Seifr and Shayla looked over the available targets that the Head had provided. Seifr had spent the past couple days in meditation, seeking the answers within himself to whether or not he should continue on as a candidate for the Thieves Guild or if he should go it alone.
He had several contradictions to resolve within himself, not least of which was choosing to work for a government that apparently did not care about its own citizens. He resolved that particular contradiction by deciding that he had only seen the local city government in action, and had had little to no interaction with any Imperial agencies other than the Head, and he had a favorable impression of the Head.
He also ruminated over the decision to be a professional thief and possible spy. He was much more relaxed about his thievery within the city of Vinson with the knowledge that most of what he would acquire in the future was actually just a test, and the stolen goods would be returned in good order; however, he was still ambivalent towards stealing from foreign merchants, even though they were foreigners. He currently had no particular loyalty towards the Imperial government, and he certainly had zero antagonism towards any other nation or its people. He decided to let that issue rest for the moment, and to re-evaluate it at a future date.
Another issue that was close to his heart was seeking revenge for Celia. He could quickly amass the money needed to recruit powerful mercenaries, but at the same time, he would now have a more defined deadline with the potential to be sent out of the country to officially join a Thieves Guild branch far away. He decided that the opportunity to amass the necessary funds quickly outweighed the potential to be sent away. From what he could grasp of what the Head implied, his evaluation was really just starting.
The final aspect holding him back was his personal relationships. What would he do about Seth? What had Raeq been up to? Did they think he murdered Celia, or did they believe in him enough to recognize the lie? He could see an angle where he could potentially recruit Master Kveld into assisting him with his revenge. Master Kveld had close ties to many of the nobility, so he most likely knew of the arrangement with the Thieves Guild. He would have to convince him that he was not a murderer, though. Maybe.
In the end, Seifr had decided to remain for now, all of the benefits outweighing the potential downfalls that he could see. Shayla had taken exactly ten seconds to decide to stay, having made the decision before they had even left the Head's office. She had actually taken the time Seifr spent meditating to scope out a couple of the targets on the list, laying the groundwork for the needed intelligence.
Seifr pointed at one of the targets on the list, a noble's mansion with a wall isolating it from the surrounding city. "I like this one," he said.
Shayla stared at him with wide eyes before exclaiming, "Of course you do! You just had to pick the only target that I could gather exactly squat on when investigating." She threw her hands up in annoyance and shook her head.
"It's the right choice for us. All of the other targets could only evaluate our skills that we've already shown proficiency in. This is the only one that we could display a new skill: improvisation in an unknown situation and acting. I already have a plan. Well, more an idea than a plan, haha." Seifr responded.
Shayla huffed and then looked at him through her hair hanging over her face. She blew the hair out in front of her and said, "Let's hear it."
Seifr chuckled as he said, "I knew you'd see things my way."
"Now wait a moment. I never..." Shayla began.
Seifr continued like she had never started talking, "We pose as a servant and a guard. One of us will sneak in, and intercept a servant, and steal their clothes, and lock them up somewhere. Then that person will act as a servant while scouting around for valuables during the day, posing as 'new' help. Then that night, the other one of us will do the same thing with a guard, and use the two identities to gain access to the interior and help ourselves to some valuables. How does that sound?"
Shayla tilted her head in thought for a second before replying, "It's not entirely bad, but your premise of stealing a servant's clothes and passing as a new employee would never work; however, that being said, we could use the ties the Head has to arrange for one of us to enter a temp agency, incapacitate one or more of the servants to force them to use said agency, and manipulate it so they send one or both of us. We can get a guard's uniform later."
Seifr nodded his head as he listened to Shayla and smiled. "That sounds perfect. Let's make it happen."
Seifr grabbed the list, and the two of them went to see the Head to explain their target and plan of attack. The Head was a little wary of the plan, but he understood what they were trying to accomplish. He quickly assented to their request and sent the young woman in the waiting room to contact one of his contacts to arrange for the temp agency position. He would not make the arrangements himself, he would use a third party to set up the appointment with the other third party to remain as anonymous as possible.
While those steps to the plan were being carried out, Seifr and Shayla made their way to the manor to watch for any servants leaving on errands. Shayla had come up with a concoction from somewhere that would cause someone to become violently sick for a couple of days before passing like nothing had happened if it was directly inhaled. She refused to divulge the secret of its origin to Seifr, saying a lady had her secrets. Whatever that means, Seifr chuckled to himself. Shayla glared at him as he softy chuckled, seemingly aware of his thoughts.
