"Do you have anything to drink?" I asked even as I sat down, while Zolast let the flying cart start floating. He threw a bottle at me. "Just what I needed," I said as I chugged. "So, have you been attacked?" I asked.

"Twice," Zolast said. "Once by a team of archers hidden in my path, once by a trio of flying carts, two of them I captured successfully," he said.

"An unexpected profit," I said. The flying carts weren't prohibitively expensive, but the problem was to find someone who was willing to sell them to us.

"I'm glad you insisted that I drive the cart. You weren't exaggerating when you said they were determined to take you down."

"Naturally. They had committed too many resources to my demise already."

"Three assassins," Zolast said with a sigh. "Even for a kingdom, it must have hurt. But why are they forcing it so much? Those assassins are already lost."

"A combination of pride and sunk cost fallacy. The Marquis is too used to winning, and he doesn't want to lose. He doesn't want all of it to go to waste."

"A terrible way to make decisions," Zolast said.

I chuckled as I took another swig. "Actually, from his perspective, it's not a bad decision. He thinks that once I return back to Town Maell, I won't put myself in a vulnerable position, making the walk the last chance for him to properly take me down. They wanted to take the cart down, giving them a chance to put together a secondary team."

"Obsession is a dangerous thing," Zolast said.

I shrugged. "Nobles are too used to their little games, where everyone plays with open hands. They are too predictable."

Zolast shook his head. "I'm not sure I blame them. When you make plans, you don't usually consider whether the enemy is a hidden hero with more than ten awakened stats. It's difficult to plan around."

"Well, he has his advantages, I have mine," I said. "Any developments from the princess' side? Is she willing to accept the deal?"

"Not yet, but I'm sure I can change her mind after the latest changes," Zolast said. "Is everything in place on your end?"

I pointed at the four interlocked crates that were in place. "I just need to put these crates in place," I said.

"Are you sure it will work?" Zolast asked. "Even if they discover the manifests and ability stones, is it really believable?"

"Doesn't really matter," I answered. "Even if they decide that it's a ploy, it'll still show that we were focused on the sea smuggling. It'll be their primary focus."

"Eventually, they will get suspicious," he said.

"The key word is eventually. In a few months, we will fill our territory with enough siege weapons that even the royal army wouldn't dare to risk the losses, not with the calamity drawing near."

Zolast sighed. "We will be in real trouble once we stop the calamity."

I took another sip instead of answering. He was right about the trouble that would follow if we could stop the Calamity, but it was a problem for our future selves.

"Do you need me to land?" Zolast asked.

"No, just drift near a hill so I can jump down," I said, and once he drifted near one, I let my Concealment free and jumped, not creating a platform to avoid any possible observer from a distance.

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The pain was easy to ignore.

[-12 Health]

I went back to the shore, unafraid of getting noticed. They had no reason to search for me there, considering my departure with a flying cart had been very visible.

The real challenge started after I dove down. Unlike the previous times, I swam toward Oniphia. Avoiding the first line of ships had been easy. They had several wards and active detection spells, but they were looking for Lord Beasts that might decide to attack the cities, not underwater assassins.

The port was trickier. If it wasn't for the chance to observe the wards at length during my official visit, I wouldn't have dared to approach them. With my Perception, I was able to memorize the general structure of the wards, including which parts would trigger an alarm.

Most importantly, I knew that the ships that didn't belong to the Royal Chamber of Commerce or the navy were protected by a lesser ward, independent of city defenses, making the job of passing through them trivial.

I swam until I was inches away from the wards, waved my glowing hand to disturb the mana bubble, and swam inside before it closed down. Once inside, I looked for a ship with lax protection. It was easy to find, with most sailors gathering at the port to gossip while watching the fire, visible despite the walls.

Cordoning off and letting it die was the easiest way to deal with a cursed fire.

While the sailors were distracted, I went through their cabinets and liberated a set of old clothing. My initial plan was to put the crates in before disappearing, hoping an anonymous tip would work, but the fire gave me a better option.

I visited one of the ships that belonged to Invincible Arsenal, who was appropriately defenseless. Once I hid two crates among the rest, I stepped off the ship, still using Concealment. It was riskier, especially if one of the high-level guards was watching the port like they were supposed to.

No alarm was triggered, showing that it wasn't just sailors that were fascinated by the fire.

I skirted around the crowd, pausing only to steal an identity plate from one of the sailors that allowed me to pass through the main port wards once I faked a mana flare.

Once that was done, I did two things. First, I found a cart that carried the mark of the Royal Chamber of Commerce, already lined at the gates, and sneaked one of the crates on top, but deliberately broke the seal. The remaining crate, I mixed with a large ore shipment.

With that, the ploy was seeded. I found a corner before I suppressed my Concealment, and covered my face with dirt, turning into a messy sailor.

The next step was easier, but harder at the same time. As I walked idly, mixing with the sailor crowd, I examined every guard, trying to see which one had the highest Perception. Not exactly an easy thing to measure. It took almost ten minutes, longer than the rest of the operation, but patience was an important skill for any heist.

After a while, I discovered a good candidate. High perception, young, and with a certain enthusiasm that suggested he was still new; new enough to announce his discoveries loudly without considering the risk of the scandal.

I got near him enough to make sure he could hear me but made sure that there was a barrier between us. Then, I carefully stretched my Charisma, creating a sense of boredom to make his attention shift away from the flames.

"Have you managed to put the goods in place," I said, changing my voice into a throaty one. "Stop the operation if you haven't. The fire will bring too much attention, and we can't afford the weapons to be discovered."

The moment I noticed the guard shift his attention, I changed the effect of the Charisma, pushing a sense of urgency. I wanted him to blow things open and be a star of the guards.

"There's only a few left, captain," I added, changing my voice. "Two of them are still on the ship, but one of them is still mixed with the ores. I'm not sure we can take it without alerting the guards."

"Try it," I said in my captain's voice. "And, destroy the communication ward. I don't want anyone to trace it to our lady." I implied that we were working for the princess, but I didn't say it directly. It would be more believable that way.

I left my spot, and the guard followed from a distance, watching me as I went back to the ore pile, though he waited until I removed the same crate I had pulled. "Stop," he said as he started walking closer.

"How can I help you, sir knight," I said, my voice deliberately smarmy, but I made sure the hint of panic was noticeable. It made the guard feel even more confident.

"I'm not a knight. Put that crate down," he said.

"Of course, sir knight," I said as I took a step forward … then threw the whole thing at him, and hit him with my Charisma at the same time, making him react in a more exaggerated manner. Rather than easily dodging the crate, he pulled his sword. His attack destroyed the crate, and thirty mana-forged spearheads, each expensive enough to cost a small fortune, spread onto the floor.

"Smuggler alert," the guard shouted, but not before I dashed right into the sailor crowd, and hit them with a blast of Charisma to make them panic. They dispersed despite the guard shouting at them to stand still, the mess enough to allow me to use my Concealment once more.

I slipped into the water before the guards could even quell the initial panic. As I swam away, more and more guards were reacting to the unexpected discovery of a serious smuggling operation.

Giving us the excuse we needed to sell our weapons.