Popis looked curiously at the unconscious guards in their undergarments, carefully examining their red and swollen faces. In the meantime, Liza was helping Ben take care of the wounds on his thigh.

“You have been looking at them for a while now, what’s the matter?” asked Liza.

“I think I’ve seen these two before, but I’m not sure. It’s hard to tell when their faces are this size,” replied Popis.

“Hahaha, you did pummel them with a rock nonstop, what did you expect?”

“What else could I’ve done? Well, whatever. I probably had to bribe them before or something like that,” said Popis shrugging her shoulders.

Liza shook her head in amusement. She finished treating Ben’s injury and slapped his thigh with slight force, making him shudder and grimace shortly. He looked down displeased, but of course, he saw nothing there. Interacting with someone invisible was rather disconcerting.

“This should do the trick! Finish changing and then help me with Eliot.”

“Ok,” replied Ben.

Soon, Ben and Eliot were wearing the local guards’ colors and gear. They didn’t have problems with the equipment size, since they both had average builds and the items were made to be a bit larger than that. This prevented the need of individually fitting the armor of every soldier, saving the lord a lot of coin. When everyone was ready, Popis led them away, leaving the unfortunate guards behind.

After walking speedily for some time, they could finally see the lord’s manor. Popis stopped and moved to the side, it was time their short and yet eventful acquaintance came to an end.

“There’s your goal and this is where we part. I can only wish you luck!”

A small, but heavy leather pouch filled with coins materialized on top of Popis’ small head. Chuckling, Liza patted her shoulder with affection.

“Thanks for all your help. This pouch is the only thing I can give you right now as compensation for the troubles you went through in our behalf, use it to feed yourself and those kids well. I hope we can meet again in the future under better circumstances,” said Liza.

Ben didn’t know what to say. He only just recently arrived in this world and so many things had already happened that he could only go with the flow and try not to drown. Liza, Eliot, Popis and everyone that genuinely helped him so far were huge pillars of support for him, making parting ways hard.

“Sorry… and thanks.”

His ethereal voice was unemotional, but his face said it all. Popis nodded, smiling knowingly. Liza then pressed her hands against Eliot’s and Ben’s backs, making them move towards the manor. She knew Eliot wouldn’t say goodbye, not because he didn’t care, but because he didn’t understand what was happening. Popis watched them advance for a bit before disappearing into the alleyways.

It had already turned dark and the streets were empty due to the curfew. Ben and Eliot, dressed as local guards, crossed the silent city square with the invisible Liza just behind them.

“Remember Ben, just open and close your mouth. Try to not look directly at them. Gaze at the sky like you’re complaining or at the ground like you’re dejected. It’s already dark and they won’t get a good look at you, if we add our previous distraction, our chances are decent. Don’t be too nervous.”

Ben nodded, but it was clear he was anxious. That was normal, it was not like asking someone to not be nervous could make their worries go away. He couldn’t help but feel weird though.

[Most of this was my idea, so why the hell can’t I stop trembling!]

They finally drew close to the main gate which was, surprisingly, open. Two sentries stood by it with their hounds, one at each side. The dogs looked at the newcomers, their ears straight, sniffing the air.

[Now is the time of truth. I hope my medicine muddled the scent of blood enough and they don’t bother us,] thought Liza.

Sweating cold, Liza gently grabbed one of her long knives, ready to draw it if needed. Boro, who was resting on her shoulders and also invisible from view, glared at the dogs intently.

Feeling the presence of a superior, stronger being, the hounds whimpered softly and sat on the ground trembling, trying to hide their faces with their paws repeatedly. Liza, seeing this, felt both puzzled and relieved. The sentries didn’t notice it, because they were looking at the advancing party in puzzlement. One sentry then reprimanded them.

“Hey, what are you guys doing here?! Everyone that’s available should be circling the Thegass residence right now! Go quickly or you’ll be done for!”

