"Let's follow them." Prompted Crispwisp as he sprang into action, hiding from one spot to another as he tailed the red-haired girl and the man with him. Crispwisp already assumed that he was his dad, but Satoshi thought otherwise. He may be an acquaintance of the girl or a simple caretaker. Although it would be convenient to assume that he was her dad, Satoshi didn't want to jump to conclusions.
The two continued to walk until they reached the far edge of the slums. At this point, there were no more passers-by and the place was long devoid of people. Crispwisp and Satoshi nodded at each other as they were thinking the same thing— this place is the perfect location for underground deals and the like.
"Should we call the authorities right now?" Crispwisp asked, pulling out his phone which had been kept silent all this time. They were on a crucial mission after all and he didn't want his phone to give away their location.
"No, not yet, let's wait for now. We still don't know what they're up to... and even if we did, we must rethink our plan of action first before doing something stupid. This might even be a false alarm from an unexpected source. Or maybe that source wanted to brew infighting amongst themselves. This might be our chance, it's make or break for us, Crispwisp.
'Sasuga (As expected of) Satoshi-senpai! He really knows how to handle the situation!' Crispwisp said in his mind as he nodded along. There was no way he'd disobey what Satoshi said. It wasn't because he was trying to obey the letter of the law, but because he greatly revered Satoshi. In his eyes, Satoshi is one of the most successful superheroes out there. Why? Because despite being one of the youngest, he was admitted to the Heimdall Agency, and his public records when acting as a superhero always seemed so heroic. 'It's as if you're already a full-fledged superhero.'
"What are you looking at?" Satoshi hissed, beckoning for Crispwisp to look at the red-haired girl and the man with him. They were in the middle of the mission and he shouldn't be losing his focus. In a mission, a single mistake can cost you your life. That's why it is never to be underestimated— any mission, that is. The only thing separating you from life and death during a mission is one small misstep.
"Look, they're making their move!" Crispwisp whispered, continuing his tail. He kept on signaling for Satoshi to follow along since they can't afford to miss what was about to go down.
"I know, I know, you don't have to exaggerate your gestures," Satoshi whispered back. Even he was genuinely curious as to what they were about to do.
As the red-haired girl and the man with her continued their walk, Crispwisp and Satoshi swiftly followed, not daring to make any noise. There were a couple of times when the duo turned around to check if they were being followed but Crispwisp and Satoshi were great at hiding and stalking— pretty useful skills when it comes to tailing someone.
"There they are, they're entering a building." Crispwisp narrated.
"I know, I can see."
As they entered the decrepit building, two men who were inside greeted them with a slight bow. In response, the red-haired girl and the man bowed down as well. It was a normal sight, but to Crispwisp and Satoshi who knew better, they knew that something was about to happen.
"Let's go,"
.....
'Here are the scary guys again,' The red-haired girl said to herself, flinching after she bowed. They were always complimenting her and patting her on the head, telling her how good of a girl she was. But deep inside, she knew tha they had ulterior motives— not that she was aware of the meaning of the word, she just felt rather out of place. Their gestures and their speech contradict each other after all, and children are pretty sensitive when it comes to hypocrisy such as that.
'Huh? Someone's following us.' The red-haired girl said to herself, sneaking a glance from behind. She didn't make her movements that big for fear that his father will see him and look where she was looking as well.
Crispwisp and Satoshi didn't notice it, but the red-haired girl noticed them while they were slinking around like that. The red-haired girl even found them a bit hilarious.
"Aira, what are you doing? Get a move on already. We have an important one coming up tonight. A dozen batches. That's a dozen batches for yah." His father said with a greedy grin on his face. Tightening the grip on Aira's hand, he lightly pulled her. It was obvious that she didn't have that much of a choice. Even if she wanted to squirm out of his grasp, she couldn't do it. How could a weak girl overpower someone over ten times older than her? Even with her superpower, she won't be able to do anything with that big of a gap.
"Look, I'm only bringing you there because you're our mascot. As much as I hate it, you make the deals a lot easier when you're around. Aren't you glad? You'll be able to help daddy and his friends. And then we can go on living our comfortable lives." Aira's father explained.
With slight hesitation, Aira nodded and hung her head down low. There's no way on earth she can escape her current dilemma, no way at all. The only thing she could do was suck it up and go through it. It's not like the guys were hurting her at all, no, but the fact that they're using a child to further their illegal activities is unforgivable. Even Aira who grew up without ever learning morals knew that what his father and his friends are doing is wrong.
She wanted out of it... there was no way out.
However, there was a sliver of hope, lurking about in the dark, literally speaking. This hope had two names, Crispwisp and Satoshi. Aira might not know what they were doing right now but she was hopeful that they would rescue her. They were the only ones who didn't feel 'bad' to her. Call her gut feeling but she believed in them. It was even an understatement to say that she trusted them since she depended her life on them. It may be a gamble, but it was worth taking.
She decided to wait.
"A dozen you say?" One of the father's friends hoorayed while pumping a fist in the air. And he wasn't the only one who was ecstatic. Everyone in the room felt the same way. A dozen amounts to big money. If they were able to deliver all of these properly, then they'd be settled for life. For life!
"All right, so when are we moving?" One of them cracked his knuckled before speaking. He then proceeded to crack his neck.
"Tonight."
"Tonight?! As in tonight tonight?!" The fat man amongst the group exclaimed as he shuffled closer to Aira's father.
"Yes, that's why we'd better get going. We can't lose focus here." Aira's father said with a grim tone in his voice. Of course, it was a high-risk high-return mission so they cannot be too careful. Also, there were rumors that some superheroes are currently patrolling the area. He knows it was just a rumor but he cannot rule out the possibility.
"Aira?"
"Mm?"
"Time to bake those cupcakes."
This content is taken from (f)reewe(b)novel.𝗰𝗼𝐦