"Don't distract me, idiot."
The young man slunk down the street under the cover of the darkness of alleyways and closed market carts. He had deep blue hair, eyes dark as ink, and deeply tanned skin. A light scar traced the skin under his left eye, and his body was littered with other small scars, evidence of a lifetime of scrapes and scuffles. His voice was sharp and low, but it sounded almost like a woman's. The young man had been born into a woman's body many years ago. He clutched a leather bag across his flat chest, peering around a corner.
Behind him floated a demon.
It was commonly known among Geumans that Geuman demons could be told apart from humans by their red irises and milk-pale skin. This demon's form was that of a handsome young man, enrobed in silk. His legs disappeared into a fog, giving him the sense of being a mirage. His mouth was curled into a self-amused smirk. He sighed dramatically, flipping open an intricately woven fan from nothingness.
"Fiiiiine. Jae, Jae, Jae. So uptight!"
The human man, Jae, shot the demon a glare. "If you mess this up, I'll kill you."
"Kill me? I'd love to see you try~"
Jae landed a punch in the demon's gut. It didn't make contact with flesh, but it poofed a hole through the demon's mist-like form. The demon pouted.
"Jugjil, I'll kill you. I hate you, Jugjil. Shut up, Jugjil. Fine." The face of the demon, Jugjil, suddenly became uncharacteristically serious. "I'll be quiet if you give me permission to step in if something goes wrong."
Jae rolled his eyes, darting across the street. They were in a residential quarter of the outer city circle now—poorly maintained two-storied wooden housing lined the streets, a candlelight in the window here, a street cat stalking there. "Fine."
"Say it. You have to say it."
"I give you permission to step in if something goes wrong! Now shut up!"
The demon went quiet, his misty form dissipating and leaving behind only a small red orb that followed Jae through the streets as he hurried along.
In a few minutes, they had reached the merchants' circle of the city. Housing suddenly changed from crooked wooden structures to black granite and buildings that towered over the streets, casting inky shadows. The cobblestone roads transformed into wide, smoothly paved limestone. Black statues and gilded fountains appeared all around. Unlike the outer circles, every home here was encircled by an iron fence. Gates leered everywhere. Guards hung around courtyards and doors. Jae had used to wonder if they got sleepy on night shift.
The increasing eyes around meant Jae had to creep around much more stealthily. Unfortunately he didn't have much time. He'd have to take a risk. He slipped from shadow to shadow until the sound of a jolly crowd filled the air. The red light district was just up ahead—a concentration of infamously expensive courtesan houses considered classy enough for nobility from even the inner circles to attend for pleasure. No matter the night of the week, this area was always filled with people milling about from courthouse to courthouse, drunken and mirthful.
"Jugjil. Disguise," Jae muttered. "Need a cape."
The red orb morphed once again into Jugjil's human form. He smirked and bowed his head dramatically, arms spread wide. "As you command." Suddenly, a cape appeared draped over Jae's patchy clothing. It looked silken in the moonlight's reflection—mysterious, yet classy. No one would question a person in a cloak in the pleasure district. If you looked too closely, the fabric seemed a little too shift, and the texture a little too fuzzy. Thankfully, everyone here was drunk or high.
Jae slipped out into the hordes of merchants and nobility, his illusionary cloak fitting right into place among their gold-and-silver-embroidered, ornate cloaks. Breaking away from the crowd, Jae slipped into an alleyway. He reached into his leather satchel, then threw something out into the air above the street crowds.
A moment later, mesmerizing lights of all colors burst into view above the milling wealthy crowd, and many stopped and stared in drunken awe. The colors took form, shifting into a hummingbird whose wings flapped so quickly that they left colorful imprints when one closed their eyes. Then, the lights dispersed.
Meanwhile, Jae had climbed the closed windowsills and roof edges of a pavilion and made it to the roof. He laid low, slinking across the red clay tiles and hopping onto the next roof with the speed and silence of someone who had done this many times in his life. Jugjil's red orb flew along with him, leaving a trail of reddish light stains. It was good no one else could see him. Jae would have been caught a hundred times over for a hundred different crimes if they could.
Jae's feet were muffled as they landed on each rooftop. He was careful not to let a single tile slip. The autumn night air was cool on his face. He waved off the foggy cloak illusion and pulled his real hood up over his head, covering his face with a scarf.
There shouldn't be anyone in the wing tonight…if they gave me correct information.
Jae slowed to a stop, perched at the edge of a clay-tiled roof and peering over the edge at the merchant's mansion just ahead. Far below, a guard was patrolling the gardens. He looked tired, but awake enough to notice sudden movements. Jae rummaged in his leather satchel once more, drawing out a small brown ball with a wick. He held out the ball to the air.
"Light."
Jugjil's red orb shone orange and swooped to the wick, lighting it in an instant. Jae waited a second for the wick to burn down, then tossed it down the chasm between buildings. A barely-visible blue smoke rose up. Down below, the guard slumped over, fast asleep.
Jae leapt from roof to tree, then made a breezy leap to a third-story window that would have ended in a broken neck and a funeral for most. He signalled with two fingers. The orb floated to a stop outside the windowsill, as though agreeing to keep watch. Jae slipped inside the window, and the heist was underway.
The hallway inside was dark and quiet. It felt suffocating. Every merchant's house Jae had ever been inside had this quality to it—so heavily draped in jewels and gold that it felt like the whole place might cave in and crush you. The air even tasted metallic. Golden frames lined the darkly-painted walls. The ceiling was littered with unlit crystalline-golden chandeliers that cast ominous, branching shadows in the little moonlight streaming in the window. Against the walls here and there stood glass cases displaying artifacts from faraway lands—a heartstone replica from Gongkua, a painted mask from Rykgrond, a moonstone from Aeconia. The very air seemed to drip with money. It was an interesting thing Jae had noticed—the nobility of Vallness never flaunted their wealth in such a greasy manner. While the nobility tried to appear classy and elegant with their jewels, merchants decked their halls with gold the second they grew in success.
The second door to the right. Look for a small case. One inlaid jade gem. Carved from silver and mahogany. Do not open it.
Jae crept along, at last reaching the second door on the right of the hall. The back of his neck tingled.
Something wasn't right.
The door was already open. What's more, he could tell the lock had been picked.
Did someone already…?
Jae's stomach dropped. He felt sick.
Get ahold of yourself.
He took a deep breath. If someone had already gotten to the goods, there was nothing he could do. He'd just need to…find another once-in-a-lifetime high-paying job that could get him out of Vallness. No. Don't think about that right now. There wasn't time. Maybe it was still there.
Like a cat sticking to the shadows, Jae slinked into the room.
He froze.