NOVEL NEXT 1-6 J1: An Unassuming Maid
Jacqueline
My name is currently Jacqueline. I have had this name for the past three years. Before that, I was Marguerite I do not know what name my mother had given me, as I never knew her. I am a shadow, in service to the crown. I do not exist. I was born with the rare class Slitter. The Slitter class gave me skills suited for subterfuge and eventually evolves into more advanced spy and assassin-oriented classes. As such, when a child is found who possesses this class or a similar one, the Order of Shadows is informed, and the child is collected. The parents are told that their child has no class, and the toddler is replaced with a Doppelganger Homunculus that is designed to die of fever after a few months.
In this manner, Shadows are raised to serve the crown in the Temple Academy. It is my great honor to serve the kingdom. My current assignment was to act as a maid for the sole surviving members of the former Duke Despita family. The third prince had intervened in the deposition of the house to protect his childhood friend, and my primary objective was to monitor the family for any treasonous actions, and silence them if deemed necessary.
That mission changed following a series of reports I sent back to the Master of Shadows. Normally it is unheard of for a mission objective of a field agent to be altered without a full debriefing, but Stahlia defies normality. I send monthly reports on the activities of my target family, I usually do not receive any replies. That pattern was broken when shortly after I started sending reports involving the actions of Stahlia.
Report, 30th day of the twelfth month, Year 935
There have been no notable changes in the behavior of the observation-elimination targets since the last report. Primary Target has conducted himself admirably in all respects, they care greatly for Secondary Target, and have even been straining their finances somewhat in order to procure Secondary Target’s expensive potions.
Secondary Target has remained bedridden for the past two months following complications. Secondary Target is worried that the condition of their unborn child is dire, and frequently requests Primary Target procure rarer and rarer healing tonics in an attempt to save the unborn child.
The local doctor has been visiting once a week for the past month to perform regular health checks. He assures Primary and Secondary Targets that there is nothing wrong. Primary Target believes him, but Secondary Target remains worried. Private observation of the doctor reveals that he does not believe the baby will be viable.
Secondary Target’s fears were allayed on the 13th day of the twelfth month when she gave successfully birth to a daughter. The child took an abnormal length of time before it started breathing but was successfully stimulated by the doctor. The baby was named “Stahlia” and I have given her the temporary designation of “Tertiary Target”.
Tertiary Target seems to be possessed of some illness. The infant does not cry or fuss. Their daily routine consists of thrashing about until exhausted before sleeping until roused for feeding. In the weeks since their birth, they have not once uttered any sound, save for the noises their limbs make as they impact her bedding.
Response, 30th day of the first month, Year 936
Report received and acknowledged. Recognition of Tertiary Target under that designation. Continue Observation with monthly reports.
This was the first time I had received a response to any of my reports, but I had expected this one. The brevity of the response was also as expected; I had been here for a year already, but this was the first time I had had to report on a new observation target. That was the only notable thing I had observed so far on my mission. In my personal opinion, the observation-elimination targets had no inclinations towards treason. Rather, they seemed to be outwardly and inwardly hateful towards the former head of the Duke Despita Family. Still, my personal feelings were irrelevant, if it was the will of the kingdom then I would put aside my own feelings and carry out the elimination portion of my mission without any hesitation.
Report, 30th day of the second month, Year 936
Primary Target and Secondary target both seem to be concerned over the health of Tertiary target. While Primary Target remains stoic when in the presence of Secondary Target, he privately expresses his distress; Primary Target has been spending more and more time away from the household. In order to maintain my cover, I have not been able to follow him as closely as I would like. However, I do not believe that he is doing anything untoward in his absences; by all accounts, he is simply afraid for his first child and wishes to not burden Secondary Target.
Secondary Target has refused to leave the side of Tertiary Target; this has further exacerbated my ability to observe the family, as maintaining my cover as a maid requires me to attend to a great deal more housework than I normally would be responsible for, without the assistance of Secondary Target
Tertiary Target has not broken their routine since the last report. They are seemingly in a constant state of distress, spending every moment apart from feeding and sleeping violently throwing about their limbs. However, they have yet not vocalized their distress in any way. I suspect that they may have an ailment of the mind preventing them from vocalizing.
