Chapter 2: The Silence

Leo winced as he prodded at his hand, accidentally nudging the crude splint. They’d managed to scavenge a few broken pieces of wood, and Allan had attempted to sand them down as much as he could. Splinters were still very likely, but a little less so.

The swelling had gotten worse. His fingers now looked about twice their actual size, reduced to shapeless fleshy lumps. Allan frowned.

“Don’t poke it,” he said, and Leo sighed.

“Just trying to see how much I can move it,” he muttered. The answer was “not a lot.” He was just thankful that it was his right hand that got hit and not his left.

Through the gap in the ceiling, the sky had dimmed almost entirely. A few lingering splotches of violet and crimson steadily dissipated into the growing inky darkness. It was a clear sky that night, Leo thought absently. The kind littered with stars, brighter and more visible in the slums than they were in the heart of Sindrey.

The [Thief] shook his head and directed his attention back to the hastily scrawled map laid out over a particularly large, flat piece of debris that they’d taken to using as a table. Leo squinted at the faint lines. They didn’t actually have ink, so he just pressed harder with the quill to scratch the paper. Ironically, the paper being of poor enough quality to get scratched so easily was probably the only reason this method worked.

“The layout looked the same as when Wallace was around,” Leo explained, tapping the rough diagram. “I know he kept storage in the back, but I’m guessing there’ll be a separate place for the crests. Someplace more secure.”

Allan frowned down at the map. “Another room?”

Leo shook his head. “That’d be too easy. It’s probably a secret compartment in the storage room, maybe even something underground.” He narrowed his eyes, remembering the positioning of the guards that evening. Aside from the ones at the entrance, the place with the second most was around the back, with the sides of the shop being the least protected. There were windows facing the sides, but those led into the main room; even if he slipped through them, he would quickly be caught. There should be a back door, but that was too heavily guarded.

“What if I carried you inside in like a bag or something?” Allan suggested when Leo brought the problems up. So far, the only part of their plan that was set in stone was Allan entering from the front door to distract the store owner and keep him from going to the back.

Leo hummed thoughtfully. “That could work.” Allan was certainly strong enough for it. The [Thief] frowned. “It’d be hard to get out without the old bastard seeing, though. We’d need an even bigger distraction.” Leo tapped the map. “Plus, getting out’s a problem. I could take the crests and run, but with all those guards, it’d be hard to make it out.” Especially with only one working hand.

Allan frowned. “Could you leave through the front? If I help you, we might be able to fight them off long enough.”

“Might,” Leo emphasized with a snort. “You’re strong, but a few of those guards’re probably Tier 1s.” It didn’t help that stats were capped at 20 for Tier 0 classes. His agility was high, but a Tier 1 could easily surpass it. Even if they got lucky and all the guards at the store were also Tier 0, the guards’ combat oriented skills would easily swing the tide in their favor.

Leo leaned back, resting his head on a cracked pillar behind him. “I’ve got [Acrobatics], but there’s not a lot of buildings close by to run to. [Stealth]’ll be hard too. It’s too cramped inside.” The layout of the store was pretty smart, in that sense. It packed a lot of goods together, but made sure to position the shelves and tables in such a way that most places were visible from the back counter. There were very few places to hide.

Leo furrowed his brow in contemplation, scrutinizing the diagram again.

“Maybe,” he said slowly, “maybe I don’t need to get out.”

Allan frowned, but Leo continued, thinking out loud. “There’ll be more places to hide in the storage room, and there’ll be less guards at night. If I wait it out until after the store owner closes shop, I could just leave out the front door and make a run for it.” Hell, if he was lucky, there might not be any guards in the front, depending on how secure Aldas thought his locks were.

“I don’t like it. You’d be in there by yourself,” Allan pointed out.

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“You could wait nearby if you want.”

The [Rickshaw Puller] crossed his arms, and Leo could tell the man was battling internally between his logic and his emotions. He was confident he’d come around, though. He always did in the end.

“...Do you really want to risk running back at night?”

And there it was. That was the biggest problem with this strategy. Leo’s eyes flitted up to the sky, now fully emptied of sunlight, then back down. Faint silver moonlight filtered through the hole in the ceiling and down onto the map.

“If I stay in the shop ‘til dawn, I could get out just before the shop opens.”

“And stay there the whole night alone.”

