♚♚♚
THE three of them left the shop after sundown. The reason being that Ebel had followed Krister from the rooftops. He’d jumped from roof to roof, keeping track of Krister’s whereabouts by tracking where his silver hair went.
“It will only slow us down if the constables see me up there.”
So they set out after sunset.
They locked up the shop and headed to the front of Rock’s apartment first. And just like on that night, Ebel jumped onto the roof while Rock watched.
“You’re as light on your feet as always.”
“Let’s go,” Ebel called down from the building after leaping up there with such agility it astounded Phoebe. “I’ll go slowly, so you can keep up.”
Then he bounded from rooftop to rooftop with the quiet power and balance of a prowling cat.
Rock and Phoebe chased after his shadow through the alleys.
The alleyways were hard enough to navigate as it was without the added difficulty of following Ebel’s shadow. Ebel sensed they were struggling and kept to a pace they could keep up with. But unlike the rooftops with few obstacles, the intertwining roads were jam-packed with them. Everything from shacks jutting out into the alley to mountains of junk left lying around and randomly placed wooden fences and stakes obstructed their path.
To make matters worse, there was barely any light, with makeshift buildings sprouting up willy-nilly, blocking the few streetlights.
Rock and Phoebe ran into several dead ends along the way, and every time Ebel directed them toward an alternative route, pointlessly increasing the amount of time they had to spend walking.
“Sheesh. He’s so nimble I’m starting to envy him,” Phoebe grumbled, staring up at the night sky from the narrow alleyway.
Ebel had just so happened to vault over their heads at that moment. His burnt sienna hair softly floated in the air as he easily made the jump. Watching his catlike movements was enough to make anyone stop and stare in awe.
“Can’t you do the same thing, Phoebe?” Rock asked, thinking back on the time he rescued her from Linus Manor.
“I couldn’t keep it up forever.” Phoebe smiled wryly. “His Excellency has superhuman agility.” He paused, then continued in a mystified whisper, “But it’s strange that he’s this agile in this form.”
Rock thought the same thing. Ebel had inhuman physical prowess, even in human form. It didn’t matter that he had a medium build; he could still overpower Phoebe, who was significantly more built.
Then Rock suddenly remembered the story Phoebe had told her about how the people oppressed during the age of the Ancient Empire had clung to the power of the werewolves.
At that time, Rock thought it was foolish of them to rely on a curse that would forever change their shape, even if they gained the power to fight back in return—but would she think the same if she could exert the strength of a werewolf while in human form?
Perhaps what the Werewolf Brotherhood was really after were powers they could use even in human form.
Rock contemplated those things as she followed Ebel crossing the rooftops.
Her meandering thoughts were eventually interrupted by his voice.
“…This seems to be the place,” he said, looking down from the rooftop.
They were in a cluttered alleyway that was very much a part of the slums. Ebel gestured toward a two-story hovel protruding diagonally out onto the road Rock and Phoebe had taken.
When viewed from the road, the front side was a one-story building, and the back was a two-story building. A streetlight stood right behind the one-story building, blocking out the light, so the front of the hovel was poorly lit.
“I saw Krister enter this building two weeks ago.” Ebel pointed to the one-story building.
Rock surveyed the building from the ground.
Perhaps he didn’t use it as his workshop, since he didn’t have any signs out. There was only one window, but the shutters were down, and she couldn’t see inside.
The front door was obviously shut, and she couldn’t hear any sounds inside, even when she put her ear against it.
“Not to be rude, but are you sure this is the place?” Phoebe asked politely. Ebel gave a big enough nod they could see it in the bad lighting.
“He lives in a one-story house, and I saw light through the window as soon as he went inside. His neighbor lives in a two-story house that casts a shadow on his rooftop. A streetlight stood directly behind the buildings, so I figured he built his hovel in the middle of what used to be a road.”
Phoebe seemed convinced by Ebel’s detailed account.
“You have a great memory.”
“Thank you, Phoebe.”
Ebel jumped down from the roof, happy for the compliment. He turned toward Rock and Phoebe after he landed with catlike ease.
“All right, it seems the house owner is out. What do you want to do now?” he asked.
“Want to start by knocking on the door?” Rock suggested, knocking on the hovel’s door three times.
They waited a couple of minutes, but there was no reaction, as they expected.
“Guess we’re stuck breaking down the door?” Phoebe rolled up his dress sleeves, revealing his muscular arms.
Rock stopped him despite thinking it was a splendid idea. “Wait. Let’s get a light source first. I doubt there’s any lamps lit if he’s away.”
The closed shutters were of shoddy craftsmanship and had gaps. The sheer lack of light coming through told them it was pitch-dark inside.
“In that case, let’s borrow that.”
Ebel looked toward the streetlight.
The imperial capital streetlights set up on the street corners each consisted of an oil-lit lantern secured to a tall post by wire. The lantern could be removed if they undid the wire. It was at a height an ordinary person couldn’t reach without a ladder, but Ebel needed no such thing.
“Won’t that upset the constables…?”
“I’ll return it when we’re done. We’ll only be borrowing it for a moment.”
“Yeah! We just have to return it before they find out.”
Rock expressed her concern, but Phoebe immediately agreed with Ebel’s plan.
These two might just get along better than I thought. Rock forced a smile as she decided to go along with them.
Ebel easily removed the lantern from the post and hopped down with it. Its warm light surrounded them and illuminated the door. Phoebe’s expression hardened just as Rock was filled with relief.