They spent the better part of the day waiting to no avail, when a couple of servants came out of the manor's interior, laughing and joking with each other obviously on break from their duties. Seifr and Shayla noted their direction and used back alleys to rush ahead of them. They came out onto the main street and walked towards the group they were targeting.
Shayla had the substance, a powder, in her hand as they made their way to intercept the servants. When they got close enough, Shayla brought her hands half way up to her face, scrunched her nose for a brief second, and then gave a loud, fake sneeze, blowing the powder into the other people's faces. Seifr and Shayla rotated their ki to restrict the airflow into their lungs as the powder went everywhere. Looks of disgust came across the servants' faces, but it quickly passed as they were all at the Late Mortal Realm and not matches against either Seifr or Shayla alone, much less together. They quickly stepped aside and continued on their way, some giving looks over their shoulders with anger and indignation written on their faces.
Shayla straightened up and smiled at Seifr, "That was easier than I expected. Now we wait. My favorite part of these jobs."
Seifr laughed. He had to agree, waiting was definitely one of the worst parts of some of these jobs. At least in this particular instance, there was no danger involved yet.
The duo returned to the safe house to wait for the order to proceed in disguise to the manor. Shayla spent the time practicing her martial techniques. She always needed to burn some energy before a mission, or she could not calm down properly. She would eventually burn enough energy to be able to relax sufficiently.
Seifr spent the time in meditation, circulating his ki. When not involved in missions, he was always diligent to practice his kung fu and cultivation. Normally they would not get into another mission so quickly, but they had decided to step up their pace this time to see if they could handle it.
Around a day and half later, the Head finally notified them that it was time to execute the mission. "Remember, you're safe once you turn the goods in. Before that they don't necessarily know you're a candidate, and so they may employ lethal force. So be careful. This is a new type of heist that neither of you has participated in. Even if you don't succeed in obtaining any material goods, you will still obtain valuable experience."
Shayla grinned nervously, and Seifr simply nodded his head, remaining calm. The Head handed them two servant's uniforms from the manor and identification from the temp agency, and they quickly changed. After they were headed towards the manor, Shayla elbowed Seifr lightly in the ribs and said, "Why are you so calm? Were you a servant or something?"
This was the first time Shayla had inquired about Seifr's past so openly, but he realized it wasn't actual prying, but simply trying to keep herself calm with banter. "I've never acted as a servant before, but I have interacted with them and know the basics enough to get by," Seifr responded. "If anyone asks, we'll just say that you're new to the agency, and I'm helping you a little bit to get used to what needs to be done. Each noble will have his servants act in a different manner anyway, so as long as you're not too conspicuous, we should be fine."
"Right, right. I'll let you do the talking, and I'll just keep my head low and eyes peeled," Shayla said.
The pair made their way through the city and arrived at the manor in question. As they approached the entrance, Seifr drew out their identification and handed it to the guard stationed there. "We're form the temp agency to replace a couple of sick servants or something," Seifr introduced.
The guard eyed the two up and down, making note of their unusually high cultivation for temporary servants, and said, "Wait here." He took the identification with him into the guard shack. Seifr stood there unflustered, but Shayla kept shifting her weight form foot to foot.
"Do you think he knows?" Shayla whispered.
Seifr furrowed his brow as he glanced at Shayla. "Relax," he instructed. This was the first time he had seen Shayla so nervous. She was usually very confident when on mission, but then again, she was usually trying not to interact with anyone. Shayla stopped fidgeting and focused on breathing in and out slowly to calm herself.
The guard quickly came back out of the small guardhouse with their identification. He eyed Shayla suspiciously as she stood there breathing in and out deeply. "Her first day," Seifr explained. The guard gave a noncommittal grunt as he handed the identification back to them and waved them inside.
"See the front door over there? Don't use it. There's a side entrance to the right that leads straight to the kitchens. Enter the kitchens, stay to the right, and in the corner at the end is an office for the head maid. She'll have your work for you."
Seifr gave a slight bow in thanks and motioned for Shayla to follow him inside. Step two of the plan accomplished: gain access to the interior of the manor.
The pair followed the directions of the guard and made their way through the servant's entrance and the kitchen to the head maid's office.
The head maid was a plump woman with a cultivation in the Mid Mortal Realm and an austere expression on her face. She glanced the two over before explaining anything. "Considering your cultivation, I'm not really sure I should be giving you orders," she started towards Shayla. "But considering you're wearing the uniform, your cultivation doesn't mean anything here. I'm strict but not heartless. Do as I say when I say, and we'll get along just fine. Don't do as I say when I say, and you'll be leaving posthaste. Understand?" She looked at the two in an authoritative manner. Seifr was secretly impressed, and quickly nodded along with Shayla.
