Tonight, after a week of classes, I am back in the viscount’s third floor hallway. I spent the last week grinding my [Fade] level and learning the apprentice light enchantment [Conceal]. When the two are used in tandem, I can hide in daylight and be unseen by anyone not using detection spells actively.

And that is exactly what I am doing: a few feet below where I am clinging to the ceiling, the fifteenth guard is guarding his post in front of the office door. I already unlocked the door with [Ferrokinesis III], but I won’t be able to open and sneak through it until he lapses in his duty.

After thirty minutes, he finally yawns without the circling guards nearby to cover the blind spot such an activity creates. Making my way through the door, I enter the office. It is completely dark in here, so I walk around the perimeter keeping a gloved finger on the wall until I find the picture frame.

I don’t actually know what it is a picture of nor do I care, so I take it off its hook to reveal the safe. There are faintly glowing magic runes on its surface that barely provide enough light to illuminate the safe’s other features. The runes seem to be emitting a hashed OTP stream, which will be cut when the safe is opened, to some other runes that aren’t currently visible; but once again, it is none of my concern.

Retrieving my lockpicking set from my dagger, I examine the lock. I quickly discern that this lock will be much harder to pick: the other one was iron whereas this one is enchanted glass with a lower tolerance, meaning my ferrokinesis will be ineffective. It’s a disk tumbler lock, however, so it is still easy to pick with conventional methods.

I separate the full diamond pick and torsion wrench from the rest of the set and remove the quicklime, water, and polishing cloth from my inventory to have at the ready. I only have at least twenty minutes until the R-20 wears off, after all.

I spend the first three of those moving the six disks into place and turning the plug. As soon as I open the door, the alarm circuit activates. I quickly remove the ring from its shelf with the cloth while mixing the quicklime and water with the other. When the mixture sets enough, I press the ring into it for about six minutes until it sets completely.

Running out of buffer time, I remove the ring from the mold and clean off the residue before replacing it and closing the safe door. Once I confirm that the alarm has stopped, I release the breath I has unintentionally holding in a sigh of intense relief.

I make my way back to the office door and putting my ear to it, I listen to the guard’s breathing waiting for any indication of escape hole. It came fourteen minutes after I began waiting and three after the change of the watch, when the freshly awoken guard yawned to the heavens. I then make my way to the library after relocking the door. It was in front of my egress window that I stopped.

I stand up from my crouch, discretely store my student ID and thieves’ badge and dagger, draw my hunting dagger and buckler, and address the poorly hidden man in front of me with my best death metal growl, “I’m surrounded, aren’t I?”

The silhouette flinches before signaling to someone else. “Yes,” the viscount says as the lights turn on, revealing him and most of the guards from the previous shift. “Do you mind surrendering? I doubt you can escape easily.”

“Perhaps,” I say noncommittally. “How did you find me?”

“Do you think I wound not notice one of my maids acting suspiciously?” he sounds insulted. “Well, even though she did not reveal anything, that was enough to put us on alert and find the tampered-with window.” I shrug. “How did you get past my guards with such a low level?”

Since he answered my question honestly and rhetorically, I do the same, “Have you ever heard of black magic? Well even if you haven’t, it can be very practical.”

“So, back to my first question,” he segues; “Are you surrendering?”

“I guess so,” I reply, dropping the dagger; however, before it can hit the ground, I accelerate it towards one of the younger looking guards.

He blocks it with a combination of luck and armor, but I am already chasing it with [Lightning Rush I] and bashing at the guard to his left. This guard deflects the blow with his main-gauche and prepares to counter with his saber, however I am already spinning around with the hunting dagger back in my hand. I land a dangerous hit on the first guard’s arm while kicking the second’s shin, which the makes for a decent foot to dodge away from the arrow that then flies by my ear. Noticing Viscount Scarlatti’s displeasure at the arrow landing in a tome beside me, I rotate clockwise to the other side of the encirclement, casting a [Flame Wave] at their foreheads. Two notice my real intention, but the other three duck, letting it crash into the shelves behind them.