Ben stood still, paralyzed. Only when he felt a strong hand on his shoulder did he come to. He lowered his head, shaking it dejectedly, and opened and closed his mouth at fixed intervals without making a sound. Behind him, having already prepared herself, Liza made her most mainly voice possible.

“Ha, where did you think we came from! Something happened there and the cap’n told us to come back and report to the Earl immediately!”

“Oh? What happened?”

Suddenly, Eliot moved slowly towards one of the hounds. At first, the sentry was suspicious, but when he looked at his dog he was surprised.

“Hey, Thunder! Thunder! What happened to you boy!”

Hearing his colleague outcry, the man talking to “Ben” turned around and was shocked with the dog’s behaviour. He then noticed his hound was trembling on the ground too and became worried. Eliot approached the terrified dog and patted his head. Thunder didn’t even move.

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“Maybe you fed them something bad? Anyway, we need to report to the lord or miss Hanna immediately, we can talk later.”

“Huh? Ah, yeah, yeah, go ahead and hurry,” said the man distractedly as he examined his dog with a concerned expression.

Liza pushed Ben’s back gently to encourage him to move and went to fetch Eliot stealthily. Together they entered the mansion, leaving behind the perplexed sentries trying to figure out what happened to their canine companions.

The inside of the manor was grandiose, lavishly decorated and faintly illuminated by many candlesticks and candelabras. There weren’t any guards inside. Like the sentry hinted, most of their manpower was concentrated on capturing the fugitive hiding at the Thegass residence. A few maids were walking around, absorbed on their duties. Whenever they noticed them, they would nod their heads respectfully and continue with their chores.

Liza was amazed at how well everything went, she couldn’t help but look at Ben and remember the conversation they had…

~~~

“Entering the lord’s mansion? Isn’t that just suicidal?” asked Liza.

“Not necessarily, you would be amazed of what you can achieve with the right uniform and attitude. Where I come from there are people so good at this that the rest of the world call them artists. Con artists, to be more precise,” replied Ben.

“Con artists? You mean like masters of deception and lies? Ridiculous, those you call artists are no more than charlatans!”

Ben just smiled and didn’t argue back. Annoyed, Liza continued.

“Then how would we find the passage? If it even exists…”

“I can’t say for sure it exists, but going by the shrewd nature of those bastards they probably have one. It will be on the first floor or on the basement, probably on a room the lord uses frequently, like his bedroom, study, etc.”

~~~

[I guess he was correct. The right clothes and attitude… though his attitude left to be desired. In the hideout he was rather confident, but now he is so nervous I was afraid we would be done for.]

They strolled carefully around the first floor, looking for a room they believed had a good chance of containing the secret passage. In the beginning there were no problems, since most chambers had their doors opened. They would “patrol” the corridors, take a quick glance at the rooms and then move on.

Soon though, they came across many closed doors, therefore they had no option but to open them first to look inside. Doing it once or twice might be ok, but at every instance? Their behaviour soon attracted the suspicion of an intelligent maid.

“Respected guards, could I ask what you are doing?”

Seeing the astute gaze filled with suspicion of the servant, Liza felt a headache incoming. Sensing it would be troublesome to convince her, Liza decided it was better to not have to try at all. While Ben didn’t know what to do and Eliot just innocently looked around, Liza approached the maid and brought a flask very close to her nose. She held her breath, popped the flask open for around three seconds before hastily closing it and withdrawing.

Having no idea what was going on, Ben was nervously staring at the maid. He kept opening and closing his mouth, like he was out of words. Suddenly, a terrible smell inundated a small area around them. It wasn’t just a dreadful stench, it almost felt solid, like an attack to the senses. Ben backed away, making a great effort to not throw up. Eliot frowned and distanced himself from the noxious area.

The poor servant, that had the stench appear right under her nose, quite literally, bent over and started retching uncontrollably, making a mess of her clothes and the floor. Liza waited for the smell to dissipate a bit before making a rough voice.

