Liza made the final checks on her gear, then picked a small glass vial from her pouch, courtesy of Popis’ boss at the guild, attaching it to her belt in an easy to reach place.

[I asked for six and only got one… I was being too greedy I guess, this probably costs a small fortune. Argh, but I can’t help but regret it. If we had at least three, things would be easy. Oh, well, time to focus on the matter at hand.]

“You said it was a straight line from here, right?” asked Liza.

“It’s not really a straight line, but if you just follow this street all the way you will get there,” replied Popis.

“Ok, wait for me here, I’ll be back soon.”

Liza walked ahead. She wasn’t being sneaky or careful this time, quite the contrary, she strode with confidence, like she owned the place. She shifted Boro, who was resting on her shoulders, hidden beneath the cloak, just a little so his tail would show from outside.

After walking for a few minutes, she could see the back of a small patrolling group. That was her first objective and the number was just right, with only two people. She accelerated her pace and overtook them, with Boro’s tail swinging up and down due to the fast movement. The soldiers looked at the hooded figure drawing ahead in astonishment.

“Oy! You over there, stop!” clamoured one of the guards.

Liza ignored them and increased her speed even more.

“That was a snake tail! I’m sure! It must be one of them! New guy, you go gather whoever’s around! I’ll catch that bastard!”

Both Liza and the guard broke into a run at the same time. The other soldier began shouting, trying to draw the attention of nearby patrols to their location, as per standard practice.

A big, luxurious house could be seen in the distance. Liza’s second objective was getting closer, but she needed to widen the gap between herself and her pursuer before that, she needed more time.

Slowing her running pace almost imperceptibly, Liza let the guard that was chasing her, a middle-aged man with a thick moustache, gain ground consistently. He was enthused.

[Ha! I’m catching up, you bastard! Just you wait! And people joke I’m unfit for the job! Nonsense!]

Her ears prickling, Liza knew the man was finally within reach. She stepped firmly with her left foot, shifting all the weight in her body, and made a fast and graceful pirouette with her right arm extended. Her backhand blow connected hard and fast against the man’s helmet with a ringing sound.

“Huff.”

“Ouch!”

The middle-aged man lost his balance and fell, his head spinning and his vision blurry. Other than that, he was fine. Liza staggered for a moment, then kept running. Her right hand was throbbing fiercely, bringing tears to her eyes.

[Fuck! That hurt! Fucking iron helmets!]

Nearing her destination, Liza stopped briefly to catch her breath and massage her right hand. She also petted Boro for a spell, to keep him calm and prevent him from moving around too much.

[Alright, it won’t be long before there’s dozens of the earl’s men coming this way. I need to make this work quickly, I haven’t got much time.]

She removed her hood, revealing her straight black hair and her toothy smile as she approached the house. The two sentries standing at attention at the front door watched her with suspicion.

“Halt! This is a noble’s residence, you have no business here. Beat it!”

“Good afternoon to you sirs, I’ve heard that master Weasley Thegass loves collecting unusual and rare monsters, so I came to offer him a fine specimen,” said Liza, pointing at Boro’s tail over her bosom.

The guard frowned.

[I’ve heard the young master complaining that a woman didn’t sell him a rare monster because the guild manager interfered… could she be the one? The earl’s goons are also looking for some people, including a young woman and a mutated serpent monster… whatever, it’s not for me to decide.]

“You stand right where you are, I’ll go ask the young master.”

“Of course, take your time!”

One of the two men went inside while the other keep his gaze firmly at Liza, watching her every movement.

-

Sitting on a chair before an enormous double door was a youngster with undulated blond hair and green eyes. He was wearing a steel breastplate over his clothes and was fiddling with his longsword, boredom and displeasure written all over his face. Coming from inside the room he was guarding were the frantic sounds of lovemaking.

[You are trying a bit too hard little maid. If you exaggerate too much and he finds out, ai, I’ll feel sorry for you… Ah~, why did the viscount ask me to protect his son! I have to deal with the useless brat and the monotony! It’s too much!]

The sentry approached the blonde youngster and gave him a military salute, putting his closed fist over his chest.

“Sir Emef, there’s a woman asking for the young master. She said she has a rare tamed monster to sell to the young lord.”

“Oh? Is that right? As you can see, he’s busy at the moment. Tell you what, you stand guard here and I’ll go take a look,” replied Emef.

-

Counting the seconds on her head, Liza concluded she’d waited long enough. She pretended to stretch her limbs out of boredom and stealthily drew one of her knives from the scabbard hidden behind her back.

Stepping forward abruptly, Liza made a series of brusque attacks against the sentry, but the man was sharp. He kept dodging her swings and circling out of the way. They ended up trading places, finishing in the exact opposite locations they started with.

“What do you think you are doing! Attacking someone that works for the noble house Thegass! You will pay for your sins, wench!” said the guardsman while drawing his sword.

Liza didn’t respond. Her back was now against the door and she had a clear view of the street. She could see many of the earl’s men coming towards them from not so far away.

[They are just in time, perfect! I’ll leave you to sort it out your fancy noble rules and politics,] she thought.

Executing another feint attack with her knife, Liza made the sentry back out instinctively. Utilizing this opportunity, she opened the door and dashed inside the house, disappearing from view.

“Tsc, she got in! Attention everyone, we’ve got an intruder!”

Liza found herself in a magnificent foyer that was ample and richly decorated. A grand staircase led to the second floor, from which a youngster with undulated blond hair and green eyes was making his way downwards.

