Being in the long hallway seemed like a dream. The general feeling given from the mansion made Mogi question whether he was awake. Breathtakingly beautifully designed walls of a deep maroon shade plastered the walls. Chandeliers hung on the ceiling high above them, littering the hallway with a cascade of light. Various rooms dotted the sides of the hallway, each with a lavishly decorated entrance.

Mogi quickly closed the door, returning to the darkness of the storage room. With his palm on his head, he looked down while shaking his head. It seemed like there was no other option.

Turning to Marsh and Victor Mogi let out a dejected sigh.

"We're going to have to blow our cover. I know I said originally that I wanted to get as far as possible without relying on our disguises, but it seems impossible in our current situation."

Barely conceivable in the dark, Marsh had a look of concern on his face.

Mogi then briefly explained their situation regarding the long hallway and their terrible location within the mansion. He then rapidly went over the change of plans.

They were going to take some cleaning equipment and pretend to be going somewhere to clean. Although having the three of them grouped together would be very suspicious, it was a necessary risk. It wasn't like servants never worked together. They would then make their way over to the staircase and inconspicuously slip into the basement. At least in theory, but plans almost never flowed flawlessly in practice.

By the time the three boys had prepped everything to leave, a quarter of an hour had passed making the looming time pressure seem like an inevitable certainty.

Three of them then stepped confidently out into the hallway each armed with various brooms and mops.

With his chest up high, Mogi took initiative in front of the other two. His petite figure exuded a sense of belonging and face was held up high in confidence. He truly looked like a servant on their way to fulfill their duty.

Mogi set off with haste, forcing Vic and Marsh to match his urgent pace of someone off to do their job.

Victor's stoic face remained ambiguous as always. It was perfect in this situation where disguise and confidence were key.

Marsh on the other hand was extremely nervous. So much so that it was creeping up onto his face. Yet he soon realized the direness of their situation as he wrestled with his inner worries and plastered a look of false confidence on his face.

The further they travelled down the hall the more life seem to sprout from the walls of the mansion. The murmur of voices behind closed doors softly bounced throughout the hallways breaking the previous silence present at the end of the hall. Various servants had passed by them already, yet none seemed to care about their presence as they hurriedly passed by to get to their job done in the same manner the boys were emulating.

Luckily they had not been questioned about their identity, which was probably helped by the sheer quantity of servants the Vargas had. It also helped that none of the servants they had passed had been high up in the Vargas manor hierarchy or a member of the family themself.

A good while later the three of them had successfully traversed the hallway. The hallway itself came to an abrupt stop and made of sharp turn into the central hall of the mansion.

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With cautious steps, the three of them made their way into the center of the mansion.

Mogi warily looked around the massive area with Marsh and Victor following closely behind him.

The ceiling itself loomed at an impressive height, creating an impressive atmosphere. A glass chandelier as big as a small home hung from the ceiling, glimmering like an artificial sun with refracting rays that created a wavering spectacle of light across the whole room. Surrounding the chandelier were two spiral staircases that served as the centerpiece to the central hall. In opposing directions the stairwells crawled their way to the upper floors of the mansion. These stairwells faced the mahogany doors that served as the main entrance to the mansion that the three orphans had previously avoided.

In the back corner of the room, hidden in the shadows, Mogi saw a servant standing guard at an old wooden door. From far away it was hard to make out the surprised expression of the guard as he stepped out of the way to open the door. The open door revealed another servant holding a lantern and walking up to return to the grand hall. The servant emerged from the door and quickly blew out his lantern before hanging it inside the secret stairwell. Giving a quick nod to the guard the servant quickly took his leave.

Mogi suppressed the grin creeping up onto his face. With that stroke of luck, they knew where the basement was now.

The three disguised orphans stuck to the edges of the room as Mogi led the group to the old door. Other servants urgently pushed by them, avoiding the commotion going on in the middle of the room.

From a quick glance, Mogi could see that Lord Vargas himself stood introducing his daughter to another noble family. His silvery white hair was neatly combed and his naturally intimidating icy blue eyes delved into his guests. The eyes themselves were like a snowstorm, with a cloudy haze seemingly swirling above the depths of a blue sky.

Next to him stood his daughter. Her flowing black hair, turquoise eyes, and sculpted face made her the most attractive person Mogi had ever seen.

The visiting family was most likely vying for her hand in marriage, which was common practice of weaker noble houses attempting to boost their status by being a vassal under a stronger house.

Mogi's eyes unwillingly lingered on the Vargas daughter for too long, causing him to accidentally run into another servant. Quickly apologizing, Mogi scrambled to maintain his previous calm, but Mogi was still irked. He was somewhat jealous because he knew he would never have a chance with a stunning noble, let alone the Vargas daughter. Thinking about this did him no good though, so he tried to shake off the thought.

Eventually Mogi made it to the servant guarding the old door hidden in the corner of the room. Marsh and Victor stood behind him in support.

The servant had a well kept yet scruffy appearance, like a tamed wild beast, as his facial hair appeared to be meticulously cared for.

The servant's face took on a skeptical scowl as he glared at the odd trio.

"What do you need?"

Mogi looked straight into the guards eyes, his face not wavering.

"We've been ordered to clean up down there."

The guard's eyebrows steepened.

"We barely ever clean down there. Are you sure you're supposed to clean here?"

Mogi eyes rolled as he shrugged.

"Don't ask me. I'm just following direct orders telling me that the place needed to be better kept."

The guard impatiently sighed.

"And who told you that?"

Mogi's heart skipped a beat. He did not have an answer to that question.

He instead took the broom in his hand and used the handle to given a quick but powerful jab into the guard's gut.

The guard stumbled to the floor in a small grunt that indicated the wind was knocked out of him.

Mogi quickly grabbed the man by the collar and opened the door to the staircase before stepping into the stairwell below.

The bodies of Marsh and Vic served to hide most of the dark corner from the unwanted eyes of the busy room, letting Mogi successfully assault the guard. The two still glanced around nervously to see if they had been caught.

A few seconds after the blow had landed, Marsh and Vic had entered, shutting the door behind them in sighs of relief.

The darkness within that enclosed the orphans was only broken by the small beam of light slipping under the crack of the door and the soft gurgling of the guard that Mogi was currently choking out.

They had made it to the entrance of the lower floor and all that was left was to explore the treasures hidden below.