"Wait for the man in red, alright? And don't let any cops see the package."
Those were the last words the suited man had spoken to Mael.
Several minutes had passed since then, and Mael now walked along the sidewalk, his steps tense and cautious. He felt painfully out of place, as if every passerby's glance lingered on him just a second too long. The black-wrapped package tucked tightly under his arm only made things worse.
Clutching a small, worn map in his other hand, he said under his breath,
"The map says the location should be near the harbor…"
By now, Mael had traveled quite a distance. At last, the scenery opened up, revealing the harbor ahead. Massive cargo ships loomed over the water, lined up side by side like a towering wall of steel that blocked the sea from view.
"Now then…" he murmured, scanning the area. "Where do I enter?"
His destination, however, was cut off by a tall chain-link fence stretching across the perimeter.
Mael's gaze drifted to the left, where he spotted an entry gate several paces ahead.
"No… that won't work," he thought, noticing several uniformed men patrolling the entrance.
What to do… what to do? He stalled, eyes darting across the gate.
Suddenly, the ground trembled faintly. Curious, Mael looked around to find the source of the vibration. That was when he saw it—several massive trucks lining up, one after another, preparing to enter the harbor.
A lightbulb seemed to go off in Mael's head as an idea finally formed…
Screech!
A truck came to an abrupt halt in front of the gate.
"What's your business here?" one of the uniformed men asked.
"Here to pick up the cargo at Unit A6," the driver replied.
"Bill of lading and ID," the guard said, extending a hand.
Without a word, the driver remained seated and passed the two documents through the open window.
While this was happening, another uniformed man walked around the truck with a dog, inspecting it for anything suspicious.
The dog sniffed beneath the truck while the man inspected the container. He noticed that one of the latches hadn't been fully secured, leaving a narrow gap between the doors.
Curiosity—or perhaps simple duty—prompted him to act. He pulled one of the container doors open and shone his flashlight into the darkness inside.
Empty.
Frowning, he leaned closer, angling the beam to the right.
Still nothing.
"Tch…" He let out a small sigh.
The man shut the container door again, this time making sure the latch clicked firmly into place. Then he stepped away and turned back toward the gate.
"Hey!" he called out. "Next time, make sure the container's properly closed. Someone could get hurt on the road."
With that, the other guard handed the driver back his papers and ID before opening the gate, allowing the truck to pass through.
Inside the unit, the driver finally parked the truck. He jumped down from the cab with a grunt and muttered irritably, "I did latch that container properly…" as if still arguing with the guard from earlier.
Noticing several boxes already lined up in front of him, he let out a tired sigh.
"Welp, looks like it's going to be a long day."
With that, he walked over and pulled open the container door.
Tung!
A sound echoed inside the container, "what was that noise!?" the driver exclaimed in confusion.
Hiding behind the pile of boxes stood Mael. "that was a close one" he said to himself, his heart pounding heavily as he tried to contain his breath.
"Sticking myself to the roof of the container was a genius idea," he praised himself.
Luckily, he still retained a tiny fragment of his angelic power. For a brief moment, Mael's eyes glowed a bright gold before the light faded.
"Three seconds, huh…" Mael thought. That was the maximum limit of my time-stop—at least as of now.
And thus, Mael slipped out of the area as quietly as he could, careful not to draw any attention.
Now outside, he crouched low inside a nearby bush, keeping himself hidden. He pulled out the map once more and studied it closely.
"…Unlucky, I'm quite a distance away from unit A2."
He let out a small sigh. That unit was located all the way at the far end of the harbor.
"Looks like this'll be an endurance test," Mael whispered under his breath.
Time stop—
Mael's eyes began to glow faintly as he burst into a sprint.
"One… two… three…"
In the blink of an eye, he found himself crouched behind a large parked truck across from the storage unit he had just left.
"I don't think anyone's noticed me yet," he thought quietly.
Once again—
Time stop—
"One… two… three…"
Mael repeated the process, dashing from cover to cover.
"Pant—pant—"
One hand pressed against his chest, Mael struggled to catch his breath.
"Why does this body get tired so easily…?"
Hidden behind a forklift, he peeked out and spotted his destination straight ahead. The door to the unit seems to be locked from the outside.
"Now how am I supposed to get in…?" he murmured, scanning the area.
"Oh?" His eyes lit up. "What do we have here…?"
Above, on the third floor, he spotted an open window. A large tree stood between Units A3 and A2, its branches stretching close enough to reach.
