[Book II Chapter 120] SANA: Hunting her own kind
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The figure of a woman navigated the dark street, occasionally glancing back, as if fearful of being followed. She reached a well-lit entrance and exchanged a few words with the men outside before being ushered in.
Sana watched from a nearby rooftop. The building is a warehouse of some kind, she determined. Appraising the two guards chatting outside, she surveyed her surrounding.
It was past midnight and the lights were off in most windows. The cluster of tents in the park behind her were also quiet. The only activity was in the next street over where a group of youngsters stumbled around, their drunken laugher drowning out the music from a far off nightclub.
A black cat materialize besides Sana. “Go Timi.” She whispered. The feline hopped down and approached the guards. She smiled as one moved to pet it. Swiftly traversing the shadows, she dropped down behind the other.
Ten, nine, eight, seven, six… She saw the man tense, his foresight warning him something was off, and grabbed him from behind, hand over mouth. He struggled briefly before inhaling her powered everdusk and going limp.
She turned to his companion who was still caressing her shape-shifted twilight panther. <
Some people poked fun at for using a feline summon despite wolfish features. Sana didn’t see the issue. Timi was cute.
Climbing up the building, she found an entry point and frowned at the barrier blocking her way. It was too complex to simply slip through. Sighing she constructed a magic circle, its black lines barely visible.
This is my first infiltration in ages… Adventuring involved a different kind of skill. At the memory of Margaret, a pang of sadness hit her, but she forced it back, releasing her spell. The barrier thinned enough to let her through.
Everyday items lined the shelves below. This place was a wholesaler of some kind, perhaps even a legitimate business during the day. She crawled along the rafters toward a well-lit corner. The lady she’d followed was haggling with a man at a desk. Around them, three bored men looked on quietly.
Sana took out several black coin-shaped objects and tossed them towards the room’s exits, which dimmed imperceptibly. These were her custom sealers, and their shadow barriers should prevent anyone getting out. Here’s where the tricky part begins.
Lucy had warned about the toughness of the guards here. In particular, the one with the bushy brown mustache was almost as strong her. She had to take him out first. Sadly, Timi wouldn’t work as a distraction. This called for a more direct approach. While foresight hinders sneak attacks, an all-out assault can often catch the unwary flat-footed.
With a deep breath, she channeled her full power, boosting her martial arts to the maximum. Her targets stirred, sensing something off, but this was expected. She leaped and brought her morning star down on the mustached man. He dodged, but she swung again and continued to do so as he backpedaled.
The man was in a confused panic, which wasn’t surprising. Her stealth was still active, so from his perspective she was an indistinct shadowy mass. Soon he backed into a wall, which was what she was waiting for. Pouncing, she smashed her weapon into the man’s chest.
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He’ll be fine, she thought as her victim crumpled to the floor. Lucy would’ve predicted it if he died. That was another of her advantages: she didn’t need to hold back.
A fireball struck from the side, the impact dispelling her concealing veil. The two remaining guards faced her with grim, angry expressions. She braced herself for a tough fight. Fortunately, enclosed poorly-lit spaces filled with shadows were her ideal battle ground. In a few minutes, it was over.
Contemplating her defeated foes, she was just feeling good about herself when she noticed a section of the wall had been blown away during the battle. Oh, no… The whole point of this operation was to nab the pickpocket and her fence. She rushed outside, clinging to the hope that she could pick up their trail, and stopped dead at the sight of a necromancer carrying a man and a woman on her shoulders.
“You caught them…” Sana muttered. What was more shocking was seeing the petite girl lift two grown bodies.
Lucy rolled her eyes at her expression. “I’m not completely useless. My physical strength is on the level of a rank-C adventurer. Dealing with two ordinary people is child’s play.”
“Oh…” Sana glanced timidly at the hole in the warehouse. “Sorry for letting them escape.”
“Relax,” Lucy smirked. “You did a good job taking out the guards.”
“let’s head inside and recuperate the necklace.” She added.
Initially, Lucy Vance had refused to act as Sana’s chaperon, but, when Astra prepared to lock the wolf girl in a block of ice as punishment for her thievery in bastion, she’d taken pity and reversed her decision. Her one condition was that her orders be followed to the letter. While Sana had happily agreed, her feelings of gratitude had faded somewhat since then.
The young necromancer was the girlfriend of Silver’s brother and had exceptional foresight far outstripping her other abilities. She’d quickly decided to leverage Sana’s strength as a saint for some do-gooding. The outskirts around neon were overflowing with refugees awaiting their turn to evacuate, and there wasn’t nearly enough security personnel. They were going after the criminals taking advantage of this vulnerable population. These tended to be mostly thieves, which made Sana uncomfortable.
She knew, deep down, that she was the last person on Enera who should reproach others for stealing. However, when Lucy sent her after someone, she had no choice but to obey. Silently, she offered an apology to the woman they’d apprehended.
Dumping her prisoners on the floor, Lucy walked over to the brightly lit desk where a wide assortment of items were laid out. “Here it is.” She picked up a pendant hanging from a golden chain. Earlier today, a desperate woman had begged for their help retrieving this piece of jewelry.
“There is a lot.” Lucy sighed as she appraised the stolen goods laid out before her. “Returning everything to their owners will take all day.”
Abruptly, she darted to the far side of the table, snatched up a small box, and stared hard at its content. Sana scooted over to have a look. Inside were bunch of simple metal rings.
“What is this?” Lucy demanded. The fence recoiled in front of her fury but didn’t answer.
The room fell into silence as Lucy continue to glare at the man. Sana recognized the pattern immediately. This was another of the wordless interrogations she’d become accustomed to witnessing. As someone who’d been on the receiving end of the technique, she found it unnerving. Lucy had extracted secrets from her that she would have never divulged without a considerable amount of pain.
Suspecting this would take a while, Sana let her eyes drifts over the table, and soon they settled on brooch. While not particularly valuable compared to the rest, she could tell by the signs of wear that it’d been greatly treasured. She wanted——.
“Don’t even think of it.” Sana jumped at the harsh voice. Miserably, she gave up and looked over at the necromancer who hadn’t moved. I hate this…
Her two dimensional pouches hung from her waist, and their emptiness disturbed her soul. She’d originally been confused when Lucy returned them to her. However, she now understood it as a sign of confidence. Her thieving impulses were culled before they ever came to fruition. Sana waited listlessly until Lucy finished her questioning and handed over the criminals to the authorities.
“So what were they?” She asked on the way back. Despite feeling down, she couldn’t help be curious about the rings that had elicited such a reaction.
“They were tokens for Neon’s barrier.” Lucy explained. “Wearing one of them, anyone could sneak into the city. I can’t believe some corrupt official allowed them to be created.”
That’s pretty bad, right? Neon had hardened the protective field created by its wards. For those without permission, the only way through was one of the many crowded checkpoints. This was why most refugees were stuck on the outside. Looks like someone has been selling a way to bypass all that.
“I’ll have to report this to the Adventurer’s Guild.” Lucy continued. “We can only pray none of them ended up in the wrong hands.”