Tracking a bunch of strangers in town wasn’t all that hard, especially since everyone else on the street was still looking in the direction in which they left. Curiosity was something everyone in this street…or in this world, for that matter, had, and making use of this trait, Gaius hurried along.

After moving from one small crowd to another, Gaius soon caught sight of the group that had barged into his courtyard. Sunglasses was in the middle of the group, protected by a grand total of eight flunkies — clearly, this group had reinforcements somewhere.

The crowd was giving the mafia-esque group a wide berth, so Gaius had little choice but to go with the flow. He wasn’t intending to bank on the chance that no one would look back to check for tails; even fools would do that, let alone clearly-seasoned thugs.

After a while, Gaius was forced to break away. They were heading towards a more desolate region of City.2558. This place was already the outskirts of the city, but their destination had even lesser people around. Making detour after detour, Gaius followed them to their destination from another route, making hurried and hasty corrections based on whatever he could get.

He stopped at a house that looked rather rundown. Flitting over, he flipped onto the roof and placed his ears on the ceiling, willing his senses to pick up on even the most minute of sounds. Disturbingly enough, however, the house was completely silent, as though the men that had entered it earlier had vanished entirely.

A frown crawled up his face, and Gaius slid off the roof slowly. Fortunately, the vicinity was completely deserted, or else he would definitely be spotted, and after making sure that there weren’t any stragglers or what not, the boy peeped into the house through a broken window.

There’s no one? How’s that possible? I saw them enter earlier…

Making his way inside with light footsteps, Gaius touched the hilt of his sculpting knife, prepared to strike out lethally at any sentry that was still present. If his guess wasn’t wrong, that particular bunch had probably entered a secret room. It was probably a cellar of sorts, which Gaius soon tracked by following the disturbed clutter and furniture.

Some freshly dislodged dust was clearly visible on the doorway of a rundown room, one that led to a clear patch of plaster. Gaius didn’t dare to lift it up, since he would most likely alert everyone else. Cursing those overly-dramatic fools in his heart, Gaius placed his right ear on the slab of plaster.

Other than a hollow sound, he could faintly make out the sounds of people grumbling at each other. The muffled chatter of wood accompanied their curses, and Gaius wanted to chuckle at the mental image of grown men fumbling with cubes smaller than their palm.

He couldn’t hear Sunglasses, however. As the leader of the group, Gaius guessed that he was probably reporting his unexpected harvest of cubes to whoever was directing him. There were more than a dozen ways to do that, including the simplest method of using a phone — which did exist in Cybral — and Gaius felt a bit distressed about that fact.

“Hey,” a voice said. “How do we even know the cube we’re holding is the right one? Boss ain’t very clear about that.”

“Send your mind into it…or so he says. If it works, it’s supposed to glow.” Another voice said. “I don’t really get it either. How do I send my mind into cubes? I think he’s dreaming.”

“Should just ask ‘im to do it instead. I’m hungry.”

“Can’t even get some food for us. Strutting around and looking like a bigshot is tiring.” Another wooden cube landed on the ground with a clatter. “He’s probably throwing all the blame to us as we speak.”

“I’m nervous, yea. Is he really talking to one of those familiar spirits?”

“Do such beings need to use phones? You’re too trusting. If they still walk our world, they’ll be talking through the mind. We’ll hear great voices from the skies, not from the phones.” Wood fell with yet another clatter. “He’s a grain short of an energy salt.”

“But them miracles, though.”

“They can be faked.”

Gaius pressed his ear down even harder, trying to make sense of their conversation. Fortunately, only two people were speaking, which made it easier for him to parse the conversation.

As for their subject matter, it would have sounded inane to anyone except for him, for he knew that familiar spirits did exist.

I wonder what he’d say if I tell him about this.

“Y’all done with the sorting yet?” A new voice spoke, one that belonged to Sunglasses. “The wants it.”

“What does a god’s apostle even need it for anyway?”

“To enter the world beyond. That Severing Cube will set him free from this place.” Sunglasses replied, his voice now filled with something Gaius recognised as fanaticism. “If we succeed, he’ll bring us out with him. Think about it. We’ll be able to fly, live without eating…all sorts of things. We’ll be God’s familiar spirits, His angels. To think you’d be this nonchalant...have you forgotten the scriptures?”

The image of mafioso angels made Gaius grin again.

“Yes, we know the scriptures. The world outside is called Orb. Hereward, the God of Creation, has left a servant here to protect this world. But the great war of demons and gods are coming, so he needs to leave, yada yada.”

Orb?! Hereward?! Gaius froze, but before he could think through those words properly, a solid thump reverberated through the house. Sunglasses had apparently slammed his hand onto the wall, and in a low deadly voice, he said, “Your flippant tone displeases me.”

“Erk.”

“Don’t do that again. Clear?”

“Crystal, boss.” The voice coughed. “About those cubes…we can’t even do the verification properly, so…”

“Tch. You guys lack the aptitude…no choice. I’ll do it myself. Help me get some lunch. I’m starving.”

Gaius got out of the house, climbing onto the roof silently. His eyes tracked the group of men leaving together, and for a moment, he debated with himself whether he should return to the house and see if there was anything worth eavesdropping on.

In the end, however, he waited for ten minutes, before returning home. Once Sunglasses was done with the crate of cubes, he might pay another visit to Gaius.

After all, the real deal was still with him.