It was 6 am. The sun had not come up yet, and the streets were almost empty. Since it was two more weeks before the end of January, the dull light emitted from magical crystals, was the only source of light that revealed some figures walking around. Those were the guard patrols.
“God damn it! Why on earth is it so cold today?” asked one of the guards, who was shivering, trying to breathe into his hands and rubbed them together to produce some warmth.
“Come on, it is not that cold. Besides, whose fault is it other than your own that you have to wear a half-soaked uniform because you forgot to wash it in time, and were called on patrol duty?” mocked the guard’s partner.
“Good morning gentlemen. How are you today?” (A female’s voice)
“Eeek! What the hell! Who are you?!” asked the men, who turned towards the direction of the voice, not really noticing anyone until the woman moved out from the shadows. It was a young dark-skinned girl, probably 20 years of age. As the crystal light fully revealed her figure the guards could not help but gasp; immediately straightening themselves, and saluting.
“L-lady Spitfire. W-why are you here?” they asked, but were met with the girl giving them a wink and moving her index finger to her lips, gesturing them to keep their voices low.
“Show me your patrol route,” ordered Spitfire, her right hand being on standby to grab the dagger.
The guards immediately obeyed without any delay, pleasing the woman and avoiding a potential execution.
“I know that your captain updated your patrol route, but until the sun is up, you are to avoid warehouses district and the marina. Are we clear?” she asked sternly, immediately receiving a nod in affirmative.
“We will be out of your sight at once. We have never seen you here, and we do not know what you are talking about,” replied the guard who had been complaining a moment ago, his body slightly trembling. Who said that it was cold? It is not cold at all. I am getting roasted here! He thought, turning around and walking away with his companion following him, getting out of Spitfire’s eyesight, and never questioning anything for it would mean their end.
“Now then, let me get to business,” muttered the girl as she disappeared into shadows. She moved quickly but silently. Her gear was made so that any noise created by her, while not spotted, would be muffled. This piece of equipment was acquired inside one of the tough dungeons which were located in the forest of sorrows. It had taken her four months to clear it and come out alive. Many had perished, and if not for the financial support from lord Fornion, she would have never been able to materially sustain the cost of all the mercenaries, party assemblies, and bishops that were hired from the adventurers guild.
Currently, Spitfire was on a mission to locate a band of conspirators who had plotted to kill lady Annel. After Alviona and Solomon left the guard’s headquarters, Lord Fornion had ordered an investigation, with the results being delivered no later than by today’s sunrise. She spent nearly 15 hours going through all the documents, looking for hiccups alongside her team. Fortunately, they had stumbled upon one such clue inside one of the ledgers, showing that one of the guard members had shown up with a declaration from the captain to switch shifts.
Questioning Marcil, it was found that no such orders were signed or issued. Therefore, the document had to have been forged. The suspect had not left the city yet, because he did not know the assassination had failed and that an outside party was involved in stopping it.
Spitfire’s underlings tracked the man, took him into custody and presented him to Lord Fornion inside his mansion, as was requested. After hours of torture and utilizing psychic ability users, they found out that he was paid a hefty sum of twenty gold by a man with plated armor, that harbored an emblem of a black bear. Unable to make any connections to who that emblem belonged to, Spitfire was sent out for a full investigation, and now she was here, in the marina area. Since the suspects did not know of plans going awry, the guard confessed that he was scheduled to meet him here.
The girl quickly entered one of the buildings, which was taller compared to others in the vicinity, and walked upstairs, reaching the roof within three minutes. A man with a bow stood there, feeling a little dozy, not paying much attention to his surroundings. Since the patrols have not shown up much in this area, and dawn would be arriving in two hours, he had assumed that everything was safe, allowing himself to relax a little.
Spitfire smiled, being satisfied by restricting guards from patrolling the marina area. Slowly approaching the man, she withdrew her dagger and wrapped her hands around his mouth, nimbly stabbing his neck, disposing of him silently. She then removed a binocular from her small backpack and began her observation, activating [Tracking] and [Detect Life] in short intervals.
Hmm. Two lightly armed women by the entrance; three men with better equipment patrolling the docks; One mage standing afar, protected by a shield; two heavily equipped knights with bear emblems by the end of the pier, and lastly, a very tall man with what I assume is a legendary equipment, standing behind his said two knights. Hmm, his hammer is big and seems to emit a faint flame; definitely a legendary weapon. Probably triggers a fire element of sorts upon impact. Anywho, irrelevant. I need to devise the plan of action, there is only but thirty minutes remaining before they are supposed to meet.
Stolen story; please report.
“Shit! No helping it. This will cost me a lot,” mumbled the girl in frustration, going downstairs and leaving the building. She moved towards the meeting place and stopped when she was about 50 meters away from her first two targets.