I would like to request an additional operative be assigned to assist in the observation-elimination mission until such a time as Tertiary Target has calmed, and Secondary Target returns to their normal activity patterns. With things as they are, I am unable to provide adequate surveillance of Primary Target while still maintaining my cover.
I sent off the report and waited an hour before retiring to sleep. No response had been issued within the allotted window. On one hand, this meant that I could not expect additional assets for my assignment. On the other, it also indicated that the former Duke Despita family had become a lower priority for the Shadow Order. Considering my personal conclusions, this was likely a good thing; I had grown quite fond of this family during my mission and did not have any particular desire to eliminate them. The situation continued in this manner until midway through the third month of year 936.
Report, 30th day of the third month, Year 936
Primary and Secondary Targets have not demonstrated any major deviations to their routines since the beginning of this year. Primary Target remains distant from Tertiary Target; my conclusion is that he is still concerned for Tertiary Target’s life and does not want to allow himself to grow too attached. Secondary Target remains distressed and is constantly beside Tertiary Target.
I have attempted to offer to care for Tertiary Target in her stead but was vehemently rejected. I do not believe my true goals have been uncovered. It is more likely that Tertiary Target’s condition reminds Secondary Target of her younger sister who was seized by fever and died before their dedication.
As for Tertiary Target, I have noted a subtle change in their behavior. Following an encounter with the family Watch-Stawri Stil, Tertiary Target has developed a keen interest in their surroundings. I wrote this off at first as coincidence, however, I have continued to make incidental observations of Tertiary Target fixedly staring at various objects in and around their surroundings; far more often than would be considered normal for an infant. I have also overheard phonetic sounds mixed in with Tertiary Target’s verbalizations. Those observations aside, the physical state of Tertiary Target has not changed; their routine of extreme activity followed by exhaustion and long sleep continues.
Once again, I received no response to my report. I sighed as I retired to bed. Despite the opines of Lady Rosalie, I shared the opinions of the doctor, who was presently visiting once every other week or so to examine infant Stahlia. I had examined Stahlia myself once earlier this month when everyone was sleeping and had been unable to find any physical abnormalities with her. However, I was beginning to have my suspicions about the girl; I could not very well report on these suspicions due to lack of any conclusive proof, but when she would pause thrashing in order to inspect some object, I would almost see an adult-like look of intense concentration on her face. I had the feeling that somehow the nigh three-month-old infant was somehow comprehending her surroundings. With those frightful thoughts, I allowed myself to enter a state of half-sleep.
Report, 30th day of the sixth month, Year 936
As per the previous month’s report, Primary Target has had no apparent changes to their behavior patterns; he continues to tend lovingly to Secondary Target. It is my opinion that they are now convinced that Tertiary Target will pass away before their first year and are attempting to comfort Secondary Target in their own clumsy way.
Secondary Target has begun to struggle with severe mental exhaustion. Since my last report, they have further reduced their sleep from five to four hours on average. I fear that if Tertiary Target does not recover or expire soon it will lead to the death of Secondary Target. As an aside, now that Primary Target has begun spending more time caring for Secondary Target my observations have returned to their original level of coverage.
Towards the end of this month, Tertiary Target, despite being a mere six months of age, has developed the ability to crawl. While Primary Target considers this a good sign, it has for some reason caused Secondary Target’s worry to only increase. The first time it happened, Tertiary Target managed to escape the sight of Secondary Target in only a few moments. Tertiary Target was found a half-hour later trying to get up the stairs. This feat of navigation and evasion would only have been possible if Tertiary Target had some idea as to the layout of the home.
After sending off my report, like usual I waited one hour for a report. At around the fifty-minute mark, after I had determined I likely would not be receiving a reply, I had begun preparing myself to retire for the night. My Oracle Stone flashed green. Immediately returning to my small desk I tapped the stone to access the reply.
Response, 30th day of the sixth month, Year 936
Report Received and elevated to a higher authority. Enter standby state and await further instructions by the end of the week.
