Chương 80: Cautious Stalking

More shuffling, then a small creak as Rick's door opened up. Grumbling something under his breath, he walked out, his shiny boots reflecting the dim sunlight through the window.

"They're demanding the same amount as last time." Marie sounded almost apologetic. Maybe nervous?

"What? Last time had a large influx of VIP tourists. They know that!" Marie paused.

"What are you gonna do?" Rick sighed.

"I… I'll talk to them. I'm sure we can come to some sort of agreement."

"Those scummy fucking bastards." Despite her vicious words, her voice was quivering.

"Just don't speak like that around them… I've just finished organizing everything. Hopefully, that gives us the leverage to ask for a lower price."

"You say lower price as if we're asking for a favour. We agreed on 30%, but it's never actually 30%, is it?"

"No." Rick sighed again.

"They love pushing us little folk around."

"Can we just report 'em already? Shut them down for good! What's the point of having these soldiers protecting us if they can't even do their jobs?"

"New will replace old as long as the incentive remains." He paused.

"Also, it's a little naive to think the Banners don't know. Our problems just aren't worth their time." Marie didn't reply.

"It's best to just treat it as a protection fee. At the very least, none of the other gangs ever try to rob or steal from us, only unorganized and desperate individuals."

"I get that… but we can't just let them push us further and further until we can't bear it anymore, right?"

"Always follow the incentive, Marie: their income relies on our success. They want us to succeed as much as we ourselves want to succeed. At worst, they just want to squeeze us a little more." Marie went silent, and only the sounds of rummaging could be heard. After another few minutes, Rick spoke again.

"See you tomorrow, Marie."

"Bye, Rick." Then, the door creaked open. This time, the door led towards the stage. It was another way to exit the main building, albeit it took longer. Based on the shoes, Marie was leaving that way, so what exactly was Rick up to? He didn't really understand their discussion much, except that Rick was paying someone, and neither Rick nor Marie was happy about it. Rick walked over back into his room, and the distinct sound of the keychain jingle let Evel know that Rick was going home for the day.

The boots clacked on the wooden floorboards as he left through the same door Marie initially came from. The door leading outdoors. The moment the door shut and Rick was out of the room, Evel scrambled to his feet and placed his ear up against the door. Steady footsteps, getting quieter and quieter. After giving the footsteps some time to fall into the distance, Evel grabbed the doorknob and slowly turned. The raging outdoor wind whooshed into his face, and he took a second to shake it off.

He stuck his head out into the open streets. Nothing. Then, he carefully closed the door behind him and walked in the direction of the footsteps. The sun had almost fully set, painting the clouds in a mesmerizing orange hue, almost breaking Evel's focus. As he approached the end of the building, he heard voices around the corner, and he immediately became alert once again. A deep gruff voice, and Rick's. His normally booming voice was dampened and quiet.

"This is less than last time." The other voice stated. This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

"We—I apologize." Rick paused, coughing violently.

"These last few weeks have been rough. We failed to draw in an audience… This really is all we can afford." The other man, vicious and domineering, spat on the ground.

"Don't insult my intelligence, old man." Silence.

"Say," The man began once more.

"Doesn't your circus have a little kid always running around with the magician? Wo—""Don't."

"Oh? Talking back, are we?"

"I'm sorry… please. Here's the full documentation of all the earnings and expenses. I've taken a few days to compile it together, so you know we aren't lying. This is truly all we can afford." Rick's voice deepened.

"If we fall under, then that's the amount you'll be missing out on each run."

"Tch." Evel heard a sharp rip, the small pieces slowly fluttering down onto the ground.

"Fuck your documentation." Back to silence. After a few more seconds, Rick finally spoke up.

"Thank you." Evel heard approaching footsteps. Not Rick's—these were too quick. Heavier, too. Evel leaped backwards to a nearby bush and tucked himself low. A few seconds later, the man Rick was talking to came into his vision as he turned the corner. His strides were filled with confidence as he looked down on everything around him. On his face a horrible smirk, and in his hands a thick pouch. Evel's eyes immediately got drawn to the sword handle on his waist.

