12. To not be told

“Warren eats, who would have thought?” Marika said with sarcasm while she was finishing her plate. He scoffed at her for the comment.

Eating was important for a System user. The fact that Wrren was so neglectful about it was impressive for Marka. Food could give buffs and, very useful, heal HP. The little amount of health she had lost was slowly recovering, until it came back at 458/458 HP. A small buff, [Well fed] appeared, offering a 5% XP bonus.

Then she drank some of the juice Jacob gave her from a glass. Cold, sweet, it was made from a local desert cactus fruit, one of the few things that were worth the travel to this city (but not good enough to risk your wallet or life). Liquids recovered MP. Slowly, but it did. That way you can keep using skills and spells.

“And you eat like there is no tomorrow,” he tilted his hat, “your face is smeared in the sauce, and you basically shoved the meat down your throat without eating.”

“That is because I know how to appreciate good food when I have it in front of me,” And, without saying it, she was always scared of not having a plate with food in front of her the next day. Each well-cooked meal was a gift from heaven for her.

“Miss Marika, you have sauce in your hair too,” Lucy pointed out.

Marika’s eyes went wide, grabbed a napkin and immediately started to clean herself, “shitshitshit! My hair!” She found the spot and started to remove the sauce from the hair. “It is hard already to get good cleaning agents for it…”

“You are quite capricious for a thief that lives in a crumbling building,” Warren pointed out.

“I care about my appearance when the money helps, Max and Cinthia receive the same treatment, thank you.”

“That was not a compliment…” Warren raised an eyebrow as he answered.

“Besides, we have something bigger to worry about,” Marika said, leaving her spoon on the plate. Lucy turned to hear. “We are being watched.”

Lucy immediately started to look around, worried. She grabbed the wrench on her belt and was getting visibly tense. Her eyes were shaking, and her hand was tight on her tool.

“You noticed too… I was going to say when I confired where-” Warren spoke, but was interrupted by Marika.

“Two people, one male, one female. Both demi-humans. Military, to your left, Warren.” She said, not looking in that direction.

Warren looked in that direction without turning his head completely. “Lucy, don’t look”, he ordered. Lucy did as told.

“...I think I see them… down the street.” He said, not moving.

The moment he confirmed the people, Marika received 715 points of Experience. That confirmed that conveying information and intel was another way for her to gain XP. Not just thieving.

“How did you notice them?” Lucy asked.

“You notice something out of the norm when you live in this city long enough.” Marika cleaned her face, slowly, hoping the grease wouldn’t ruin her skin that was already starting to suffer because of the desert and the cost of cosmetics in town, “These guys are not even trying to pass as civilians.”

The soldiers she was seeing were several meters away at the end of the square, wearing a full black suit with some combat armor on their torsos. A black helmet adorned their heads, obscuring their faces. A sword on their left and an automatic rifle in their hands. Marika could see their tails, although she was not sure what type of demi-humans they were. They were looking directly at them from that distance, probably something on their helmets.

“Impressive… how did you miss the guys that managed to sneak on us in the Guild?” Warren pointed out.

“I was focused on something else!” both angry at the receptionist for selling her out and the embarrassment from the door incident. She looked to the side, pouting a bit.

“But why are they spying on us?” Lucy asked.

That was the question. Marika stood up and turned towards Jacob just to take a better glance at them and walked to him. Yep, her assertion was corrent, she saw them completely fine as if they were closer.

“Mister Jacob!” Marika approached him with a smile, acting natural. “Thanks for the food! I hope my money helps you!”

“The one that you owed, don’t talk like you just did charity,” He said, shaking his head and chuckling.

65 Mullars still hurt her a lot, though.

“We are leaving now.” Marika nodded and smiled at him, “Thanks for everything, but it seems we brought some unwanted attention.”

She moved her eyes towards where the military people were, and Jacob followed her sight, and he saw them.

“What did you get yourself into this time, Marika?” Jacob asked, clearly worried.

“I have the suspicion these are not following me.”

The said their goodbyes. Jacob gave her a bag with more meat and some fruit. As he always said, ‘Take one for the ride’ to people that were about to travel outside the city. Although she was not going anywhere, at least not soon.

Warren was already setting himself up in the carriage when she arrived. The military soldiers moved back around the corner, disappearing behind a building. Whatever they were scouting, it had to do with them. And Marika was sure it most likely had something to do with Warren.

The day someone who claims to be level 3 with an amount of power too ridiculous to believe it is he same day that the military decided to show up in the city. Secondly, from what John Snake said, it seems the Twin Snakes and their gang are preparing for something to do with the biggest criminal Syndicate in the country. He even was sporting the badge of their main members like it was an accessory.

“Warren… what do you know about the Syndicate?” She asked when the carriage was already pulling away from the area where they were eating.

Warred was driving the horse, and his expression was neutral. Until she asked that question. His eyes quickly turned towards her without moving his head, and he took a moment to answer. Marika felt something heavy in that moment, as if she had just asked the worst question at the worst of times.