I read the message over twice more to memorize it then tapped the Oracle Stone three times to erase the message. This was the first time on any of my assignments I had ever been informed of one of my reports being elevated. Due to the number of Shadows deployed at any given time, monthly reports were typically handled by a team of retired Shadows; those who had grown either too old or been injured to the extent that they could no longer perform fieldwork. These semi-retired Shadows would each be responsible for a handful of field agents and handle their reports according to their own judgment.
If a report was deemed especially important, they would take it to one of the Deep Shadows, veteran Shadows who took their orders and gave reports directly from the Lord of Shadows. When not deployed on a field assignment of their own they would work administratively to assist the Lord in running the Order. The stand-by order was another first for me; it indicated that my mission was either going to be recalled or its operational procedures altered drastically. Wondering over what was about to happen, I allowed myself to enter my half-sleep.
As it turned out, I did not have long to wait. The next day I checked the Oracle Stone and saw that it had a faint red glow. This signified that I had missed a message and it had been recorded; the light would slowly fade until disappearing, at which point the message would be auto erased. The light was almost faded now, meaning that this message had been sent very early in the morning. They told me a week, but they sent an update after less than twenty-four hours… I hurriedly tapped the stone to have it display the message.
Notice, 1st day of the seventh month, Year 936
Reports concerning Tertiary Target have escalated over the previous months. The information provided indicated that Tertiary Target is displaying abnormal physical and mental development. “Jacqueline” is authorized to provide their own conjecture. Respond immediately upon confirming this message. Exception to Standard protocol is permitted under the authority of Deep Shadow Five.
I sucked in my breath. This was highly abnormal. Reports were kept monthly because repeated rapid use of Oracle Stones could be discovered by a mage specializing in detection magic. Furthermore, of the current Deep Shadows, “Five” was particularly high ranked. It was unknown to anyone other than the Lord of Shadows exactly how many agents had the position of Deep Shadow, but every Deep Shadow was given a number as a permanent designation. “Five” indicated that my reports had been sent to one of the single digits and that single-digit had opted to violate message protocols.
I had also been authorized to give my own conjectures on the situation. Normally, Shadows on a mission were not permitted to allow their own thoughts and feelings to intrude on their official reports. If a single digit wanted my own opinion, it meant one of my reports had contained something extremely significant. Thinking back over all the reports I had sent since Stahlia’s birth I tried to figure out what that was but could not think of anything. I resigned myself and put my hand on the Oracle Stone to compose my response. Knowing that “Five” was going to read what I said made my stomach twist.
Response, 1st day of the seventh month, Year 936
It is “Jacqueline”’s conjecture that Tertiary Target is extremely abnormal. Observing them, I get the sense that they are not merely thrashing about due to malady. Following the events of her developing the ability to crawl, it is my conjecture that Tertiary Target “knew” how to crawl and was attempting to build up the strength to do so… I cannot fathom how that would be possible, but I get the sense that she is aware of her surroundings and is seeking a way to interact with the world.
I sent my message and sat back. I was mentally going back over all my reports again, trying to determine what I had sent that triggered all of this when the Oracle Stone flashed green again. That was fast! I didn’t think that I would be getting a response until tomorrow morning… Don’t tell me I made a single-digit wait all day for me to see their message! I somewhat apprehensively received the message.
Response II, 1st day of the seventh month, Year 936
Notice: Observation-Elimination mission is hereby suspended. New mission for “Jacqueline” is as follows. Protection-Observation of Primary Target. Primary Target identity: Stahlia Rosalie-daughter. Mission duration: nine-and-one-half years. Secondary Target Fynn and Tertiary Target Rosalie are Protection Targets only; observation other than on incidental matters related to Primary Target is deemed unnecessary.
Continue with month-end reports. Mission handling and oversight will be handled by Deep Shadow Five.
I read the message three times to memorize it and then erased the message log. I sat back and stretched. Protection-Observation missions were exceedingly rare; Shadows usually only undertook them when a member of the royal family or someone equally as important to the kingdom was traveling incognito. Not to mention that the only person who can authorize this type of mission is the Lord of Shadows himself… what exactly did I report that lead to this?! I would not be getting any sleep tonight.
