198. NOBLE SHIT: TABITHA,

Even though the King instructed the Captain to investigate the Monster Core's disappearance, I did not trust them. It was probably a crime of opportunity, but I asked Kelda to observe. The other thing I needed from the army was the names of the people in charge of the alarm bells that night. Kelda had already obtained a list of the Duty Officer, the Watch Commander, and the Watch Squad for me, but I put in an official request as “Countess Auditor.” We will see if the names match.

They didn’t tell me that I would get swamped with invites to events from the nobles and the suck-ups. Kelda advised me to get a secretary. What a lot of troll shit. I should have assassinated the King. Maybe I will. They all got a flat no. I am still mourning for my Krvne Sestre and always will be if necessary. This will be harder to sell once the Comedic Rhythm starts the performances again. I escaped by riding out to the cave with Modrica, Težka and Nyx so that I could commune with the dead. Modrica’s grunts were so much more intelligent than all that noble shit.

I sat out in the cave and watched Nyx suck dry a deer. If I started playing this shit noble game, I would end up like that deer. I didn’t ask for this title, I don’t want it. Therefore they can take this game they play and stuff it up where the shit came from. I am going to give the Canine Queens permission to bash heads in the name of the Countess Auditor. I need a dedicated secretary to bash heads. I wonder if I can bring Modrica back from the dead to be my secretary, she would be ideal.

After a pleasant afternoon at the cave, I rode Dusk to the official farm where the Catkin lived. They were keen to get back into town, and Mayakku wanted to start establishing her enchanting business. I figured it was safe enough for them to move back to the residential compound. Having the lions around would help keep the riff-raff out.

When Mutalil’s partner Anni found out about my problems, she offered to be my secretary.

“But what about the cubs?” I asked.

“The cubs are five now, so we consider them to be teenagers.” Catkin are considered to be adults at 7 years old, so I guess that made sense. They grow up so fast. “Onru will be spending time with her Great-grandfather, and Tāttā will train her in the Merchant Class. Irantu thinks he would like to try to learn enchanting, so Mayakku and Am'mā will test him to see if he has the Spiritual Sensitivity. Munru is going to train to be a Warrior under her Grandfather Appā. Therefore I shall have nothing to do, and it sounds like Nobles are very similar to disobedient cubs. I have plenty of experience with disobedient cubs.”

“I guess. We will be leaving in five or six months, so it is a short-term gig. Some of these nobles can get pushy.”

“Don’t worry, my bond Kāvalar will back me up.” Kāvalar raised her head from where she was sleeping, lifted her lip to show some fang and gave a menacing growl. Those lions are one of the best things that happened recently.

“You’re hired.”

Anni will be based at the residential compound and can say no without offending too many people. The Canine Queens are my official security and are authorised to bash heads if necessary. They can all come to me if they want any throats slit.

The fact that I turned down all the invites to the social events didn’t mean I didn’t attend any. I got attached to the temporary wait staff and listened to the gossip. Count Tharn’s was the most productive as the lesser nobles felt obliged to attend. Anders was a particular idiot all on his own. I found out he was a recent Baron due to his father's death. He was spending coins like he had a never-ending supply. I think he was trying to buy favours.

I was particularly amused when I was standing behind him as he ran his mouth off about me. I obviously wasn’t a very good assassin. He had seen our show and didn’t think I was a very good actress, but it was obviously the best I could do. I was tempted to put something in the drink I handed him, but I picked his pocket instead. A monogrammed kerchief and letter opener with his barony crest for wax-sealing letters. That would be useful. Before he went home, he discovered the missing items and had all the servants search the grounds for where they might have been. The servants also got searched, but they couldn’t search a Spatial Pocket.

I went through the Count’s mansion while I was here, especially the advisor and staff areas. I found nothing. I suspect that since the King announced I was searching for traitors, everybody had cleaned up their act. This did appear to be the case when I went to Baroness Lamont’s afternoon garden party and also found nothing. Lamont came across as a very clever woman. She was about a century old, so she was middle-aged. Her children were all grown and all successful in their endeavours. She had arranged her son’s marriage to Count Tharns heir, strengthening her ties there. Her elder daughter was a successful Merchant, and her younger daughter was a navy Lieutenant. I would have found that very suspicious if she hadn’t been out at sea for the last two months.

My main conclusion was that the nobles had cleaned up their shit and kept their noses clean for a while. My main lead was the officer on Watch duty the night of the attack. He was my main lead right up until he died peacefully in his bed. It wasn't a Mercenary contract, as I was watching those, so it was a private hit. I got hold of the body and had a healer and alchemist look at it; it was poison. Nobody knew I had stolen the body. They had a very nice funeral and buried a pig. The poison was imported, or at least the ingredients were not local. I tasked Tāttā with tracking down the importer.

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Duke Terry was the shittiest noble of them all and still my prime suspect. I bet he was also the shittiest at cleaning up his shit, as he never had to in the past. His mansion was also the most difficult to get into. He cancelled his parties. Somebody must be advising him on security. My new Shadow Step got me up over his wall. I had to step lightly and quickly, or the shadow would break. It wasn’t until Journeyman Level that I could make a step that would last. There was an ongoing energy cost to that, but it would also be useful for others to use if I ever worked with a partner. Technically I have a partner in our Mercenary Team, the Black Arts, but I am working alone here.

