The heist, part 2: The execution

Thrust in and pull out. A simple set of motions, repeated again and again, was accompanied by both his and his companion’s moans. Travis wasn’t sure how long they kept at it. Minutes? Hours? In all honesty, he wasn’t sure how they could keep going for as long as they did. All he knew was that by the end, he was completely spent.

What started as a simple missionary quickly transitioned to Leaf riding him cowgirl style. Later, she blew him once more, and then he fingered her while they kissed. Minutes passed one by one as the feather mattress of her bed became wet with both of their juices.

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, the two of them lay down on the bed. Leaf straddled a leg over Travis’s, head by his shoulder as she cooed quietly for a moment, her finger tracing a circle on her chest.

“…thanks,” she said with a small smile on her red face. “You can’t imagine how much I needed that. And it was amazing.”

“Yeah, it was… something,” he replied, caressing her shoulder slightly.

“Say… why didn’t you do something sooner?”

“…hmm? What do you mean?”

“You know, when I said that we can have fun,” she shrugged lightly. “I kind of expected you to jump on me the next day or something, but… you know, nothing. I was kind of confused, to be honest.”

“Oh, that…” Travis said slowly, unsure how to respond. “I just… kind of didn’t want to disturb you. I didn’t know you were up for it.”

Leaf chuckled lightly. “Oh gods, you are just silly, Travis,” she formed a smile. “You wouldn’t believe how often I can get up for it. It’s kind of boring, to be on your own. Having a partner is always nice.”

“…”

“…That being said, what time is it?” Leaf looked toward her backpack. “…I’m too tired to check. I think we can sleep a little before the plan, right?”

“Yeah, I think so,” he confirmed, looking at a clock that RALS displayed once he asked for the time. It was showing a little past 15. They had plenty of time before they would proceed.

-About half an hour before midnight-

“Ready?” he asked her, seeing how she was sitting by the table, Bill and Jay on top of her hands as she looked at them standing idly.

“Mhm,” she hummed, turning to him. Although her sapphire eyes were focused, Travis could notice the uncertainty that emanated from them. “Still, don’t go overboard. You only have one life. Don’t risk it for some stupid earring,” it looked like she wanted to add something more but decided not to.

In response, Travis only nodded. In his head, the plan was simple, but he was aware of just how far off reality he could be. Just getting to Autir was supposed to be easy in the first place. The hardships were never predictable when it came to things like this. Still, he put on a small smirk, trying to reassure the woman before one of her crows flew onto his arm. And then, he closed the door.

Going through the streets of Autir, he did his best to look around, seeking out any eyes that could be looking at him. Passing by a few roads, he was constantly looking out for any guards that could be patrolling the streets. However, while the streets were illuminated by multiple lamps, it wasn’t at all difficult for him to stalk the darkness around. ‘My time as Rogue is paying off. Even without skills, my movements are still just how Teacher taught me.’ he smirked just a little bit as he finally approached the fence that separated Goldhilt’s residence from the rest of Autir. The metal construct itself was about 3 meters tall, but it didn’t have anything for him to hold onto.

“If it’s safe around, then let’s proceed,” he whispered to the crow on his back.

Without waiting a single moment, Leaf’s summon quickly flew up and around, scouting nearby terrain. After roughly a dozen or so seconds it returned, looking at him silently and jumping a few times on his shoulder.

Within a short while, a ball of shadows swirled up near him and transformed into the bear he and the elf woman had been riding on a few times by now. Its blue eyes were completely blank as it came closer to the fence, bending on it with its front paws, almost making it as high as the fence itself.

“Thanks,” Travis said, quickly getting hold of Berry’s fur and climbing up.

It didn’t even take five seconds to get over the fence. After he successfully did so, the bear disintegrated into nothingness. Phase one was finished.

Suddenly, Travis felt a little tingle at his eye level. He wasn’t able to describe it: it almost felt like his ear was itchy, but only for a moment. Like something was beaconing him in a direction. His eyes shot behind as he crouched deeply, looking into the deep dark of the streets he left behind.

But there was nothing… was there? Travis focused his eyes to the best of his capabilities for a few seconds. He couldn’t explain what it was, but he almost felt like there was a pair of eyes watching him from deep within the darkness. Was he seeing things now? He shook his head a little, dismissing the thought.

‘I’m really getting nervous.’ he thought, shaking off his momentary surprise. Not wasting a second more, he quickly started making his way toward the mansion.

Meanwhile, in the darkness of the street, an outline of a woman became visible as she took a few steps closer to the fence. She was wearing a black suit that on its own made it difficult to spot her in the deep of night, a cowl covering her head and hiding her face. Still, if one were to look long enough, one would be able to see her differently-colored eyes looking toward the mansion.

‘…How could he see through my <Camouflage>?’ Violet wondered for a long moment. It was true that <Camouflage> wasn’t as good as <Stealth> she possessed, but as long as she stood still, there was no way that man should’ve been able to notice her presence. ‘Did I accidentally emanate bloodlust out of surprise? I’m still lacking in my control.’ Violet sighed inwardly, making a quick sprint toward the fence.