Report, 30th of the seventh month, Year 936
Primary Target has demonstrated the ability to communicate her desires in a clear manner. Despite lacking the ability to speak as of yet. Primary Target has developed a system wherein she will be carried to the desired location by Secondary Target R. Primary Target first announces her desire to be moved by screaming once. Upon being collected, she will point to the desired location. Once being set down; she will busy herself observing whatever catches her attention.
Secondary Target F. no longer seems to believe Primary Target is on the verge of death, but still calls upon the town doctor at the request of Secondary Target R., who has taken to confiding in Primary Target about all the worries she is experiencing due to Primary Target’s actions.
I had half expected to receive a response given the new nature of my mission but when none was forthcoming, I turned in for the night. Over the course of the next several months, Stahlia would only continue to betray my expectations. Whatever analyst had looked over my reports and predicted her behavior was skilled; indeed, I no longer held any illusions about her potential to benefit the kingdom.
Report, 30th of the eighth month, 936
Primary Target has begun speaking in broken sentences. Rather than one or two words, she has demonstrated the ability to speak out her full thoughts, albeit clumsily. This revelation caused the local doctor to be summoned once again; this time he brought with him a passing mage who was capable of casting chanted appraisal magic albeit only of the lowest grade. The magician cast it on Primary Target while she was sleeping, the results were as follows:
Strength E, Endurance D, Dexterity C, Intelligence B, Charisma D, Mana D.
It is my recommendation that the mage is eliminated, or mind-wiped to preserve potential leaks regarding Primary Target. I have determined that he is traveling West towards the imperial capital using main highways. According to his adventurer card, he is C ranked and goes by the name “Devlin”. I would estimate his threat level towards my mission to be low but given the importance of the Protection-Observation mission, I would prefer to avoid taking any risks.
Report, 30th of the ninth month, 936
Primary Target has made rapid progress in the development of speech; due to Tertiary Target R. making the effort to talk to her as much as possible on a myriad of topics. Primary Target is now capable of fully articulating speech and clearly conveying her thoughts despite being only nine months of age.
There was an incident towards the end of the month wherein Stahlia was being domestically trained; apparently, Primary Target had reached the conclusion that she was in fact a he. This misunderstanding was likely triggered by Secondary Target F. discussing his desire for a male heir. Following this revelation Primary Target has shut herself away in a state of depression. Primary Target’s current mental state is similar to that of a midlife crisis despite her young age.
Secondary Targets both seem to be concerned about Primary Target’s safety and seem to be taking precautions by leading the town to believe she is very sickly and thus cannot be brought out of the home. This is helped along with the doctor’s frequent visits to examine her.
Report, 30th of the eleventh month, 936
Primary Target was taken out of the house by Secondary Target R. earlier this month. Primary Target was instructed to act the part of an infant in order to hide her abnormality. I tailed them in secret as per my mission objective. During a stop at the local alchemist, Primary Target correctly identified the extremely rare potion “Concentrated Mana” as being mana restorative in nature, despite having never received any formal training in the field of alchemy. This caused the alchemist to discover Primary Target’s abnormal development, the stress of which fainted Secondary Target R.
Upon being questioned by the alchemist, Primary target first attempted to dodge around the question of how she knew about Mana Concentrate, but at the alchemist’s insistence she claimed that “Blue potions are for mana.” While she is technically correct, most restoratives commonly available are colorless. Despite reviewing all my previous observations, I cannot find an instance wherein Primary Target would have learned this fact.
Primary Target then requested the alchemist’s silence about her abnormality. When it looked like he was hesitating, I placed myself in his line of sight and, while keeping my head and face hidden, half drew my dagger, the sight of which caused him to agree to keep the secret. I would like authorization to eliminate him to prevent the spread of information, as I cannot do so under my own judgment, as Primary Target has direct contact with him.
Following this incident, Primary Target has been confined until her one-year ceremony. However, the purpose of the excursion appears to have been successful, rather than returning to her depressed state. Primary Target excitedly sought information about when her ceremony was.
