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"Ladies and Gentlemen, I present to you, the Pride of Del Mar."

As the presenter removed the silk of the large portrait and faced the direction of the attending audience, all she witnessed was the anticipation on their faces soon to be turned into a series of questioning puzzlements taking all forms of furrows and groans directed towards her.

Puzzled as they are, the female presenter in her elegant and fashionable dress turned her body around to investigate the reason for her audience's reaction but the pure shock she experienced caused her face to take a visible change from vivid rosy to pale yellow as she was certainly descending towards what can be either a panic attack or a fast faint faint.

Yet she held herself by a strand of sanity as the auction owner rushed on the stage. The empty portrait in front of him was a disturbing announcement.

The Pride of Del Mar went missing.

***

*30 hours before the Heist*

"Madam Mikaela!"

"Leo?"

"I see you two are already acquainted."

It was an interesting shift of events that happened afterwards between Leon and Zal who were led by Hector Norman and his men to a place not too far from the slaughterhouse by a carriage. The moment they stepped out of it, they found that they were near a large storehouse where many of the Dogs gathered to secure it and there was a familiar face in their midst.

It was at that moment when Madam Mikaela and Leon met each other for the second time.

"He is a Rabbit I oversaw not even four days ago." Madam Mikaela said to Hector as she turned to Leon, "So you managed to make it to Mr. Hector all the way by yourself?"

Leon smiled for the unwelcomed yet welcomed coincidence.

"It seems that I have more than a knack for the job." Leon replied with a laugh trying not to get himself into trouble.

"He's that green?" On the other hand, the Bull didn't seem to like the fact that Leon was new to the job, "Will this be a problem, Mikaela?"

"He's not bad." Mikaela replied and turned to Leon, "Have you at least leveled up?"

Leon nodded and raised two fingers indicating that he has two more levels now.

"That's… impressive." Mikaela said.

"I won a bet with some of the Mercenaries and a Senior decided to help me get the good stuff. A combination of luck and diplomacy I would say." Leon said.

His half-truth half-bullshit mixture of words was always confusing yet it was a habit that he can't just stop. He was trained into how to bypass Polygraph Tests and cope up with Truth Serums and that was his way of doing it.

"It seems that you had more than what meets the eye, Leo. If you're level 5, you will not fuck this one up then." Mikaela said and signaled for the gate of the storehouse to open before turning to Hector, "Boss."

"Well, I am depending on your words, Mikaela." Hector said then walked into the storehouse followed by Zal, Leon, and Mikaela.

The day was rainy but it was still an hour past noon, the smell of moisture was felt in the air and the dirt was all wet but not to the point of muddiness. The smell of the old rotten wood came from the storehouse building which wasn't really a surprise looking at how old it seemed and the lighting in there was terrible.

"So, Mikaela, you have an idea of what Mr. Zal and Leo here are trying to steal for me?"

"Yes, I already have what they need to know." Mikaela said.

"Will see."

Leon sighed as he wasn't really in a mood for making mistakes now. If he succeeds, this job will guarantee his future in the underworld which will make it easy for him to disappear somewhere using the Syndicate's connections.

Either way, the four of them arrived at a central wooden table in the storehouse covered by a few maps and had descriptions and details. It was lit by a few gas lambs so the visibility wasn't too bad to read them.

"Let's get to work."

Instantly, Leon stood in front of the maps and the details and started organizing them. Strange enough, Zal joined him and the two worked together in strange harmony as if their eyes were casually used to all these schematics and drawings.

"Hah! Will you look at that!"

The large bodies Syndicate Boss looked with acknowledgment at the two nerds as they worked more efficiently than Madam Mikaela who is considered to be the best Rabbit in the business. Meanwhile, Leon kept frowning towards the papers, especially the maps.

"This is how the painting looks like and this is where it is hung." He pointed at two different papers, "Is it going to rain in the coming few days?"

His question seemed ridiculous but Mikaela just shrugged her shoulders.

"Hmmm… the roofs can't be slippery when we do this." He said.

"True." Mikaela nodded.

"What about this?" He pointed at the drawing of a building.

"This is the exterior of the Manor of the De Sade family. The owners of the painting."

Leon took the drawing and kept humming as he watched it.

The De Sade family manor is where the Painting will be. The family itself has a long history of gathering treasures and trading overseas thus it will be very heavily guarded. More than that, the De Sade's Pride of Del Mar painting is a treasure to them so it will be hard to reach it in normal security circumstances.

"The information here is to your liking?" The Bull asked.

"No." Leon shook his head, "It is all severely lacking."