“Oh? Were you not here to sell something? I guess your intentions are not as pure as you said they were,” said Emef.

Liza ignored him and eyed around for the closest door she could go hide into. That was a mistake. Emef jumped nimbly from the middle of the staircase, arriving before Liza almost instantly, and swung his sword diagonally.

The blade hit Boro who was nested on Liza’s shoulders, making a gash on his scales and drawing blood. Although part of the blow was blocked, the crushing weight was still transmitted to Liza, who faltered a few steps backs, feeling tremendous pain on her left shoulder.

*Growl*

Irate, Boro lashed out from beneath the heavy cloak against Emef, his sharp claws swinging in the air. The youngster retreated rapidly, moving out of reach from the attack. Boro didn’t pursue, but instead took a defensive stance on top of Liza’s shoulders, who was grunting in pain.

Seeing the creature in full, now that it was no longer hiding underneath Liza’s clothes, Emef couldn’t help but be impressed. The beast had an air of dignity and majesty, something he found strange for a monster. That plus the fact it withstood one of his blows gave him a certain amount of respect and admiration towards the creature.

“Oh, I guess you weren’t lying about everything, you do have a rare monster with you!” said Emef as he observed the dragon.

He readied his sword for another strike. Boro flexed his limbs, ready to pounce. Before they could clash, shouting coming from outside drew their attention away for a brief moment. Liza took this opportunity and ran towards the door she was eyeing previously. Noticing this, Emef scoffed.

“You can run, but you cannot hide. Attention men! We have an intruder inside the residence! Guard the young master’s room and watch every exit! Make sure she can’t escape!” exclaimed Emef.

[You can hide for a little longer, kitten. Once I deal with the mess outside you will wish you never had trespassed a place under my supervision.]

-

Liza went through the door and into a corridor. After looking around briefly, she made haste to the first room she could see and bumped directly into a maid that was coming out of the chamber, toppling her over. The young maid, feeling confused, looked up from the ground and her eyes made direct contact with Boro’s.

“AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH, MONSTER!!”

The maid screamed with all her voice before passing out. Ignoring this, Liza jumped over her and into the room. She chose a spot that was in plain view, but out of the way at the same time, and sat on the floor.

With trembling hands, Liza got Boro out of her shoulders and into her lap. She pressed part of her cloak against his wounds to help stop the bleeding and with her spare hand she grabbed the vial that was prepared for this occasion.

She opened it with a pop and gulped it down in one go. The taste was harsh and bitter, making it hard to swallow. Carefully putting the cork back, she strapped the vial to her belt again and waited. Not long after, three armed men came running.

“It’s here, a maid has passed out!”

“Any sign of the intruder?”

“None! She probably isn’t here. Check under the bed and inside the wardrobe, just in case.”

Liza held her breath and clamped her hands gently around Boro’s snout. She watched as the three men passed by her to search the bed, wardrobe and other places one could hide inside. They were oblivious to the fact she was just sitting there, in the corner they could see as soon as they entered the room.

“Yep, she’s not here. I told you, her only options are the doors or the windows on the second floor that aren’t barred. She probably just ran into this lass, that’s all.”

“Those places are already accounted for. Let’s put this girl on the bed for now and keep searching, she got to be somewhere around the first floor.”

Liza watched as they laid the young maid on the bed and moved out. She slowly let her breath out and released her hands from Boro’s snout. She couldn’t help but grin to herself.

[Invisibility potion, now that’s good stuff!]

Liza got up gently, holding Boro with care. Now she only needed to keep quiet, make sure she didn’t bump into anyone again and find a way out. She tiptoed around the residence and discovered, like one of the guards had said, that most of the doors were accounted for, as were the stairs for the second floor.

She might be invisible right now, but anyone would be suspicious of a door that opened by itself. After scouring over the first floor, she felt like laughing. There was only one door that was suitable for her escape and it was the front door, of all places. It was already open and from it she could her the youngster that attacked her discussing with the earl’s men.

“We saw with our own eyes! One of the people the Earl is looking for went inside your place! Let us search around!” said one of the earl’s guards.

“You will not step a foot inside the Thegass residence! This is a noble state and we’ll not have you running around! We’re aware that a criminal had the audacity of breaking in, so you can rest assured that we will capture and deal with them. Afterwards, and only then, we’ll release said criminal into your custody!” replied Emef curtly.

“We’ll let the Earl know, one of our men will be sent to notify him. Meanwhile, we will surround your place, just in case the criminal manages to escape,” said the guard sarcastically.

“Humph. You can tell the earl alright! I would like to ask him myself where his men get the audacity of wanting to trespass into another noble’s property! You can surround the place if you like, whatever you do on the streets is of no concern to me.”

They quibbled for some time, but it was clear that Emef wouldn’t let the earl’s soldiers march into the house. It was also clear he was superior to them in both power and status. Having no better option, the guards spaced their men on the street around the Thegass residence in hopes of catching the criminal. Emef closed the door with a bang and joined his house’s guards in the search for Liza.

-

Meanwhile, Popis was leaning against a wall watching the patrols rushing by towards the Thegass residence.

[Wow, so much fuss. I hope Liza is ok.]

Liza, who had just returned, saw Popis concerned face and smiled. She leaned near her ear and whispered.

“I’m back. Let’s get out of here.”

Popis jumped, startled, and looked around.

“Don’t do that! Do you want to scare me to death?” Popis hissed.

“Hahaha, my bad, my bad. Let’s go back, we must make the most out of this opportunity.”