Chpt. 19) The Mayor

Ford parked the wagon outside the estate’s walls. They stood three meters high, and only a few guards were stationed there. Ford quietly sneaked over to the closest buildings and climbed up to the rooftop by wall-jumping up the sides of the buildings. She was immensely enjoying her body’s strength and agility. When she made it to the rooftop, she was greeted by Mizu and Benet waiting for her.

“What’s the plan?” Mizu asked.

Ford looked at the time, reading thirteen hundred hours, “We wait. Till nightfall, then get into the building. Can you see in there through your scope?”

Mizu shook his head, “No, I already tried. There’s no way to see in through the mansions curtains.”

Ford bit on her knuckles and thought a moment, “Alright, split up now and find a way to go underneath or over the wall. It doesn’t matter which. Call when you find one.”

“What happens when we find one?” Benet asked.

“Then we go to the spot and wait. Not exactly rocket science.”

“What’s rocket science?” Mizu asked.

“Oh, never mind, just go find a way in,” Mizu and Benet nodded and ran off in different directions leaving Ford to watch over the wagon. Ford pulled out the silver pocket watch and stared at it to pass the time, trying to figure out why her linchpin skill needed it.

After ten minutes of staring at the watch, Mizu spoke over comms, “I’m not seeing anything. How about you, Benet?”

“Yeah, me too.”

“Stop staring at girls and get to work, Benet,” Ford barked.

“I’m not staring! I lagintemetly haven’t seen anything yet,” Benet said defensively.

“Alright, alright. My apologies. I didn’t mean to offend.”

“Thank you.”

“She’s hot, isn’t she?”

“Yeah, I found a brothel.”

“Nice. Okay, get back to work.”

“But-”

“I don’t care! Get to it!”

Benet went silent after that. A couple of minutes later, Benet spoke over comms, “I think I found something. I’m going to need some help getting it open, though.”

“On my way,” Ford said, “Where are you?”

“South of you,” Benet responded.

“On my way,” Ford and Mizu said in unison as Ford sped off to Benet’s location.

They quickly found Benet on one of the rooftops within ten minutes, waiting for them. “What did you find?” Ford asked.

Benet pointed down at the street and said, “I found a way in.”

Ford looked and saw nothing but the wall and the street’s cobblestone, “Umm. I don’t see what you’re seeing.”

“I do,” Mizu said, unenthused.

“What is it?”

“It’s a manhole,” Benet said excitedly.

“I told you to stop looking at the brothel!”

“No, not that man-hole. A manhole into the sewer system.”

“Oh, a maintenance manhole. I see now,” Ford looked back down at the street and said, “No, I don’t see it.”

“That’s fine, but it should lead us to the mansion and the estate.”

Ford nodded along and said, “Alright, let’s check it out and see if it leads into the estate. Lead the way.”

Benet jumped down, and Ford and Mizu followed right behind him. He stood above a metal plate against the building, and Ford realized why she couldn’t see it. “I need you to lift it. I’m too weak,” Benet explained.

Ford looked to either side of the street and saw nobody was coming. She bent over, hooked a finger into one of the holes, and pulled with all she had. The cover lifted with a metallic screech, and Ford stopped, looking around to see if anybody had heard the sound. No one came running around any corners, so she assumed nobody heard.

She finished lifting the cover and was immediately assaulted by a torrent of strong, disgusting smells making her recoil. “Do you really want to go down there?” Ford asked, holding her nose to stop herself from breathing in the noxious fumes.

“Not anymore,” Benet said, also holding his nose.

Ford let go of the plate, and it closed with a loud bang, “Let’s just go back to the wagon and climb the wall,” Ford suggested.

“Agreed,” Mizu said, “I’ve been in too many sewers for any lifetime.” Ford chuckled, and they all climbed up to the rooftop and made their way back to the wagon to wait till nightfall.

***

As the sunset over the horizon, Max spoke over comms, “Ford, Mizu, Benet, you there?”

“Yeah, we’re here. Where are you?” Ford answered.

“We’re a couple of kilometers outside the town.”

“Okay…wait, I’m at least a kilometer in the city, so that’s outside my range.”

“I also got the skill comms and brought it to level five,” Farah answered, “I got it just in case we had to kill you and replace you.”

Ford nodded, “Well, as much as I’m hurt that you’re plotting my demise, I commend you for the forethought. Good job.”

“So, jokin’ aside, wha’s the plan?” Lilly asked.

“Alright, let’s see,” Ford said as she thought for a moment, “Kii, Farah, can you get onto the wall?”

“Of course,” Kii said pridefully.

“Good, when I tell you, get over it or on it and open the gates somehow.”