Judging from the fact that the archer was on the roof, I can conclude him being the primary source of [Tracking] and [Detect Life] abilities. Since he was most likely out of mana and definitely slacked off because there was no reason to be on full alert, it is safe to assume that the two women in front are a secondary line of defense against trespassers. Two of them also means that their radius of ability is much smaller compared to that archer. At this distance, they still have not spotted me. Going further than this is dangerous, so I must dispose of them from here.
*Deep Inhale*
Ok. Here goes! Thought Spitfire, as she used her martial arts [Agility] ability, gaining a burst of speed and moving twice as fast than usual. Thanks to her overly light equipment, she closed the distance at lightning speed, passing into the [Tracking] skill of one of the girls but despite this, they were not quick to react, as Spitfire took out her throwing knives and tossed them at the girl that was alerted first. Before the body could drop, she had already moved to slice the throat of the second target.
Good grief. How lucky must I be to have obtained a plated armor that is not only light in weight, but also has a stat to boost the duration of [Agility] from 3 seconds to 10 seconds, plus increase its strength by 50%?! Lord Fornion, you are the most excellent man for funding my dungeon raid! My loyalty to you is sincere. How on earth would a woman ever turn down such a proper payee? Thought the girl, as she drank a transformation potion, taking a form and shape of the woman whom she had just slain, walking towards her next target, - the mage and his guardian.
“Hey, hey, what happened? Why have you left your post, Rena?” asked the mage’s guardian, with a flirty voice.
Excellent, what an easy prey. “I require your help… We captured a strange trespasser. I do not want to tell the others yet, because I think that you are the strongest man in our group. D-do you mind helping me out in breaking him?” she asked, with a seductive voice.
The man licked his lips and thought for a moment, only to nod a moment later. “Hey Marco, I will walk away for a moment to deal with this. Call the other guards if you need any help. I think we might have some guests,” said the man, as he waved and followed Rena. When they got outside, he was confused by the fact that her companion was not around.
“Where did Linsa go?” he asked in confusion, but ended up stopping his train of thought for Rena had tightly wrapped her arms around his neck.
“Hey, I lied ok?! I am tired. We have been waiting for that man to arrive for quite some time now. Only about fifteen minutes remain now, so how about we have some fun? I asked Linsa to go out for a walk for a few minutes, so instead of asking questions, how about you kiss me?” she asked, caressing his plate helmet, moving back a little, removing her armor and slightly unzipping her buttoned chest area.
Seeing her actions, the man gulped, instantly moving his hands towards his helmet and removing it, dropping it on the ground and kissing the woman in front of him. As his lips met her mouth, her eyes filled with passion, he felt an odd jolt of sensation enter his body. A moment later, he collapsed, dead.
“Fucking pig. At least learn how to kiss a woman properly!” muttered spitfire after removing the dagger from the man’s neck, spitting out to get rid of the horrible taste of lips, that she had just experienced. She proceeded to drink the second potion, taking the form, shape, and clothing of the man she had just killed.
This was the last transformation potion I had. Shit, to think that I would need to use my precious treasures for a lowly scum like this man. Do our enemies ever understand the blood and sweat required to get hold of such rare possessions as these vials? I had to collect one hundred rare poison flowers and battle an undead knight who happened to be in possession of 15 ml of dragon blood to get those potions crafted, by an amateur no less! Instead of lasting for 30 minutes, the effect only continues for 8! No, never mind. If it is to appease Lord Fornion, then this is a small price to pay. I will be repaid by far greater funding in the future.
Before moving back to the mage, she cast [Major Elemental Trap], which had an electric element primed. Satisfied, she walked back to the objective, on her way raising her hand and gesturing towards the three patrolling men to come towards her.
“Hey! We just captured two men that are outside. They are resisting! Move them in! Do not displease our boss! Be wary, the men are big and heavy, which is why Rena and Linsa cannot bring them in. I ordered them to retain their post until our late visitor finally shows himself. If he betrayed us, our boss is going to deal with him! Go! Be useful for once,” ordered Spitfire, only because she knew that this man whom she transformed into, was of a higher rank than them. His equipment status gave it away.
As the guards moved, she approached Marco, the mage, and ordered him to come with her, leading the man behind a big boulder, slicing his head off with her scimitar.
“Pfft. Boring!” exclaimed Spitfire.
The final objective and his two knights had not noticed anything odd yet, so they were somewhat relaxed. Her transformation potion still in effect, she approached them and activated her [Agility] once again. Dashing quickly, unsheathing her second scimitar, that reacted to her first and took a more dull, hammer-like shape. Thanks to the velocity gained from her ability and magical properties of her weapons, the weight crushed against the two plated knights heads, before their chief swung down his giant hammer, which she had enough window to dodge. The force applied and the size of his weapon ended up catching him a little off-balance, allowing Spitfire to mount his back and slice his neck with her dagger, being coated with poison that caused paralysis.
“Excellent! Sorry to have ruined your party there chief. But Lord Fornion wishes to speak with your irrelevant life. Nothing personal, just business,” declared Spitfire, as she dragged the man out of the marina, past the sight of all of his subordinates who all lay dead.
With that, Spitfire’s mission was completed.