After sending this message, I opened my storage trunk and removed the false bottom to access my Shadow Robe, and began preparing my weaponry; given the nature of Stahlia’s protection mission, I fully expected to be given my authorization. It was a shame; Sven had done much for the family with his potions, but I had to put my mission ahead of my feelings. Stahlia’s protection must be assured at all costs and Sven knew too much. As expected, I saw my Oracle Stone flash green. Accessing and reading the response, I frowned and started putting away my tools. This new order was going to be difficult.
Response, 30th of the eleventh month, 936
Request for elimination denied. The alchemist is hereby designated “Tertiary Target”, extending operation to cover him in addition to existing Protection-Observation orders. A second Shadow will be dispatched to take over Observation of Tertiary Target, expect their arrival in one week.
Additionally, Arrange for Primary Target to meet with Tertiary Target again, ideally in a setting where she will be exposed to the alchemy work; it is deemed likely that she may have an Alchemy Prodigy talent due to observations made thus far.
Prodigy talents were extremely rare. Theoretically, only one in a million people was born with them, but that could not be counted on as a ratio due to high infant mortality; prodigies that reached adulthood were closer to one in ten million, or even one in a hundred million. That would explain why Stahlia was made a Protection-Observation target... based on her abnormal growth it must have been determined that she possessed one of the Prodigy type talents, and her identifying the Mana Concentrate would lend credence to her being an Alchemy Prodigy. I started considering how I would arrange her meeting with the alchemist, her parents would certainly be against the idea following the events of the first meeting.
Report, 30th of the twelfth month, 936
Following the incident reported in the previous month, I have been unable to arrange a situation for Primary Target to meet Tertiary Target again; Secondary Targets are currently extremely wary of Tertiary Target and react negatively when he is brought up in casual conversation.
While waiting for her one-year ceremony, Primary Target has managed to bond with the family Watch-Stawri. She has been allowed close enough to pet its feathers on multiple occasions and has even been roughing them with her fingertips. Not only does the Stawri tolerate this behavior, despite the species normal reactions, it actively seeks out these interactions; since the first incident, the Stawri has added feather roughing into its daily routine. The Stawri now waits for Primary Target to rough its feathers and will not perform its patrols until she does so. When questioned about the situation, Primary Target informed me that “Stil just likes having his head scratched.”
Primary Target’s One Year ceremony proceeded largely without incident, though Primary Target was struck on the head by another infant. Following the attack, I was suddenly hit with a wave of bloodlust from the Primary Target, though it quickly abated after Secondary Target R. picked her up and started soothing her. The killing intent expressed by Primary Target was strong enough to cause the other infant’s mother to instinctively flee, though I believe I am the only one who actually noticed the source, Secondary Target R. later chided Primary Target for expressing hatred towards a mere infant when she herself should have known better. Amazingly, the reprimand caused the lingering bloodlust to almost instantly vanish. Whether or not Primary Target truly accepted the chiding, or simply understood her killing intent had been discovered and suppressed it, is unknown.
Report, 30th of the first month, 937
I have still been unable to arrange a meeting between Primary Target and Tertiary target; Secondary Target R. does not bring Primary Target with her when visiting Tertiary Target’s shop, though she does bring Primary Target with her on other errands at least once a week. When discussing Tertiary Target, Secondary Targets still react with hostility.
Through shadowing them on these trips, I have observed Primary Target asking simple questions about things she sees through the use of appropriately stilted speech. Primary Target expressed particular interest in the local smithy when she accompanied Secondary Target R. to collect a kitchen knife that had been reforged.
She also expressed interest in a general goods store and a bakery, though not to the same degree as the smithy. At the general goods store, she seemed particularly excited about a combustion fruit after asking what it was for and begged her mother to buy her one; Secondary Target R. of course refused, citing how dangerous they were. At the bakery Primary Target took great interest in watching the bread rising. Later, on the way home I overheard her comment that it was strange as they “weren’t using yeast”.
Report, 30th of the third month, 937
As stated in previous reports, I have been unable to arrange a meeting. Primary Target approached me on the 16th of the month and requested I procure her a portion of seasoned jerky, and that I “not tell her parents”. When questioned why she wanted it, she told me it was for the Watch-Stawri because “he does not know any tricks, so I want to teach him.” Intrigued, I agreed to provide her some jerky.