“What about the rest of us?” Morgan asked.

Ford looked west and watched the sunset, and the light slowly disappeared over the horizon. “Ask Farah about what to do. We got to move,” Ford said as she hopped down from the rooftop. Benet and Mizu followed closely as Ford climbed the wagon and climbed over the wall.

Landing on the nicely cut grass on the other side, Ford looked around to see if anybody was there. Ford spotted a small group of guards to the right making their rounds towards them. “Let’s take them out now!” Wrath said.

“No,” Ford whispered.

“What?” Benet asked over comms.

“Nothing,” Ford responded, shaking her head, “Let’s go.” Ford crouched low to the ground and quickly walked toward the mansion, looking for any guard on patrol toward them. As she did, she summoned her MKII and shifted it into a nineteen eleven with a silencer. Mizu watched with aww and summoned his sniper and did the same. Ford noticed this and asked, “When did you get to do that?”

“In the dungeon, Kii and I got weapon storage as a drop. It’s coming in handy.”

Ford looked at him and only just realized that he wasn’t strapped with a bunch of bows and a sword. “Huh. I hadn’t noticed,” she said after a moment of examining him.

“You should boost your perception.”

“I should. Next time I level, though,” Ford said, then stopped as she noticed a group of guards in front of the mansion; lights began to flicker on inside the building. The other two did the same, and Ford said, “Look for some way into the mansion.”

A second later, Mizu said, “Up top on the left.”

Ford looked and saw an open window on the side of the building with a little bit of light shining through. “Good catch,” she said, then headed to the left, avoiding the guards. Looking at the wall up to the window, small vines were growing up the wall. Ford dashed forward to the wall and cast essence enforcement using dark essence and five thousand stamina. Her hair turned pitch black, and a shadow slightly obscured her body. Benet and Mizu followed closely, and once they reached her, she de-summoned her weapon, knelt, and laced her fingers together, gesturing for them to climb up.

Mizu began climbing the wall with the vines quickly, and Benet shook his head, “It’ll be best if you two go in alone. I’ll make sure we have a way out.” Ford nodded and jumped halfway up the wall, leaving Benet on the ground. She then climbed alongside Mizu up to the window.

Mizu stuck his head over the windowsill and looked into the room. He immediately pulled back and said, “We should find a different window.”

“Why?” Ford asked as she, too, poked her head over the windowsill. The room they looked into was very pink. Small toys lay scattered along the ground, and a pink bed was along the wall closest to the window. A little girl in a pink dress played with her mother in the room; the child’s back was to the window, and the mother faced her, a beaming smile on her beautiful face. Ford shook her head at Mizu, “No, this is the room we should enter.”

“But-”

“But, nothing. We are going through this window,” Ford said. Then the mother turned her back to the window, “Stay here till we leave the room.” Ford climbed through the window and jumped silently to the door on the other side of the room, avoiding the toys on the ground. She then shifted her clothes and helmet to the usual three-piece suit and fedora, then disabled the essence enforcement, so she looked normal.

Ford held each end with her index finger and thumb. The mother turned around and took in a sharp breath. Ford quickly held a finger to her mouth and whispered, “Shhhhhhhh. We wouldn’t want to have any trouble now, would we?”

The little girl heard Ford and turned, asking, “Mama, who is that?”

The mother pulled her daughter close and said, “N-no body to worry about, sweety.”

Ford shrugged, “Well, not yet.”

A Knocking came from the door, and a man spoke politely, “Madam Evens, dinner has been prepared in the dining hall, and Sir Evens is waiting for you.”

Ford raised her eyebrows and gestured for her to answer calmly. Madam Evens managed to say, “Thank you, Walter. We’ll be right there.”

Ford waited till she heard Walter’s footsteps receded, then asked, “Was that your butler?”

“What do you want?!” the Madam snapped.

“I want my questions answered. Promptly!” Ford said, with malice in her voice. The Madam nodded quickly. “With words, please.”

“Y-yes, that’s our butler, Walter.”

“Why are all butlers named Walter?” Wrath asked unhelpfully.

Ford ignored her and asked her next question, “Madam Evens, what is your’s and Sir Evens’s first name? So I know what to call you.”

“My name is Amber Evens, and my husband is Christopher Evens.”

“My name is Abigail,” the little girl said from within her mother’s arms.

Before her mother could chastise her out of fear, Ford smiled and said, “You have a nice name, Abigail. Is your daddy the mayor?” Abigail nodded. “Well then, let’s go see him.”