Most of my would-be captors are briefly distracted as the magician on the upper floor redirects his water spell to quench the flames. I [Light Beam] the other two in the eyes and [Lightning Rush] through the outside window. There are a few guards waiting out here but are too startled to give immediate chase. It isn’t until I reach the compound wall that I once again stop. This time there are three guards in front of me, the furthest back holding a knife to the neck of the maid who gave me information earlier.

In the momentary pause, she blinks a message at me, unnoticed by the guards. I blink three times back as I cast [Blind] and run around the four. One of the guards manages to barely cut my hip with a blind swing, but I keep going and scale up the wall. Just as I am about to make my way over, an arrow lodges itself into my hand.

That hurts, like, really bad. I fall to the ground, my vision going blurry with the impact to the back of my head; however, that is not enough to stop me from seeing the mace crashing down at my face. It doesn’t hit hard enough to kill or even incapacitate me, though both are more desirable than this pain.

I barely feel my limbs being tied before being dragged off somewhere. Out of the corner of my eye in one of the clearer moments, I see the maid lying on the ground. So, the plan failed. Another bought of pain brings me back from my thoughts, before my consciousness fades.

When I come to, I am still being dragged along. Suddenly, someone pulls my head up by my ponytail. Soon, I am face to face with the viscount who says, “–ld have sur---dered.” I respond by using the last of my mana to [Ignite] his eyebrows before passing out completely.

menus

Skills

Combat: Skip Step Evasion III Dagger Techniques IV Bow Techniques III Light Barrier II Light Beam III Lightning Rush II Fireball II Flame Wave I Ferrokinesis III Tracking I Fade IV Pickpocketing II Lockpicking II Silent Step II Blind I Civil: Examine III Analyze III Cartography I Court Etiquette II Reading VI Mana Detection III Candlelight II Ignition II Summon Water I Sprinting III Stealth II Purify I Meditation I

Status

Identity: Name: Robin Age: 16 Sex: Female Job: Apprentice Light Thief Home: Capital Magic Academy dorm 18-201 Gauge Levels: HP: 31/94 SP: 22/76 MP: 0/623 + 0/5 LP: 100 PP: 10/10 XP: 1533 Summary Statistics: Level: 65 Combat Level: 35 Civil Level: 30 Rank: 31.9 STRength: 10.1 DEXterity: 20.2 STAmina: 10.4 INTeligence: 61.2 WISdom: 45.4 WILlpower: 14.3 CONviction: 3.15 FAIth: 37.5 CORrectness: 99.9 Tier: D- Equipped Items: The Divine Panties of Chastity Indestructible Cannot be removed by anyone other than the wearer even after death or on accident Under no circumstances will the wearer’s privates be revealed while equipped If anyone without sufficient mental resistance looking at the wearer nefariously gazes upon them, they will immediately lose interest The Divine Sports Bra of Chastity Indestructible Cannot be removed by anyone other than the wearer even after death or on accident Under no circumstances will the wearer’s privates be revealed while equipped Automatically alerts the wearer of ‘Peeping Toms’ Ordinary Iron Buckler Plain Black Cloak Simple Green Archer’s Hat Simple Green Huntress’s Blouse Simple Green Huntress’s Skirt Plain Leather Belt Plain Leather Archer’s Right Glove Plain Leather Archer’s Left Arm Guard Basic Hunting Dagger Plain Leather Boots Anti-appraisal Earing (low grade) Slightly modifies Appraisal readings Boosts mana pool by 5 MP Firenze Magic Academy Student ID Measurements: [[withheld]] …

Inventory

Equipment: ₣297.02 Academy Uniform Blouse Academy Uniform Skirt Academy Uniform Kerchief Academy Uniform Vest Red Hair Ribbon Thieves Dagger Standard Ironwood Longbow Plain Leather Quiver Plain Arrow ×15 Mild Poison Tipped Arrow ×5 Polishing Cloth Flask 300 ml Water Small Glass Jar Signet Ring Mold