"Good. Girl, you're going to be in charge of cleaning the youngin's rooms. Boy, you're a bit luckier. You get to stand in front of the master's office and just be available. Do not go in unless expressly ordered to by the master, no one else. Most of the time one will end up just standing there like a post for several hours. You are not allowed to sit down. Your meals will be brought to you, and you will eat them quickly standing there. The upside is that you get to eat leftovers from the actual meal served to the family at the end of the day. It's worth it, trust me. Now be about it," the head maid dismissed them.
Seifr gave a slight bow, and Shayla gave a shallow curtsy before departing. As they turned to leave, the head maid said, "None of that now. I'm in charge, true, but we're more colleagues. All you need to show me is deference and respect. No bowing or scraping for me." Seifr finally saw a small smile cross the woman's face. Perfect, we made a good impression so far.
Seifr was slightly worried about being separated from Shayla so quickly, but he knew if she were alone, she would be much better off than if she were interacting with the other staff. Seifr had actually performed similar functions when working at the home office of the Kyian Trading House several years ago, so he was no stranger to standing around waiting.
Seifr positioned himself in front of the office he was directed to and proceeded to wait. This was probably the absolute, most boring position possible, and he was sure he had been given this duty because he had remained calm, and the head maid wanted to evaluate his level of patience. If he were an actual temp servant, he would be happy, because that meant he could potentially worm his way into a permanent position at this manor. Too bad for the head maid that he was really a rogue in disguise.
The day slowly passed by with excruciating lack of excitement. Several times an hour, people would come and go from the office. Even the lord of the manor left a couple of times. Not once did anyone even lay eyes on him even though he was standing right out in the open. Several of the guests had extremely profound auras that Seifr could not accurately identify, and they made him want to break out in a sweat, but he stoically maintained his composure. The meals he were given were basically dry rations and a cup of water. He found himself actually looking forward to the promised meal at the end of the day.
The end of the day did finally make an appearance, blessedly. The head maid personally came to relieve Seifr from his post. He had been standing in the near dark with no activity whatsoever for over an hour. The lord of the manor had left quite some time ago, but since nobody had told Seifr when he could leave, he remained in place.
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"Well, you do follow orders, don't you? Haha, I forgot to mention that at sundown the master doesn't ever return to his office. I was wondering why I didn't see you for dinner and finally realized the reason. Actually, I'm sorry about that. It was my mistake," she gave a warm laugh and smiled at Seifr as he also chuckled.
"No big deal. It was my job, after all," Seifr replied as he stretched his legs and back out.
"Well, c'mon then. Let's get you fed proper," the plump woman said. Seifr was more than happy to follow her to the kitchen. He noted the lack of other servants and guards as they traversed the halls. This might be easier than expected. Seifr was suddenly a bit more confident in his plan.
The head maid sat him down at a small wooden table and placed a fairly substantial plate of food in front of him. There was plenty of beef and several side dishes he had never tried. He was so hungry he was sure that no matter what was placed in front of him, it would be delicious. It was.
The maid chuckled as she saw Seifr wolf down the food. "Six in the morning sharp, be standing at the office. Usually we rotate the staff member assigned as aide, but we're short more than two servants at the moment, so sorry to tell you that you're still it."
Seifr nodded his head and gave a grunt of acknowledgement as his mouth was full. The head maid gave one final chuckle before retiring to her quarters. Seifr had already been told where the servant's quarters were earlier when getting directions to the office. After the meal, he stretched once more, and then made his way to the bunk room set aside for the servants.
In the hall he spotted Shayla standing with a shy expression on her face with a young guard talking to her. When she saw Seifr enter the hall, she immediately put her finger on the young man's mouth and drug him into a side room. By the time Seifr made his way to the side room, Shayla was already poking her head out and waving for Seifr to come in.
"Finally! I had to pretend to be interested but too shy to go through with anything for so long while maintaining his interest. That was the most acting I've ever had to do. You sure didn't make it easy on me. Quick, now, get changed into his clothes. He told me all about the patrol schedules and paths of the guards. He also mentioned a safe in the office. That's where we're headed. I'll lead the way to avoid other patrols while you pretend to be on patrol yourself. None of the guards come down here, so nobody will find him unconscious until morning," Shayla said in a rush.
