[21 April 2023, 01:10 PM]

"Thanks for the meal, Chloe. I will be leaving first because my husband has contacted me."

"I will take my leave too. Thanks for teaching me how to cook."

Mrs. Marita and Lisa left after they helped us to clean the dishes. After all of that, I didn't even need to tell Lisa to keep our house's location a secret because she wanted to keep coming to learn how to cook from Chloe without being found out by the others.

I allowed her after I gave her a certain condition. She would only be allowed to visit when I was at home, and she couldn't tell anyone, even Zaiden, about our house's location. That way, I could use her as an alibi, and Zaiden would certainly trust her, considering she never told a lie to him.

Chloe also understood that I was uncomfortable and didn't want Lisa or the others to visit, so she apologized to me when the guests were busy cleaning the dishes earlier.

I forgave her because it was a part of my fault for not telling her and we finally agreed not to invite other people without informing the other first.

"Yes. See you again." Chloe waved her hand toward them and saw them left.

Chloe then approached me, sat beside me, and spoke.

"Vincent. I need to tell you something."

"What is it?" I turned to her, curious about what she wanted to tell me.

She had a serious expression as she looked straight into my eyes. There was something different about her right now.

"I heard a talk from a man in the supermarket earlier. He was talking about Fake Artifacts. Was the Fake Artifact that he meant was the one in the news lately?"

"A man? Wait, what happened after we parted ways?"

If he was talking about a Fake Artifact, then he was most likely Raymond or his subordinate. That guy had no special features and looked like a normal guy.

There was also a chance that the man Chloe talked about was a victim of Raymond and his gang.

I didn't expect Chloe to know the news about the Fake Artifacts, though. I didn't tell her yet because I was worried she would stop me from raiding Raymond's base. But my worries were unnecessary, huh? She looked like she was about to.. get angry, which was an unexpected reaction from someone with Hero Trait, Chloe.

"That man was about to hit Lisa with his hand coated in Mana to strengthen his hit. If his hand hit her, Lisa would have been injured badly. I.. I got angry and put him unconscious."

"Then, what happened to that man?" I asked.

"He was brought to the police station. Mrs. Marita's husband seems to be someone from the government. We were released after being asked some questions thanks to her."

Mrs. Marita's husband, huh? I guess I should thank her for helping Chloe.

Chloe was in disguise and had no official Awakener ID. If she were taken to the police station, she would have to show the police her real ID, which would make the situation troublesome. Lisa was also with Chloe. If she showed her real ID, Lisa would find out that Chloe was, in fact, the Hero Chloe. With that, my identity as Rai would be disclosed too.

"That's good. Anyway, do you know the man's identity?"

"According to the police, the man's name is Marcell. They found out about it from his ID in his pocket."

So he was indeed a victim. I could rest easy with this.

If the one caught by the police was Raymond or one of his subordinates, my raid this night would prove to be a bit troublesome. They surely would increase their guard in order to keep their identity safe.

From my estimation, they should've sold more than thirty Fake Artifacts until this day. That was only my estimation considering they at least sold an Artifact each day to a different person.

"I see. Good job, Chloe. Thanks for telling me."

"Un. I thought that I should tell you about it." She said with a bright smile.

"Yes. You are a great help."

For some reason, my hand moved to her head, patting her. She looked really adorable, and I couldn't stop myself.

When I came to my senses, I quickly pulled my hand.

"M-My bad." I apologized to her.

'What's wrong with me?' I thought.

I was expecting Chloe to get angry at me or at least looked confused. However, her reaction was different from what I had expected. She instead looked disappointed and asked.

"Why did you stop?"

"Huh? I thought you were uncomfortable with me suddenly patting you."

"No." She shook her head. "Your hand is.. comforting me. I don't mind."

