Chapter 121: Chapter 74: Preparations (7)
A large number of people remained frozen in place before me, not moving. I stepped back, raised my blood stained dagger, and immediately everyone ran out.
I waited a little inside the factory to give them enough time to get as far away as possible, then I walked among the bodies. There were piles of discarded fabric everywhere. In every corner there were wooden crates when I opened and checked them I found a large stash of clothes inside.
What is this place really? Why are those with Skull gang tattoos forcing others to work in a sewing factory? Have gangs these days started running weird side businesses? The ugly tattoos on their arms made it clear they were nothing but a bunch of idiots with terrible taste.
I mean, by the Creator of the Heavens, what sane man would get such a tattoo?
Anyway, after I made sure I’d given everyone enough time to get away, I gathered the playing cards scattered on the floor and from atop the corpses, then I left the warehouse.
The moment I stepped outside I felt my grasp of my power deepen considerably. I also felt the mask’s effect on me ease a little. I raised my hand and grabbed a bundle of playing cards; I squeezed them and crushed them without touching them while they floated around my hand, then I shattered them without touching them.
I headed toward a dark corner in a side alley, removed the mask from my face, and looked at Raghu who appeared beside me. I said to him:
"Ask that spirit if it knows the exact location of this gang’s leader."
Raghu replied with annoyance:
"Am I your servant? Stop giving orders and speak with a little courtesy at least."
"Please, just tell him this. Are you ready? Go."
Raghu vanished for a few seconds, then returned and said concisely:
"He doesn’t know his exact location."
"Describe his approximate location at least."
"He doesn’t know anything."
"You didn’t even ask him yet."
"No need. That old man’s memory is very poor."
"Do spirits even have memory?"
Raghu answered mockingly:
"What do you think, then?"
"Forget it. Can he describe his appearance?"
"I expected you to ask that, so I asked first. He’s a tall man, probably in his late fifties."
"Oh my God, now I’ll definitely be able to find him easily."
"I really thought that was a very general description."
"It is! What did you expect me to do search the whole neighborhood for every man with those specs?"
"That’s the reaction I expected from you; that’s why I didn’t tell you the description at first. And also, why do you look like you’re angry at me? I didn’t describe him, you know?"
I sighed deeply, then said:
"Tell me his name at least."
Raghu disappeared and reappeared after a few seconds and said:
"He says his name is Jackson Frimora."
Frimora... the name sounded familiar; I felt like I’d heard it somewhere before, but I couldn’t remember where exactly. Anyway, it didn’t matter. I had the name now, and that was enough. Finding one man is not complicated when you have the power to grant wishes even if those wishes are often useless. In cases like this, though, they can be extremely useful.
I muttered as I put my hand in my pocket:
"I wish to find the man named Jackson Frimora."
And now... all I had to do was take a stroll through this ugly neighborhood what a lovely day to waste.
I put the mask back on. Then I started walking, my boots splashing through muddy puddles while night was already beginning to fall around me.
Now I didn’t know exactly what to do sightsee or what? I figured I should at least try searching. True, in past times when I made a wish I found my target by chance, but I did search somewhat seriously each time.
...
In the factory Jevan had just left, one of the guards was still alive. A young man in his mid twenties. He was hiding inside one of the clothing crates under thick piles of fabric, sweating profusely while his hand covered his mouth so as not to make a sound.
The air inside the box began to run out but he didn’t dare move. He had seen everything: that masked figure who stormed the place, the cards that flew into the air then became crows and returned to card form and tore everyone apart. He’d seen blood spatter on the walls and watched his comrades fall one by one without understanding how or why.
"I survived... by the Creator... I survived."
He repeated those phrases in his mind to calm himself. He was only a new guard, had joined two weeks ago after placing the Skull tattoo on his neck the sign of loyalty to the Skull gang that ran the factory.
They told him this job was safe, that guards here were protected from all gang conflicts in the Lower District. They also promised to pay well.
But reality was completely different than he expected.
Even after all the sounds stopped, he did not dare emerge. He sat in place until the air gradually dwindled and his clothes were drenched in sweat.
He couldn’t bear it any longer and decided to take a risk, for a reason he couldn’t even understand himself. He lifted the wooden lid and stuck his head out slightly.
Then he saw the horrific scene. The concrete floor of the factory was covered in blood, corpses lay in every direction. The machines that had run all day were now idle there were no workers.
He stumbled out.
"My God... my God..."
All he thought in that moment was to run to get to his superior, tell him what happened, and then vanish forever. He didn’t look back; he ran straight out of the factory. He didn’t even notice Jevan moving nearby but, unfortunately for him, Jevan did notice him.