Chapter 16: Women's Clothing

“What?!!”

“Do you at least know where they’ve gone?” In an empty house full of broken furniture, Qiubai Balin berated his guards.

“No sir, but we’ve managed to track the traces of one of them…their trail disappeared near Goaties Tavern so we suspect…”

In a thatched wooden house, Qiubai Balin’s deadpan eyes glared at the guards.

He wanted to whip their asses until they blossomed a beautiful red but he still managed to restrain himself.

The surroundings were filled with overturned furniture obviously from traces of a search and there was a strange smell in the air.

Just earlier, the butler and the guards launched a carpet search in the areas adjacent to the orphanage.

They had managed to find an unoccupied house with suspicious traces. The owner of this house was a registered merchant, however judging from the belongings found, the person occupying this place clearly had nothing to do with a merchant.

Dirt, weapons, and even the traces of dust revealed that the recent living occupant was probably some sort of mercenary that had probably recently left.

However this wasn’t the main problem.

Just earlier two of Balin’s guard escorts had gone missing. During the routine assembly to share information, the butler Hayate had noticed a murdered guard.

How troublesome…

“Three people disappeared right under our noses…”

The guards lowered their heads aggrieved.

“Sir Balin…” The butler Hayate stepped forward. The guards glanced at the butler in hope.

Was…was the butler actually going to speak up for them?

“Should I deduct their salaries?” Hayate finally chimed in to the dismay of the guards.

Balin nodded. “Don’t let it happen again.”

Unbeknownst to everyone, after hearing this, a young boy in the group of guards with blond hair lowered his head, hiding his expression behind his helmet. He secretly clenched his hands.

Why was he responsible for something that wasn’t under his control? Didn’t they have a family to feed as well? This sentiment was also shared by a few guards as well but they didn’t dare to make a noise because in the distance was the butler, a magic caster.

Suddenly, Qiubai Balin continued,

“After this, if your performance is good, I can return your salaries and even add bonuses.”

Hearing this, the guards felt relieved and cheered…

Balin smiled. He had ran a company back on Blue Star in his past life. Albeit a bankrupt one though, his experience from being among the ranks of evil capitalists gave him the necessary experience to manage employees.

Though he had to admit that he had no experience in leading a group of guards, Balin still understood the basic principles of society…banknote power.

Deducting their salaries at this time might be counterproductive and even serve to demotivate the guards leading to lack of effort.

But a mistake of this magnitude had to be reprimanded. If the patrols were this lax, then it could possibly cost someone's life. This was a real fight not regular life. One mistake and it could all be over.

Besides, Balin had a sinking feeling. The intuition within him told him a dim possibility…that perhaps…

That the enemy wasn’t simple.

The two guards that had mysteriously disappeared earlier along with the dead fellow could possibly be the work magic casters. After all, to disappear under the nose of the guards of the Qiubai family wasn’t a simple feat. The Qiubai family's guards were all trained knights with keen senses well beyond mortals.

There was also even a possibility…that they were the magic casters themselves…

Qiubai Balin glanced at his butler Hyatae from the corner of his eyes.

The butler then nodded back in response.

Apparently, he had understood the implications as well.

Balin continued,

“Alright everyone head back, some of you patrol here, and the rest return to your positions. Get a good rest. We meet in the evening.”

“Also, someone take care of his corpse. And check if he has family along the way. If he does, give them some compensation.”

…..

In the backrooms of a certain wooden building, a masked figure furtively glanced around before uncovering a trap door wedged onto the floor.

Knock knock knock.

He knocked several times in succession alerting his comrades through some sort of secret code.

After a short exchange of whispers, the trap door opened and the masked figure dived in.

“Phew, the mask is killing me.”

In the cellar under the trap door there was three wooden tables surrounded by burly men.

A lamp was hanging from the ceiling bringing a dim ambience. At the wooden tables, the big burly men were engaging in various sorts of entertainment like playing cards.. Some were smoking pipes while others even rubbed dirt between their toes.

“What's up Rat. Weren't you on shift?” After a while, one of the burly men spoke.

Apparently this “Rat” was among the disappearing guards from earlier.

The codename Rat carlessy threw his mask onto the floor and slumped on a sofa against the musky wooden walls.

“Don't mention it!” The Rat exclaimed in anger.

