“This is not going to work,” Lyra muttered with a strained face while walking in an even more strained manner.

  “At ease, Lyra,” Erin said. “Worrrying won’t help us in our endeavour.”

  “Nothing would help us now!” Lyra retorted loudly, yet also quietly.

  “Do remember that we are not invisible, Lyra,” Siv reminded.

  “Kyu,” Ruri chirped in agreement, nodding her head. She was perched on Siv’s shoulder this time.

  Lyra sighed and shook her head in dismay. This was a terrible idea, but she was way past the window to exclude herself from this furtive incursion. Along with Erin, Siv, and Ruri, they had managed to sneak into the estate of William Marsh. Normally, one would not be able to get close to High Noble’s estate without alerting the guards, let alone sneaking into it. However, this was made possible by Ruri’s abilities, along with a map depicting the yout and interior of the estate. The tter was a gift from Iris. She knew the builders of the estate. She funded a good portion of the construction. Therefore, she was able to get her hands on the blueprints with ease.

  “We are so dead if we get caught,” Lyra continued with her pessimistic musings. Her eyes were darting all over the pce as if to gauge the likelihood of them getting caught by whoever just so happened to pass them by. “No, it’ll be good if they just kill us. But no. They won’t do that. They are going to make an example out of us.”

  “You need to calm down, Lyra,” Erin responded.

  “Are you unaware of the consequences of us getting caught?”

  “I am aware, but are you pnning to be caught?”

  “A lot of adventurers didn’t pn to die on their first quests, but a lot of them sure did. It’s not a matter of whether I pnned to or not.”

  Erin shrugged.

  They trode along the shades of the huge trees in the vast front yard of the estate. There were many servants at work in the yard, sweeping and trimming the ndscapes.

  “Kyu…”

  “Shush, little one,” Lyra baulked.

  “Mrr…”

  “The Kirin made less noise than you had, Lyra,” Siv pointed out.

  “She’s purring like a cat. Distinct cries of animals are likelier to draw attention than whispers from people.”

  “Quiet. Someone’s looking this way.”

  They all shut their mouths and sucked in their voices.

  A maid, who was sweeping the field with a rake, raised her head from the ground and looked their way.

  “Oh, shit. We’re dead.”

  “Shush.”

  The maid squinted her eyes, peering a little closer, but she went back to her work after a few seconds.

  All of them sighed in relief. Once they were sure they were in the clear, they continued with their furtive intrusion deeper into the estate.

  “I thought this wouldn’t work if one has direct sight of us?” Lyra questioned as they moved.

  “Either it’s because of the distance, or it’s because the effect is more potent when Ruri is the one casting the spell, or both.”

  “Kyu~”

  Lyra covered the Kirin’s mouth. “Ru, please don’t pur. Please?”

  Ruri narrowed her eyes and turned away with a huff, but she didn’t make a sound.

  Lyra sighed once more. “Why did we bring her along again? We have the scrolls, don’t we?”

  “Scrolls would run out,” Erin answered. “Besides, we need to take different paths.”

  “She’s going to give us away, and I hope we won’t need to tread different paths.”

  “We will need to take separate paths,” Siv said.

  Lyra frowned. “We do?”

  “Were you asleep during the briefing?”

  “I was not. I distinctly remember objecting to us splitting up, and Erin here ended the discussion right then and there.”

  “Oh, right. I did. Well, I knew you would disagree with me then and there. So—”

  “So you chose to tell me this now, at a time when you know that I cannot afford to disagree with you, is that it?”

  Erin smiled wryly. “Yes?”

  “...We are going to have a good talk after this.”

  “I’m sure we will,” Erin tittered. “We will do more than just talk,” she whispered under her breath.

  Eventually, they successfully crossed the front yard and reached the garden that was just beside the manor. The garden itself was as rge as the main house, encompassing a fifth of the estate. They huddled together under a rge old tree that was surrounded by hedges on nearly all sides. With so much cover, it provided them some respite, which they made use of.

  “Alright. I trust that all of us already know what we’re here for but I’m going to keep our memories fresh. Here’s what we’re here for. Marsh’s illegal dealings. One shouldn’t be leaving evidence of their crimes behind, but for crimes that involve money, it is inevitable. Now, according to Iris, there are three pces in the manor where Marsh would likely hide the evidence. His study and chamber, the archives, and a particur room in the celr. His study and chamber are one, so there’s some mild comfort in our search. Secondly, the archives, which is also the library, is one of the rgest rooms in the manor. It is not heavily guarded, but it is also heavily guarded.”

  Lyra blinked. “What?”

  “There’s only one person guarding the archive, according to Iris. That one person is a mage by the name of Monty. His level was sixty-one, or at least it was the st Iris had checked, and that was five years ago. Therefore, he might be two or three levels higher now. He is in charge of protecting the archives.”

  “You can handle the archives, Erin.”

  “Why, thank you, Lyra. Well, moving on to the st pce, which is the unknown room in the celr. It’s unknown because it shows up on the blueprint but the builders did not know what the room was for. They were only asked to build the room, and they couldn’t figure out the purpose of the room by themselves. Our suspicions are warranted about that room. The silver lining here is that this unknown room is in the celr, where there’s little to no guards.”