Primary Target spent the remainder of the month between excursions with her mother attempting to get the Watch-Stawri to perform a series of simple actions. When he did what she wanted, she would provide a piece of the seasoned jerky. Though the actions were simple enough, the fact that she has been able to get the creature to do anything at all with such a simple method is impressive in its own right. To provide one example, the Watch-Stawri, when told to “sit” will now adopt a sitting pose. It has also been taught to “Lay down” and “Rollover”. Now, she is attempting to teach it to “shake” which purportedly will involve it lifting its right front talon and shaking hands with however gave it the order. Secondary Target F. was at first upset when he found out what she was doing but became amused when she had the Stawri rollover and is now providing her with more jerky when she asks.
There have been reports coming in of a group of bandits setting up along the road out of town; while I would not normally report this, none of the militia scouts have returned from the investigation. I would request that the Shadow assigned to Observe Tertiary target be dispatched to investigate; I cannot leave my protection target for the required length of time.
I stood up and turned to head to bed. As I was undressing, I heard the bark of a Stawri from outside my window in the garden. Straightening up I strained my ears and moved towards my trunk. Opening the lid on oiled hinges, I carefully removed the false bottom. I could hear from the street, about ten of them, but they were too far away for me to make out what was being said. Reaching into my trunk I quickly grabbed my shadow cloak and slipped into it, then grabbing my short sword and dagger belt, I moved swiftly out the window and dropped into the garden.
Slipping through the shadows, I ascended the side of the house and perched on the roof. Below me, I could see the Watch-Stawri pacing back and forth by the gate. I could see over the wall from my vantage point and observed eleven men with a variety of armaments, all of whom were wearing a rag wrapped around their faces.
Presently, they were arguing about what to do about the Stawri. Apparently, they had believed that it spent the night inside. They could easily kill it as singular Stawri were only a rank E monster, but if they attacked it would make a very loud racket as it died easily waking up the residents of all the surrounding houses; that was why they were favored as guards. I backed up until I was behind the chimney and activated a skill.
Melting into the shadow the chimney cast in the moonlight, I stepped out on the other side of the street from the men in the shadow of a doorway. [Shadow Step] was a skill that allowed the user to step through one shadow and emerge out of another within line of sight. It was outclassed by the superior [Shadow Walk] which allowed you to physically enter the world of shadows and move freely for a few seconds, but for my purposes, it would suffice.
Reaching inside my cloak, I selected a Combustion Fruit and lightly tossed it up and towards the house. Upon impact with the wall, the skin of the fruit produced a spark. Combustion Fruit was a valuable tool for people who couldn’t use fire magic; it was technically the seed of a monster called the Flame Ent but they were easy enough to gather if you were careful. The fruits were filled with combustible gas, and the skin had streaks of metal in it; when throne a spark would ignite the gas causing a small explosion. For some reason, this fruit really intrigued Stahlia. Between her abnormal growth, palatable bloodlust, and interest in pyrotechnics I worry about her future… Good luck raising your daughter Lady Rosalie!
As the explosion went off it cast a bright flash of light on the other side of the wall creating a deep shadow. As the men were covered by the shadow I stabbed my sword into the wall behind me. My sword was imbued with the dark attribute and was able to enter one shadow and exit another, much like the Shadow Step skill. It was a very useful skill for assassination and surprise attacks.
My sword severed the throat of one of the men, the blood spray coated the faces of three more as he fell to the ground. I ran out of cover and into the midst of the men slashing as I went. Every swing I made slit open the carotid artery of another threat. Due to my [Clean Killing] skill that had come with my original Slitter class, anybody I killed in a surprise attack would not bleed but would still suffer the effects of any wounds they received. I wanted to take down as many of the men in this way before they discovered me; there would be less mess to clean up later.
I managed to drop five more men, leaving me with six of them left before they recovered. Of the six, two were still wiping blood from their eyes. Tch, I was slow. I easily should have been able to take down at least eight of them. One of the men, who I could presume was the leader hissed a command to the men in a low voice. “Fuck! Cover me!” He then jumped back and continued to walk backward away from me, opening his mouth and beginning to chant a magic incantation in an urgent whisper.
