“I can’t believe we made it,” Jade sighed as she placed her hands on her knees and slowly caught her breath. “Just give me a second.”

Saela frowned but opted not to speak, instead crouching low in the bushes that they were currently hiding behind while looking back in the direction of the wall. A routine patrol had already passed by where they had made their way over the wall without seeming to notice that anything was out of the ordinary, so she was quietly confident that they were in the clear.

Watching Jade slowly recover, she fought the urge to flop down herself. After she had made it to the top of the wall, she had first tied her rope to the board before tossing it out across the moat to Svanda. Not only had this taken Reina’s cumbersome invention off her hands, it had also acted as an anchor to carry the end of the rope to Jade who had been waiting. From there, it had been a complex task of dodging the patrols while pulling Jade up in between passes, while Jade hauled herself up the final part of the way. Thankfully there were unguarded stairs and ledges which had allowed her to hide when required, as it wasn’t like the guards were expecting anyone to be on the inside of the wall. After Jade had joined her at the top it had been as simple as racing down one of the unlit stone staircases and then dashing across a small path before taking cover in the sprawling gardens that lay beyond.

“Okay, I need another minute actually,” Jade said as she sat down on the grass. “My arms are dying.”

You think mine aren’t? Saela thought as she decided that she might as well take the time to rest if Jade was going to, sitting down while rolling her shoulders. She checked over what little gear she had once more to make sure that she hadn’t lost it, although her usual pistol and a knife were the only things she had brought besides the rope. Like Jade, her collection of black clothing was topped off by a woollen black hat that was stretched over her hair, and currently it was making her feel rather hot despite the cool evening breeze.

It was quiet in the district, where only the sound of crickets could be heard in the darkness. If someone was to listen very attentively, however, they would have heard two sets of footsteps fumble their way through the centre of the gardens in the direction of the Inin estate grounds. Avoiding the roads, most of which were well lit, the pair quickly found that there was essentially no traffic at all as they weaved their way through the trees and flowerbeds before crossing a road and then scaling a stone wall that was only a couple of meters tall.

“It’s this way, right?”

“Yeah.”

The pair had already agreed that it would be easier to move within the private estates rather than on the streets that surrounded them. The walls would provide some cover from the public lighting, while the infrequent patrols by the Royal Guard also seemed to be concentrated outside. As long as they didn’t run into any guards placed inside the estates, they should theoretically be able to hop from estate to estate until they reached their destination. They would eventually have to skip over a few roads to reach their destination, but they were bridges that they would cross when they got there.

“We should have just brought a change of clothes,” Jade whispered as they slowly walked along the inside of a stone wall while listening for any approaching noises. “We could have got changed and then just walked right up to the back door.”

“And what if…” Saela frowned before crouching down. Jade mirrored her action before the pair sat in silence as a carriage rolled past on the other side of the wall, the solid timber wheels rattling on the stone underneath. After the noise faded into the distance, Saela turned to Jade. “What if someone recognized us? You have green hair, remember?”

“Ah,” Jade realised before looking at the ground with a bashful smile. While similar colours of hair were common on Neo Luesa, the citizens of Zaffre were much more conservative and usually stuck to basic shades of blonde, brown, and black. While she didn’t know it, her appearance along with Aline’s had actually been the source of much gossip between the noble women who frequented the shopping streets in the past week. Both their features and dresses had been hot conversation, and some ladies had even made discreet enquiries as to how they could acquire something similar.

Saela ignored her reaction and instead continued along the wall until they reached the far side of the small estate. Clambering over the wall and waiting behind a small shrub, she waited for Jade to join her before the pair scuttled across the road and threw themselves into the neighboring residence.

“Do you think there will be guards at the lab?” Jade asked quietly as they followed the inside of the wall until they approached a stone security booth that was placed next to a gate. Cutting further inside the estate in the direction of a well-lit manor that sat in the middle of the lawns, the pair skipped across the driveway before returning to the wall on the other side and continuing onwards.

“Of course there will be,” Saela finally replied after they reached the edge of the second estate. If their earlier judgement was correct, they would have to skip through another three estates before they finally reached their destination. “Do you think Rucille is going to leave her unguarded?”

“Maybe,” Jade shrugged. “Shouldn’t the guards be doing their job before we get there in the first place?”

“If we’re here, obviously they aren’t.”

“They don’t know that.”

Ignoring Jade’s logic, Saela sighed as the pair approached yet another fence. She didn’t know if she would eventually be proved correct, but she was certainly beginning to think that their infiltration of the district had maybe been a little too easy. While getting over the wall had indeed been difficult, since they had passed over it they had not had any problems at all. Saela reasoned that it was due to a number of factors, especially the fact that most guards probably had no idea about what had happened with Nina. In addition, the Royal District seemed unprepared for an infiltration as the Royal Guard had likely announced to residents that passing the wall was impossible. It was simply their fortune that anything that made it through the net which was the district wall could move about uninterrupted.