“Oh, could someone help this poor gal? I guess she’s feeling unwell.”

Three other servants that were on the area came forth panicking and tried to assist the maid that was in a sorry state. They sensed a nasty smell, though it was not unbearable, and figured the culprit was the lass. Having one person pick each arm while the other held a bucket, they escorted the maid away.

Looking bewildered, Ben finally figured out what happened and glared at the air. He was trying to glare at Liza, but he wasn’t sure he was looking at the right direction. Seeing his face, Liza whispered softly.

“What, do you pity her? Or perhaps you’re mad because I didn’t use this to help you subdue those guards? Did you fancy infiltrating the manor in a uniform covered in puke?”

Ben stopped glaring and looked at the ground, feeling embarrassed. Deciding to stop wallowing in shame, Ben moved towards another room and opened the door for an inspection. At the same time, coming from the other end of the corridor was a middle-aged man wearing long robes and a staff. He was one of the men present in the ritual to summon the otherworlder.

He looked puzzled at the two guards just standing there in the middle of the way, like they were examining the inside of the chamber. Soon, he frowned. He had a great aptitude at sensing mana and he felt something was wrong.

With haste, he casted a spell that made him able to see mana with his naked eye. After finishing some quick gestures and murmuring a few words the spell took effect and he was stupefied! He had never seen someone with the amount of mana that those guards had. One had too much, the other had almost none.

That was when the group discovered him, standing there, around 20 meters away. Both Liza and Ben were shocked, it was a mage! They weren’t sure they would be able to fool mages, but right now they didn’t need to ponder over it, the man’s face told them everything.

Not wasting time, Liza walked hurriedly towards the middle-aged man, hoping to take him off-guard with her invisibility. The mage truly hadn’t noticed her at the start, since Eliot’s aura was so blinding, but when she dashed to the forefront he could clearly see the mana contours of a living being that wasn’t there.

[They have someone invisible! This isn’t right!]

The man hurriedly prepared an incantation, making Liza and Ben feel apprehensive. When Liza had closed the distance by half, the mage pointed the staff at their direction. There was no sound, light phenomena or anything indicative that the magic had worked.

It was only Liza’s intuition and the prickling she felt at the back of her neck that prompted her to drop to the ground. She wanted to warn the others, but there was no time. Looking at the wizard, Ben was terrified. Fearing a possible explosion, he crouched on the ground and covered his head with his arms. The only one that didn’t move was Eliot.

Although none of them could see it, from the tip of the mage’s staff the spell |Wind Blade| was formed and quickly released. It travelled fast through the middle of the corridor. Invisible, silent, deadly. It was a difficult spell to deal with, since the only clear indication it was coming came from watching the wizard that was casting it.

The spell barely missed Liza as she dropped to the ground and continued towards the other two. The wind blade hit the side of Eliot’s abdomen, cutting through the armor and drawing blood. Since Ben had crouched, he escaped a calamity.

Feeling the searing pain at his side, Eliot looked down and saw the wound. When he looked up again his eyes were fiercer than a monster’s. He stared at the wizard, terrifying the man, who began casting another spell.

Liza tried hastily to get up and attack the mage before he completed his second spell, but before she was back at her feet, Eliot overtook her. He was moving at an inhuman speed, dashing madly at the enemy.

The middle-aged man was shaking. He had confidence in finishing another magic before his assailants got close, but seeing Eliot’s speed he was so frightened he ended up stuttering and losing his concentration, dispelling his initial efforts.

Eliot crashed into the man with the strength of a bull. He didn’t punch, nor did he draw his sword or used a claw strike. He simply tackled him. The impact was extreme, making the mage fly through the air for a few meters before crashing on the floor.

The wizard’s chest was caved in. His sternum and numerous of his ribs were broken, which in turn perforated many of his internal organs. Seeing the way their enemy had died, Liza couldn’t help but murmur softly.

“Damn, what is this?! Are you a magical beast or something?”