Ford opened the door for Abigail and Amber. Amber picked up her daughter and looked to be on the brink of tears. As she walked by Ford, she grabbed Amber by the back of her neck, keeping a firm grasp around her neck. Ford could feel Amber trembling as she pushed her forward, leading Ford to the dining hall.

“Mizu, shadow us to the dining hall,” Ford said over comms.

“I don’t like this,” Mizu answered.

“Don’t like what?” Farah asked.

“Nothing for you to be concerned about yet. Mizu, shadow us.”

Amber led Ford down a sparsely lit hallway, then down a flight of stairs. As they walked down the stairs, she heard a man yelling, and Ford summoned her swords, daggers, and MKII, letting them float behind her, ready to fight. They entered the room with the yelling man and heard the conversation, “I don’t care what you have to do, find my son!!”

“Your son wouldn’t happen to be Jackson, now would it?” Ford asked.

Everyone jumped at the mention of the name. Ford took a moment to take in the room; there stood four guards, three servants, and an older Butler staring at her expressionless. Ford assumed he was Walter. The man Ford believed was Chris wore a black robe and stared at her with anger and hate in his green eyes.

“How did you know my son’s name?” Chris asked angrily.

“We met early this morning. He was alive when I sent him on his way. Must have been killed by some monster or something,” Ford answered unperturbed, then gestured to the head of the table, “Please sit. We have a lot to discuss.” Chris did as he was told, and Ford pulled out the two closest chairs for herself and Amber. They sat, and Ford blinked, noticing that the Butler had disappeared without a trace. “Where did-” Ford began to ask when a sharp pain shot through her neck, and her HP plummeted down to ten. She let go of Amber’s neck and played dead as she cast blood controller on the knife in the back of her neck.

“If you’ll excuse me, Sir, I will dispose of the lady Ford and begin a search party for her friends and your son.”

Ford used her blood control to pull the knife from her neck and launched it in the direction of the voice. She heard the satisfying squelch of the blade entering a body and then the thud of someone hitting the wall behind her. Ford’s neck healed, and she rolled it with a loud crack, then turned to see Walter pinned up against the wall with the dagger in his left shoulder, his expression as emotionless as ever.

Ford used Linchpin on him and read the description. Name: Walter; Class: killer; level: fifty. “A Butler who is also an assassin. Specifically, one that kills people quickly. I should have seen it sooner,” Ford said, then turned her attention to the mayor Chris, “Now, as I said, we have a lot to discuss.”

Chris gripped the arms of his chair hard enough that his knuckles turned white, “What do you want?”

“I need horses that can pull a large wagon, specifically six horses. I am, of course, willing to pay for them, but if you don’t want to negotiate,” Ford said, then sent one of her swords through the wall and Walter’s other shoulder; he still didn’t make a noise. Ford turned to him and said, “Walter, your lack of emotions is disturbing, and it would be very helpful if you could at least sound like you’re in pain.”

“Apologies, Mrs. Ford, but I would never give you the satisfaction,” Walter answered, as though there weren’t any blades through his shoulders at all.

Ford turned back to Chris and said, “You have a good Butler there. Anyways, are you willing to sell the horses?”

Chris stared daggers at Ford and said, “Fine. The price for six horses is one thousand gold or a hundred platinum.”

“Six hundred gold,” Ford countered.

“Seven-hundred fifty.”

Ford thought a moment, “Alright, I could do seven-fifty,” she said, then waved at one of the servants, “Would you be so kind as to bring a bag or chest for the gold?” The serving boy on the right nodded and made his way out of the room, returning with a large backpack a minute later. Ford held her hand over the bag and released a flood of seven-hundred fifty gold coins; by the time she stopped, the serving boy had to set the bag on the ground; it had become so heavy. She then placed her hand on the back of Amber’s neck and said, “Chris would you mind leading us to your stables so we could get the horses.”

Chris stood up angrily and gestured for her to follow him. She and Amber stood, leaving Abigail behind and the rest of the servants followed. As they walked out the dining hall doors, Mizu spoke over comms, “Okay, we got horses. Now what?”

“Farah, take the gates. Quickly, quietly, and no killing. I’d rather have as few deaths as possible,” Ford said.

“Problem with that,” Kii said, “The guards are way stronger than us, and we probably won’t be able to take it.”

Ford cursed to herself and said, “Alright, fall back outside the town. Mizu, Benet, and I will find another way out.”

“There is no other way out,” Lilly said, “Ye either go through the gates or not at all. So, unless the horses can fly, yer not gettin’ out.”

“Trust me, Lilly,” Ford said as Chris led them out the back door toward a secondary building that looked like stables. He opened the wide doors to the stable and flicked a switch just within, lighting up the stables.

