Chapter 12 Rugs Are Scary!

.

.

.

"Oh, Crap…RUNNNNN!"

A pack of furry arsonists ran out, their tails between their legs.

Who knew that human courtyards were that flammable?! It wasn't their fault, right? But as they sensed Jack's dark gaze, they erupted in cold sweats.

"You all, you're good, real good!"

"Acting human? Low key?"

"You freaking burned it!"

Every line was delivered with a grim tone, the foxes shivering. Why did it feel like he was about to disown them?! But then, with a profound sigh, his entire aura changed.

He suddenly started counting on his fingers as he mumbled: "Investigation, crime scene, witnesses, motive, and connecting the dots…."

The foxes stilled: he was already in problem-solving mode?! How could he be so calm in such a situation?!

Little did they know that he had been the prime suspect in an arson case before. Back then, he had been at the wrong place at the wrong time…. For six fires in a row!

He'd be damned if he or his minions got caught!

The latter were all looking his way, making puppy eyes. 'Please forgive us,' they seemed to be saying… as if it would work!

"Clean up your mess, or I'll add fox rugs to my bedroom!"

— Shocked foxes… He wouldn't do that, right?! —

"Now, listen up. This can't go wrong…."

The foxes perked their ears, their eyes growing as wide as moons during the 'how to get away with arson lesson'. It was a new world of possibilities that was opening to them!

"Good, now split up. Whoever fucks up becomes a rug!"

Pfft— The foxes chuckled. If they let their leader down after such thorough teachings, they'd bloody deserve to be rugs!

They left tails wagging and full of confidence! After all, they simply had to play a prank… and god, did they love pranks!

—

That day the alleyways lit up…

The flames erupted in some random courtyard that was supposed to be unoccupied at that time of the year. It came completely out of nowhere!

It quickly devolved into an inferno that rose all the way to the sky… or at least that's how it seemed from up close!

Luckily, The locals instantly knew what to do! They rushed at the flames, carrying huge vats of water. A second later, it was all thrown at the target!

As steam filled the place, they rejoiced:

"Damn, that was close!"

"We avoided a disaster!"

"Thank God we—FUCK!"

The steam cleared… revealing a fire that hadn't gone down in the slightest. It was still going as strong?! How was that possible?! The only explanation was….

"Magical fire?!"

"We're screwed!"

"Quick, get help! Else…"

But as they felt it, they all crumbled. This wasn't just magical fire… it was a raging ravenous demon! How many spells were packed in there?!

What kind of crazy sadistic maniac would do this?! To the poorest and most defenseless district too?! Right next to the orphanage!

It was already too late, the inferno becoming a beacon of despair.

They were doomed, so freaking doomed!

But just as they were hopeless…

A bunch of mysterious individuals came out of nowhere! They all wore red robes that hid their features entirely and were inhumanly fast!

The civilians gazed at them, shell-shocked.

What?! Who the heck were they?! They were here way too fast to be rescuers, right? Gulp— What if they were the ones that had caused the fire?!

That's when the mysterious people all assembled in a circle and started dropping…. Jewelry?! Wait… was this some kind of sacrificial ritual?! Oh, GOD!

It was time for the alleyways dwellers to meet their maker!… or not?!

Suddenly, countless shouts came from the distance.

"Come back, thief!"

"Give it back, asshole!"

"That prick stole my watch!"

Droves of mages and warriors of all kinds came running, their faces a mask of anger. Yet, they all had something in common: they were all water users!

W-what kind of miracle was this?! The civilians erupted in smiles, cheers, and tears as they realized what had happened.

The mysterious people had stolen valuables from a bunch of water Users… just to bring them here?! The latter froze as they saw the situation.

1) The loot pile in the middle

2) The inferno about to engulf it all

3) The pleading civilians on the sidelines

"Tch— Guess we might as well extinguish this thing. Heck, we can always ask the City to reward our good deed." They all sighed at once, sharing a look.

Then they all raised their staffs/spears or whatever they used, pointing it toward the blaze! As countless magical spells were cast all over, a freaking flood happened!

It was working! As the fire was slowly but surely getting put out, many couldn't help but glance at the mysterious red-robed individuals nearby.

W-what kind of crazy way of requesting help was that?! As displeasing as it felt, one had to admit it was Super Effective! A man actually began chuckling:

"You guys have balls of steel! Say, how about you visit the Serene Water Clan with me afterward? Next time you won't have to steal strangers' stuff for help."

Many gasped. That guy was trying to recruit them?! That… was actually a great idea! Sure, they probably all belonged to the same strange faction… but they were worth poaching!

Just their speed alone made them worthy! After all, none of them even seemed out of breath! As they all reached the same conclusion, it quickly became chaotic:

"No way! You should visit the adventure guild!"

"Please, we should both use the merits to join the Guard!"

"Pffft— And slave away? Are you all crazy? They're better off—"

As all the offers kept coming, said mysterious people had no damn clue how to react. What the heck were they supposed to reply to this?! Jack hadn't covered that part!

The mysterious individuals were all foxes….

Fast, able to use flame magic, and very fluffy…

How would the humans react had they known the scheming "heroes" they were trying to recruit were, in fact, the Flame Lord's cheeky pets?!

Actually, how would they react if they learned that they were the ones that had started the fire in the first place… by mistake?!

But just as they were hesitating, Jack subtly gave the signal for part B. That's when the foxes began shivering, both with expectation and fright.

This new plan was pure freaking maniacal insanity….

They freaking LOVED IT!

.

.

.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

Jack Bright (Classless)

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

BODY 3 (STR 1 / AGI 1 / RES 1)

SOUL 40 ( MAGIC 5 / SENSE 17 / WILL 18)

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

(NEW!)

- Criminal Mastermind ????

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━