  “I’m taking the unknown room,” Lyra immediately volunteered.

  “I suppose the chamber will be my responsibility. However, who will be responsible for Ruri?”

  “Kyu?” Ruri tilted her head.

  Lyra didn’t point any fingers, but her gaze said enough. She was gncing at Erin and so was Siv.

  Erin rolled her eyes. “Well, I guess I’ll be taking Ruri with me?” She spread her arms at Ruri.

  “Kyu!” Ruri hissed, inching away from Erin.

  Erin dropped her arms. “I don’t think she likes me.”

  “It would seem that Ruri shall be my responsibility,” said Siv with a face devoid of expression.

  “Kyu~”

  Lyra cpped her hands together. “That settles it, then. But… we have yet to discuss our contingency. Where will we meet if we, or one of us, are compromised?”

  “We don’t,” Erin said. “We will simply run from this pce if we are compromised. Head back to the city square. Blend in with the crowd.”

  “It’s a long run. They have horses.”

  “We’re atop a hill. The roads are steep here, and so are the slopes.”

  “Sure hope it won’t come to that,” Lyra muttered.

  “There’s no use hoping. We just need to do better.”

  “One can only hope, Mistress. I wish us all good fortune in the difficult road ahead.”

  “Save the fortune for yourself. I make my own luck.”

  ****

  “Oh, damn…” Erin let out a massive breath as a guard walked past her without taking the slightest notice of her. The spell scroll worked wonders. After they had all used the spell scroll to conceal their presence, they entered the mansion from different pces. Erin took the back entrance, which led into the kitchen. It had been left open by a servant who was carrying crates of vegetables in and out of the kitchen. Everyone was busy in the kitchen. Even though Erin was only inches away from them, they didn’t take notice of her presence. She quickly made her way out of the kitchen and into the hallway.

  The archive was on the other end of the hallway. As it was a mansion, a casual pace would take her a minute or two. An even slower pace would take her thrice that amount. Her presence was concealed but the sound she made would still be audible, as evidenced by the fact that a patrolling guard turned his gaze towards her when she attempted to sneak past him. The carpet was fine but thin. The slightest bit of weight on a step would produce a faint echo. Erin’s blunder caught the guard’s attention. Fortunately, the scroll worked better than anticipated. The guard was mere feet away from Erin, staring straight at where she stood. Instead of raising his arms and shouting the arm, he shrugged and returned to his patrol.

  Erin swore to treat Ruri like a king after this.

  Patrol was sparse, Erin noticed. Aside from the one who nearly discovered her, there were only two others patrolling the hallway, and one of them was barely focusing on his job. She expected more. For one, Marsh should be well aware that there were people trying to see him fall. However, the state of his security seemed to spell his indifference in full. It was either nonchance or just utter confidence. It was likely the tter.

  Erin paid no heed to the guards and the passing servants. They would turn and look her way, but no more than that. In no time at all, she arrived at the entrance of the archive, which was unguarded, or so it would seem. There were no guards standing at the door, but that didn’t mean that there was no one guarding it. Erin stood in front of the door and waited for a while. After some time had passed, a servant came over with a trolley stuffed with cleaning items. Erin followed the servant closely behind into the archive. If she entered the archive by herself, it would definitely raise the suspicions of whoever was guarding the room.

  “Sir Monty?” the servant called out upon entering the room. “I’m here to clean the room as per schedule.”

  There was no response.

  But the servant proceeded with her task anyway, seemingly unbothered by the ck of response.

  Erin remained close to the servant and cast her gaze around. The archive looked pretty much like a library, except that each of the texts in this room was a record of actual events.

  The servant went about her duty, starting with the upper floors of the room. There were gentle winding slopes that led to the upper floors of the archive. She took that path with her trolley. As she was ascending the floor, a man appeared in front of her, a rather short man who was cloaked in a robe with a hood.

  “Oh, good god!” the servant cried. “Sir Monty, you startled me.”

  “Who’s your friend there?” asked the mage

  “Friend? I didn’t my friend?”

  “Oh? Then, who’s that behind you?”

  “Behind me?” the servant turned around in a heartbeat, but she only became more baffled. There was no one behind her. “There’s no one. Who might you be referring to, Sir Monty?”

  “...Hmm. Forgive me. It would appear that I have been mistaken.” Monty bowed and began walking up the slope.

  “It’s alright, Sir Monty. You have been in this room for far too long. Perhaps some fresh air will do you good.”

  Monty stopped. “I don’t need fresh air,” he said, gncing behind. “Do what you have to and do it fast. It’s best that you don’t linger here for long.”

  The servant frowned. “Is there something wrong, Sir Monty?”

  “This is not a pce that you want to stay for long.”

  “I’m afraid it would take some time. Lord Marsh has given me strict orders to keep this room spick and span.”

  Monty smiled wryly. “Well then, I’m afraid Lord Marsh had prematurely signed your death warrant.”

  “W-what?”

  “Enough of this farce, intruder. Come out, now.”