"Eh, it's probably just an error on their end." Dai continued, "But just in case, put it on the Warehouse-C track. We'll keep it there for a little while until we know for certain."

  "Sure thing," Yuji replied. He then waited a bit to see if Dai was going to say anything else, and when he knew the conversation was over, he stood up and said, "Thanks for giving Akira and me the new job."

  It really did seem like the man had done it out of goodwill, so he wanted to make sure he thanked him before anything else happened. Like the possibility that he may have to kill the man. At the moment he didn't have any ill will toward Dai, but Yuji thought there had to be a reason so many people disliked the man. With one of them hating him so much, they were trying to blackmail others into killing him.

  Dai smiled, "Don't worry about it! And I'm going to add another person to your roster for the time being, so you two don't have to bear the weight alone. We'll be done with those crates in a few weeks here though, so it won't be for long."

  Yuji nodded and then left the office, returning to his post below, where Akira was waiting with a strange look on his face.

  "Now what are you about to complain about?"

  "Am I just supposed to pretend like our boss didn't hug you up there? What the hell was that about?" Akira said.

  "Oh, right, that..." Yuji bent down and grabbed the handles on his side of one of the large boxes. "Apparently he was best friends with Uncle Gavin in the past? This new job of ours was a gift to us, he said, and that he didn't know the boxes were this heavy. He's sending someone to help us soon, so hopefully they'll be with us tomorrow." He continued, "Also, this is going to Warehouse-C."

  Akira bent down on the other side and grabbed the handles closest to him, "Wow, he must've done something really fucked up to make your uncle pretend like he doesn't exist. I've never seen Gavin talk about Dai once, and he avoids any discussions about him or this company."

  The two of them lifted one of the boxes and placed it on the track to Warehouse-C. They then placed the other box on it before sitting down to take a quick break.

  "Shit makes no sense, man. The first one was fine, but the second was three times as heavy."

  He was about to respond, but then Yuji remembered something. "... You said you wanted to see what was inside of them, right?"

  "What?" Akira stared at Yuji, waiting for him to say 'Just kidding', but when that didn't come, he shook his head and sighed, "Weren't you the one who told me to drop that idea? Something something Protectors?"

  "That was then, this is now. I have a reason to want to know what's in these things now, and are you forgetting what Warehouse-C is?"

  "Ahh, right..." Akira had forgotten what that warehouse was for. The only reason he even knew which belt to put the box on was because it was the only track they never used. "Where things go to stay. Indefinitely."

  "Yep, so let's go as soon as this shift is over." Yuji stood up and began scanning some of the smaller packages piling up.

  "Hah, what the hell? You're really into the idea now, huh? What's the reason you mentioned?"

  "I'll tell you when we're over there, where nobody can hear us."

  This time I really can't imagine there being a camera. It's a warehouse full of random crap dating back to when my Uncle ran the shipping company. There's never been a single theft reported, and even though I'm sure there's been plenty of theft over the years, I've never seen the Protectorate haul someone away for anything related to that warehouse.

  "What is wrong with me..." Akira said as he closed the warehouse door behind him, "I have a baby on the way. I'm about to move away with my lovely wife to a seaside resort town. And what am I doing in the few weeks I have left here?"

  Yuji sighed, "I can do this myself if you want? You said it yourself, there's plenty of high-powered machinery around here. Even though this is a warehouse, I'm sure I'll find something to crack open those boxes all on my own."

  "Oh shut up already. Just let a grown man-child grumble from time to time."

  "But you're always grumbling..." Yuji looked at the black rope wound around Akira's shoulder, "Why do you have rope with you?"

  "Why not? You never know when you might need some rope while breaking and entering."

  "Which TV show did you get that from? It's not like we're going to be shimmying down from the ceiling, and we're already inside the warehouse anyway!"

  "ROPE HAS MORE USES THAN THAT!!" Akira pointed toward one of the belt ends, "Right there, I found them. That was easy."

  People only came to clear the belts once a week in Warehouse-C, and that day had been the day before, so Yuji knew they'd find the boxes near the end of the belt that came from their factory.

  The two of them walked up to the boxes stuck against the stopper at the end of the belt. Akira dropped the rope off and immediately pivoted toward a small office around thirty meters away.

  "Are you hoping they'll have logs? If they did, then they're probably from over ten years ago."

  "Better than nothing," Akira replied as he started jogging.

  Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

  True. It can't hurt to check.

  Yuji power-walked over to the office as well, reaching it just in time to see that Akira couldn't get the light crystal to work.

  "Saw that coming."

  "Good for you," Akira replied, grabbing two nearby folders and jamming one of them into Yuji's hands.

  They both then sat down on two plastic chairs outside the office covered in a thick layer of dust.

  Broken Tetra crystals... Broken televisions...

  He looked through page after page full of useless crap until he found something that was horribly out of place.

  Drums full of Moonblood?? Those have to be stolen by now, right?

  Moonblood was highly sought after on the black market, so to see that it had been put into deep storage and even logged properly was strange, but even if he knew it was probably gone by now, he really wanted to make sure there wasn't any left.

  Imagine if I had the money to both heal Lisa and afford a good home someplace else after completing my trial...

  The very idea of it was already lightening the boulder-sized stress bearing down on him. Obviously the drums weren't still going to be there, or they'd be empty, but this did give him an idea of what to do going forward.

  It said at tier two I could travel through shadows, right? I don't know how versatile that is, but it sounds like the perfect ability for stealing and getting away with it. Although that's assuming I can take items into the shadows with me.

  Yuji stood up from the dusty chair and made his way far into the back of the warehouse, passing by pallet racks packed full of long-forgotten boxes and crates.

  Seven-two-nine... Seven-two-eight... There it is.