This was the man who forced Rick to pay up and tore up all his hard work. A shiver went down his spine, knowing that this man could kill him in a few seconds. No wonder Rick didn't want to fight back. He'll be gone in a bit, and I can run away. Rick will never have to find out I was here at all. Although Evel was quick and could expertly maneuver through tight areas, if he got chased over a long distance, the man would probably catch up to him without issue. Run away…

His hands went to his right pocket, where he used to keep the old newspaper. The original had long disappeared, and just last year Evel had stopped replacing it. Despite it all, the spot still brought him comfort. Would Alaric run away from an evil enemy, despite their overwhelming power? Maybe if he learned more about this bad guy, the circus could report him to the Banners or the Mayor. Then he'd get captured and defeated!

Wrinkly Rick had done so much for Evel, and although he was sometimes unreasonable and got annoyed too easily, Evel still wanted to pay him back somehow. No, Alaric would not run away. Taking a few deep breaths, Evel focused on the shrinking figure of the bad man in the distance and slowly crept out of the bush. He followed from afar and made sure to always keep a large distance between them at all times. If he somehow got caught, then his life would be as good as gone.

The first few turns were extremely familiar to Evel—all places he frequented, but as the man travelled further and further towards the center of the city, the world transformed. Things were cleaner, the roads were even, and there were so many trees. Near the circus, the trees were sparse and weak, as though they could shrivel up and die any day. Here, the sprawling trees were massive, reaching for the sky with their roots. Maybe that was part of the reason the air also smelled so fresh?

After a while, the man pivoted to enter a large, two-story brick building. It had no holes or any sign of breaking down at all. Probably only recently constructed. Actually, all the houses looked very new. Probably all recently constructed, then. Evel waited patiently from a distance for a few more minutes, until the man walked out again. This time, without his weapon, and with a much larger sack. One that was at least multiple times larger than the one that Rick gave. The bad man walked onto the gravel path again.

Evel froze. He was directly in the man's path! Panic surging, he scanned his surroundings. He could directly walk away, but then he'd be in the line of sight of the man for a long time. That was the last thing he wanted! Should he bolt? Maybe with a big enough head start, he'd be able to get away even if the man saw him. Now, he didn't have a weapon either.

Julius's voice echoed in his mind, recalling a specific lesson in trickery his mentor had constantly hammered home:"When someone isn't looking for something, you don't need to hide it!" Mustering up all the courage he had, Evel took a deep breath. Forcing his body to ignore the panic signals, he simply walked toward a side path. He kept his head low, watching the ground while casually kicking a nearby rock along the way. His heart hammered out of his chest, but he focused hard to take smooth, normal paced steps.

One, two, three, step. One, two, three, step. One, two, three, step. Before long, he reached a crossroads where he immediately turned again. He hadn't managed to keep a normal pace, but when he peeked his head back, the man was gone. I did it. Evel breathed a huge sigh of relief and considered going home. By now, it was getting pretty dark, and the sun had almost finished setting, but he was so close to finding something big out, he just knew it! He'd follow the scary man just a bit further.

After another ten minutes of walking, he finally approached another building. Much, much taller this time. Made of a sturdy grey material, the rectangular building must have spanned over four floors. Just ahead of it stood a tall pitch-black banner with the image of rusted chains. Evel squinted hard to read the letters below it, but he was just a bit too far to make out what they said. After a few more minutes, the man walked out again, this time without the pouch.

Then, he walked back in the direction of the previous building. Evel hesitated. He had already learned a lot, and pushing any further would be risky. It was already getting pretty dark… And he really didn't want Julius to yell at him for staying out too long again. In the end, he decided to finally just go home. He had already made a massive discovery! Julius would be forced to treat him with respect now!

All his dreams would finally come true, and it was all because he had the courage to take a risk and was smart enough to avoid getting caught. His wide grin didn't falter for a single second on the way back home.