Chapter 79: Heist I

Leo’s eyes darted across the street. It was eerily quiet with the people of Alnwick hidden away in their homes, and the few guard patrols they’d passed had been similarly tense. His gaze shifted to the road ahead of them again, jaw tight with anticipation.

So far, no one had given their fake “patrol group” a second glance. The guard uniforms Spade had taken from the guard station were perfectly nondescript, and he’d activated [Fade into Background] as well for good measure.

Up ahead, the road split into an intersection. Another patrol group of four approached on the opposite side of the road, their footsteps echoing slightly amidst the narrow buildings. Leo, Allan, and Spade kept walking at a steady pace. It was only after they’d passed the guards that Leo exhaled.

Next to him, Allan gave him a worried look, but he shook his head to indicate he was fine. This sort of “hiding in plain sight” had never been his thing. He would be happy once they were out of view.

The buildings around them grew taller as they entered the wealthier sections of the city. Spade led the group at the front, both because she knew the roads the best and because she’d already pretended to be a guard during the masquerade, so her presence was a known entity. Leo squinted. In the distance, he could make out a few manors as well as the dense silhouette of the forest against the city walls. They would reach their destination soon.

“There.”

A few minutes later, Spade’s pace slowed. Leo’s eyes quickly landed on a sprawling manor situated at the edge of the city bounds.

Buildings gave way to tall grasses swaying in the wind, their tips glowing from the wall of light. The ground sloped upwards in a steady incline, and at the top of the hill sat the forest and the manor itself. If the [Fragmentholder] squinted, he could make out bushes and flowers decorating the front lawns. The shape of the building’s exterior matched what was in the floor plans.

Leo glanced around them. It was indeed more isolated here, and he couldn’t see any guard patrols nearby. “This way,” he muttered.

He turned to the right and kept walking normally, in case anyone was watching from the windows. He didn’t stop until they’d nearly reached the wall. Here, with the shadows of the trees providing cover, he finally ducked into the forest and let out a relieved sigh. So far, things were working out as planned.

“You guys got everything?”

Allan and Spade both nodded. Now that they were out of sight, Leo took a few seconds to adjust some of his bags and the placement of his throwing knives. Too many on his belt would’ve looked suspicious for a guard.

Once their belongings were secure, they continued traversing through the forest, trudging up the hill until the manor was visible through the trees. Leo could make out four guards in the lawn and two more flanking the front gate itself. He couldn’t see the sides of the building, but there would be more guards there and at the back. His hand moved over to his bag, reaching for the potions nestled inside.

“Okay, remember to meet up again at the back gate,” Leo said. “If something goes wrong, walk in a triangle.” As he spoke, he mentally pulled up the party map to keep in the corner of his vision. Their three dots blinked at a steady pulse.

“Wait.” Allan stopped them before they could separate. “Hold out your hands.”

Leo frowned, but did as instructed, as did Spade. The [Healer] closed his eyes and breathed out. A faint blue glow surrounded him, winding down his arms like coiling snakes. He grabbed both of their hands, and the light jumped to them. Leo flinched a little, then blinked as a strong, steady warmth filled his body. His breaths seemed deeper than before, and he felt more energized.

[Allan has activated the [Fortify] spell]

Leo’s brows furrowed. “Is that…?”

Allan smiled and dropped his hands, the glow immediately fading. “I learned it after the Echo attack,” he explained. “It’s supposed to boost your stamina for the next hour.”

“That’s amazing!” Leo grinned. He’d had issues with his low stamina and constitution in past fights, and this would definitely help. The [Healer] looked pleased.

“Very useful indeed.” Spade sounded amused. Almost immediately, Allan shot her a scowl. Leo snorted and shook his head. Despite some of the initial tension between them disappearing after the fight on the Glass Lake, it looked like the two still didn’t get along.

“Everyone ready?” he asked. Allan and Spade both nodded. Leo returned the gesture, fingers flexing around the potion bottles.

“See you soon.”

Almost immediately, Allan and Spade turned away and moved deeper into the forest. A notification appeared in Leo’s vision indicating that Allan had activated [Celerity]. He had the longest route to go, as he’d need to loop around to the other side of the manor. Meanwhile, Spade would first deal with the right side guards, then the group at the back once she reached them. The [Executioner] currently had a higher agility stat than the [Healer], but they’d decided on splitting the routes this way because of Allan’s [Celerity] skill.

The two quickly disappeared into the trees, and Leo directed his attention back to the manor. He had to deal with the largest group of guards, but they’d split it this way for a reason.

Ducking low, Leo preemptively made sure his [Stealth], [Acrobatics], and [Dagger Proficiency] skills were equipped. [Fade into Background] was still active, and with a final inhale, Leo darted out of the trees.

The manor front lawn consisted of a large garden with perfectly trimmed hedges and flowers bordering circular paths. The walkways themselves were wide and open, but the green sections of the lawn provided more cover. Leo ducked and rolled behind the closest bush. A bit of gravel dug into his back, but he ignored it.

