- Shari -

It's time to get started with phase two of my plan.

Now that I have hopefully confirmed where our mission objective is located, it's time to get there.

However, there's a certain obstacle in our way.

"Thud, thud"

A guard that just now tries to ram in the door.

I turn to Liqu.

"Do the same as what you did just now to the guy out there and follow me!" (Shari)

I move to the door, wait for the next impact, and right when it hits, I unlock the door so that Liqu can at the same instant storm out and run over the guy who’s still recovering his stance.

I don't waste any time either and sprint past her.

"Hurry up! We need to get down there!" (Shari)

"Yes, yes!" (Liqu)

The commotion was apparently enough for a guard to start climbing the stairs.

It's fortunate that I already have my blade out.

With this, I slash the man's chest, which leaves, due to the special healing coating, a rapidly closing streak on it, which affects him enough that he doesn't manage to deter me or Liqu, who follows right behind me.

Yet once we're on the lower floor, we find the house security staff already assembled.

Luckily, the only open way is right where we have to go.

Further down, into the cellar.

After descending only a few steps, I already hear the baron screaming at his staff above.

"You imbeciles! How could you morons let these assassins in?!" (Moreau)

But then he seems to be made aware of where we are and changes his focus.

With victoriously booming voice the baron shouts from above.

"You fools! The vault is secure! There's no chance you'll get in! You're trapped! Give up now and I swear on my name that I will only torture you half as long as I intend!" (Moreau)

As tempting as that sounds, something tells me even that is a lie.

That aside, thanks for the confirmation.

It's good, as otherwise I might've had to use our last resort and simply slaughter everyone in here.

Which wouldn't be pretty and leave too many chances that word might get out.

Now, however, I know that the place we're aiming for is right in front of us.

There it is.

A massive door of steel right in our way.

All I need is to stall for enough time to open it, fetch what we need in there, and then manage to get out again.

And for the first two objectives I know exactly how to go about this.

With this thought in mind, I initialize a link with Liqu.

* "Liqu, it's time! Let's do it now!" (Shari)

* "Yes, yes!" (Liqu)

Before coming here, I had sufficient time to prepare for this mission.

The main question was how to deal with a building full of mercenaries protecting what's in there.

From getting past unnoticed to killing everyone, I came up with a fairly simple solution.

Before coming here, I used every last bit of ledia leaves we had left, as well as relaxants, pain relievers, as well as maybe a tint of umbradow to create a fairly big quantity of sleeping poison.

This volatile mix I filled in two containers.

One for me and one for Liqu, to get dissolved when the time arrives.

This time is now, and so it gets spread in the outer layers of our slime and with joined thoughts, a single call erupts out of our cores.

* "Slime mist!" (Shari/Liqu)

The very idea of what we are going to do is transmitted and subsequently reciprocated, causing both to converge and amplify each other.

Thus, a stronger will than I experienced ever before reverberates through my very being, forcing my next actions with never-known fervor.

At once, massive amounts of slime are expelled into the air.

Not just expelled, but evaporated, so that not a single large drop remains, but only the finest sprinkles that mix right into the air, creating an ominous cyan fog.

It's so much that it drifts right up the stairs and into the main room.

I know, because I somehow can maintain a shallow form of awareness through the slime.

"Oh my god! What is this?"

"Urgh, I, I don't feel good."

"Don't touch it!"

"Retreat!"

The dosage is by no means deadly, but should still put anyone to sleep who inhales the mist for long enough.

Certainly, it's not healthy, and it should efficiently prevent anyone from entering our target area.

There's not much more one could wish for on this kind of mission than remaining unbothered.

You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

While this took quite a bit of our energy, what remains should be more than enough to get us in there.

At least if we hurry.

"Zsch"

Steel is quite a bit more stubborn to get dissolved than most other materials I know of.

Therefore, it requires quite some time and effort to burn a hole through the door.

Yet it's not like it has to be big for us.

So we slip inside once we're able to.

Of course, it had to be dark in there, but that's not as big a deterrent for someone with night vision.

The inside is tightly packed, so I don't have to look around very much till I find a desk that is stacked with documents.

The problem is, I can't exactly take everything with me.

There's too much for that.

Yet while the fog might linger for a bit in the cellar, it's not like I have the time to read through everything, and just grabbing what I can might leave me with nothing at all.

"What is wrong, Shari?" (Liqu)

"Not now. I need to figure out what's the relevant papers." (Shari)

"Oh, I think I can help with that! What are you looking for?" (Liqu)

What!?

Since when is this slime a public official?

"Uh, we need documents regarding corrupt guards." (Shari)

"That means I need to look for the keyword 'guard'?" (Liqu)

She really seems to know her stuff.

"Well, it might be a bit more complicated. Stuff like names of people and money they received. Though, if somewhere 'guard' is written that would be good." (Shari)

Just doesn't seem too likely.

"Okay! I can do this!" (Liqu)

She's extremely confident about this, moving eagerly forward to the desk.

There she gives a quick glance over the first stack and then promptly swipes it to the side with a slime tendril.

The same happens with the next.

And the next.

The next...

"Ehm, Liqu, are..." (Shari)

"There's one!" (Liqu)

She holds one out to me.

I give it a quick scan and truly.

