The Automated King

Short Survey

For a man like me, surveillance mission like this is troublesome. In my prime days of being a beginner, an objective would be the precious treasure of all. We were loaded by different point of study, learned every aspect of our counter-part by s***h of questions. I wonder, though, which of the person out here is gullible of my demand? This is difficult. In my usual day, I’m in no contest to say “no, this won’t do” to an ugly abomination, and “that is the person I’m looking for!” to the gorgeous ladies. In other words, I would be picky to choose one of which animals that I would ask for info, a bad traits for a surveyor, right.

Hmm, the square is packed with random bystanders. I can’t overlook anyone, that’s for sure. Reginald would be pissed off with me if I got nothing inside my bag. Haha, being scolded by a nasty newbie is a no-no for my pride.

My first prey, an elder of the city. He might be loaded with so much knowledge of the city. Those wrinkles, his crippled mane, looked as awesome to be the first blood of my tally.

“Good morning, sir. Can I interrupt you?”

“Hm? Sorry, puny mortal. I have no spare change for ya.”

Ergh, He is sassy. How could he, considering my great personality and looks, injected those “tramp” and “puny” image to me?

“Excuse me, Mr. Lion. Are you on drugs or something? I am not a beggar.”

“Sadly, yes. My family can’t bear with my addiction of drinking the herb from our local herbalist. They threw me out, and right now I have to plead anyone’s pity to live.”

“Oh, I’m sorry to hear such agony. Are you alright? Here, allow me to ease your pain a little.”

“Screw me, my deceit has always been in prevail of you guys!! Haha, bye.”

Being deceived in the middle of foreign land.... Such an evil, that man-lion.

Hey, those giraffe seems benign.  If you ask me, their species would be my first on the list to be double-cross agent. He or She, or among those two, would be proper to respond my silly random call of the wild with ease.

“Good morning. May I have your time for a simple questioning? I...”

“Show me your warrant, or I’ll report this to the sentinel.”

“What? I have to be authorized for..”

“You are one of those ‘secret guards’ or something, am I right? I’ve had watched your kind with the small ‘interrogation’ and such in the local opera.”

This giraffe must be misinterpreted my handsome face. I guess it’s a no-go for the future espionage work, then. Wait, I forgot. She’s a mammal, how could this animal have a taste on human? Wow, wow, that is surely too much for a tale right now.

“Uhm, allow me to re-phrase. Do you have time for a few minutes of interview? I am a new guy here, and I am in dire need to...”

“Interview? What is it? Am I being recruited to your ‘secret agent’ or some stuff? Come on, the cafe is more appropriate to us.”

“Eh.... no.... no.... whoa!”

And he, or she, or somewhere in between, fetched me up to a date. Despicable..... how is this even possible? Ah, better play by this person’s rules, or I’ll be swatted by those sturdy, long, and horrendous neck. Bluffing is an art, and I have my own trick to tame her down.

“So, so, what is it? How to apply myself to your ‘hidden’ organization?”

Hmm, If I recall, Repugnare is actually an underground mobs with angelic cause. This giraffe would be freaked out to hear those one.

“Hmm, okay. For the earliest requirements, I might need your full identity. Who’s your name, Mr....”

“Uhm, my eyes are up here, human, and I’m a female, for your information.”

“Forgive me, Ma’am. How can I see your eyes from down below? I’m even struggling to see your mid-neck.”

Yup, I am partially could identify her womanish characteristic from down here. Sorry, ma’am, it’s very much unintentional.

“Fine, then, I’ll set those aside for now. State your offer, Mr...”

“Call me Reiner, Simon Reiner.”

“Sorry, Mr. Simon. By the norms of the country, each inhabitants of the city were obliged to name their counterpart or respective partner by their forename.”

Can I count that one as intelligence? I guess that would be surprising if it’s not.

“It’s alright, Ma’am.  I am not really problematic with trivial issue like name or anything of the sort. “

“Not surprising at all, Mr. Simon. You are just being here, after all. Now, please give me further explanation for your secrecy.”

I am genuinely forgotten with my current objectives. What do I have to ask her in this moment?

“Uhm.... no, Ma’am, You can refer my organization as ‘open-minded’ and ‘up-to-date.’ We are not adapting the previous protocol anymore to our daily task.”

“Hihihi, Protocol.... Reminds me of the stage play ‘Human agent 800.’ Have you taken a look at this? Really antique and thrilling for me. Yup, you are definitely foggy to it, so I pull off the story for now.”

“Hmm, please do tell, Ma’am. Oh right, I completely absent to ask about your name.”

“Well, I am Regita Buttercup. In my neighborhood, it’s usually shortened to be Regi. Whichever you choose is acceptable, Mr. Simon.”

“To be more acquainted, I would call you Regi. Alright, what’s on the list?”

Hahaha, Regi the Giraffe. I need to note this one, underline, and add it to my daily report. Ellen might be amused and hysterical by this ‘coincidence.’

“Have you been on the show of ‘mysterious magician’? My colleague keep in his tab to this particular case, and it’s never resolved whatsoever.”

“I had one in mind. Two days ago, the group of traveler were held the street performance by the entrance to our city. I am one of the admirer of those humans, they are amazing. It’s unfortunate that I can’t see their faces, since I got myself so far away from the stage.”

