Hannah and Esme were waiting behind a well-trimmed bush. They were in the Upper Winsor District, to steal a valuable artifact from one of the city's [Mayors]. They were briefly told about him this morning. He was a fat man in his fifties that was corrupt and never improved the lives of the poor. It awfully reminder her of home, really. The rich got richer and the poor got poorer. They were waiting for the man to leave his manor from afar. He would leave sometime soon to meet with the other [Mayors] to discuss... the rebellion. They called it a minor rebellion, but it really was a full-blown civil war in its infancy stage. They didn't know that though.

So they waited, and after a few minutes, they saw him rush out his door accompanied by two [Guards]. A carriage was waiting for him on the road outside his garden, and he hopped in, although with difficulty. He had to be pushed up by his men. Esme grabbed Hannah's shoulder and nodded. They slowly worked their way around the mansion without making a sound. The plan was that they'd sneak in through a window and then find the artifact. If they got caught, Hannah would use [Charm] to get them out. Hannah thought it was simple enough.

She still felt giddy inside from yesterday. She was a [Mage]! A real one! Although she only knew [Light]. Now she felt like casting it again, but now wasn't the time. The girls came up to one of the hundreds of windows and peeked inside. The building was lit up by magical lights on the walls and the ceilings. A giant red carpet was on the center of the floor and the edges of the floors including under the carpet were made of carved wood. Esme whispered.

"No [Maids] in view, we can break in."

And then she broke the window with a rock.

They jumped in and Hannah nearly cut herself on the broken glass, but it was looking good. The halls were quiet and the artifact was nowhere in sight. 

"Should we split up?"

"Bad idea. We need your [Charm] skill. Let's get moving."

They advanced into the manor and came across multiple rooms, each more extravagant than the last. It was a culture shock for the girls, who had lived in poverty for a month. There were golden jewels, vases... these all looked so valuable. Hannah's head suddenly snapped when she realized what Esme was doing.

"What are you doing?!"

"We might as well. This man won't miss a few valuables. He probably won't even realize they're gone."

"Yeah but... we didn't come here for that."

Esme was grabbing what she could and shoved everything into her bag. These must have been worth dozens of gold coins. Hannah reluctantly nodded and decided to do the same. After their bag was packed they began searching once more.

"Where is this damn artifact? We've been here for ages!"

"It's only been twenty minutes. I came in expecting hours of searching."

Hannah sighed. Where would someone keep an artifact? Probably in a vault. She started thinking about magic and what spells she could learn when they came across one of the [Maids] of the mansion sweeping the floor.

"W-who are you?"

"We're just visitors, don't mind us."

"Right..."

The woman's eyes turned hazy and she kept doing her work. Esme pulled Hannah forward and whispered.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

"[Charm] is quite effective, without it we'd be compromised."

"Yeah. She'll remember in a few minutes though so we have to hurry!"

Esme nodded. Their walk turned into a jog and that jog turned into a sprint. The [Maid] would probably call [Guards] here and none of them felt like fighting. Door after door, they had explored the entire eastern part of the manor, and the artifact was nowhere to be seen, but the girls were fine thanks to their endurance skills. Hannah started to doubt they were ever going to find it.

"Maybe we should just say we couldn't find it."

"No. This is important."

It was important. The fear effect was. If they managed to use it against the army that would inevitably come to retake the city if it fell, they'd have a decisive advantage, even if the area of effect was on the weaker side. And they weren't the only ones with missions like this. There were dozens of events happening all over Winsor and they were only playing a minor part in the rebellion. Still, Esme felt like this was their duty, Hannah knew that.

"Halt! You! Surrender now and no harm will befall you."

Two [Guards] showed up behind them. Hannah recognized them as the men who accompanied the [Mayor] to his carriage. Esme pulled out her daggers.

"I leveled up yesterday. After training. Can you still use [Charm]?"

Hannah nodded.

"Leave this house. We are visitors."

Shortly after, the [Guards] nodded and Hannah exhaled, surprising herself. She didn't notice she was shaking. The girls ran once more. 

Hannah had to use [Charm] two more times before they found the room the artifact. They knew this was the room as soon as the passed it in a hurry and scrambled back towards it. First, they were double doors, and they were grand, adorned with gold and different patterns carved in the wood, similar to the entrance door. Second, they could feel something emanating from the door, oozing out of the door

Fear.

Hannah couldn't feel her legs. She thought the artifact had to be activated for the fear effect to take place. That's what they had been told yesterday and yet... and yet... this was it. Esme swallowed hard and put her hand on the door handles, and she pushed down.

And the doors splintered in a thunderous crash.

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Morten was livid. He had been livid all day in fact. At six in the morning today and ever since then, there had been reports of high ranking officials being kidnapped and killed, artifacts and equipment being stolen, stores being looted. One [Mayor] had almost been killed! It was the Mob, it had to be. But they had had... an agreement! Why now? Why now out of all times. What changed? He hoped he would find out. 

He had called for an emergency meeting between all the [Mayors] of Winsor. He already had mobilized the City Guard since this morning, and they were already neutralizing some of the crimes being committed. Most [Mayors] were already here, but they were waiting for one last man. The Lower District's [Mayor], Eliott, was nowhere to be seen.

"There is no time to waste, Captain Morten. Let us go ahead."

"Agreed."

The [Mayors] were already harassing him to start. They could still wait a few minutes! If Eliott was missing, it only meant one thing. He had switched sides. Morten clenched his fists.

"Damn it! Fine. You all know why we're here. There are massive waves of crimes going on all over the city. Multiple high ranking officials have already been kidnapped or killed. State the damage in each of your districts in detail now."

They each stated the effects of the attacks. At least five thousand gold coins in damage, eleven high level [Merchants] and [Managers] killed, fifteen missing, and there was an unknown number of dead or wounded [Guards]. This was a complete disaster that would take years to pay off for a city like Winsor. They'd have to request aid from the bigger cities, or even worse, from the [Emperor]'s son himself.

Regardless, he had to find out a way to fix this situation, and he was no [Strategist]. He wasn't even a [Tactician] in fact. He wished he had the class right about now.

"So, I am currently focusing on arresting all perpetrators, but we have had... varying levels of success. I believe we need to implement conscription."

The [Mayors] looked at him aghast. One of them spoke up.

"Conscription?! With all due respect captain, I believe you're overreacting. This will collapse the econo-"

"This is a full-on attack, Laurence! If we do not act now, it will be too late."

"Please, let's rethink this. I am sure the [Guards] will handle it. Let's put it to a vote."

Morten cursed internally. They didn't know how dangerous Skull could be, and they could stop him from doing anything with these pesky votes. They were all against conscription. They thought the situation would fix itself.

He hoped they were right

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"Esme!"

The [Rogue] had gone flying into the wall. She was crumpled on the ground and had difficulty breathing. Hannah wanted to look inside. But someone stepped out of the room, holding an amulet in front of him. He opened his mouth.

"No."