Contractbound - Chapter 50 Gathering Intelligence

On a sunny but chilly Tuesday, Valentine woke up at nine in the morning. He got up from his position and sat on the bed for some time, absorbing his surroundings. It was a rather cold morning, and the street was already bustling with people. He could hear the noisy street from his second-story bedroom whose heavy curtains were still closed, and through which the morning sunlight failed to penetrate. The noise from vehicles driving by, the ringing of bicycle bells, and the chattering of people were all mixed together and created a bizarre melody at that moment in time.

He stood up and went to the kitchen with the intention of making a cup of tea, still in his pajama pants and no top. He plugged in the boiler to the socket and waited until the water came to a boil while preparing his cup and the teabag. Unlike Graham, he preferred tea to hot chocolate and had collected a massive assortment of teas, in the form of both tea bags and loose leaves. For this morning, he chose to drink Earl Grey tea. He poured the boiling water into his cup and placed the tea bag and let it seep for some minutes while he was leaning on the kitchen counter patiently.

His tea was brewed and ready not long after. Valentine took a sip and let the rich tea entered his mouth gently. The floral aroma massaged his nostril pleasantly and the exotic taste of the malty tea nudged his tongue. There was a tinge of sweet, sour, and citrusy high note that softly hit his palate, enriching the whole experience. He finished his tea sip by sip, enjoying every moment of the hot earthy liquid entering his mouth and warming up his throat.

Valentine finished his tea almost ten minutes later. He washed the cup right away and went back to his bedroom to get dressed. Today, his mission was to gather intelligence from the owner of the Denuder contract scroll that had shown up in Graham’s divination. Valentine had experimented with his power with the help of Luuk the previous night and he had also had Graham divine some information for him to start from, so he was all set.

The target was often seen on Kerkstraat, where the biggest Cathedral in Sloten was located. It was probably where he lived because there were mostly residential areas around that street. Besides Kerkstraat, he was also often seen on Voorstraat, where a lot of offices were located. Graham couldn’t divine anything else because of the lack of information, which was why Valentine had to go in person and gather some intelligence, which then could be used in further divination attempts.

If possible, he would like to assassinate his target today, but for that, he had to be well-prepared because the Police would surely investigate once people realized his target was missing. Although dead Contractbounds left no bodies, a missing person would still be noticeable after some time.

Valentine put on a brown leather jacket and a pair of denim pants. He hid his knife under his jacket safely but easily to be taken out anytime. He also carried everything else that he might need during this mission, including Graham’s lighter.

He got out of his apartment and hailed a public motor carriage to take him to Voorstraat. At that hour, the target would most likely still be working, so it would make more sense for Valentine to go there.

It took him forty minutes to reach his destination because the street was located on West Sloten while his apartment was at the edge of Central Sloten, closer to the east. He got out after paying the driver, who drove away immediately in search of a new customer.

Valentine looked at his surroundings carefully, observing everything that caught his attention. The street was similar to Bloemstraat in that there were a lot of commercial buildings located there, but since it was near the edge of the city, the target audience was people visiting from another city to Sloten. There was a big shopping mall there call the Epicenter, with its ten floors full of attractions. Most people walking in the street there looked more fashionable than people walking in his area.

Since the street was big, he didn’t know exactly where to find his target, especially since he had never actually seen him in real life. But as he was already close enough, Graham’s divination should work better now. Valentine walked quickly in search of a secluded alley and walked into it when he found one.

The alley still had a few people walking by. There were big dumpsters there and it was big enough for the garbage truck to drive through. Valentine hid behind a giant green dumpster that emitted a rotting smell and sat on the ground with his back against the wall. He let go of any distracting thoughts and tried to fall asleep in that position. Although it was not comfortable, he had developed the ability to fall asleep quickly anywhere thanks to his past life.

Valentine fell asleep only within minutes. His breathing became regular and rhythmical. Not long after, he opened his eyes again slowly; Graham had woken up. He got up from his position and cleaned his clothes thoroughly.

“Couldn’t you choose a better location than this?” he complained inwardly while looking around, making sure no one had seen anything.

Graham then took out his lighter and triggered the flame. He concentrated on it and repeated a question in his mind.

‘Where is the one who has the Deity of Uncovering’s contract currently located?’

His surrounding became dim and an image was projected from the flame. It showed his target, who seemed to be working in his office. He was wearing a white shirt and a tie. On the desk which he was working at, there was a nametag that read ‘Daan Holsten’. It appeared to be the target’s name. The image then zoomed out and showed the building where he was currently in. It was a six-story building with the name at the front which read ‘Unilife Insurance’.

The image then disappeared, but since now he knew the target’s name, Graham could divine more about him. He concentrated back on the flame and repeated a different question.

‘Where does Daan Holsten live?’

The flame burned calmly and then an image gradually formed. It showed from high up above a street with a giant Cathedral where Graham had recognized earlier to be Kerkstraat. The image then zoomed in and showed a big house gated house with the number 58 on the gate. His target lived on Kerkstraat number 58. Once he got the address, the image vanished slowly.

He then focused again and asked his third question.

‘Where is Unilife Insurance’s company building located?’

Little by little, an image showing the bird’s eye view of the street appeared. There was a building marked with a red dot about five hundred meters away from Graham’s location, which was also marked with a red dot. After that, the image disappeared.

He focused again and asked his fourth question.

‘Is it safe to assassinate Daan Holsten in his office?’

Since it was a very simple yes or no question, the image only showed a piece of paper with a giant ‘X’ on it, indicating that it was not safe to assassinate his target in his office. And since the ‘X’ was very big, the degree of danger should also be high.

“So, for now, we can only observe Mr. Holsten. We can take action once he has left his office,” he concluded.

Graham walked out of the alley and started searching for the company building belonging to Unilife Insurance where his target was currently in. He walked down the busy street with a very wide sidewalk while observing his surrounding with his Supersight. There were so many people there it felt cramped although there was a lot of space on the sidewalk.

The closer he got to the shopping mall, the more crowded it became. There were also a lot of people who looked like foreigners there at that time, who must be tourists wanting to check out the entertainment centers offered by the big city. Their style of clothes was totally different from that of Slotenians, including the fashionable Western Slotenians.

Graham quickly walk past the crowd and resumed the search of his target building. He remembered where it was marked on the illusory map, but since there were numerous similar-looking buildings there, he still had to have his eyes perked up. On top of that, the street was long and huge, making walking around somewhat tiring.

He then saw a name in front of a building, which was exactly the same as he had seen in his divination. It was the building he was looking for, which belonged to Unilife Insurance. Graham observed the six-story building carefully. It looked modern with a modern architectural style, which was mostly defined by its use of giant glass panels and pure white walls.

The office used sliding doors and there was a security officer at the door, who was currently checking the identity of someone trying to get in. The security also did a body search in case the person was concealing a weapon. Once deemed safe, the person was allowed entry.

Graham was observing the building intently when he suddenly got a slight feeling of danger coming from somewhere inside the building. It made his neck hair stand.