Without skipping a beat, she placed a foot on the structure and shot upward. She got hold of the pointy tips of the fence and performed a quick flip forward, passing the obstacle silently.

-About 5 minutes later-

Travis made his way quickly to where Leaf had told him the secondary entrance was. It was nothing he wasn’t expecting: just a single, mundane door. It was nicely polished, but it had barely any lock on it. The man quickly got closer to it and waited, listening to any sounds that were coming from within. However, as he expected, there was nothing. Just who would be working at this time? Even if it were a mansion, there was no reason for the cook to stay up until midnight.

Travis quickly unsheathed his dagger and The Pacifist and took a careful, calculated step toward the door. Hugging the nearby wall, he slid the blades to the place where the lock was. Feeling resistance on the way, he took a moment to prod at the piece of metal.

‘Not very thick, seems to be just mundane steel. A picklock would’ve been useful here, but this much is nothing I can’t get past.’ He took a quick step back. Focusing his eyes, he located the thin crack that was between the door and its frame, and put two fingers exactly where he felt the lock before. ‘Triple <Mana Bolt>.’

His hand glistened with cyan light for a moment as three wisps of mana formed and shot into the lock, burning right through it with ease. Indeed, just some metal without any mana in it couldn’t withstand even a simple spell. Travis tried the door, and it opened without much of an issue. Breathing a sigh of relief, he opened it, looking inside. The corridor that was before him was empty, but also completely dark. Taking care to not trip, he entered, closing the door as quietly as he could.

‘For a landlord of a city, I’d imagine a bit more security on this part. Did they simply not care? Or were they not as rich as it would seem from the size of their plot...? Who cares. I’m not here for something like that either way.’ Travis almost sighed at the thought. He quickly made his way forth, trying to remember the layout as much as he could. The corridor led to a small room, seemingly a kitchen. He summoned a few <Mana Bolts> to his hand, illuminating his surroundings. Nothing out of the ordinary.

The kitchen was connected to another corridor, which led into a room with a large table. On the walls, there were a few paintings, the art invisible in the low light conditions he was moving about in. A fireplace in the wall was huge, incomparable to the one Crystal had back in Holia, a few tiny pieces of wood just barely shining with orange-red glimmer. Did the servants not care about the fire hazard this created?

‘The more I’m seeing, the less I believe this is a lord’s mansion. Forget the lock on the door, if anything happens to these fragments, the chain reaction will burn this place down…’ he thought, standing by the fireplace for a moment. There was something that stung him, in the depths of his heart. A tiny voice, telling him to put out the flames, to bury them with the scoop that surely was next to the fireplace…

...he wasn’t even sure when his hand reached out for the tool. Carefully and silently, he scooped the fragments of hot wood and put them on the pile of ashes before turning the pile around, burying them in the gray dust. After he did so, Travis breathed a sigh of relief. At the same time, he felt a tingle in his heart, echoes of the voice being happy about his decision.

[Rulebreaker smiles at your action.]

‘This again.’ Travis thought, resuming his mission. ‘Just who in the world is this Rulebreaker…? RALS, can you tell me anything?’ He asked although he knew it was futile. Even with the update of the System, there was no way--

[Rulebreaker is one of the Competition’s 3 referees. They are responsible for the reformation of the rules.]

‘…?!’ Travis felt his heart skip a beat. ‘WHAT?!’ How could it be? Before, Redion forbade him from accessing this information, so why… wait, more importantly… ‘There are 3 referees? I thought 13 gods took part in Competition and 2 were referees? Who of the gods isn’t taking part in the Competition, RALS?’

[The gods not partaking in Apostle Competition are God of Space, Regan, and God of Truth, Yberion.]

Travis squinted his eyes a little. He’s already reached the second floor of the mansion, quickly sneaking by the walls. There still seemed to be nobody awake. ‘…no. Let’s push this back for later. The quest comes first. I can ask RALS later.’

Before him, at opposite sides of the corridor, were 4 doors, each leading into its own room. ‘Taking a guess, one is for Eden and her husband. Assuming they have a child, another would be for them. Then… two extra rooms for changing? Hmm… no matter how I look at it, it’s a clear gamble. There’s no way to really know who sleeps where. I’ll have to hope that I get it right the first time…’ He thought with a bit of dismay as he took a careful step toward the nearest door.

Opening it quietly, Travis slid inside. It was clearly a bedroom, a truly large bed with a white canopy above it standing on one side of the room. A huge desk, wide enough to require 3 chairs by it, was littered with a large amount of small, glittering objects that kind of resembled spheres. ‘Did I hit a jackpot?’ Travis thought, making his way to the place. Indeed, what he was looking at was a lot of jewelry. Necklaces, rings, earrings, anything that was an accessory, indeed. Quickly sieving through with his eyes, Travis located a few earrings and picked them one by one… but then he noticed something.

'Why do none of those have a pair?' He frowned a little. There were at least 10, maybe 15 earrings, and none of them fit any other. Looking around the table surface, he noticed a small box, open and glimmering with dozens upon dozens of earrings. Those had their pairs.

