The Deceitful One

The middle-aged man was about 6 ft. tall with a good build. He had grey sideburns and his blond hair was combed neatly. The most distinctive feature was his pair of eyes. They were like blue gems that shone brightly. His blue three-piece suit looked well-tailored, with a gold chain that was likely part of his pocket watch hanging from his vest. He wore a ruby gem inlaid ring on his right hand and a sapphire gem ring on his left. Furthermore, the handle of his cane was studded with gems of different colours. He simply reeked of money!

Bryan nearly drooled when he caught sight of this man. 'Wait a minute! I just decided to get my shit straight starting today. Why am I already eyeing this guy's money? That's not right.' He thought in a self-deprecating manner.

'But all those shiny gems are too tempting. Forget it I'll swindle him into giving me a job now and I'll see if I can rob him later. Yes, this is in line with having a stable income until I rob him clean hehe.' Bryan had a wicked smile on his face as he finally made a decision.

Having finally made up his mind, Bryan decided to tail this walking bag of gold. He followed this blonde middle-aged man for about 15 minutes until he got into a high-class restaurant on Laurent Avenue, most likely to have breakfast.

'Hmm from the way he's looking around at all the buildings and landmarks every few steps tells me that he's most likely a tourist visiting Damascus City. And from the way he's dressed and his bearing, is he a tycoon?' Bryan tried to deduce from the clues he had seen till now.

'It's better to watch him for a bit more and then decide on how to approach him.' Growing up on the streets all these years, Bryan had learned to become very patient. He knows if he's unprepared then it'll lead to his eventual doom. He waited another 30 minutes behind a tree on the opposite side of the restaurant across Laurent Avenue.

Finally, the middle-aged blonde man exited the restaurant with a satisfied expression on his face. He walked towards the northern part of the city. He leisurely strolled while looking at the scenery and the various customs of the city. Meanwhile, Bryan followed behind him at a distance of about 20 feet between them, just enough to keep him within his sight.

He tailed the middle-aged man for another hour before he saw him enter the Church of Wisdom on North Winston Avenue. There were three Churches in the Belize Kingdom as well as the entire Western Continent; the Church of Wisdom worshipped the Goddess of Wisdom, the Church of Craftsmanship worshipped the God of Craftsmanship, and the Church of the Earth Mother worshipped Mother Earth.

Damascus City was just barely qualified to be a proper city, hence there was a church built there. Other smaller towns usually only had a chapel. Whereas Nadir, the capital of Belize Kingdom, had a massive cathedral belonging to the three deities.

'Hmm, he's definitely someone new to this city.' Bryan concluded. 'But how do I approach him and trick him into giving me a job? It would look very suspicious if I ask him for a job straight away.'

Bryan soon had an outline of a plan in his mind. He soon started looking for tramps on the streets while still keeping his attention on the church entrance so that he doesn't miss that middle-aged man coming out. He approached a homeless man nearby at a distance from the church entrance.

The old homeless man was sleeping soundly on the sidewalk while drooling and snoring at the same time. All of a sudden he was kicked in the butt and was jolted awake. He got up and looked around warily, then his eyes landed on a youth with black hair and black eyes who was wearing tattered clothes, a black worker's cap and a stitched-up brown jacket.

"Fuck! I thought it was the police. What do you want, brat?" The old man scolded Bryan.

"Hehe old man, wanna earn some money? And…half a bun." Bryan tried his best to tempt the other party.

The old homeless man looked at Bryan with a hint of suspicion in his eyes, "What is it?"

"So it's like this…" Bryan began to explain his plan to the homeless guy.

…

Meanwhile, inside an office in the Church of Wisdom, the bishop, a kind-looking old man who was wearing white robes with grey borders, was exchanging pleasantries with the blonde middle-aged man that Bryan had been following all morning, "Detective Watson, we had already received word of your arrival. Welcome to Damascus City! You may stay at the villa on 22 Augustus Street which is under the management of the Church. We wish you a pleasant stay."

"Thank you, Bishop Walls. I'll most likely be staying in this city for a few years until I've finished the work assigned by the Cathedral." Detective Watson replied with an amiable smile.

"Alright, let me know if you require anything. The resources of the Church are at your disposal." At this point, Bishop Walls paused and hesitated for a moment before saying, "By the way, there seems to be someone following you."