The rest of their journey to the Inin Estate was thankfully uneventful. Only having to stop twice more for patrols and carriages, Jade and Saela soon found themselves at the small gate which was placed next to their old safehouse at the corner of the grounds. Deciding that was too risky to use the gate, they instead moved down the road for a short distance before climbing over the wall and then lying flat on a hill which overlooked their old residence. Like their surroundings during their trip over, the small cottage was surrounded in darkness.

Jade and Saela were surprised, however, to see that there was a light on inside.

“Someone is inside?” Jade whispered. “At this time?”

“Maybe someone just forgot to turn it off,” Saela reasoned as they both peered through the window into the living area. Her theory quickly fell apart though as a figure moved out from one of the bedrooms before tossing what they held onto the dining room table.

“It’s her,” Jade frowned as they watched Rucille leaf through a collection of clothing that she had collected from their rooms. As they had been kicked out from the estate at such short notice, they hadn’t wanted to burden themselves with anything unnecessary while avoiding Ormain. The unfortunate result of this was that much of their gear had been left behind.

“That’s my dress!” she hissed.

They watched on as Rucille quickly examined the dress before tossing it onto the floor. While they couldn’t make out her expression from their vantage point, it seemed as though she hadn’t been impressed. Moving onto what seemed to be one of Reina’s sweaters, she held it out in front of herself for a moment before neatly folding it and then setting it aside.

“She doesn’t like your taste,” Saela smiled as they watched her throw a pile of Svanda’s utilitarian gear on the floor without a second thought. “We should move. If she’s here, she isn’t going to be with Nina.”

“We should kill her while we have the chance,” Jade frowned while grinding her teeth. “She won’t see it coming.”

“It’s too risky,” Saela hissed. “There could be someone else in there too. Also what would we do if Nina isn’t actually at the lab?”

“We would have one less person to deal with.”

“I’m not risking my life by raising the alarm just so you can kill someone that didn’t like your dress,” Saela scowled as she set off in the direction of the lab. “What happens if someone investigates before we find Nina? Problems that I don’t want to deal with happen, that’s what.”

Jade sighed before crouching low and following Saela through the foliage that sat between them and the lab. Reaching the other side, they paused for a moment to examine the building which was ablaze with light in the distance. While they would have to cross around a hundred meters of open lawn to reach it, it seemed as though there was very little presence around the building.

“No guards?” Jade asked.

“Seems like it,” Saela mused in reply as she studied the large stone building. Long and rectangular, the lab was almost like a single storey version of the manor without the added wings. High glass windows allowed the light from inside to stretch in patterns across the lawns that surrounded it, something that Saela and Jade were not particularly comfortable with. It seemed that whichever way they approached from, they would be visible if anyone decided to look in the correct direction at the right time.

“Inside?” Jade asked as the pair focused on the windows. They were looking to see if they could spot regular movement past the windows, but from how far away they were it was difficult. They would have to either approach the building before stopping in open ground to reexamine their approach, or simply dash forward and hope that the lab was quiet at this time of night despite the lighting.

“We’ll stop halfway,” Saela stated as she began to circle around in the direction of one of the building’s corners. It might not help, but she thought that approaching from a corner may give them a slight chance of evading any curious glances outside.

Any advantage was something that she would use.

Deciding that she had lined it up well enough, she suddenly cut onto the lawn and quickly scuttled across the open ground. Without even bothering to look up in the direction of the lab, she focused on not stepping on any stones or tripping before eventually throwing herself prone when she had covered enough distance.

“Give me a warning for these things,” Jade complained as she flopped down next to her. “Otherwise you’ll leave me behind.”

“Just check the left side,” Saela growled as she ignored Jade’s complaints before scanning the windows on her right. “It looks pretty quiet.”

“They’re not expecting us at all,” Jade mused before her gaze sharpened. “I can see someone. Looks to be a scientist or something, but it’s certainly not a guard. They’re not looking outside so I don’t think it will be an issue.”

“Let’s go then,” Saela said as she sprang up before dashing for the building, not bothering to look behind her as Jade frantically followed suit. Nervously glancing at the windows as she ran, she covered the final fifty or so meters of lawn as quickly as she could before her feet hit the stone pathway that ran around the building.

Breathing a sigh of relief, she was quickly joined by Jade who began to catch her breath as quietly as possible.

“I said…”

“Quiet,” Saela shushed her as she listened carefully for any signs of alarm. Waiting for thirty or so seconds, the fact that she still hadn’t heard anything led her to believe that they had in fact made it to the lab without being spotted after all. After throwing Jade a cold glance, she set off down the path in the direction of the lab’s rear entrance. “We’ll talk after we find her.”