Tales of a Ninja Magician: Of Journeys We Make

Good Plays, Bad Plays

The table rustled with unease after Mana's words that revealed just how much she knew about this group and their reasons for being here. The masked leader of the group flicked his baggy hat and leaned back in his chair, lifting his right hand over the seat and turning sideways to the guest he brought to the table. With this revelation, Mana just standing up and walking away became impossible.

"Are you here to get in our way?" the man leaned forward and slammed his fist on the table, making the chips and scattered cards jump up a bit and move around the table while the glasses of milk wobbled. The rowdy evening vibes in the Skipping Stone bar muzzled the uncomfortable rumble on the table and prevented the atmosphere from turning awkward.

"By no means. I have absolutely no care in the world about someone stealing something from someone. Especially if said someone has bountiful things for others to steal already." Mana dismissed the group's worries with a careless hand gesture, resting back in her chair as the tall and bulky members of the group leaned over the table and turned to her as if preparing to vault on the young woman and trample her to death for the insolence of treating them like some lowly group of bandits under her thumb.

"So, what are you here for? To blackmail us?" the fat man with the exotic mustache growled at Mana.

"That depends on the matter of perspective," Mana shrugged. "I suppose you could call it that, but I'd personally call it an employment."

"Employment?" the leader of the group of burglars leaned back easier in his chair after Mana shut down the two most immediate worries that everyone around the table had about this mysterious street magician they've brought in.

"Yeah, there's something that I need and I have an itching feeling that something rests in the same location you're looking to loot. Since you're going there anyway, and I suspect you lot to be capable at your job, I'd like to hire you for an additional job. You wouldn't even have to go out of your way, just do what you've set out to do but nick one additional thing for me if you find it." Mana explained.

"Just so we're clear, Sotatsu's paintings are ours!" the busty, blue-haired woman in the group ground her knuckle into the table, trying to intimidate Mana with this rather aggressive notion though Mana had seen far more nightmarish things than a scorned burglar lady to shake yet.

"Of course, from what it seems, they sort of switch hands all the time anyway. I've got no use for them. Money's of no interest to me." Mana waggled her finger with indifference, winking with her left eye as if the very proposition that she may have wanted one of Sotatsu's paintings to sell on the black market physically hurt her.

"That may be so, but you'll need some of that dough to hire us. We're burglars, you see. We're also somewhat renowned for our excellent work ethic and results." The leader of the group tilted the ring of his hat up to better showcase his crescent-shaped mask and get a better look at Mana, figuring that she'd squirm the moment money came into question.

"That's where I was wondering if we could strike a deal," Mana shrugged, visibly admitting that the cowboy hat donning burglar wasn't entirely wrong for suspecting Mana to be penniless.

"Oh? How old are you?" the masked gent looked rather hesitant and taken aback by that proposition. Mana pinched her chin and glanced away. Endo choked on his drink behind her and smashed his face into the bar before hammering his own chest a few times. The burglars all scanned the bar, but then returned to the matter at hand when Mana regained her composure.

"That wasn't the kind of deal I was proposing," Mana admitted. "You look like a gambling man. I was wondering if you were willing to gamble for it. I just happen to know a perfect game to play over it."