The Nobles

Chapter 29

DUNCAN is now with Theodred. They are about to investigate the half blood that Claudius threatened few days ago.

Ang kasama niya ay elegante lamang na naglalakad habang namamaymay. Maraming napapatingin sa gawi nila at hindi naman bago iyon.

They are about half way far across the country from the penthouse of Duncan. Hindi naman nila akalaing hindi pala sa capital ng bansang ito nakatira ang half blood na iyon. His laziness is offended.

They are in one of the not so civilized province, it only have few buildings and one of it is standing in front of them. Dito nakatira ang half blood na iyon ayon na rin sa source ni Theodred.

He think, it is really good to have plenty of connections. Madalas at nasanay kasi siyang kumilos mag-isa. Perhaps, the reason why Theodred is always fast with his tasks is because of the connections he have. Dang, he can't believe he envy this feminine guy.

"It's on the fifth floor," said Theodred.

Tumango naman siya at tahimik silang nagtungo roon. The elevator made a sound when they reached the floor. He spiritlessly look around when they stepped in the hallway.

"What room number?" he asked.

"T'was room number 42."

Naglakad sila at isa isang tiningnan ang mga room number. Theodred found the room. They avoided the peephole when he click the doorbell button.

Maya maya ay lumabas ang isang lalaking half blood. They took the pill that he invented so he probably thought of them as a human because he's not sensing any presence from them.

"Anong kailangan niyo?"

Inaantok niyang tiningnan ito at tinulak papasok sa loob na naging dahilan para bahagya itong tumilapon. Napatingin tuloy siya sa kamay niya. That was a bit use of his control to gravity.

"f**k! Sino kayo?!"

"Chill, we're not here to cause any harm," Theodred explained.

Nanatili naman siyang tahimik.

"Kung ganoon, anong ipinunta niyo rito?"

Umupo siya sa isang sofa at prenteng isinandal ang katawan dito. Habang ang half blood at ang kasama niyang si Theodred ay magkaharap sa ngayon.

"We just need to interrogate you about the information that you have. Someone also lend you a roll, am I right?"

Kumunot ang noo ng half blood.

"It's about that again?! I no longer have that, some f*cktard take it away from me!"

Ipinikit niya ang kaniyang mata at nakinig na lamang sa usapan.

"We know. But I wanted to ask, what time did you get that?"

He heard how the half blood sigh in frustration.

"Fine, it was about 9:30 in the evening."

"Hmm, and how did you get the information?"

"The doorbell rang three times. Nang binuksan ko ang pinto walang kahit sinong nandoon maliban sa roll na iyon. Binuksan ko dahil nagtataka ako kung tungkol saan. At napagtanto kong mahalagang impormasyon iyon, it was actually a map."

Yes. They know that. Another map again. Sabi ni Theodred, mapa rin ang roll na nakuha nila sa auction. Pero ang mga mapang iyon ay magkakarugtong. No one will decipher it without the other maps. And they have now destroyed two parts of it. Based on his calculations, the rolls are four.

"Did you tell anyone about it?"

Saglit natahimik ang half blood. Iminulat niya naman ang mata niya at tumingin sa dalawa.

"To be honest, I did said a lot of things about it to the different persons I have encountered. I said I have a very valuable information about the treasure, but I didn't say anything about the map."

Tumango tango si Theodred, siya naman ay tumayo na para umalis. Nauna siyang lumabas ng pinto nang walang paapaalam.

Tiningnan niya ang paligid. There are CCTV's in the hallway. He doubt that they will have clue through that but there's no harm in trying.

Maya maya lumabas na rin ang kaniyang kasama. He explained to him what he's about to do.

"Let's check the CCTV footages."

"I'm thinking the same thing."

Nagtanong sila sa isang janitor na nag-iikot para maglinis, at matapos nitong sabihin na nasa upper floor, agad silang nagtungo roon. They didn't waste any time when they arrived at the room.

