Spy Watch - Mission - Serena

Serena got off the train after a somewhat short ride from Clover Town to Oak Town. Bustling stations, nothing too different from the last time she remembered visiting this place. she untied her scarf and redid it and took out the paper with the job's information on it. Her gold pupils scanned it once more before folding it and pocketing it. Subconsciously she reached to her left shoulder, forgetting that she had left Astrid behind seeing as this wouldn't be a mission she would be particularly needing any battle partners.

The metal heels of her boots clicked along the brick path as she entered the housing areas, looking for her client's house. 'Number 29, number 29...' she thought to herself until she stopped just right in front a house like the others, with the wooden plate, the digits 2 and 9 etched neatly into it. A small, almost invisible smile crept on her face as she stepped onto the porch, her fist about to knock. Twice her fist knocked on the wooden door when a male in his early 30s almost threw open the door. "You are..?" the man asked, looking Serena up and down.

(195 words)

"A mage of the guild, Blue Pegasus. I'm here for the job," she stated as she held up the crumpled piece of paper. The man blinked before nodding and inviting the girl in. Upon entering, Serena took in the interior of the house, it was quite cosy and somewhat silent. Perhaps it was because the client lived alone in the place. She shook it off and took a seat on the soft fabric covering of the sofa in the living room. The man then hurried to get some tea, coming back moments later. "Well, you see, as the information on the request paper had said, the man would be in the centre of the city always, without fail. I just need you to report to me the details of what the man does. You shouldn't have too much trouble finding him," the client said. The silverette nodded, "Would written details suffice? I will be writing it down and I'll pass the details to you on paper, as well as verbally," she said as she got off her seat, her tea cup remained untouched. The client looked up at her before nodding and she took her leave.

(196 words)

Upon exiting the house, the first thing Serena checked was the town clock. It was only about 1:30 in the afternoon, the man should definitely be hanging around the markets still. It didn't seem as the man had a schedule to appear in town. Pulling up her shawl, she walked towards the town market areas. Immediately, her presence blended in with the crowd and she smoothly progressed in the crowd. Surely enough, a man dressed from head to toe in black was spotted and his clothing was pretty much yelling out that he was a suspicious character. Serena immediately whipped out her notebook and pen and began jotting down the man's garb and current behaviour among the crowd. 'The man seems to be buying something, his hands are well hidden from the average passerby's sight' she had scribbled on to the piece of paper. Silently, she inched closer to get a better view of the man. By the time she had reached close enough to observe the man's actions, he was already on the move. She furrowed her eyebrows in irritation, and sighed. Suspicious indeed, asking the woman who was with the man would only risk her position and purpose, so stalking would be a better solution.

(207 words)

Step by step, both the man's and her footsteps were almost in sync with each other. Every now and then, she would spot the man's hand so swiftly grab a few jewels of the occasional customer at a stall. Clicking her tongue in annoyance she paused by one of the stalls, casually buying a notebook in front of the passing man. Upon her purchase, she glanced at her purse, sure enough, the man had stolen a couple jewels off her. A triumphant smirk spread across her face, though it disappeared as quickly as it appeared. She pocketed the new notebook and pretended to leave, knowing the man will be on guard if he realised that she knew what he was doing. 'The man has quick movements, being able to steal from others' wallets without much of their knowledge' she wrote down below the rest of her notes. After she confirmed that her presence had been diminished from the notice of the crowd, she continued trailing the man who seemed oblivious to her. 1...2...3, the man stopped in front of an alleyway and turned into it. Quickly, Serena took a couple steps back and pressed herself against the wall and slowly inched towards the opening.

(204 words)

Concealing her presence, she watched the man as he took out the tons of cash he had stolen from others and began counting it excitedly, as if he had won the lottery or something. There were barely any people around this area for some reason, she noticed as she looked around the place she was currently in. It was quite a distance from the market area, plus there were a few houses only. Surprisingly enough, anyone who passed by didn't notice the black clothed man hidden in an alleyway, counting his stolen money. "Yes, more than 1000 jewel altogether. My luck is confirmed," the man whisper-yelled in excitement. Serena furrowed her eyebrows, is this guy stealing for gambling? Suppressing the urge to click her tongue in disapproval for this man's actions, she wrote down a few more notes. 'Stealing to gamble? Definitely not for paying off debt for sure by his words: My luck is confirmed' She then immediately pocketed her notebook and walked off quickly, seeing that the man was coming out of the alleyway already. As soon as she got far enough for the man to not notice her, she looked back, the man was heading in the opposite direction as she was. She sighed as she pulled up her gloves and began to walk as silently as she could, using the occasional passerby as a shield to her presence. As invisible as she could be, anyone would notice someone stalking them when in an area with little to no people.