“Some assholes alerted the patrols. And I had to get out of there before the Qiubai family's butler conducted an inspection. Their vigilance is tight these days.”

“What? How can that be? Was it the ‘search’ you informed us about earlier?”

“Impossible,” Another burly man interjected. This was the one who rubbed the dirt and grime between his toes. While taking he rolled out a ball of dirt and flicked it into the corners before continuing,

“Scorpion erased his traces earlier. He even left things at the wooden homes near the orphanages in order to make it seem like it was one of those dirty mercs from the adventures guild.”

The Rat frowned, “It wasn’t the search. The problem was during the middle of their investigation…a guard disappeared.”

“You?”

“No. Someone disappeared before me. And another was killed.”

“Killed?”

The Rat nodded.

A burly man smoking a cigar suddenly spoke up, “You mean by….”

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

“Yes, there may be another force.” the Rat continued. “One that killed the guard. And the other missing guard might be just like me. Or he was simply kidnapped…”

“Errr…yeah” The burly man awkwardly scratched his chin and silently retracted the words he was about to say. He had honestly thought it was the Rat who had unalived the man instead.

Bam!

An extremely burly person suddenly stood up from his chair and slammed a dagger against one of the wood tables.

He had hideous scars etched all over his arms and when he spoke, a deep resounding voice came out.

“How dare they reveal our mole. Our situation is already tight enough as is. They're already wary enough. Are those stupid bastards going to leave us hiding away in this damn rathole forever?”

Some of the burly men in the room glanced at the wooden tables and winced. They felt pain in their heart. This table was actually pretty expensive. Made from a special wood …

“Calm down boss,” some other burly dudes said.

“Yea now we need to figure out what to do.”

The “boss” heaved, his chest expanding like bellows. Then he crossed his arms with a grunt and nodded his head with pretense,

“Oi, Rat. you're the smartest here. Able to infiltrate the guards. Who do you think did it?”

The Rat shrugged, “I really don’t know boss. They disappeared too fast for me to get any clues.”

The Boss glared at the Rat who nervously chuckled.

“Humph” The Boss gave a puff and furiously sat back down leaving the wooden chairs creaking under the immense force of his rock solid bottoms.

“Hey,” Some finally broke the awkward silence. “Do you think that man will go back on his word?”

“Better not. I didn't sign up for this for nothing.”

‘Yea. We’re just sitting ducks at this point.”

“Goddamit”

“Man, we should have just honestly went back to brewing liquor, why go back to our old business”

“Are you saying you're willing to work honestly till your bones creak? How are you gonna enjoy the pleasures of flesh then?

“Coward.”

“Fuck you, Lets fight and we’ll see whose the coward then.”

“No, fuck you!”

“Alright now.” A sonorous voice sounded. The boss had spoken to break the oncoming brawl.

The Boss then chugged a jug of beer and crushed the wooden cup with his bare hands.

Crink crack.

Wooden chips and sawdust flew around but his hard were miraculously unharmed. No splinters were able to enter the thick skin on his palms.

The boss grunted:

“Someone go get the things prepared and bring one of those stones along the way. We’re gonna have to avoid the hounds of the nobles next.”

“Damn magic caster. Us thieves aren't just a knight coolie for them to use.”

“Lay low for now and don’t do anything funny.”

____________________

“So…What do you think? How should we storm the tavern? Covertly or head on?”

Honestly speaking, if it was head on Balin had to admit he was a tad nervous. Although from his predecessor’s memories he had witnessed a lot of trauma, Balin hadn't seen organs spilling bloodshed in person yet.

“Sir Balin. I suppose we should first consider your safety. It would suffice for you to leave the work to us.” Butler Hayate responded.

Qiubai Balin rolled his eyes and was about to retort when he suddenly remembered…

Oh right…they didn't know about ‘that’ yet.

“Forget about me for now, if we were to full on assault Would that possibly startle the snake?.”

“Indeed Sir Balin!” the Butler praised. “But as long as there aren't any opposition magic casters, it actually doesn't matter how far they run.”

“Even if I gave a head start of 40 meters, Ill still be able to take their heads.”

“Ohh~” Balin marveled. He actually didn’t know the full capabilities of his butler yet.

All he knew was that he had some ridiculous naming sense for his magic and practiced the shadow element.