Detective Watson chuckled, "I'm already aware. I just wanna see what the kid is up to." He said with a playful smile on his face.

"Alright. As long as you know. Again, if you need anything please let the church know." Bishop Walls exchanged a few more words with Detective Watson before they parted ways.

As soon as Detective Watson left the office room, a young priest who was standing beside Bishop Walls, serving tea and snacks to the duo, asked in puzzlement, "Father, isn't he just a detective? How come you're so respectful to him?"

"Just a detective? Hmph! What do you know? He's a Rank 3 Transcendent!" Bishop Walls snorted.

The young priest sucked in a breath of cold air. 'Rank 3!? That's the same as the Bishop. No wonder!"

…

Outside the Church.

Bryan repeated the plan to the old homeless man who was looking at him with a daze, for the third time.

"Fine, fine, fine! Just give me the money already. I'll do as you say." The old homeless man who was at his wit's end stretched his right arm in front of Bryan.

Bryan reluctantly handed him 5 pence. He now only had 2 pence on him. 'Never mind, it's an investment. If the plan fails, I'll just steal it back from this old fool.' Bryan muttered in his heart.

"The bun?" The old man looked Bryan straight in the eye.

'Tsk, petty bastard.' Bryan thought. Then he took out the half bun from the pocket of his jacket and handed it to the old man but not before biting a big chunk out of it. "You better not play dirty tricks on me, old man. Or I'll give you a thorough beating." Bryan sternly warned him.

The old man didn't even bother listening to Bryan as he stuffed the remaining bun into his mouth. Then he carefully counted the money and put it inside his clothes tightly, afraid that Bryan would take it back.

Right then, Detective Watson exited the Church and started feeding grains to the pigeons flocking to the nearby sidewalk.

Bryan saw this and instructed the old tramp to take his position. Before he left, Bryan glared at him and warned him again. The old man rolled his eyes at him. 'How can an old man like me with half a foot in the grave outrun you, punk.' He mumbled and took his position at the crossing of North Winston Avenue and 10th Street.

Seeing him not pull any ticks, Bryan took his position as well. From the place where he was currently, he would intercept Detective Watson from the back while the old man would move in from the front.

Soon, Detective Watson finished feeding the pigeons and walked towards 10th Street. Seeing him walk towards the ambush point, Bryan signalled to the old tramp who was in front of the Detective, he then started approaching him from the back.

Detective Watson on the other hand had an indiscernible playful look in his eyes. 'Let's see what you're up to.'

The next moment, the old tramp bumped into Detective Watson and then snatched the brown suitcase from his hands. Right on the heels of that, he ran at a speed that was clearly impossible for a man of his age to do.

'Fuck, this old bastard clearly told me he had hip problems and could barely run.' Bryan was taken aback at his speed. He quickly composed himself and ran towards him.

The old man's face was full of smiles thinking about how everything in the suitcase belonged to him now. 'Hehe, I'll just run off with this suitcase while that foolish brat is fighting off the blond man. Hmph, how dare you give me just a small piece of bun.'

While the old man was letting his imagination run wild, he didn't notice that Bryan was running towards him instead of the detective. All of a sudden, he came crashing at what seemed like a wall to him. The suitcase slipped out of his hand and he fell to the ground.

He looked up and was dumbfounded at what he saw. In front of him, Bryan stood in a heroic pose with both his palms holding the side of his waist. 'What the fuck! Why did he stop me? Wasn't he supposed to confront the blond man?'

Then he heard Bryan speak to him in a righteous tone, "Old thief, how dare you try to rob someone right in front of the Church? I shall deliver punishment on behalf of the Goddess." After that, Bryan delivered a few kicks to his butt and then took the suitcase and walked towards the middle-aged blond man standing not far away.

The old tramp was still in a daze from the beating. Then he snapped back to his senses when he heard Bryan speak with his back facing him, "Get lost before the police arrive. I shall give you a chance to redeem yourself. Hmph!"

Realization suddenly dawned on the old homeless man, 'That little prick tricked me!' He then scurried off. 'At least I still have the 5 pence' The old man reached out for the insides of his clothes..and then he froze on the spot. "Fuck where's the money!?"