Godfather's System

132. Development - 28

I wanted to stay at the casino to make sure the escape plan would go without a hitch. A part of me was repeating that it was better safe than sorry, and that I should stay near to make sure everything went well.

Unfortunately, I still had to address the next stage of the plan, which was far trickier than arranging the escape of a prisoner.

I had to trust Mahruss. In the end, there was no such thing as a safe life, and sometimes, danger was inevitable. At least, the situation was still under control, unless they made a critical mistake. Even if they did, I wasn't too far away.

Altogether, not a bad opportunity to test their capabilities.

As I approached the young duke's manor, however, I put those thoughts away and focused on my plan. In an alleyway, I suppress my Concealment once again before starting to walk, not using my Speed.

My presence got some attention. After all, the members of the Night Blades were currently suffering through a pretty strong ostracisation due to their reluctance to support House Yoentia during the public confrontation.

It was not a good disguise to avoid attention. Luckily, that was not my objective in the first place. On the contrary, I even used Charisma on several people around. I wanted to make sure people remembered the approach of a nameless officer, maybe even gossip as to why while they had a drink.

I didn't do the same for the houseguards, and since I was moving toward one of the barracks rather than the manor itself, they weren't paying much attention to me.josei

Until I arrived in front of the barracks guards.

I carefully weaved my Charisma on them, trying to evoke a more complicated emotion than usual. A sense of careless acceptance underlined with boredom. Luckily, as a soldier tasked to be a ceremonial guard, the sensation was already there, allowing me to push it further.

"I need to talk with Sir Artmiss. I have an important message from the guildmaster," I said as I pulled a letter that was sealed with the sigil of the Night Blades — Agility was proving useful in forging paperwork.

The Charisma caused him to feel even more confused, as he looked around, looking for a higher-ranking person. "I already have an appointment," I said before he could find one that might have the capability to recognize me despite the helmet.

"Follow me, and don't try to get away," he said as he walked in front of me, leading me toward the stairs.

I could have easily accessed Knight Artmiss in different ways. I could have sneaked in using Concealment, or I could have just used my own identity as the quartermaster to walk inside.

But, neither of those would have triggered the gossip I wanted.

The guard knocked on the door. "Come in," Artmiss called.

"Your appointment is here, sir," the guard said.

"What appointment—" Artmiss started, but before he could complete his sentence, I stepped inside, took a step to the side to make sure the guard couldn't see my face, and removed the helmet. "Yes, the appointment. You can leave," he said to the guard. At the same time, he loosened his grip around the hilt of his sword, showing that he was moments away from acting violently.

"I am guessing that there's a reason for this … nonsense," Artmiss said, his distaste clear. He was an honorable man in the classical sense, more concerned with traditions than the results. And, for such a man, using a disguise was one of the bigger evils regardless of the circumstances. Add in his existing prejudice toward me for my mercantile activities, and it was a small miracle he had already stopped gripping the hilt of his sword.

"I'm here under the strict orders of my guildmaster," I said with a sharp, serious tone. Just like that, his attitude changed.

After all, he owed Zolast his life.

"And, what does he want?" he said, his voice tense. After all, even if he owed Zolast a big personal favor, he wasn't willing to do anything that would harm his lord, or truly impugn his honor.

Luckily for him, I had a different plan in mind. One that not only wouldn't harm his honor but actually help his precious lord as well. Too bad he wouldn't listen to it if I actually explained my plan in full detail, forcing me to play him.

I didn't immediately answer, but looked around, taking note of the piles of paperwork that filled his desk. Amusing that, while the life of a noble might have many advantages, an absence of paperwork was not one of those benefits.

Once again confirming that the universe functioned on paperwork.

"It's a sensitive issue…" I started.

"No, I won't do anything that would harm House Yoentia," he immediately cut in, his expression sharp.

I raised my hand in protest. "Nothing like that. Who do you think we are?" I answered, putting my acting capabilities to the limit as I acted like I had just received a deathly insult.

Pity I wasn't confident in using my Charisma trick on him to push his guilt even further.

"Alright," he said. He didn't apologize, but his tone implied one. "Why exactly would your guildmaster need you to sneak into my office … disguised." I particularly enjoyed the last pause in his explanation, struggling to swallow an insult.