It's about a payment to some Horace for 'loyalty services'.

Wait!

Wasn't Horace the guard at the gate that ratted me out?!

Damn, this slime is good.

"Okay." (Shari)

"I'll continue!" (Liqu)

And she does.

At an astonishing speed, she's rushing through the papers, diverting them between a 'yes' and 'no' pile.

She's actually so fast that I feel a little useless.

So I do the only other productive thing and start working on dissolving our way out here.

Of course, not in plain sight, but close to the ground, so they won't catch sight of it right away.

As before, the metal is rather tenacious, but I'm not so low on energy yet as that it would pose a problem.

My general reserves developed rather well and I should still be at three quarters, yet falling.

Once I'm through the vault itself, the stone fundament of the building goes quite a bit better.

Even faster it goes once I reach dirt.

Then I can start heading upward.

The tunnel should lead now to the alley from before.

Just before breaking through, I stop.

Looking back at Liqu, she's still at it.

It even looks as if she's viewing two papers at once, if not more, so fast is she.

The 'yes' pile grew by a sizable amount.

While she’s busy, I take a chance and look through the rest in the vault and have success.

There's the treasury!

Yet once I open it, I stand somewhat disappointed.

It seems the Baron isn't all that rich with only six gold and four silver, as well as a little pile of small copper.

I really would've presumed that a man of such station ould have some riches in his vault.

Apparently, he is in dire need of money.

Which might explain his recent visit.

Unfortunately, the other stuff, like art and jewelry, is a bit too risky to take.

I look back at Liqu and become aware that her core is shining in a bright violet.

So she's using high-speed processing.

I try doing the same as my comrade slime, scanning for keywords through the papers, but find that I'm not nearly as efficient.

It seems I'm not able to get quite as absorbed in the task as Liqu.

But for this exact reason, I notice when people begin approaching the door.

"Where are they?"

"You think they got inside?"

"Well, there's a hole in it!"

"But the door is locked!"

"What do I know?! I'm not a vault breaker! Where else would they be?!"

"Anyway, we need to open it!"

Okay, we're out of time!

"Liqu, stop now! We need to leave!" (Shari)

Oh damn, she isn't listening.

Time for linking!

* "Liqu, stop it! We need to leave!" (Shari)

* "Oh! Yes, yes!" (Liqu)

Now to the next task at hand.

How to transport this considerably large pile of paper?

Why drenching them in slime would be bad should be obvious.

In the end, all I can come up with is wrapping them loosely in my turned-over cloak so the fabric is going to lay as long as possible for me to pull them through the hole.

It's not perfect, but should work.

As Liqu mirrors me, we can distribute the amount to manageable levels.

From there on, it's a narrow transition, but the hole is just big enough.

Breaking through the street, I confirm that there are truly no people nearby.

We won't have much longer, but it seems we're somewhat in the clear.

Yet after some meters, my senses tell me that someone is closing in from the next corner.

I can't afford to be found here, as a compromised slime without clothes on.

So it's time for my last tool.

Quickly, two narrow tendrils emerge from my neck, close to where I store my core.

These I guide around the corner and let one rush straight at the guard I can now see with the relayed slime vision, so it darts into their neck and distributes a bit of the umbradow sleeping potion via my specially prepared metal pricks.

The perfect tool to get anyone down who can't evade the attack.

Yet now I already become aware of further men running in our direction.

So I use what remains of my energy and release it once again.

* Slime mist!

I don't really have enough poison left, but the visual effect alone should deter our pursuers.

This allows us to escape further down the street, where the buildings grow denser again, away from the crime site.

Nonetheless, as good as it may look now, I'm aware that I can't walk through the streets looking like I do.

The guards will certainly catch up, and if any people see us carrying anything back home, this will only spell trouble.

So I only have one choice.

"Liqu! We're crawling up the wall there!" (Shari)

"Yes, yes!" (Liqu)

It's actually quite the effort to get up there with our heavy load and my dwindling reserves, but I can push through.

The guy who sold us our house didn't lie when he told us the city was built in a rather cramped way to make the most of the protection from the walls.

But this is just working out for us now, as it also means that most of the ceilings are joining.

So now we're city climbers and can at our pace traverse straight back home.

"Liqu, walk slowly and carefully. We don't want any breaking ceilings to give us away. Also, don't get too close to the sides, so as you may be seen." (Shari)

"I'm not stupid. This isn't my first time. However, walking is bad here. You shouldn't do this, but spread as far as possible." (Liqu)

Yeah, sometimes I shouldn't be surprised about her previous experiences.

She sadly has a point.

While I don't want to turn completely into a blob, I give up my legs and move further in the form of some kind of humanoid snail.

This might be somewhat irritating, but it works out.

The wider area and feel I have with the slime allows me to move without even creaking too much.

Eventually, we reach the slums.

I am incredibly relieved once I spot our building.

Yet as I'm cautious, instead of dropping to the street, I use the furnace's chimney to slither into the safety of our place.

A short moment later, Liqu is also in.

"Yay! That went really well!" (Liqu)

Can't really disagree, but it was a bit too wild for my taste.

"Yeah, sure. But I really need to dissolve something now. I'm spent." (Shari)

Just good that I restocked our food supplies for this exact reason.