“The city is also blockaded meaning that even if they somehow managed to escape, they wouldn't be able to make it out.” the butler continued.

“So you mean except for opposing casters, you would be one hundred percent sure?”

“Yes Sir Balin,” the butler bowed.

“Alright! I like your confidence!” Qiubia Balin gave the butler a thumbs up, completely forgetting that the butler didn’t come from a modern world. (　´∀｀)b

Although the butler didn’t understand the meaning of the gesture, he still understood the gist of it. After straightening out his mustache he awkwardly nodded at Balin.

“But to avoid unnecessary casualties let's try a covert operation first. Then if that fails we can storm the place. We can also scout if there are any casters by the way.

‘And maybe reduce unnecessary pensions’ Balin added mentally. The dead guard earlier turned out to indeed have a family. But unfortunately in the Kongwu Kingdom, there wasn’t really a system of handing out pensions to compensate injured soldiers. If there was, it wasn't much anyways. So Balin decided to pay out of pocket with his own secret stash of cash, after all, the death happened on his dispatch. His wallet had been shrinking lately…

“And how do you suppose we go about that?” The butler suddenly interjected.

“Um well, maybe you can lend me some more pocket money from my father's secret treasury that he hides from mother? I can go into the tavern splurging like a rich young master who got his heart broken? No one would have their defenses up against someone drunk and heartbroken…”

“No.” The butler firmly shook his head. “It’s too dangerous.”

Qiubia Balin nodded in agreement. On second thought he agreed. What if the drinks were poisoned? And he didn’t know how much the liver in this life could handle…

“I have another proposal instead, Sir Balin.” The butler suddenly spoke up. “How about this? Why don't we try dressing you up as a young lady instead?”

Qiubai Balin whipped his head around and glanced at the butler so hard he almost self inflicted on himself a whiplash?

“You’re joking right? Normal butlers don't speak to people like that?!” O-o

Who was the butler kidding...

He, Qiubai Balin, a grown man at heart, dress in women’s clothing?

No thanks, he’ll pass.

The butler closed his eyes and pinch his bushy mustache rubbing the ends in thought.

His simple black tunic and dark trousers made him appear like a distinguished gentleman.

“Actually…young master Balin. You can completely pass as a fine lady. You have your mother, Lady Felicia’s looks. Although I’m not completely sure…But I suppose that’s why your father married her despite her lower status against all opposition. I'm sure if you tied the dark hair covering your eyes back and fix your expression, everyone would certainly be fooled.” The butler Hayate said with a serious expression.

Qiubai Balin's face twitched as the butler rambled on about all the benefits of crossdressing him. Was this mentally handicapped butler getting back at him for all the years of sexual harassment? He had never seen him act like this….

“Can we...just call someone else?”

“There is not enough time, young master. Remember the children. Only you can pull this off so effortlessly…Plus anyways, the girls from the red light district are too easily recognized.”

“Uhh, how about instead we just storm the place. I'm not very good at acting…” Qiubai Balin nervously explained.

“Young master.” The butler suddenly narrowed his eyes at Balin. “Have you considered the fact that the “enemy” might be on caution against magic casters just as we are”

“There is a very high possibility that they have ether reaction type stones that can detect the fluctuations of ether that caster utilize.”

“Even I, a second stage caster, don’t have the ability to perfectly cast a spell without it reacting. Although I’m adept at the hidden arts, everytime I switch in between skills, traces of my casting would eventually leak. Only the fourth stage casters would be able to do it.”

“We need some sort of distraction to lower their guards. After all, with the tense situation, anyone with a brain would be wary of us.”

“Remember, Sir Balin…this is for the children.”

Qiubai Balin gritted his teeth. The dull apathetic eyes hidden behind his raven black hair finally possess a trace of struggle.

“Fi…”

Before Balin even had the chance to completely say ‘fine’, Butler Hayate clapped his hands.

“Maids.”

Suddenly, the door to the room they were having a conversation in suddenly opened.

Maids entered the room from seemingly nowhere, coming in with dress and makeup as if prepared.

The butler pointed at Qiubai Balin.

“Dress him up.”

Qiubai Balins glared at his Butler.

He felt betrayal.

“Wait.. wait.… nooooooooo”

Meme of Day: Im team cats btw <3

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