“Which one?” He asked, only looking forward to making sure he was not about to hit someone.

“You know… THE Syndicate, the ones lazy enough to call themselves something different.” She answered, feeling that she would need to jump out of the transport at any moment.

Warren smiles for a moment and then chuckles. “They do have a name, but they became so powerful that people just call them The Syndicate as if the rest did not exist in consequence. The Dead Man’s Hand Syndicate, a collective of different criminal groups, is an organization built on deception, murder, torture, and fear.”

That is what everyone knew, besides the name. Marika has heard of them mostly by whispers and word of travelers. ‘The Syndicate took this government official’, ‘the Syndicate took over the casino in Karlak’s Town’, ‘the Syndicate tortured this man’s son and killed his brother’, the Syndicate…’, all stories of the same caliber. Torture, murder, extortion, blackmail, trafficking. The name started to fly around a year and a half before.

“And the Snake Twins joined them… I saw John flaunting his badge,” 2 of diamonds, a badge resembling a poker card.

The carriage stopped, and Warren got up from his seat.

“Let’s get closer on foot,” He said, jumping by the side of the carriage. “I would prefer not to make noise getting closer and keep the carriage safe.”

“As safe as you can leave a purse full of coins in the street,” Marika said. “If you just leave it, someone will try to steal it. They won’t be able, but they might damage it.”

Marika called for Lucy, who was lounging inside the carriage, having a nap in the bed.

“Lucy! Wake up!” Marika yelled from the door.

Lucy, almost immediately, sat on the bed, confused and looking around, seeing who had just called her. “Huh?!” She blurted out.

“Come on, we are here,” Marika explained.

The girl slowly stood up and walked out, yawning, stretching one arm and rubbing her left eye.

“Sleeping in total real silence is weird…” she commented.

Once they were both outside, Marika walked towards the side of the carriage and moved her right hand under it, looking for something. Warren looked at her, confused.

“It should be here…” she muttered, until she found a button, “there!” And held it for 5 seconds.

The whole carriage, more specifically, the PDTU, turned back into a ball, like it was sucked at its center and became a sphere with a button in middle, th horse and everything. The fox girl took the object and walked towards Warren, and handed it to him with a smile.

“Handy, isn’t?” She said. “The horse is fine inside,” I hope.

“Warren… isn’t that the thing Maria gave you as your birthday 2 months ago?” Lucy said, although still sleepy, after recognizing the small sphere.

“Y-yeah, it was,” Warren said as he reached for the ball and picked it up, putting it back in his bag.

“You had that all this time? You said you couldn’t get it to work!” Lucy stretched her arms downwards, and did not seem happy about that fact.

“Didn’t know I had to throw it.”

“I told you to read the manual!”

“So you had the manual, walked to Malton, not eating, and because you did not know how to use this…” Marika pointed out. What is wrong with him?

“That is not the worst of it!” Lucy made both her hands into fists and pressed them against her hips. “He often forgot to eat when he was on the ranch! If it wasn’t for Maria, he would die, starving and passing out all day!”

Warren grunted, “Can we please just go?”

“Who is Maria?” Marika asked, new name.

“Oh, that was Warren’s w-”

“Lucy!” Warren turned towards her, his voice hit both girls ears with force, “I did ask you to keep it low about my life, didn’t?”

“Ah!” Lucy said, her mouth opening in surprise, “Ugh! You never explain things fully! I guessed Marika needs to know!”

“She doesn’t,” Warren said, and started walking. “You said it was further down this street, right?”

“Y-yeah…” Marika said, feeling she had just managed to step on something very deep.

Warren’s…what? Marika started to follow Warren, Lucy came behind them. Another name, another woman that has to do with Warren’s life that he preferred to keep shut about. And she seemed to be quite important, and for a moment he seemed to have forgotten he wanted to keep it a secret from the fox girl. The most intriguing part, past sense. She was something.

“I am going in and-” Warren suddenly said.

“No!” Marike intervened, “Okay, I know you are strong and all, but at this point we are dealing with a member than ranks higher than Darel. You maybe got lucky, but as far as I know, this Alice is one of the few the Twins trust enough to keep around commanding under the.”

“You seem to know about her.” Lucy pointed out.

“A couple of things, just that she has worked for them since last year, and that she seems to be a bit nuts,” she mentioned, “Nothing useful really. But if those two guys put her on, who knows what level she is or her people. So I will do what is meant to be MY job and recon the area” Sweet sweet XP come to me.

“You just want the XP,” Warren said.

Seriously?! Am I that predictable?!

“She is right, Warren” She said, a bit uncomfortable, as if she is unsure what she can and cannot say. “Y-you know why.”

At the end, Warren had to accept. The next mission required them to find information about the hideout of the Twin Snakes. Marika also wanted to increase in Level to be more useful in combat and not depend on Warren. And any clue about the whereabouts of Cinthia and Max was useful for her.