She is a fan-girl of me, indeed. I don’t want to pursue on this matter anymore, because it’s practically useless. Regi would be outraged if I am applying this sort of intelligence to the paper.

“Okay, I’ve jotted down adequate details from you, Miss Regi. Thank you for the cooperation. I have errands to do, so if you’ll excuse me, I’m on my way.”

“You’re welcome, Mr. Simon. I hope to hear a good response from your organization in the future.”

Time to venture and regret, countlessly. It’s close to noon, though. I think it would be outstanding to wander around in the meantime.

---

“It’s close to dark, and I have nothing on my head.”

The afternoon swept along the way, Siphon the spirit and willingness idealism of a man. Everyone, including Simon, has a shortage of energy by this time of day, longing for an indulgence of solitude from their home.

“I am starving..... I could eat a chick for dinner.”

“Kyaa!! He is molesting me!!”

Simon, apparently on his last reckoning to breath, shocked by the shambolic demeanor of the female gazelle ahead of him.

“Hey, calm down! I am not talking about you, Miss.”

“Kyaaaaa!! He is teasing me around!”

“You are the one, non-person!! Eh, sorry, I don’t mean to..”

“Nah, you are correct. I am a non-human, so how about a night to the inn?”

He got off the scene in clear disdain, glared in-depth to the eyes of the Gazelle-woman out of shame.

“She is the worst!! Taking me for granted like that....”

His trip to the desired destination is obstructed by someone’s intervention, another impediment to his account.

“Halt! I am the sentinel-in-charge of this area. Please clarify your exploit of the s****l harassment to the gorgeous woman of the inn!”

“Did you say ‘gorgeous,’ Mr. Bull-Guardsman? I’ll gonna report this to your boss, so please curb down your wager on me.”

The Bull, in mounting anger, sparked his wrath to Simon by pointing his horn down to him.

“Herrrghh...Herrghhh.....You are in a luck, since our king despised physical rally to a delinquent tourist.”

“Ahem!! I am nothing but your humble merchant. If you wanna have a great sensation of fresh apple and the pine-apple, swing by our store in the market area.”

“I’ll cast you away for now, but don’t you dare to take initiative on doing illicit move for the second time.”

After several distance further from the bull-guardsman, Simon giggled down, then roaring in joy.

“The pouting nightwatchman is funny. I can savor his wrath, dip it in sauce, and devour it all in a single bite.”

His small cruise got interrupted by a sudden commotion on the bedside of the battered walkway.

“Hmm? Who’s in the center of this crowd? So rowdy.”

At long last, the mentioned individual passing by in a blistering pace, entailed with the exhausted rhino-sentinel on its back.

“I can’t see the culprit from here. Better catch his trail before the fun’s gone awry.”

Simon is increasing his running speed to stalk the bizarre character, eventually getting close to the aimed target in no hassle.

“Haha, you are too slow for me.”

Unexpectedly, The anonymous person launched himself upwards. Simon, seemingly inattentive to the obstacle upon him, tripped himself to the protruding stone tile and knocking down the wall ahead of him.

“Ouch, ouch....”

“Oh no, my house!!!”

A cat-person pressed his head tightly to the scenic occurrences, mourning his bad situation of the night.

“I’m sorry, Sir. Hope the gold save your bills.”

Simon dropped his bag of gold to the floor, then flying back to the main road in no time.

“Ah, I lost him.... Hey, I recognize his figure.... is that Reginald?”

The man-in-notice bending his head up, searching for something on the roof.

“HEY...”

Unfortunately, Simon failed to attract Reginald’s attention, as he swiftly leapt up to the roof right after.

“This guy is really dramatic. I don’t know what’s on the run, but it could be a rough stuff. It’s a sure choice to be his wingman, for now.”

He is shadowing Reginald’s track down the pavements, patched his view towards the movement of his partner.

“Argh, constantly looking up and down made me dizzy. It would be better if I run over the rooftop like him.”

As he searched for a propeller to the top, he sees a wide alleyway in a few meters up front. He then proceed to get close to the gap, jumping over the neighboring wall side to side until reaching the rooftop with ease.

“My exercise really set me up for the stunt like this. Nobody’s on watch, so it’s kind of depressing at some point.”

After the short let-down to his mental department, Simon is starting to increase his velocity to catch-up with Reginald.

“It’s have to be worth a shot, Regi. You’ll gonna pay handsomely if it’s not.”

Their cat-and-mouse masquerade ended upon the humongous pasture of dried wood and lumber. In his exhilaration, Simon’s field of vision captured the stint of suspicious entity in front of Reginald.

“So that’s the person that you tried to pin down? Looked like two small-time thief to me....Hey, hey, what is he doing? Those people might be still on the scene!! He would be caught dead if he tried to go down to those fireplace.”

Simon’s conjecture proven his ability to analyze the mannerism of his mentee, as Reginald leapt out off the chimney in a hurry.

“Hmm, a single slip and he’s a name to remember by.”

The next event followed up in a flash. On Reginald’s attempt to reach the top of the watchtower, Simon watched upon his finesse from afar. A couple of time after Reginald entered the ventilator, the watch-tower shaken up and down, posed a great intensity of some battle occurring within.

“Shoot, Is Reginald okay? Argh, I have to get inside, or he would be in a mud of loss already.”