Naintindihan naman ng nagbabantay ang gusto nilang mangyari nang nagpaliwanag si Theodred, nagpakilala rin ito bilang Noble.

Around 9:00 pm the day that the half blood mention, they watched the footage of what really happened.

Exactly 9:23:06 in the evening, a person wearing a hooded cape went in front of the room number 42. Inilabas nito ang isang rolyo at inilapag sa sahig katapat ng pinto habang tumitingin tingin sa paligid. The person is tall, but he can't really see the built of this person's body because of the cape. He can't also determine whether it's a man or a woman.

Maya maya nakita niyang tatlong beses nitong pinindot ang doorbell at mabilis na umalis sa lugar na iyon. Now, he knew that it's either a half blood or a Noble.

Nakasakay na ng elevator ang misteryosong indibidwal nang lumabas ang half blood sa silid nito. Kita niyang ilang beses itong tumingin tingin sa paligid at maya maya namataan ang rolyo sa sahig.

They decided to also see the elevator that same day and hour. At nakita nilang nakatayo lamang doon ang misteryosong indibidwal na iyon.

He sighed deeply. They came all the way here just for a little information like that? What the f**k.

Kahit ang fingerprints nito hindi nila makukuha dahil nang pindutin nito ang doorbell o ang mga button sa elevator, nakita niyang nakasuot ito ng gloves.

That person is smart that it's pissing him off.

Naramdaman niya ang marahang pagtapik ni Theodred sa balikat niya habang naglalakad sila paalis ng gusaling iyon.

Nilingon niya ito nang kunot ang noo.

"I took a picture of that person through the footage. I will ask someone to track that person. There are CCTV's around this area, maybe we'll have information through that." paliwanag nito sa kaniya.

Tumango tango naman siya at pumasok sa family van na dinala nilang dalawa. Siya ang nagmaneho ng sobrang tagal papunta sa lugar na ito kaya si Rainier naman ang gagawa ng trabahong iyon kapalit niya.

He lay his body in the single space bed inside the van. Damn it. He's still tired from the two days straight ride.

"We'll stop inside the part of the mountain nearby. I can't afford to waste our long trip here."

Hindi niya na ito sinagot. He felt the same way, he can't believe he drive here for like two straight day for a nonsense information like that.

Isang oras ang lumipas, naramdaman niyang huminto ang sasakyan. They must be already on the mountain.

"Yo. Still busy?" rinig niyang sambit ni Rainier, mukhang may kausap sa telepono.

"I sent you the pictures, can you do something about that? I also sent you the location and where we saw him, the area has CCTV cameras around."

"Yes, asshole. I'll give you something valuable this time, don't worry, just give me some delicious information."

Umupo siya nang maayos at hinawi ang kurtina para tingnan ang labas. It's already in the afternoon and there are in the mountain, inside a forest.

And it looks like they have to stay here for quite awhile until the source of Rainier deliver the worthy information to them.

Kinuha niya ang isang bag na naglalaman ng mga pagkaing dinala nila. He wish his Master is here, he's longing for her.

He open the cup noodles and pour a hot water on it. Nilingon siya ni Theodred dahil napuno ng amoy nito ang buong van.

"Make me one too."

"Dream on," sambit niya.

Maya maya lumipat na ito sa isa pang single spacing bed at nakigaya sa kaniya.

"I regret having this investigation instead of that one with the auction. My beautiful skin can't take too much stress."

He immediately scoff as he heard Rainier. Sinamaan niya ito ng tingin na agad kinatawa nito.

"What? I'm saying the truth. You know how beautiful of a man I am."

Napailing na lamang siya at hinintay ang tatlong minutong durasyon para makain na ang cup noodles.

His ears slightly move when he heard noises coming to the direction of their van.

Hinawi naman ni Theodred nag kurtina sa gawi nito para tingnan ang mga parating. It looks like there are humans who are about to hike at this time.

May kasama pang isang lalaki sa unahan na siguro siyang tour guide para sa mga aakyat ng bundok.

They can clearly hear what those humans are talking about given their extraordinary senses.

