The trio were seated at the Oracle's table.
After returning the Oracle’s eyes, all they could do was sit and wait while he attempted his end of the bargain. Though Chariot patiently sat waiting Tanalia was resting against the table, using her arms as pillows. Maria, in the meanwhile, was browsing through the spell list.
Spell Unlocked!
Summon Light - summons an orb of light.
Lvl: 1
Cost: 15 mana
She closed the menu and cast the spell. A small luminous orb hovered around her. It didn’t take long for her to learn how to control it, make it fly circles around her, or illuminate an area she wanted. It seemed like a useful spell to have, and for only 15 MP, it wasn’t that bad.
Chariot smiled. “A handy spell to have.”
“Mhm. No more wandering in the dark for us.” She relinquished the spell and glanced back at the oracle. He sat cross-legged in the center of his apartment. Though his eyes were closed, the blinding light emanating from his crystal eyes shone through his eyelids. He had been there for some time now. Maria had started to question just what he was doing, how it worked, or if he was even looking into the Ringleader at all. It was best to put faith in him, and hope that he could help them.
“I am sorry,” the Oracle finally said. “Try as I might, I can’t see him.”
Damn it. “What do you mean?”
“It is difficult to keep a grasp on his presence. I can see into people’s futures, and give them hope or salvation. All I merely have to do is look them in the eyes. When it comes to looking into visions of others not present, it requires mental focus. The Ringleader. Though I have not heard of him, I can see… part of him. Something is blocking me from seeing the full picture. My vision becomes cloudy— Like a blanket of fog is tossed over me. There are… glimpses that I can see. This man... Something about him is preventing me from seeing him.”
Maria paused for a moment and sighed. “He’s an old loyal to the Demon King, and he’s looking for the Demon King’s treasure.”
“That old myth, hm? I was never one to believe in such a tale. We’ve heard nothing of it but rumors.” The Oracle grumbled and closed his eyes again. “I do not sense him in the city, that I am sure of. If he truly is a member of the Demon King’s army, then when he draws near I would sense the power of his presence. However, I sense traces of him. A place he frequents. The Greensbolt Theater.”
“Greensbolt Theater?” Chariot said.
“Yes. It’s a fine establishment where many of the elites and common folk gather for plays. I’m often invited for the Church's involvement in its construction.”
Maria pursed her lips. “It may have been some time since we last saw him, but there’s no doubting a man like him frequents a theater. You don’t think he might be employed there, do you? Maybe undercover?”
“I doubt it,” Chariot said. “I doubt a man of his stature would reduce himself to a lobby boy and security guard just to stay undercover. I predict he has some ties to the location if he frequents it.”
“There is a strong tie between him and the theater, I can sense as much,” the Oracle explained.
“How are you doing this?” Tanalia asked.
“If I were to explain it to you, I’m sure you would end up more confused than before. My skills come from ages of practice and refinement. As for what that connection may be, I can’t see. I have only been to this theater a few times, but those were all for events held for the church in its honor. See, the church was striving to be more actively involved with their community after the siege of Berlington some years ago. The rebuilding process was slow, and as a method of outreach and community engagement, the church paid for the construction of the building with the hope of providing a new, safe space for events, performances, and community gatherings. The church often has events at that theater, special shows for the common people, but the second and third floors are also for the elites who designed the building, friends of the king, and anyone with a pocket full of gold. I often receive invitations in the mail, though I rarely attend. In the few times I have been there though, I have gotten tours of the entire theater. It is quite impressive.”
“So you know your way around then?” Maria asked.
The Oracle nodded. “There are three floors, and a basement I believe, although I’ve never been down there. The first floor is for the common folk, while the second floor is reserved for special guests, and the third floor is reserved for the elites of Berlington. There are offices on that floor I believe. If ever there is to be information on the Ringleader, I suspect it to be there.”
“Then that’s the mission,” Maria said. “We’ll sneak into Greensbolt Theater and look for any clues that could lead us to the Ringleader.”
“But what will we do if we don’t find anything?” Chariot asked.
“The old man’s been seeing a vision of the theater every time he thinks of the Ringleader,” Tanalia said. “There’s clearly something there that could point us in the right direction.”
Chariot sighed. “For once, she’s right. There was to be something there. I just worry that we’ll find nothing.”
“For once? When am I ever wrong?”
“Do you honestly want me to list them all?”
“It’ll be a short list, I’m sure.”
Chariot started recounting each incident with Tanalia, counting on her fingers as she went along. “There’s the time you carelessly hurled bombs into a camp where people were trapped, you carelessly pull levers, put us in danger, thought it would be a good idea to ride a griffon, nearly got Matteo’s family killed when you blew up the ravine—”
Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.
“Those were all wrong by your definition.”
Chariot rolled her eyes.
“Let’s not argue,” Maria said. “We need to focus. I doubt we’ll find any clues in any obvious places. Those offices on the third floor sound promising.”
“The problem is we’re not elites, or staff,” Chariot said.
“So we just have to sneak around the theater and look for clues,” Tanalia said. “Why is that a problem?”
“Because it’s against the law,” Chariot said.
“Are you that stubborn you won’t even break into a place if it meant finding a man and bringing him ‘to justice’?”
“I made a promise that I would uphold the laws keeping our society safe.”
“And you’re no fun because of it. Loosen up once in a while and take a risk.”
“It’s morally wrong. It’s trespassing!”
“What if The Ringleader owned the theater?” Maria asked. “At that point it’s trespassing, but it’s also going over enemy lines. Sometimes we have to do that.”
“It’s not like we’re going to be stealing stuff from the theater,” Tanalia said. “We’re just looking for clues to find someone.”