I had no idea what spell he was trying to cast; I could only consider myself lucky he had to chant and was not using a talent for it. Either way, magic was bad news. Well, all this means is I’m on a timer now, how exciting! I darted forward and gored one of the still blind men through the eye with my sword while drawing and throwing a dagger at one of the other men. He raised a crude shield to try and block the projectile, but it sliced straight through the shield and buried itself into his chest. He looked down in disbelief only to clutch at his chest in agony, his mouth wide open but no scream forthcoming. I gave a thin smile at his companions who were watching him in stunned horror.
My daggers carried sharpness enchantments that let them easily carve through lesser materials like butter. If he had not blocked it with a shield first it likely would have gone straight through him and hit the man behind as well. As the finishing touch, I had coated all my blades with Grave Oil, any flesh touched by the oil would immediately rot away. The man had been unable to scream in pain because I had hit him in the joining branch that connected his throat to his lungs. Four more peons and then the mage…
Suddenly ducking forward, I narrowly avoided the ax swung at me from my blind spot. I transitioned my dodge into a forward roll and sprang upright using the momentum to duck into the reach of another man, close enough that we could have been mistaken for lovers had we not been trying to kill each other, I twisted the dagger I had stabbed under his ribs and into his heart. This man must have been much braver than the others; even knowing he was dead he closed his arms around me to try and hold me in place.
He didn’t even manage to slow me down. I employed a talent, [Flexible V] to dislocate my shoulders and elbows then slipped right out of his embrace. The man who had previously attacked me from behind had made his way within striking distance again, rather than dodging, I whipped my right arm backward and decapitated him smoothly. The attack came from an angle he lacked the skill to block or evade since it was completely impossible; my wrist, elbow, and shoulder were still dislocated.
Suddenly, the air started to leave my lungs. The whole series of exchanges had taken less than three seconds since the mage had backed away, but it seems my timer had run out. “It’s a good thing he picked such an inefficient spell, or he might have actually killed me. I mean this spell could definitely kill me, but I could easily fight for a minute without air so it’s way too slow. I guess that means I win.” Looking at the mage, I could tell; he was the brains of this little operation. The mage had more or less correctly identified all of my abilities. He took care to stand in a well-open area and had conjured little light balls around himself to banish any nearby shadows. His only mistake was going with a slow but sure kill instead of a swift but risky one.
I tried to sigh to express my dissatisfaction with him but of course, my lungs were empty at the moment; so I just opened and closed my mouth like a fish. One of the two remaining minions found the sight amusing and let out a snicker. I glanced at him and used another skill. [Blink Blade] was a skill I had only recently acquired but it was devastatingly effective. Whatever I was looking at when I blinked, I would move instantly behind. It only looked instant; I was just propelled incredibly quickly. This meant that by holding a sword, I could slice while I moved. As I arrived behind him, I looked at the last minion. He turned to run from me so I threw my sword through the back of his head.
Looking at the mage I could see the light from his orbs reflecting off his sweat. Calmly, I walked over to the man I had hit with my thrown sword and retrieved it. I wanted his stomach to twist with anxiety and fear, so I inspected my blade and then briefly wiped it clean of gore before starting to approach the mage. The whole time I walked I kept a thin smile on my face; I wanted him unnerved as he died. Apparently, it worked as he broke and ran. The instant he moved I could breathe again as he broke concentration on the spell. More importantly, in his panic, he forgot about one of my abilities. By running out of his circle of light orbs he was suddenly casting shadows again.
I swung my sword down and activated its ability. The mage fell gurgling to the ground. Looking around at all the bodies, I sighed. I hate this part… I collected all the bodies and moved them into a pile in an alleyway so that if anybody happened by while I was working, I would remain unseen. Propping the leader’s corpse up, I drew a special knife from a hidden sheath and stabbed it through his ear into his brain. Slowly, the corpse opened its eyes.