Seifr could tell that she had a lot of pent up nervousness and was trying to get it out. With their goal being so close at hand, now was not the time to lose one's calm. Seifr simply nodded his head as he threw the young man's studded leather armor on over his servant's uniform. He topped it off with the open-face helmet and signalled that he was ready to go. He didn't have his usual katana, so he had to go with the longsword the young man had. The weight and balance was a little different, but he hopefully would not have to use it.
The two of them waited around in the small side room for a couple of hours before Shayla quickly led him through halls back to his previous post outside the office. Now that she was in her skullduggery element, she was much calmer and composed. The office was not locked, and the duo quietly made their way inside. The office was on the second floor and had a large window off to one side overlooking the courtyard below. Seifr went over to the desk to rifle through it and see if there was anything of interest while Shayla pulled out her lock picks from who knows where and got to work on the safe.
Seifr found a couple of pieces of decorations with gold and gems on it and a small money pouch with some gold coins in it. He pocketed the pouch and stuffed the decorations into a sack he pulled out from inside his tunic. He turned towards Shayla when he heard a sharp intake of breath from her.
"Motherload!" she whispered fiercely. She was peering into a sack she had pulled out of the safe. She had already snatched several gold and silver bars, each valuing at 100 coins respectively. "There has to be over a thousand spirit stones in this sack!" She exclaimed.
Seifr was thoroughly surprised. He was fairly sure from seeing him earlier that this particular lord was not in the Spirit Realm, and thus could not utilize spirit stones. Probably payment for some of those powerhouses that I saw earlier. That was the only explanation he could come up with.
The pair tidied up their findings and made their way back to the office door. They planned to simply walk back out the servant's door quietly. No need for an elaborate escape plan.
That idea was quickly shattered as they opened the door to see a man standing there and both sides of the hall full of guards. The man smiled at them as they opened the door. He had a cultivation at the peak of the Nascent Realm, a hard confrontation for either of them, especially considering he looked like he knew how to use the sword at his waist.
"Haha, well now, what do we have here? A couple of rats came scampering out of the dark all of a sudden. Go ahead and..."
Seifr didn't wait for the man to continue, he slammed the door in his face and threw a bookshelf to the side in front of the door. Shayla was starting to panic a little while she tried to think of an exit strategy.
"Haha, no need for that now," the man's voice came through the door. "Open the door and come out. Let's talk about this. I recognized you from the description William gave a couple of us the other night. I know what you are. I promise not to kill you... If you come out."
Seifr ignored the man's words and quickly grabbed the chair behind the main desk and threw it through the large window. A large crash resounded throughout the manor. "No need for stealth, now. Quick, jump," Seifr exclaimed to Shayla. She saw that Seifr was in control of himself and quickly calmed back down. She and Seifr ran over to the window and jumped out. As cultivators a fall from this height was nothing to be scared of.
As they were making their jump, the man's voice came through the door once more, "Boy, don't get cocky! You're fair game right now!" He quickly motioned to the guards in the hall to rush outside.
Seifr and Shayla made their landing well ahead of the group of guards, but there was still the guard shack at the entrance to the manor. Shayla started in that direction, but Seifr quickly grabbed her wrist and said, "Not that way. We'll get on top of the wall and jump to some adjacent roofs and make our escape that way."
One of the major flaws in the design of the manor and its wall was that they had allowed neighboring buildings within jumping distance of cultivators of a modest realm. Normally someone of Seifr's cultivation would not be able to make the jump, but he was confident he would be able to.
Shayla simply nodded and followed Seifr to one of the interior set of stairs leading up to the wall. The wall was nothing fancy, and had a set of stairs out in the open on all four sides. As the pair made it to the top of the stairs, the man in charge of the security noticed their plan and ordered the other guards to chase on foot through the entrance while he charged over after Seifr and Shayla, planning on following them directly.
Shayla made the jump first, and right before making the jump himself, Seifr turned and gave a sarcastic salute to the man rushing towards him. He then made the jump next to Shayla and began rushing across the rooftops. Shayla turned towards the direction of the safe house, but Seifr called out to her, "Not that way. The fence is closer."
Shayla glanced at him quickly and said, "Are you sure? It's the middle of the night. They're probably closed, now"
"It's worth a shot," Seifr replied. Shayla nodded her head, choosing to trust Seifr's decision to gamble. He was usually clear-headed and not one to take stupid risks. He took risks for sure, just not stupid ones.
They continued their dash across the roof tops, quickly outdistancing the guards chasing them on the ground, but the apparent captain of the guard was closing in on them. The duo made several jumps in their escape, and bad luck finally caught up with them. One of the tiles under Seifr's feet gave out as he made his landing, and he tumbled to the ground with it. Shayla hesitated and looked down at him on the ground.