Did she indirectly say that I could pat her anytime I wanted to?historical

How do I say it? Chloe was sometimes a bit childish, but she could act mature when the time was right too. This time, her childish side was really apparent. Usually, an adult would be uncomfortable if someone younger than them patted their head. But Chloe didn't feel uncomfortable. Instead, she said that my hand was comforting.

"Then, may I?"

"Yes." She leaned her head closer to me.

I was a bit hesitant, but then I reached out to her head again and patted her. This time, I moved slowly and she closed her eyes when I stroked her. She also let out a happy low noise, similar to a purr.

When I looked at her acting like this, an image came into my mind.

'She's like a cat.'

Then, we spent the afternoon in each other's company. I stopped patting her after some time, and we watched some comedy TV shows after that. I also told her that I had a job tonight.

She wanted to come with me at first, but I prevented her not to. I told her that tonight's job would be easy as I would go with Park Injun, and she finally backed away after I promised her to bring some ice cream on my way home.

***

[08:00 PM]

[Park Injun's Store]

Ting–!

I entered Park Injun's store in Rai's appearance, and Park Injun was ready and waiting for me in his red and black robe with glowing purple strikes in his real appearance. In his hand was a luxurious purple wand with a red gem embedded on the tip.

This guy had gone all out just because he was scammed, maybe around a billion USD. That kind of money was actually nothing for him, but as a stingy money-grubber, a scammer was his most hated enemy.

"You're here?" He turned at me, his voice held a hint of confidence in his power and was heavy. "And I see you are in your disguise, huh?"

Even in my story, Park Injun only wore his full equipment one time. It was when he and Smith went to fight Bathory, and I must admit, he was fucking strong.

The anonymous Awakener who cleared the S-Rank dungeon with Smith and the Academy's headmaster, Jack, was Park Injun. He was the Mage who, with his combination of Talents, managed to reach the peak of Magic.

His Talents were A-Rank Inspection, A-Rank Magic and A-Rank Weaving. The combinations of his Talents made him able to become an S-Rank Awakener by killing large numbers of monsters with his Magic that utilized his eyes that could see the movement of Mana and his precise control over it due to his Weaving Talent.

He weaved Mana into Magic, unlike the usual Mage, who only condensed Mana. That was the reason why he managed to reach the pinnacle of Magic with only his triple A-Rank Talents. He was not too talented when compared to Smith, but his Talents supported each other, creating wonderful chemistry with each other.

"Yeah. Also, it seems you are eager to go. You even use a rather complete set of your outfit." I smirked at him, looking at his outfit from toes to head.

The robe and the wand that he had were an Artifact. If there was an Artifact derived from King Arthur's story, there was also an Artifact that derived from his trusted Mage. And the robe and staff that Park Injun used belonged to that famous Mage, Merlin.

He didn't wear his usual monocle. Instead, his eyes color were different from his usual one. He now had blue irises whereas before they had been black.

"Of course. The one who stole my money is my enemy. I shall not hold back to destroy them." Park Injun grinned evilly as he let out a rather strange laugh.

His figure was now like a dark mage who experimented with humans, doing some strange nasty ritual inside a dark room. If I didn't know for sure that the one he hated the most was people who stole his money, I probably would have been surprised to see him doing something that was out of his character like this.

However, Park Injun was a man of words. If he said he would make the scammer pay, then he would certainly deliver his words; no one could stop him. That was why no one ever scammed him, not until Raymond scammed him that day.

"Well, do as you please. Anyway, it's the perfect time to raid them. We can also get witnesses to justify our actions."

Park Injun stopped laughing and looked at me curiously. "What made you say that?"

"It's simple." I raised my index finger and grinned at him, though he couldn't see my grin because of my mask. "Their hideout is inside a nightclub. At this time, the nightclub in Los Angeles is busy and crowded. So we can get a lot of witnesses, no?"

"So that's how it is." Park Injun's eyes shone a dangerous light as he clutched his staff tightly. "And, where is this nightclub that you are talking about."

"Of course, it's located in the most famous place in Los Angeles, Beverly Hills."