"Bakit may van dito, manong? Pwede ba 'yan?"

"Baka balak din nilang maghike."

"Sabagay, maganda ang tanawin sa taas ng bundok mamayang hating gabi. Excited na ako!"

"Saglit lang ha, tatanungin ko ang may-ari ng sasakyan."

And because the van is heavily tinted, the humans didn't know they can see them clearly. Lumapit ang tour guide at kinatok ang van ng dalawang beses. Si Theodred ang nag-abalang magbukas nito.

Nang bumungad ang kasama niya, rinig niya ang iilang tili ng mga babaeng tao.

He roll his eyes because of that.

"Sir, aakyat din ho ba kayo ng bundok?" the guide asked.

Umiling si Rainier.

"No, we're spending a night of perhaps another day here, is that fine?"

Kita niyang tumango tango ang lalaking tao. Siya naman ay nagsimula nang kainin ang cup noodles.

Tinitigan niya itong mabuti nang matikman ang lasa.

No wonder Guillaume likes it so much.

"Ganoon po ba? Baka kasi may masasamang loob ang mangbiktima sa inyo rito, lalo na madilim na parte ito ng bundok."

"Don't worry about us, we can handle ourselves."

Matapos ng maikling usapan, umalis na rin at tuluyan na silang iniwan ng mga tao.

He open another cup of noodles because one of it isn't enough for his starving tummy.

THEODRED go out of the van for a little while. Halos maghahatinggabi na, at tulog na ang kasama niyang si Duncan. Sumandal siya sa van na dala nila at tinitigan ang phone na hawak.

He received a message from Leon saying he'll call in five minutes.

And true to his words, Leon call him few minutes later. Agad niya naman itong sinagot.

"Did you find something?" he asked the moment he answer the call.

Rinig niya ang pagtawa nito sa kabilang linya.

"Damn, man. Chill yo' ass. I did what you told me, I checked the CCTV footages, I even saw the same thing, the person with the hooded cape with a gloves in the both hands. There's nothing really special. I'll send you the footages that I spent freaking hours to obtain. And, this person vanished in the middle of Hives road and Olau road, there's an alley in between. This person must be there or he changed his clothes and viola! He mingle with the crowd. I sent the pictures of those persons who went out of that alley around that time. F*ck, my throat hurts because of the long f*ckin' speech."

He chuckle on what Leon said in the end.

"Thank you so much for this information. I'll gladly lend you a very precious material."

"No prob, I already send the videos and the pictures. I'll end this call, and s**t man, I'm freaking sleepy, bye!"

Natawa siya nang tuluyan dahil dito, pero agad ding sumeryoso nang sunod sunod tumunog ang cellphone niya. It's probably the information that Leon sent.

Nang buksan niya ang mga file, nakita niya ang sinasabi nito. It was just the person in the hooded cape running fastly from establishments to establishments. Until that person reached that alley. Isang minuto ang lumipas, dahil maraming dumadaan doon, iba iba't klase rin ng indibidwal ang nakita niya.

Damn, too bad no one can sense presense through videos and pictures.

Tiningnan niya rin ang mga litratong sinend sa kaniya ni Leon. These specific persons are most likely the person in the hooded cape.

Isa roon ay isang lalaking matangkad at malaki ang katawan. Nakamask ito at naka sumbrero.

Parehas lang din ang sunod na litrato, isang lalaking tama lamang ang katawan at parehas nag tangkad. Nakamask ito at may suot na hoodie. Ang hood ng suot na jacket ay suot nito sa ulo.

Pangatlo ay isang babaeng nakatago ang buhok sa cap nito. Nakasalamin itong malaki kaya't hindi kita ang mukha. At ang suot nitong bistidang itim ay makapal at loose.

The next picture is also a girl, wearing a mask and the hair is covering her face. Suot nito ang isang simpleng fitted jeans at oversized shirt na pangtaas.

That was all the pictures that Leon sent. Tomorrow morning, he'll discuss with Duncan what they will do about these things.