Seifr quickly regained his feet and yelled up to Shayla, "Go! I'll run through the streets." Shayla quickly disappeared from sight, but as Seifr turned to run down the alley, the older guard landed spryly on the ground next to him, and Seifr found a sword arcing towards his head.
Seifr performed a quick roll and drew the longsword at his waist and squared off against his opponent. The man smiled at him and laughed, "Haha, you're mine now, boy."
With that the man lunged an overhead attack at Seifr. The man was quick, very quick. Seifr fended him off, a little awkward with the unfamiliar sword. Despite the lunge attack, the man maintained his footing and balance expertly and perform a horizontal slash at Seifr's midsection. Seifr quickly dodged back and parried the attack. His heart was racing as he realized the other man was quite skilled.
"No fancy techniques. Just plain swordsmanship. I'm not trying to kill you, but if you do die..." The man shrugged his shoulders and launched into another assault. Seifr had to use all of his ability to fend off the attacks from the other man. He was quickly put into a disadvantage that he realized he hardly had much hope of getting out of.
Their swords darted and arced through the air, causing light to glint off of them as they whirled around each other in a deadly dance. Seifr was always half a step behind, and he was getting further and further behind. The guard appeared to be fighting leisurely, though he certainly wasn't so much more skilled that he could toy with the younger thief. He was patiently encroaching on the younger man's defense, waiting for an opportunity to strike.
The older man was secretly surprised at the level of skill the young man was displaying, despite his somewhat clumsy wielding of the longsword. He imagined that he was a swordsman of a different style of blade, and that he had received quite a thorough training of his foundation. Seifr managed to fend off several close calls despite being out of rhythm.
The opportunity the man had been waiting for finally arrived as Seifr misjudged a feint, and a searing pain along with a slight tugging sensation came over his midsection. He lost his footing and fell in a heap on the ground, clutching at his stomach. He pulled his hand away, wet with copious amounts of blood. If he had not been wearing the armor, maybe he would have been a little faster, but that strike also would have definitely spilled his guts out.
Seifr groaned in agony as he grasped at the ground with his free hand, adrenaline and pain making him writhe on the ground. The man slowly approached and grinned down at Seifr.
"Haha, well..." Seifr closed his left fist and flung the dirt, gravel, and dust in his hand at the man's face. The man had become a little overconfident and did not see this desperate move coming, and the dirt quickly entered his eyes and temporarily blinded him.
"Arghh, you little..." The man roared out. Seifr paid no attention to him as he focused his ki into the sword. He had a sudden epiphany and decided to try the vibration technique for opening doors silently, but in reverse. He struck out at the other man's sword, causing ringing vibrations to inundate the sword and work their way into the guard's hand and arm. His grip quickly loosened and he dropped the sword.
Seifr saw an opportunity and quickly performed a scissor kick to knock the other man down. Seifr leapt to his feet, and wielding his sword again, stabbed the captain in the right thigh, leaving the sword in his leg. "Now let's see you chase after me," Seifr said.
Seifr had already lost quite a bit of blood, but he focused all of his cultivation on restraining the wound in his stomach as he continued on his way towards the fence. He was actually not too far, but every step was agony. As he made his way down the streets, other people keeping a safe distance from him lest he accidentally bring destruction their way, he heard the guardsman bellow behind him.
"You little bastard! This isn't over!" Seifr looked behind him and saw that the man had pulled the sword out and regained his sight. He was quickly limping towards Seifr with murderous intent in his eyes.
Seifr finally managed to spot the fence after making a final turn in the streets, and he was delighted to see that his gamble had paid off as he saw Shayla standing in the lit doorway. She quickly spotted him and rushed over to help him to the fence.
As he was entering the building, the man chasing him turned the corner and yelled one final time, "You're not getting away!"
Seifr entered the building, turned his head back to the man, and said, "I just did."
Seifr hobbled over to the counter with Shayla's help and saw the same young man behind the counter, staring off at nothing and drumming his fingers on the counter top. Seifr placed his acquisitions on the counter and said, "Are you...?"
The young man seemed to understand what Seifr was going to ask him, and shook his head and replied before he could finish the question, "Twin brother." He then snatched the merchandise up and dashed into the back room.
Seifr looked over at Shayla inquisitively. She smiled and said, "I know."
The man quickly came back out of the room with a money pouch. He placed it on the counter and said, "Congratulations, you got away!"
"Fantastic," Seifr said. Then he proceeded to collapse into unconsciousness.