“Were you attempting to kidnap Stahlia?” The corpse nodded. This dagger carried a limited use necromancy spell. I could only use it at night and could only reanimate the neck up. The corpse possessed no awareness but could access any memories stored in the brain. It might sound highly convenient, but not animating the chest region meant the corpse could only answer yes or no questions by nodding. Unfortunately, the leader was a mage, so I could not risk taking him alive, and there was no guarantee a mook would have known anything important. As for the worst part, one of the three gems in the knife’s hilt lost its glow. It had a very short duration, so I had to be quick.
“Was this all your men?” Nod.
“Were you lot the bandits who have been camping near town?” Nod.
“Did the person who gave you your orders hail from the Drakas Kingdom?” Shake.
“Were they from an adjacent kingdom?” Shake.
“Were they…” the last gem’s light faded, and the body fell limp. I swore to myself and stood up. Giving a stretch, I checked the position of the moon was casting the correct level of shadows on the alley I was in. I moved a little away from the corpses and began reciting a spell. It was a long incantation that took me nearly three minutes to say. As might be expected, it was much, much stronger than the breathless spell the mage had cast in three seconds earlier. As I finished the cast, the shadows around the piled corpses twisted and swelled up to cover the bodies before retreating. The bodies were, of course, gone.
I took a moment to lean on the wall to rest. After a brief respite, I went back into the street and began scattering a white powder over the blood splashes. Using another spell, this one much easier to cast, I was able to make a light orb that caused blood to glow brightly when illuminated by it. In this way, I would be able to avoid missing any blood. Within an hour, the blood would be dissolved into water and iron dust. Retreating into my room, I put away my tools and retrieved my Oracle Stone to make an emergency report.
Report, 30th of the fourth month, 937
Shortly after the incident with the bandits, Primary Target approached Secondary Targets and requested they give her a dagger that she could carry with her “In case any kidnappers come after me.” I nearly dropped the tray of tea I was carrying but managed to save face by saying I had tripped. Primary Target’s request was, predictably, refused but she seemed to have assumed it would be. Primary Target then asked if she could buy a dagger if she managed to get the money herself. While Secondary Target R. was completely against the idea, Secondary Target F. seemed to find his daughter’s determined and serious expression adorable so he laughingly assented. I believe he may have been a bit drunk, as anyone who knew Primary Target would have been able to figure out that she already had a plan to get the money.
I confronted Primary Target in her room and asked her what she was plotting. She informed me that she was going to make a new medicine to cure the sleep debuff. Bearing in mind my standing orders to get her exposed to alchemy, I agreed to assist her in gathering what supplies she needed and not tell her parents but extracted a promise that she would not work by herself, as some of the materials could be quite dangerous if handled improperly; namely, Combustion Fruit and Air Powder.
We completed her little project a few weeks later, and she demonstrated the effectiveness of the project by causing her mother to faint and then immediately reviving her. Secondary Target R. was understandably less than impressed, however, due to his military service, Secondary Target S. was notably impressed when she informed him that she had made the medicine using only “commonly available items and conducted all work under the supervision of Jacqueline.” When questioned I expressed assent to her story and suggested we sell the recipe to Tertiary Target. Secondary Targets reluctantly agreed. Tertiary Target was incredibly impressed when he was told the effectiveness of the medicine and purchased the recipe for 100,000 Draks and the promise that he would help Primary Target expand her alchemy ability.
To secure the assent of the Secondary Targets, I was forced to reveal the possibility of Primary Target having the [Alchemy Prodigy] skill, however Primary Target is now permitted to work at Tertiary Target’s shop one day a week as long as she was chaperoned, a duty I quickly volunteered for. Secondary Target R. was loathed to allow someone else to chaperone, but I gently reminded her how it would look if she began spending the whole day with Tertiary Target, and she reluctantly agreed.
The manufacturing method for “Smelling Salts” should be making its way to the capital through the Alchemist’s Guild. Regarding the 100,000 Draks, Primary Target acquired for herself a Steel Dagger using 7,000 of them and presented the remainder to her parents to “make up for the medical expenses I inadvertently caused when I was little.” As such, despite the sudden monetary influx to the target household, Secondary Target has not turned to embezzlement of government funds like his late elder brother had done.