The former [Thief] held perfectly still, listening for any sounds. When there were none, he peered through the thick leaves to check that the guards were still in the same place. Once he confirmed that they were, he crept out and quickly hid behind the towering hydrangea bush a few feet in front of him.

Even with the help of bottled wind, spiderslake’s drowsy effect only worked when inhaled at a closer range. At the sides of the manor, Allan and Spade would be able to mix the potions from within the tree line, but here at the front, Leo needed to get closer first.

The former [Thief] carefully crawled under the hydrangeas, moving as slowly as possible to avoid rustling the branches. He kept the guards visible in his peripheral vision at all times.

Up ahead, the garden was divided into smaller sections by a dense wall of hedges. He couldn’t afford moving along the road lest he be seen, so he’d need to jump over the bushes to get onto the green patches of the garden.

Leo poked his head up just enough to determine the position of the guards. Now that he was closer, he could see that they seemed tense—distracted, even. They kept glancing up at the sky, likely fearing the reappearance of the Silence. That paranoia would mean they were on higher alert than usual, but their shifting gazes also gave Leo a window of opportunity.

The [Fragmentholder] ducked down again, thinking. Even with [Fade into Background] active, entering the guards’ direct lines of sight would still get him noticed. He needed a distraction that would grab their attention, but not enough for them to immediately sound the alarms.

Leo peered out again. From here, he should be at the maximum distance for [Visual Illusion] to work.

After some thought, he picked one of the guards flanking the gate. In the corner of his vision, Allan’s dot was nearing the other side of the manor while Spade’s dot was already beginning to move to the back.

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Focusing on the guard, Leo waited until he glanced up, then projected the image of a faint wisp of black smoke similar to what he’d seen before the Echoes had appeared. It was small—he still couldn’t make very large illusions—and he made sure it was quick, appearing and disappearing again in the blink of an eye. The guard tensed.

“Did you see that?”

The second guard frowned and glanced over. “What?”

“The sky, I thought I saw something.”

The second guard looked up, then back down. She shook her head. “There’s nothing there,” she said. “You’re being paranoid.”

“I swear it was there. It looked like Echo smoke!”

The four guards in the lawns began to look over at the growing argument, immediately on edge at the mention of Echoes. “What’s going on?” one asked.

Leo waited until he was sure all of them were turned away, then he jumped out and leapt over the hedge with a burst of speed from [Sprint]. He landed a little harder than he’d intended, some fallen leaves crunching beneath his feet. He cursed internally.

“What was that?”

Leo scrambled to wrap the scrap cloth he’d prepared around his nose and mouth. He held the two potions in hand, silently uncorking them and raising the spiderslake over the bottled wind. He heard footsteps approaching as one of the guards in the lawn moved to check the sound, and he mentally counted.

Three…two…one!

Leo dumped the spiderslake into the bottled wind. The potions reacted instantly, and a mist began to rise from the mouth of the bottle. Leo jumped out and pointed it at the nearby guards. Almost immediately, they began to sway as the effects of the potion took hold.

“Hey!” One of the two guards at the gate shouted. Leo spun around. Thinking quick, he activated [Teleport Object] and flicked his eyes in their general direction. It didn’t have to be accurate; as long as the bottle landed close enough, the fumes would reach them.

Leo saw the guards beginning to draw their blades just as the potion disappeared and reappeared on the grass a few feet in front of them. The mist swarmed around them, and their eyes rolled back. Before they could take a step, the two slumped forward and collapsed onto the ground like the other four guards.

It was only after he was certain none of them were moving that Leo finally let out the breath he’d been holding. He waited for the mist to settle, then kicked the now empty bottles into the bushes and glanced over at the manor.

The curtains were all shut, though light glowed faintly from within. No shadows crossed the windows, and he didn’t hear any noise inside. He hadn’t been seen.

Leo quickly turned and ran back into the trees to make his way around to the back. He lowered the face cloth and activated [Mana Recovery]. He was already going through his mana way faster than he’d like, and he wasn’t taking chances.

On the party map, Allan and Spade’s dots had converged at the back of the manor. They stood still, no triangles or other walking patterns in sight. It looked like things had gone smoothly for them as well; all the guards around the manor should be unconscious. They just had to get rid of the ward now, and then they’d be able to get inside.

Leo ducked under a low branch, weaving between tree trunks. He glanced over as he passed the right side of the manor and saw two guards slumped down against the fence. He kept running.

Up ahead, Allan and Spade were waiting just inside the forest. He slowed his pace. Four guards lay collapsed here, a now empty bottle rolling on the ground near them. Like the front, there was a garden here as well, but it was much smaller. Leo’s eyes moved to the gate surrounding the manor itself.

Sitting at the top of one of the fence posts was a translucent sphere that looked exactly like a smaller version of the ward stones on the city walls. If he squinted, he could make out a faint ripple in the air where the web of magic cloaked the building.

“Have either of you heard anything?” Leo asked once he reached them. Allan shook his head.

“It’s been really quiet. I haven’t seen anyone by the windows either.”

“Darius is the only living member of the Gillis family,” Spade said. “There shouldn’t be many people inside.”