Sixteen stalls, eight on each side, lined the stable’s walls. The horses within stood at a height of one-hundred eighty-two centimeters, much taller than Ford. They looked incredibly strong, built for pulling wagons. Ford used Linchpin on them, and three of the horses had highlighted shoulder or other joints. She also read the name of the horse breed; they were draught horses.

Ford pointed to six of the twelve horses, avoiding the injured ones, and said, “I’ll take these guys.” Chris nodded to the servants, and they began collecting the horses, two for each of them, then presented them to Ford. She nodded, de-summoned her swords, and spoke over comms, “Benet, Mizu, go back to the wagon. Meet me there.”

“Heard,” they answered quickly.

“Right this way, mayor, madam mayor,” Ford said smugly as she turned to make her way to the wagon, pushing Amber along.

“Why? We did what you asked, so let her go!” Chris said sternly.

Ford looked over her shoulder at Chris and said, “Yes, you did what I asked, didn’t you? But there’s just one thing. We need to get the horses saddled up and get out of town. Then and only then will I let you go.” Mayor Chris gritted his teeth and then stormed past Ford, “That a boy,” Ford murmured as she too followed.

They walked out of the inner wall, and Ford led them to the wagon where Benet and Mizu waited for them. Once they left the inner wall, Ford couldn’t help but notice the numerous eyes watching them. Guards, pedestrians, and people Ford assumed were adventurers, judging by their unique gear. She began tapping a finger on Amber’s jugular vein to try and calm herself.

The servents had attached the wagon to the six horses within twenty minutes. “Now that that is done, let’s-” Ford began, then stopped as Amber slowly became highlighted and an arrow pointed to the right. Ford’s grip tightened around her neck as she yanked her to the right, where she saw Walter charging at her with a dagger in hand. He saw her pull Amber between them, and he stopped dead in his tracks.

Walter straightened and said, “Mrs.Ford, I would ask you to keel over and die, but that wouldn’t be very polite. So, I would insist that you let the Madam go!”

Ford chuckled, “That is very polite of you, but I would have to insist that I can’t,” she responded mockingly. Then she blinked, and Walter disappeared again. Shooting pain raced up her arms as they were severed at the elbows, and Amber disappeared. She screamed in pain and stumbled backward.

“KILL THEM!!” Mayor Chris exclaimed as he ran behind a group of guards.

Ford regenerated the missing limbs and summoned Smite, swinging it with a thousand mana a second, swiping at a group of guards, destroying their weapons. Mizu began firing his gun at the charging group, the mana bullets tinking off the guard’s helmets, stunning them. Benet jumped onto the front of the wagon and took the reins, yelling, “LET’S GO!!”

Ford did as she was told and jumped onto the back of the wagon, activating her essence enforcement and switching to her six swords. She then used them to hold the waves of guards at bay while Benet got the wagon moving toward the gate. As they began moving, dozens of waves of magic spells shot at them; Ford reacted quickly and used her swords to block or deflect the attacks that targeted the wagon, but she wasn’t fast enough to protect herself from the spells.

Ford screamed and stumbled as she was burned, cut, stabbed, and shocked simultaneously. She looked at the blood she had lost, and that pooled around her feet and dripped off the end of the wagon. Then she spoke over comms, “Hey, I have a crazy idea. When we get out of town, I need everyone to get on the wagon quickly. Lilly, I need you to fire a supercharged fireball at the gates on my mark.”

“Sure, I can do tha’. Wha’ are ye goin’ to do?”

“Watch,” Ford said as she cast blood salvos. The blood pooling around her rose from the wagon floor and morphed into many different weapons, but it wasn’t enough. Her body began to sever itself, and she became covered in cuts and gashes. The pain was excruciating, but she had to push past it. Then she willed the weapons to attack everything in front of her.

Spears, swords, daggers, claymores, and arrows shot forward at their enemies. A domed shield formed around them as they continued to follow. Ford cursed as she looked behind her to see the gate getting closer and closer. Then she willed some of her weapons to strike the gate as she yelled over comms, “NOW!!”

As her weapons struck the gate, the gate also caught on fire, allowing her weapons to shred the thick wooden gates. Benet whipped the reins and charged the horses forward through the flaming gates. Once they made it through, the guards behind them stopped, allowing them to get away. Benet slowed the horses down, and Ford stopped the blood salvos, collapsing to the ground out of exhaustion.

“Ford, are you okay?!” Max exclaimed as she raced up behind the still moving wagon. Ford’s eyes felt heavy as she slowly began to lose consciousness; the last thing she saw was Max climbing onto the back of the wagon with everyone else and making sure that Ford still lived.