Almost alone. I waited to do this so Nyx could join me, as she could go where I could not. The wall had advanced traps on it, but I avoided them all with Shadow Step. All except the ones on top. The ones on top were set to detect low-flying Spiritual objects, like Avions. Avions could fly over them beyond their range, so most anti-intrusion traps were on the building, but these took me by surprise. I sensed them with my Spatial Awareness as I got near the top and worked out what they did. I had to step back down the wall as I couldn’t stop with my current level of Shadow step. I prepared my defence. I just needed a moment to get past the traps.

Shadow Embrace stops things escaping, like noise and heat, that might allow me to be detected. The Skill was almost at master Level and did mask some Spiritual energy, but I wasn’t confident it would be enough to make me look like a bird. I wasn’t going to take a risk yet. I wasn’t even at the building. I withdrew some Cargonite dust. Cargonite is a very dense spiritual metal that is used for the coin above platinum. It is also very expensive. It also resists the spiritual flows, so if I scatter a small amount to get past this trap, it will remain until the next rain. Hence it will give me an exit point as well. Between the cargonite dust and my Shadows Embrace, I should be fine.

I ran lightly up the Shadow Steps again, sprinkled the dust and then ran down the other side. Nyx and I then lightly spread our Engulfing Shadows over the flat, immaculately groomed lawn and mapped out the traps. I then picked my way across, only having to Shadow Step once. I waited tucked into a dark corner while a patrol passed and then looked at the building.

The windows were only designed to open about 10cm. I know I was skinny, but I was not that skinny. I could get around the traps but would have to break the window framing, leaving evidence. Store that for Plan B. I moved to the doors. The doors were locked, barred and trapped. The lock I could pick with the application of a little oil. The Trap I could disengage with Shadow Manipulation. The steel bar was a problem. It was too heavy for Shadow Manipulation to lift and then quietly move out of the way. It was a horizontal bar slotting into steel plates on either side of the door. The door had a steel door frame that wouldn’t allow me to slip anything between the door and the frame, even though I would have had the same problem of the bar crashing onto the floor.

I checked a second ground-floor door, and they were the same. I decided to check the balcony doors on the upper floors. The walls had traps. Nyx and I could navigate them well enough with a mix of climbing and Shadow Step. The first balcony door was the same. The door had glass panels, so I could see the bar, but that didn’t help. The room was an empty bedroom. Empty rooms could be secured, but occupied rooms might be more flexible.

The first occupied room I came across was on the third floor. There was a man and a woman asleep in the bed. I didn’t recognise them. The bar had been left off the door. I disabled the trap and unlocked the door, letting myself in. I snuck through the room, monitoring the two people and let myself out into the hallway. Yes, the hallway had the occasional trap as well. My problem was this place was huge. I didn’t know where I needed to go. I wish I had Wiremu’s Sense Treasure skill.

I figured the business areas would be on the ground floor or below, so I looked for some stairs. Each floor had a two-person patrol. Fortunately, I had plenty of warning of when they were coming. I did have to wait about fifteen minutes before I could get down the stairs without being caught.

I emerged onto the ground floor in the western wing. This seemed to be the playground part of the house. There was a ballroom, swimming pools, a spa and a sauna. There was also a dungeon but not the scary kind, the other kind. I could sense the floor below me had other playrooms as well. Definitely not for children.

I moved to the central area, and it was more like the reception area in a fancy Inn. It was possibly modelled off my luxury Inn in Duhovno, which used to be his luxury Inn. I found a diary with dates and bookings for fun and games, but not business. I moved to the eastern wing, which was where the business of being a Duke was carried out. I found more meetings and appointments for several key advisors and occasionally the Duke himself. It looked like this Duke was a big fan of delegation.

This was the public business of the Dukedom. Where was the Duke's private business? I kept roaming and avoiding the patrols. There were two on the ground floor. My problem was I was running out of time. It was well after midnight before the house quieted down for the night, and I now only had about two hours before dawn, and I needed to leave an hour to extract myself from this place.

The Duke’s private office was on the opposite side of the building from the main entrance and had extra protection levels. His private office was spread over two levels, the ground floor and the first basement level. Both were locked up tight. The ground floor also had bars across the doors, but one of the basement doors did not. I guess they had to get access in the morning open-up. I could sense the door from here on the ground floor, but I was worried I was running out of time to get down there and back out.

The Duke was obviously a guy who worked late and probably also started late in the mornings. His staff would not be like that. They would have set hours to work. The cooks would be starting the morning baking soon.

I would have to come back. At least I would know exactly where to come and what to expect. It was frustrating to get so close and then back out, but I didn’t want to be caught. I retraced my steps. The couple were stirring but not yet awake. I went back over the wall. I will be back in a couple of days, and I know exactly where to go, so I wouldn’t waste time. I figured it could take me an hour to get to the Duke's office, and then I could spend the rest of the time seeing what he gets up to. I will be back.