  Pallet rack seven-two-seven had a single Orichalcum cylinder drum on it, much to his surprise.

  Come on, there's no way it'd be this easy to make enough coins to buy a small island.

  Yuji pulled the drum off the pallet, tipped it sideways onto the ground, and then began rolling it back to the front of the warehouse.

  When he was past the sea of pallet racks and could see the front half again, he could see Akira standing on top of the belt, placing something large over the boxes.

  "What's that?" Yuji asked as he rolled the drum into the belt.

  "'The Opener'. I'm sure you've seen it before since Gavin loves those emergency shows, but I can't get it to turn on." He motioned toward the drum. "And what's that?"

  "Moonblood, supposedly." Yuji jumped up onto the belt and opened the compartment on 'The Opener' housing the Tetra crystal, "Yeah, it's empty. Give me a few minutes." He placed his right pointer finger on the crystal and began pouring mana into it.

  "I've never heard of Moonblood before, and honestly, it sounds made up."

  "Well, it's not, and it's expensive, so I'm sure that's just a barrel of wine or something."

  A few minutes later, Yuji picked the two-handed heavy piece of equipment up and pushed the 'Expand' button. The two spreaders at the end began moving away from each other slowly.

  "Ahh shit, so we're really doing this..." Akira said upon seeing the 'Opener' come to life.

  "Remember, whatever comes of this---" Yuji climbed onto the belt stopper and placed the two spreaders down onto the first box's top, "---this was all your idea. I'm pleading innocent the entire way."

  Akira laughed while helping hold the Opener in place, "Screw you too, buddy."

  Yuji pressed the 'Cut' button, and when the spreaders were far enough inside the top, he swapped to 'Expand'. All in all, it was a surprisingly easy process thanks to Akira finding the perfect tool for the job.

  Whatever good feelings they had though evaporated instantly when they saw what was inside the box.

  "D-Dude, that can't be what I think it is. They must be dolls or some shit." Akira said before sticking his hand in the box and grabbing the hair of one of the young girls inside it. But the second he grabbed her hair, he let go and jumped off the belt while repeatedly saying "No fucking way! There's just no fucking way...!"

  Yuji, while freaked out as well, was already placing the Opener on the other much heavier box. Akira was still ranting and already at the 'What do we do?!' stage as Yuji ripped open the second box.

  Inside was a single woman with long blonde hair, and black Demonic wings. She was wearing a black and gold noble dress.

  He dropped the Opener and reached into the first box, putting his fingers up against one of the girl's throats. He was still in his 'Trial' and lacking most of his abilities, but he still had a higher sensory when it came to blood, which is how he could tell that the girl's blood was moving. It wasn't moving much though, and not anywhere near as fast as his.

  "I... Think they're alive."

  "What? How?? I've looked at the shipping path these boxes take, and it takes a minimum of twenty days for them to reach us. They can't be alive." Akira said.

  "You're thinking logically."

  "Then enlighten me, Mr. Illogical."

  "You're discounting abilities."

  "... You think this involves the Awakened?" Akira paused for a moment, "I, I don't want to sound heartless, but..."

  "I know, man. I know." Yuji smiled at Akira, "Just go. You've got a baby on the way as you said, and the move too. Plus, I owe you. So don't worry about it. I'll take it from here."

  "'Take it from here'???? I'd love to just thank you and leave, but what are you possibly going to do? Seriously, I think you should just... You know...?"

  Yuji sighed, "I get it. You want both of us to leave and forget this ever happened. I'm sure I would have agreed a few days ago, but it's too late for me now... I'll be by your house later, alright? I think I know who to call for this."

  Akira stared at Yuji. He knew his friend would normally not have reacted the way he was, but despite how much he didn't want to leave it all to Yuji, he decided in the end that it was probably for the best to listen to him.

  And he just couldn't get the image of his pregnant wife waiting at home for him all alone. Seeing those kids in the first box had made him want to run home and make sure she was okay, even though everything happening had nothing to do with her.

  Eventually, Akira did nod at him and slowly began walking toward the side door they had come in through earlier. He turned around to look at Yuji a few times before finally reaching the door and disappearing through it.

  Haa... I hope I'm not wrong on this. I'm nearly certain that I'm not, but we'll see soon enough.

  During breakfast, Lisa had told him about how the Protector who had questioned them in the trailer had run into her and Gavin the very next day. He was asking people what they knew about Ryu, and weirdly, he had been asking far more about the Murakamis themselves. According to her, the Elf hadn't told them anything the first time, but he sought the two of them out again the next day and had far more to say then.

  Normally just reporting it anonymously would've been enough. But he had a plan forming in his head now as he thought about that breakfast conversation and the bonus rewards for his trial. A plan that required the Elf.

  Yuji walked over to the office and picked up the phone. They ran directly to the main power centers and were generally well-made, so he wasn't surprised when he heard a dial tone.

  He pressed zero three times on the number pad, and immediately he was connected to the Protectorate.

  "What is the emergency?" A robotic male voice asked.

  "Please connect me to 'Zen Vertra'. He's a squad commander currently working a case in Gallios-5."

  "Just a minute please." The robot said before transferring him over to the most annoying music in the world as far as Yuji was concerned. Banal elevator music.

  "Zen here. Who is this?" A familiar sounding voice said a few minutes later.

  "It's Yuji. My sister told me about your conversation. I may um, have something here for you. Can you meet me near the warehouse district? You can specify where exactly."

  "... Understood. I'm on my way to meet you at the Gallios Crown Statue, Ma'am. I'm sure your daughter is fine, but I'll come assist you in the search just in case." Zen said before hanging up.

  He has to be way more careful than I was expecting.

  That was a good sign though. Or at least Yuji hoped it was as he headed out of the warehouse and began walking toward the Crown Statue down the street.