blue eyes sparkling.

Alexei: (ಠ_ಠ)

"Cyril, highway robbery, in broad daylight? Should I kill you?"

"You said the price didn't matter. Also, come back with a satellite phone and steady internet or not at all, and if you see Ritta, bring her here. Go earn money and actually pay attention boomer. Bye."

SLAM!

The door was shut in his face.

"Cyril Alexander Taylor!"

Before Alexei could pound on the door, laughter could be heard as a rectangular-shaped portal opened beneath his feet and dumped him on a sidewalk far away from the building.

A moment later, his black briefcase was dropped above him, along with a bright pink lunchbox with horses on it.

After standing there for a moment, Alexei sighed before leaving.

It was his fault for enabling that brat since he was younger.