(253 words)

As she had expected, the man seemed to be headed to a shady gambling building which blended in with the rest of the rows of vacant and taken shop lots. Despite how well it blended in with the rest though, the fact that there was a large gaudy sign with a few words printed on it, the word 'Gamble' very clearly printed on the black wood surface, gave it away quite well. Serena sighed as she went into another shop a few lots from the gambling area. She wasn't exactly sure how long the man would take, and she definitely wasn't going back yet, in her mind, she felt she hadn't accomplished and written enough notes to be enough for reporting to the client, after all, she's paid for this. The jingle of the shop bell echoed silently around the sleepy building as she entered, taking a seat on one of the stools at a far corner. After all, it appeared to be a bookshop, selling things ranging from magic spells and your average novel. "Can I help you, miss?" the shopkeeper asked. Serena just shook her head and pulled out her notebook, reviewing what she had written so far.

(200 words)

Written neatly in the notebook, nicely bullet pointed, were all the actions and characteristics of the man. She took out her black pen and wrote down a couple more notes'Confirmed: The man is stealing for gambling. Cannot investigate further the purpose of his actions since I'll be found out. The place also looks like a cabaret club' the black words were scrawled upon the yellow-ish white paper of the notebook. Her fingers drummed against her lap, as she stared blankly at the shelves and shelves of books, her gaze occasionally looking to the clock hung on the wall above the cashier. Releasing a sigh, she grabbed a book behind her back and began to read to pass the time. "Miss, this isn't a library...um, are you going to buy that?" the shopkeeper asked, snapping Serena out of her fictional reality. She blinked for a moment, looked at the clock and then nodded almost hesitantly and made her way to the cashier, buying the book. After that she checked out and exited, the black cloaked man was a little further off, looking quite bedraggled and depressed as he stared angrily at the few bills in hand. She wrote down some notes since it appeared that the man would continuously steal for trying his luck by gambling and women. "How despicable" she thought to herself as she slowly trailed after the man.

(230 words)

After lots of pausing, hiding, and casually entering random shops, the man she was trailing eventually reached a rather dilapidated shelter of cardboard and scrap metal in a back alley. She immediately retreated to a safe distance where she can watch the man without him noticing her trailing him. A few minutes later, another stranger came up to him. They seemed to exchange a few words with each other before the stranger left, a very small bag of coins in his hand which he immediately hid under the jacket he was wearing. Quickly, she ran to a second-hand shop nearby and pretended to browse while the man and the stranger left, before she made sure they were completely gone. 'Debt? Partner-in-Crime? It just seems he has some liaison with the jacket stranger. Other than that, it doesn't seem that he will be stopping theft any time soon. Trailing stops here." She snapped the book shut and began to walk back to the client's house. She ignored the pressing curiosity at the back of her mind and soon enough, she was back in familiar places, well, at least places with civilisation and citizens, instead of shady looking figures wherever she went while trailing the man. In the end, perhaps the client should just be more aware of where he's putting his wallet instead of leaving it out in the open. She made a mental note to tell the client that little tip when she reaches his home to collect her money.

(250 words)

As she walked along the busy market road, Serena had been busily reading through and organising the notes she had written in the notebook. ''The man seems to be buying something, his hands are well hidden from the average passerby's sight. The man has quick movements, being able to steal from others' wallets without much of their knowledge. Stealing to gamble? Definitely not for paying off debt for sure by his words--> Confirmed: The man is stealing for gambling. Cannot investigate further the purpose of his actions since I'll be found out. The place also looks like a cabaret club. Debt? Partner-in-Crime? It just seems he has some liaison with the jacket stranger. Other than that, it doesn't seem that he will be stopping theft any time soon. Trailing stops here.' Yes, she nodded in approval at the short and concise notes, that would suffice. Before she knew it, she was at the man's door. She knocked on the door twice before the client opened the door and stuck out his hand. She ripped out the notebook page and handed it to the client. "I also suggest watching where your money is," she added in as she swiped away the money that was handed to her. Either ways, it looks like her job is done here.

(216 words)

[END OF JOB]