***

[Beverly Hills - In front of 'Awaken Night' Nightclub]

Park Injun and I went to Beverly Hills right after I told him the location of the nightclub where Raymond and his subordinates produced the Fake Artifacts.

The nightclub they were in was not too famous in Beverly Hills; it was called 'Awaken Night.' I did admit that I sucked at naming places and was too lazy when I wrote the first and second volumes due to the unpopularity of my novel.

However, after volumes five forward, I got better at giving names. I should call that character development for me.

Anyway, enough of that. We were now standing on top of a roof of a building located across from the 'Awaken Night' nightclub. The nightclub was bustling with people who exited luxurious cars and entered the establishment.

"So they are inside?" Park Injun, who stood beside me, asked while narrowing his glowing eyes. His eyes glowed due to one of his Artifacts, [See-Through Lenses], which could see through any magical Enhancement. "There is nothing special outside the building." He reported as his eyes stopped glowing.

As expected of the Artifact Dealer. He had a ton of Artifacts ranging from useless to really useful. The Artifact that he used this time was categorized as the useful one, as it could see through any Enhancement without even opening the item's description.

Even without his Artifact, I knew that there was no Enhancement placed outside of the building or even inside. There was a slight problem, though.

"The people inside the nightclub will prove to be a problem." Park Injun muttered.

"Yeah. Most of them are Awakeners who live in Beverly Hills. Though I doubt famous Awakeners will visit this nightclub." I answered while running my eyes through the area around the nightclub.

I had already thought about the presence of the guests inside. The problem was whether Park Injun would agree to my plan. I looked at Park Injun and asked.

"Hey, you didn't mind getting people to notice your presence, right?"

He turned to me, answering, "Didn't I tell you? I don't care as long as I can pay the one who scammed me back. Also, I think those Awakeners inside had heard about the Artifact Dealer. Don't tell them about my name, though."

"Then good. Please make some noise after I make some hole on the roof of the nightclub." I took out my [Arash Bow] from my magic bag and pointed it at the roof of the nightclub. Our location was higher than the nightclub so it was easy to see my target.

Park Injun noticed my plan and looked at me in horror. "You are crazy. I know you are talking about having witnesses, but your plan is crazy."

"Nah, not really. I am not afraid of anything when an S-Rank Awakener is beside me."

"Now I understand why Smith took you as his disciple. Both of you are crazy." He muttered, his voice held a hint of amusement.

"I will take that as a compliment. Also, if someone asks, I will say that you are the one who hired me to take you to the scammer's hideout."

"Fair enough." He nodded.

The Mana Arrow began to condense when I pulled the Mana Bowstring. I added the Fire attribute to the Arrow and activated the effect of [Arash Bow], Small Meteor, so the Mana Arrow was blazing red, unlike the usual blue Mana Arrow that I used.

Park Injun noticed my plan and prepared his Magic. He pointed his wand toward the sky, and Mana started to move into the gem on the tip of his wand. Shortly after, a whirlwind appeared around us.

The Magic that he used was a defensive Magic utilizing the wind attribute Mana. The whirlwind around us would protect us from any projectiles; how kind of him to protect me when I wanted to get some attention from the other Awakeners.

The Awakeners in the nightclub began to stir.

Some of them, who were sensitive to Mana, exited the establishment first and looked in our direction. That was perfect; it went as planned. Surely, when S-Rank Awakener appeared out of nowhere and began to control the Mana in the area, they would be freaked out and try to find out what happened.

Many Awakeners soon exited the nightclub. After seeing that a lot of people had exited, I released the arrow that I held, and it flew toward the back side of the nightclub and created a medium explosion that blew a part of its roof.

Boom!

The place that I blew up was the secret room where Raymond and his subordinates made the Fake Artifact. As our entrance had been secured, I happily stated, "Let's start our heist,"

This would be my first time in a real battle against humans, but I couldn't help but get excited about the idea of a heist.