"I've got an idea," he whispered to himself before retreating.
Standing across from Unit A3, he saw several large, muscular men loading in crates of fish into the truck.
Then he took off again.
Time stop—
"One… two… three…"
Just in the nick of time, Mael slipped beneath the truck before his ability ran out.
"Ugh— it smells like merrow down here," he commented under his breath, pinching his nose.
From his hiding spot, he carefully surveyed the area. Three pairs of wet boots sloshed against the ground as they went about their work.
Then he spotted it.
"There it is… the stairs."
Time stop—
Mael hurried out from beneath the truck and sprinted for the stairs. This time, however, luck wasn't on his side—the time stop wore off before he could reach the second floor.
One of the men paused, his brow furrowing as the faint clang of footsteps echoed against the metal stairs.
"Huh?" He turned toward the sound—and caught sight of it.
A pair of small legs disappearing upward.
"Hey! I think I just saw someone going up!" he shouted to the others.
"What? Been drinking before work again?" one of his coworkers joked, giving him a rough pat on the back.
"I'm serious, damn it!" the man snapped, shoving his coworker aside. "I'll go check."
Setting the last box he was carrying down inside the truck, he headed for the stairs.
"What's gotten into Dave?" one of the remaining men questioned.
"No clue," came the indifferent reply as they resumed their work.
Dave climbed up to the second floor and called out, his voice sharp with warning, "Hey! Whoever's up there, get out before I call security!"
Silence answered him.
Frowning, he reached for the switch beside him and flipped it on. The lights flickered to life, illuminating the floor.
Stacks of large boxes filled the room. Dave walked over and began opening them one by one, checking their contents—yet found nothing.
"…Was I seeing things?" he thought to himself. "I could've sworn I saw a kid's legs going up the stairs."
"I know—" he then paused, spotting the bathroom out of the corner of his eye.
He walked toward it slowly and threw the door open wide.
"Ah-ha! There you are!"
…But there was nothing there.
A low growl of frustration escaped Dave's throat.
"Dave! Come down here, we're leaving soon!" his colleague called from the first floor.
"Alright, I'm coming!" Dave shouted back.
He reached for the switch and turned off the lights. Moments later, the heavy thud of his boots echoed down the stairs as he stomped away in irritation.
Then, in the darkness, a faint golden glow flickered to life.
Mael's eye gleamed as a small smirk tugged at the corner of his lips.
"So, Dave the human… you were right. You did see me going up to the second floor," he thought to himself as the moment replayed in his mind.
"As you saw—well, almost saw—there really was nowhere for me to hide up here." His smirk widened slightly. "So I simply stood right behind you the entire time while you searched in anger."
A quiet chuckle escaped him.
"It was rather fun, toying with humans," he thought to himself as he climbed up to the third floor of the building.
This time, Mael didn't use his Time stop ability. Instead, he moved carefully, keeping his footsteps light so as not to alert anyone nearby.
As he reached the upper level, he spotted it—a window directly across from Unit A2's open window. Between them stood a large tree, its branches stretching outward, forming a near-perfect bridge between the two.
"Lucky me," he said to himself as he stepped toward the window.
Mael opened it just wide enough to slip through, then carefully closed it again from the outside, making sure to leave no trace behind.
Standing atop the branch, he steadied his balance and began inching his way toward his destination.
As he moved forward, he felt the branch tremble beneath his feet—its strength giving way little by little.
Then—
Crack!
Mael felt his body lurch as the support beneath him gave out, his weight suddenly vanishing as he began to fall.
For a split second, realization struck.
I'm falling.
Time stop—
"One…"
Mael forced himself upright in midair while grabbing the falling package.
"Two…"
He lunged toward Unit A2's window.
"Three…"
He braced himself for impact.
The sound of the branch hitting the ground could be heard as Mael got up to his feet, he patted his legs stained with dust.
"I'm finally here," he whispered excitedly. "Talk about a hard day's work."
The thought of keeping the ten gold coins made his lips curl into a satisfied smile.
"I guess I should wait downstairs," he murmured to himself.
As he approached the staircase, his steps slowed.
The floor below was pitch-black—completely devoid of light, as though the darkness itself had pooled there.
Mael let out a quiet sigh at the sight before him and raised his index finger.
"Holy Light."
At his command, a soft glow bloomed from his fingertip, shining like a small, steady lantern in the dark.
"Much better," soon Mael began descending the stairs…