He was working hard to keep his tone genial after his unintentional insult.

"Our patrols have noticed some irregularity around our outpost, but when we sent a dedicated team, they failed to find anything," I started, wondering whether he would interrupt.

To his credit, he did not, so I continued to lie shamelessly. "My guildmaster found the details suspicious and used some kind of magic to scour the area. And he found a hideout, that's conveniently located between our hunting outpost and the town," I said.

"Where?" he asked, pulling a map from under the pile of papers. I pressed my finger to the exact location while I memorized the rest of the map. It was mostly the same, but there were a few notes about cultist sightings and other problems.

Artmiss examined the location with a big frown. He might be annoyingly inflexible, but he wasn't stupid. He understood the implications of such a situation immediately.

However, it took a while for him to realize the other implication, which was a bit annoying. I started considering hinting at it more obviously, but I preferred not to in order to avoid the suspicion.

It took almost a minute for him to make that decision. "Why did you disguise for this?" he finally asked. I sighed, looking reluctant. "Tell me," he added.

"It's about why Zolast is not here. The hideout was reinforced magically. Divining the location took a lot from Zolast. He's currently unconscious due to overexertion." I paused for a moment, looking around like I was afraid of someone else hearing what I was about to say, and got even closer. "We don't want … the others to target us while he's unconscious."

He frowned. "Is that all? What about the favor?"

"No, there's one more thing," I added. "Zolast wants to call it in exchange for you hiding the source of information."

"For what reason? It's an important service to the duke. He'll be rewarded further."

"He doesn't think that we're strong enough to resist if they started targeting us exclusively," I said, giving a reasonable excuse.

Artmiss thought a bit, then nodded. "I won't lie," he stated.

"You don't need to. Just don't reveal the source of your information, and that would be enough," I answered. Artmiss nodded, satisfied.

Unaware that I had already set up the dominos to make sure everyone would assume it was the Night Blades that sold the information.

"You can leave," he said, his tone once again dismissive after finally discharging his personal favor.

However, now that he was unwittingly working as my personal battering ram, I found that attitude far less annoying.

I left the barracks in a great hurry, once again disguised as an officer of the Night Blades. I walked past the casino, in order to make sure no accidents had happened during the escape. Luckily, everything was in order, proving to me that Mahruss was ready for semi-independence as the manager of the gambling operations.

Excellent.

As I was waiting for Artmiss to act, I went around the outer town, still dressed as an officer of the Night Blades, alerting the guards about a possible thief that needed to be apprehended; Charisma once again helping me avoid inconvenient questions like what my name was and why I was giving orders outside the command structure.

However, I stayed close to the Duke's manor, making sure I kept an eye on the movement. Fifteen minutes after our meeting, a flying cart appeared from the manor. I followed it from below. I wanted to stay near, more to get a better sense of what was going on than anything…

However, I would go and help if things would develop too badly. After all, Artmiss might have been annoying with his attitude, but he was also useful.

With my speed, I managed to stay near the flying cart, watching as they stopped near the entrance. Artmiss was the first one to jump down, his blade already out. It was glowing blue as he batted away the panicked arrows of the guards.

He took down the four guards faster than the rest of the soldiers could disembark. Eight soldiers, each decked with magic items, both their armor and their weapons glistening with mana to my senses even from a distance.

A good reminder that even if they were struggling, old money was still old money.

The raid itself went smoothly. Artmiss left four of the eight at the entrance while he led the rest inside. I couldn't see what was going on inside, but the several enemy corpses that were taken away by the soldiers at the entrance gave me a good idea about how the fight was going on.

None of them actually wore any armor, showing that whatever force they had down there wasn't ready for a sudden assault from a magical knight. I still stayed at a distance, watching the aftermath. Artmiss soon returned to the surface with the other soldiers, none of them with visible wounds.

As the last soldier left the place, Artmiss swung his sword for another time, the blade's intense blue glow powerful enough to destroy the entrance along with most of the tunnel.

There were no prisoners.

I wondered if the attackers were too loyal — perhaps brainwashed — or if it was Artmiss who didn't bother taking prisoners. A question to ponder for the future.

However, as I watched the flying cart disappear once again, I came to a realization. If this was the way he operated, Artmiss owing us a favor was even more useful than I had expected.

I needed to find a way to make him owe us more.