"I… I agree with Leo. I can't work with just that." Zal played along as well.

"What would you be needing then?" Hector asked.

"Mr. Zal and I will be visiting the Manor of the De Sade family tomorrow." Leon said.

"We will…" Zal wanted to agree on this one as well but then he looked at Leon in puzzlement, "We will?"

Hector and Mikaela looked at each other.

"Visit the Manor? Under what pretext?" Hector asked.

"We will disguise ourselves as newly arrived aristocrats who are trying to make a name for their family in the capital and we are scouting the area before moving in." Leon said.

"You? A Rat from three days ago will pose in as an Aristocrat!" Mikaela couldn't believe what she was hearing.

"You know the saying, Madam… You are what you wear." Leon said but under the doubtful gazes of everyone around him, he walked around the table to Madam Mikaela and spoke.

"And if it be true thou dost bethink of me as baseborn carl from a bedlam who win't filleth the habiliments of the better men then thou art mistaken." He said as he bowed before her elegantly and took her hand for a kiss on its back.

A feeling of dumbfounding cluelessness emerged on the face of Madam Mikaela yet Hector started laughing at Leon's action.

"I like this guy. He speaks like those Aristocrat motherfuckers who carry sticks up their asses all day long." The Bull laughed while saying so.

"I don't know what he said but I know for a fact that he sounds like one of them." Mikaela retreated her hand and wiped it in her clothes.

Meanwhile, Zal started clapping.

"Such an exceptional skill! You have been an actor before, Leo?" He asked.

"Your eyes never cheat you, Mr. Zal." Leon said.

"So you can act like an Aristocrat. What next? What happens when you go in?" Mikaela asked.

"I will inspect the openings, the guards, and make them nobles talk about how long their dicks are. All rich people love dick-measuring contests like… Oh, we installed the state of the art security system, We hired the best security experts in the business, We are so filthy rich nobody dares to rob us… So on and so forth all fucking day long. The more they reveal about themselves, the better I know." Leon said as he rested against the table joining his arms together.

"I like the sound of it." Hector said.

"And of course they like to give people tours around their houses." Zal added, "Make them see the paintings and all that."

"We will be needing fake identities though. Mr. Zal can work on that but what we need more is information about a city from a faraway territory that is fresh talk between the high society. Also some interesting background. Aside from that, I need more details on the surrounding manors and if there is any one empty near the De Sade's house."

"For what purpose?" Hector asked.

"An Aristocrat coming to the city will surely look for a place to stay. The whole reason behind the visit is being neighborly." Leon said.

"We can't just rent you a Manor of some Aristocrat!" Madam Mikaela said.

"We won't rent anything. Just find out about the owner, make sure they are not available any time soon. We will use their name under the pretext of inspecting the neighborhood before settling in a place all so innocently."

Both Madam Mikaela and Hector Norman kept silent for a while.

"You will go in as an Aristocrat." Hector said to Leon then pointed at Zal, "And you?"

"I… will…"

"The Butler." Leon said, "A Butler seems nice."

"Two visitors… hmmm… let's make them three." At that moment, Hector decided to stick his finger into Leon's plan.

It wasn't wise to screw with the man so Leon and Zal held themselves from cursing.

"Mikaela, you will go in with them. Disguise yourself as an Aristocrat as well." Hector said.

"What?" Mikaela reacted with disgust, "I have no clue how to do that."

"Just let the boy do the talking. Women Aristocrats don't usually speak around men anyway." Hector said, "Just an extra set of eyes."

"Yeah. No problem." Leon said.

It was obvious by then. Hector didn't fully trust Leon and had his own plans. It was natural, as the employer, he can at least have a few assurances.

"It is decided then. I will play as a young Aristocrat, Mr. Zal will play as a butler, and Madam Mikaela…" Leon looked at her and thought, "My divorced older sister who drinks all day and hates talking to people."

"D- Divorced? Older? Sister?" Madam Mikaela said as if her pride was hurt so badly.

"Right. Nadia hated that role too." Leon thought to himself as he scratched his head.

Even Hector and Mr. Zal felt that this one was a bit twisted to come from the clueless Leon. After all, Madam Mikaela may be in her mid-forties but she never managed to get married to this day.

"Well… it looks like we have an initial plan for the reconnaissance. Let's not waste any time." Leon announced.

It was a bit too rough and too hasty but Leon managed to get himself involved in a big heist just two weeks after reincarnation. After all, it is finally the time to spread the Black Cobra's Legend into this world.

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[ Black Cobra ] < Unrated Title >
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