Leo sighed. “I promise it’ll be fine. There’s gonna be a risk in there somewhere no matter what we do, and this is way less dangerous than some of the other ideas we’ve got.” This way, if he was caught, at least Allan could get away.

The [Rickshaw Puller] frowned. “Couldn’t you at least wait until your hand’s healed?”

Leo shook his head. “That’d take too long. Who knows what’ll happen by then? There might be another goddamn owner, or, hell, the old bastard might actually investigate those coins and send the guards after us.” He wouldn’t put it past the shopkeeper to make good on his word.

They were already guaranteed to end up with criminal records after a theft this major, and he’d rather get that stamp of disapproval on his own terms than wait for Aldas to act first.

Allan still didn’t look too happy, but Leo could tell that he was beginning to begrudgingly accept it. The [Rickshaw Puller] heaved a defeated sigh.

“...I’m guessing I can’t convince you anyway.”

“Nope.” Leo pronounced the ‘p’ with a pop.

Allan shook his head, a smile tugging at his lips. “Alright, but I’m staying close by. And if I don’t see you by the time the shop opens…” his voice trailed, and Leo pursed his lips. They’d have to hope that didn’t happen.

Leo directed his attention to the map again. That settled the “getting out” part, but they still needed to figure out how to get in. Allan’s idea of carrying him hidden in a bag wasn’t bad, but it’d take a pretty hefty distraction to slip out and into the storage room. He might be able to get out and behind a shelf on his own, but he’d have to cross an open area to get from there to the back.

He did have [Fade into Background] as an option. It was a fairly powerful active skill that allowed its user to slip into the background of their surroundings, but it was an enhancement to pre-existing conditions.

If someone was looking directly at him while he used the skill, it wouldn’t have any effect. If their eyes happened to pass over where he was, then the spell would be broken, too. Running straight through an open area wouldn’t work at only a level 2 skill level; they would need something that really occupied the shopkeeper’s attention, more than just a simple conversation could do.

Leo squinted, leaning a little closer in an attempt to make out the lines in the dim moonlight.

“Here, I’ll get a candle,” Allan offered. He rose, but the second the man stood, both of them froze.

There, drifting over the light whistling of the wind, was the faint, clear note of a ringing bell.

Leo’s eyes widened, and he met Allan’s gaze. In the next second, the [Thief] dove forward, stumbling to the darkest corner of the abandoned home, far away from any openings or holes in the ceiling. He winced as the movement knocked his hand into a piece of debris, but he ignored it.

Across from him, Allan kneeled down against the opposite wall, muscles tense as they waited. Like this, between the two of them, they had a full view of every possible entrance to the worn down building.

Carefully, Leo reached out with his uninjured hand and tapped a finger lightly on the floor. No sound came. He’d hoped, with how quiet the bell was, that they wouldn’t be directly in the field of Silence, but it looked like they hadn’t been so lucky.

Sucking in a breath, Leo kept tapping his finger in a steady pattern. He could just barely see Allan’s dark eyes darting about, searching for any signs of movement. Without their hearing, without sound, the Silence forced you to rely on your other senses and pray you reacted fast enough to sight.

Another beat passed. Leo felt the cold wind against his skin, but heard no sound.

Another beat.

And then, the next time Leo tapped his finger, a soft thump sounded.

The [Thief] exhaled, shoulders slumping like a deflating balloon. Allan relaxed as well, though he didn’t take his eyes away from the opening. If the guards didn’t do their job right, an Echo could still be left over and attack someone.

The [Rickshaw Puller] moved over to the side opening, carefully peering outside. He remained like that for a few moments, then moved back, nodding.

“I think it’s clear,” he said. Leo nodded in relief. That was a pretty short one, all things considered. He remembered one time, only a month after he’d first met Allan, when a field of Silence had lasted an entire night. He couldn’t sleep right for weeks after that.

“I guess the guards got them all.” Leo winced as he moved to stand, his hand throbbing. He must’ve hit it harder than he thought.

“Did the splints break?” Allan moved closer, but Leo didn’t respond. He was too busy staring down, mind churning as he repeated what he’d just said in his head. Guards. The Silence. Allan’s brows furrowed in concern.

“Leo? Are you okay?”

The [Thief] looked up.

“Allan,” he said slowly. “I think I might know a distraction.”