đźź Chapter 46:
After the two guards were taken out, the raid to grab the prince began. I pushed some oranges aside to get a look inside. The ceiling was heavily ornamented — entering like this was suspicious in itself. Number Five glanced at me and said,
"No point. You picked the worst possible persona for the gang."
The worst persona? He called himself the worst persona… but what exactly did he mean by that? I didn't get it. The gang's headquarters looked ordinary to me; from what I saw it didn't look like a den of criminals at all. To understand what was going on I asked Number Five directly,
"Listen — why does your place look like this? Where's the gang?"
He answered coolly,
"We're an export-import front in the capital. Our gang operates underneath it."
"Why didn't you tell us that before, you idiot?"
"You never asked."
"How were we supposed to know you were a front for something?"
Haizen gave the cart a smack and, for the most part, that shut us up. Maybe someone had come closer.
"What the—who are you? Number Five, is that you?"
I couldn't tell if the voice belonged to a regular member or one of the "Numbers." I shoved the gun toward Five to make him speak.
"Yes, it's me. What's the matter?"
"Nothing. I just wondered about your appearance. Did something happen to you? And why is the cart full of oranges?"
"It's what the boss ordered."
"Are you serious? We're an export-import company — why bring a market cart into the company… are you trying to export oranges? Huh, that's rare."
An export-import company? So that was the front. But why was the prince even involved with these people in the first place? Just as I was about to press Number Five for more, another voice spoke up.
"Ooh, it's Brenty! What happened to you? Why are you covering your head like that?"
The tone was a little arrogant. When I looked at Number Five, he whispered that the newcomer was one of the Numbers.
"That's one of the Numbers — Number Three. His name's Capto. He doesn't usually show up at the company. He's sharp-witted."
He doesn't usually come to the company… huh. Of course, of all times for him to show up, he appears right when we do. Perfect timing to be an obstacle.
"What's with you? Why so shy? Hey, there's oranges here — I want some."
This is bad. Number Five should tell him to stop. I hissed at him to say something.
"Come on, tell him not to do anything."
But Number Five said nothing, then whispered to me,
"That's why I told you you picked the worst person. I'm the most looked-down-on Number. Even if I told him to stop, he wouldn't listen."
This is bad — it looked like we were going to be exposed.
"What are you doing, Brenty? Let go of my hand or you'll regret it."
It seemed Haizen had grabbed Number Three's hand to stop him from uncovering us. I had to do something. I shoved the gun back into Number Five's face to make him speak.
"I don't care if everyone looks down on you — say something before our cover is blown."
He whispered in a cold, barely audible voice,
"You guys are hopeless. Fine, if you insist—"
Just as Number Five was about to speak, a different voice interrupted.
"Ah—this is for the boss. Leave it be."
I couldn't believe that awful voice — it was Haizen trying to imitate Number Five because Number Five was slow to speak. And just like that, we were exposed.
"What's that, Brenty? Something stuck in your throat? Why not eat some of your oranges?"
Hadn't Number Three caught on? That might be okay.
"Listen, if you're looking for the boss, the boss sent him somewhere else."
Huh? That made no sense.
Number Five tried to speak and explain, but Haizen beat him to it, speaking in his place.
"What are you saying? 'The boss sent the boss'?"
Then Number Five said to me in a low voice,
"Our cover's blown."
I wasn't sure what he meant — did Haizen's imitation expose us or what? Suddenly a heavy shock hit the cart and smashed it to pieces, throwing Five and me into a wall. It was a painful hit.
"Well, well — what do we have here? Hidden rats in a cart. You're terrible at impersonation."
That was Three's voice. We had really been found out. He stood before Haizen and the wrecked cart — a large, broad-shouldered man with dark brown hair and blue eyes, wearing a confident smile.
"This is bad. He's going to crush us," Number Five muttered in terror. But instead of rushing us, Number Three lunged at Haizen, yanking the cloth from his head to confirm that the man in front of him was not Number Five.
"Hahaha, how ridiculous — fake hair in such a stupid way," Three mocked Haizen. Now that our cover was blown, Haizen swapped out Number Five's hair for his own. Number Three threw a heavy punch at Haizen's face, but Haizen parried it with his palm. Meanwhile, the other man who'd been watching from the start attacked me and Number Five.
"You two are going to regret this!"
I drew my pistol and aimed at his leg. I hadn't intended to hit his knee, but the bullet landed there and he staggered.
Haizen was struggling with Number Three. I aimed at Number Three and fired, but he dodged the bullet and looked at me with scorn.
"That all you've got, rats?"
He turned toward me, but Haizen tried to stop him, using the yellow sword he had bought. Three blocked Haizen's strike with his bare hands and grabbed Haizen's sword.
"What is that junk sword of yours? You think you can beat me with that?"
Then he smashed the blade with his fist, splitting it in two. After destroying the sword, he turned back to me. I tried to run, but a shadow loomed over Number Three - he froze, eyes wide. Of course, it was Haizen. One powerful punch to the head sent Number Three crashing down, shattering part of the floor. His face burned with fury.
"After failing against your Number One, I won't fail against someone below him."
He said that, forgetting that Number Five had knocked him down before. Despite the brutal blow, Number Three managed to stand — his head bleeding. I pulled an orange-rind bomb and hurled it straight at Number Three while shouting a warning to Haizen.
"Haizen, get back!"
He moved away quickly to avoid the blast. Number Three tried to swat the bomb away with his hand, mocking the situation, but the moment it hit his hand it detonated and he fell. I don't know when he'll get up, so we needed to move fast. Haizen went to pick up Number Five and we dashed to find the prince.
Haizen grumbled to me,
"If I'd known things would go like this, I wouldn't have gone along with your plan. It was pointless. If we'd stormed in directly without disguises, it wouldn't be any different."
"Now's not the time for that. What's done is done."
After that rough start, we didn't know what else lay ahead, but we had to find the prince no matter what.