Leo nodded slowly. With luck, there wouldn’t be many servants around either. In more remote areas, servants tended to live inside the manors they worked for, but here in the city it was more common for them to retire to their own homes at the ends of their shifts. If things did turn south, he’d rather not involve innocent workers in the ensuing mess.

Hazel eyes shifted back over to the stone. “Let’s get closer first,” he said. They were too far away to break it from here.

As they approached, stepping between the carefully trimmed hedges and around the few trees planted in the garden, Leo noted that the stone was a fair bit higher than he’d anticipated. They’d have to throw something to break it, then he could climb the fence and unlock the gate from the inside.

Leo was about to explain his plan to Allan and Spade, but before he had the chance, an unfamiliar voice suddenly called out from behind him.

“Hey!”

Leo spun around. A few feet away, an elderly man in plain clothes stood holding a pair of pruning shears. [Judgement]’s passive ability automatically activated as he scanned him.

Name: Arthur

Age: 62

Level: 20

Class: [Gardener, Tier 0]

Personal Skill: [Quiet Presence Lvl 7]

“Who’re you?” the man demanded, holding the shears up defensively. “What happened to the guards?”

Leo’s mind whirred. It was just their luck that the [Gardener] would have a personal skill like that—no wonder Spade’s [Vigilance] hadn’t picked up on his presence. They were out of potions, but so far it didn’t look like the man had alerted anyone to their presence. That was a good sign. He doubted the servants here had much loyalty to the Gillis family. They might be able to talk their way out of this.

Slowly, Leo raised his hands in an attempt to look nonthreatening. “They’re just unconscious,” he said. “We’re not here to hurt anyone. Just leave us alone and we’ll be on our way.”

The man looked dubious, eyes briefly flicking over to Spade before landing back on Leo. “Yeah? And what are you, thieves?”

The [Fragmentholder] hesitated. He mentally debated the pros and cons of telling the truth, trying to determine what would get the [Gardener] to leave them alone. He opened his mouth to respond.

Before he could get the words out, the man collapsed onto the ground in a limp heap.

Leo jumped, his gaze darting up. Standing behind the unconscious man was Allan, the handle end of his axe still raised from where he’d slammed the knob into the man’s head.

“Allan,” Leo hissed. He quickly crouched down to check the man, letting out a sigh of relief when his pulse was steady. A thin trickle of blood dripped down from his head, and he was thoroughly knocked out, but he seemed to be breathing.

The [Healer] frowned. “This is fastest,” he said. Leo rose again and gestured at the unconscious man.

“He’s old, you could’ve accidentally killed him!” he argued.

Allan’s brows furrowed. Dark eyes moved down to the man, then back to Leo, intense and unreadable. He looked like he was contemplating something, and after a moment’s pause, he spoke again.

“I was going to [Mend] him,” he said. “I wouldn’t risk something like that.” He lowered his axe and raised his other hand, a familiar ultramarine glow emitting from the center of his palm as he bent down to touch the man’s injury.

[Allan has activated the [Mend] spell]

The glow faded, and the blood stream stopped. Leo gave Allan a long look. Slowly, he nodded his head.

“…Right. Sorry for doubting you.” Of course Allan would’ve thought of that before going for a head blow. He probably understood how to avoid lethal wounds better than him anyway, given all that medical reading he was doing.

Leo shoved any lingering doubt down and forced himself to focus again on their goal. He glanced around. “Is there anyone else around?” He didn’t want to be surprised again.

“All clear,” Spade said. At some point she’d moved over to the gate near the ward stone. Her gaze seemed to linger on Allan for a moment, grey eyes unreadable, but she looked away before Leo could guess what she was thinking.

Up close, it was much easier to make out the glow of the ward itself, though it did blend in slightly with the wall of light. Unlike the one that had cloaked Alnwick, this one had a faint green tinge that was probably the magic signature of whoever had created it.

Leo stared up at the stone, judging the distance. He removed one of his throwing knives, and after a final sweep of the windows to make sure no one was watching, he hurled the blade at the sphere.

It landed cleanly, the orb shattering on impact. Above them, the ward flickered, then faded out entirely. Leo waited. No sounds came from the manor.

Now that the ward was down, it was easy enough to scale the metal fence. He landed lightly on the other side and let Allan and Spade in through the gate. The manor had a smaller back entrance that was closed with a heavy padlock, but it was nothing that [Lockpick Proficiency] couldn’t handle.

After a bit of fiddling, the lock came undone with a click. Leo exhaled in relief. The first part of their plan was done.

He didn’t let himself completely relax, though. After all, this had arguably been the easy part. Once they were inside, they’d split up to search for the fragment, and if they were unlucky, they’d need to confront Darius Gillis for it. His jaw tensed. They had to be ready for a fight.

Leo grabbed the doorknob and carefully twisted it. The door swung open smoothly, revealing a long corridor lit with candlelight on the other side. There was no one in view.

The [Fragmentholder] took a deep breath and turned to Allan and Spade, hazel eyes determined.

“Let’s go.”