Chariot looked back and forth between the two, and groaned, resting her palm in her hands. “I don’t like it.”
“If I may propose an idea,” the Oracle said. “There is a show happening tomorrow night. As always, I’m given an open invitation to attend. I could invite you three along as honorary guests as thanks for retrieving my eyes.”
“I thought you already helped us by telling us where we could find information on The Ringleader?” Maria said.
“That was to repay Eardwulf’s favor. While I could not have done it without you retrieving my stolen eyes, the fact that you brought them back to me is service enough. I owe you for that.”
“So you can get us into the show?”
“I can get you as far as the second floor. The rest I’ll leave up to you.”
“That would help us a lot, thank you!” Maria said.
“Do you three happen to have anything nice you could wear? They expect the members of the church, and their esteemed guests to dress appropriately. The common folk must wear their best attire.”
“Oh… lovely,” Chariot said.
“Not a fan of dressing up?” Maria asked.
“Tight-fitting dresses and done-up hair have never been a style for me. It’s restricting. I can’t fight in a dress if anything goes wrong.”
Tanalia smirked. “If you’re worried about movement, then just go naked. I doubt people will mind it, and you’ll be the perfect distraction. Everyone's eyes will be on you.”
Chariot glared at her.
“Don’t be so stern on this too, dressing up can be quite fun, just not as fun as dressing down. I still have an elven dress in my inventory that I can wear to parties.”
“I can’t imagine you at a party.”
“I can,” Maria mumbled, then raised her voice. “So Chariot and I will just have to find something nice to wear.”
“Have you two honestly not considered the risk of our stats becoming severely altered while we’re wearing these dresses?”
Maria’s expression dropped. She was right. Her gear is what boosted the majority of her stats. Her health and mana would be lower, she’d have next to no defense, and she would be more exposed. If the Ringleader had any involvement with the Greensbolt Theater, then she would be walking into enemy territory with no defense. There was no telling what they could expect there. Maria didn’t want to think it would be anything terrible, but the thought of risk was now firmly deep-rooted in her subconscious.
“We’ll just have to be careful,” Tanalia said.
Chariot chuckled. “Careful? You?”
“It’s not like the Ringleader is going to be there. It’s just a place he frequents.”
“We don’t know if he’s there, but if he is, then we need to be prepared to face him!”
“Then what do you propose, hm? We can’t walk in there in all our gear, they won’t let us!”
“I’m not sure yet, I’m trying to formulate a plan!”
“Stop!” Maria said, silencing them both. “We’ll just have to be careful, alright. If he’s there, we don’t engage him. We’ll hide, or we’ll follow him, or we’ll look for clues, but we aren’t going to beat him if we don’t have our gear.”
Chariot and Tanalia stared at Maria silently, before both nodding.
“Alright, fine,” Tanalia said.
“There’s still the matter of sneaking up to the third floor we have to deal with,” Chariot said. “If we aren’t invited up there, we would be trespassing.”
“It’s only trespassing if you get caught,” Tanalia said.
Maria sighed and rubbed at her chin. Sneaking around wasn’t something she considered herself particularly good at. “I imagine Tanalia is better at stealth.”
“Because I’m light on my feet?”
“Because you’re an elf, so yeah, you’re light on your feet.”
“I can hide well enough in a forest, but this is a building. It’s a lot harder to go unseen.”
“We don’t know what security looks like either,” Maria said, then looked back to the Oracle on the floor. He had returned to attempting to see visions of the Ringleader from the looks of it. “Pardon the interruption.”
The Oracle opened his eyes. “Yes?”
“Do you know what security looks like?”
The Oracle crossed his arms and frowned. “Yes, I believe I remember. There are usually some guards who stand watch between the floors.
“Maria, do you still have Rynec’s jacket?” Chariot asked.
“Yeah? Oh…” It suddenly hit Maria. The jacket materialized in her hand, and immediately, the stench of the sewers filled the apartment. She put it back in her inventory and coughed. “God damn it,” she groaned.
“Well, if you wash it first, you could use it to sneak through,” Chariot explained. “You only need to stand completely still for a few seconds, correct?”
“That’s what the jacket said.”
“Then all we have to do is find a way to distract the guards so you can sneak past them. It would be your responsibility to be aware if there are any eyes on you.”
“And become as still as a statue at a moment's notice? I would have to predict if they’re looking my way for that to work.”
“Why not use an invisibility potion?” Tanalia teased.
“I’m not doing that.”
“Why not, it could be fun.”
Maria glared at the elf, crossing her arms.
“Alright, so potions are off the table.”
“Besides, if I’m caught wearing that jacket, wouldn’t people assume I’m with the Thieves Brotherhood?”
“There is that issue as well,” Chariot said.
“That might just be a risk you have to take. Practice taking the jacket on and off really quickly. If you can’t turn invisible, put it back in your inventory and just try to pretend like you belong there.”
“Wait… how would they know if I belong there or not?” Maria asked the Oracle.
“I am unsure. The guards usually ensure only people who are members of the elite are allowed on the third floor. If you sneak past the guards, the others up there might assume you to be one of them.”
“Then I would only really need the jacket if someone is coming into the office or something,” Maria said.
Chariot shook her head. “I still don’t like the idea of sneaking into places we don’t belong.”
“You should get over it then,” Tanalia said. “You cause a distraction for the guards so Maria can do the dirty work, and I can keep a lookout for anything that might happen.”
Chariot looked around at the others and begrudgingly nodded her head. “Fine.”
“It’s a plan then,” Maria said. “Let’s sneak into the Greensbolt Theater.”