His gaze ventured back down to the single ones.

…

…but how would he know which one to take?

The thought descended on him like a waterfall of icy water. So far, he’s thought of every step of getting in. He was prepared to deal with a servant or two if need be and had even mentally prepared an escape route on the way out if something went awry. However, what he didn’t consider once in his travels or planning was the act of selecting the earring. In the first place, he didn't expect there to be more without a pair than the one he was after.

‘…I could just take every piece I see, but then… I wouldn’t be different from just a thug. Tempting as it is, I'm not here to steal for money. I’m just here for my quest… think, think… wait?’

He grabbed an earring. ‘ Would it be around this big…? Damn, I can’t even remember. To think that of all things, it’s my memory that would hold me down… but why would anyone have so many unpaired earrings in the first place?!’ he frowned, placing the earring back. ‘…do I really have no option but to take several?’

…

…no, wait. Wasn’t there one thing he could do?

‘…RALS, open Skills, show <Possessor of Knowledge>’

[Possessor of Knowledge

A persistent passive. Grants you a very good memory and improved reading speed.]

‘…this may help me… but it may also do nothing.’ he frowned again. It was a gamble, once again. ‘What should I do?’ he looked at the crow that was sitting on his shoulder all this time. He still couldn’t, no matter how much he tried to, recognize whether this was Bill of Jay. How was Leaf able to do it remained a mystery to him. But that didn’t matter at the moment. He was looking at the bird in hopes of something, anything happening to help him with his decision. But… nothing happened. ‘…getting here a second time may be more difficult. Once they realize that someone broke in, they’ll tighten security at night… ah, screw it. RALS, spend one skill point on learning <Possessor of Knowledge>.’

[Processing… finished.]

The process was instantaneous.

After breaking a pot, the water would flow outside. Similarly, new things flew into Travis’s head. No, actually, were they new? He saw glimpses of different things. The earring that he held, its weight… the exact contents of Leaf’s backpacks… his old dagger that he once threw away… Kanya’s face, her golden eyes, sleek cheeks, and small earrings of fittingly golden color. Her half-razed, green tunic and gray pants barely held onto her as she was smiling through pain at him. And then... the burst of flames that consumed her, collapsing their house in the process…

Travis gasped, falling to one knee. He felt tears well up in his eyes as he reminded himself of the horrible pain he had felt back then. A misery that he hoped he’d never remind himself of again. Hot fluid dripped from his nose as he did his best to not sob out loud.

But it was hard. The pain was just as strong as it was that day. A feeling that tried to tear his heart into pieces as he did his best to not let it control him.

It took him a short while to get hold of himself. Slowly, his heartbeat slowed down. The trembling of his limbs abated, and his vision sharpened.

Quietly, Travis stood upright again. Looking around himself, he could only notice that whoever was sleeping in the bed hadn’t moved since he’d entered the room. This was good news; it meant that he could freely go about getting that earring.

He picked them again, one by one, slowly examining every single one. There were a few that had inscriptions on them, but their weight didn’t check. Some had the correct size but were made without any special ornaments.

-15 minutes later-

[Your Daily Quest has arrived!]

He received the notification in the middle of inspecting the second room. Immediately dismissing it, Travis could only try to bolster his movements. ‘This is definitely the room of Eden and her husband, this earring must be here…! YES!’ he thought with cheer, getting hold of a small earring in a box.

It seemed to be just the thing he was looking for. Bringing his hand a little higher, he inspected the carvings that were on its golden surface. It took a few seconds, but he compared them to the ones he remembered Cecilia had.

Travis smirked a little, closing his fist on it. He found it.

He looked around the room again. Outlines of two people under sheets were visible, seemingly Eden Goldhilt and her husband. Thankfully, it seemed that nothing changed since he’d entered. Quickly, he took his steps toward the door. After he took his steps to the corridor, he breathed a silent sigh of relief.

‘That part was a bit harder than I thought it’d be. Still, now that it’s over, getting out will be pretty simple.’ a thought flashed in his mind as he sneaked forth, backtracking his steps. As he went down the stairwell, he went through the room that connected to the kitchen through a small corridor.

The way out was just as simple as the way in; with improved memory, Travis now clearly remembered the layout and traced back his steps all the way to the exit.

-About 10 minutes later-

Travis reached the fence in the exact place where he entered. Peeling his eyes as much as he could, he scanned the road going right outside the plot near his position. He took care to ensure that he would really be unnoticed, and whispered to the crow on his shoulder, communicating to his companion to summon Berry.

As he quickly climbed on the bear and scaled the obstacle, a deep sigh escaped his mouth. Phase two was finished as well and without any complications on the way for once. He caressed the head of the crow for a moment.

“Thanks, Leaf. I’ll be there shortly,” he smiled lightly, feeling as if a weight was pulled off of his chest. Of course, the quest wasn’t yet finished, but the hardest part was already behind him. Now it was the road back.

It took him barely a few minutes to reach the inn where the two of them were staying. Finding their room, Travis placed a hand on the handle, opening them quickly.

“It’s done,” he said quietly, closing the door behind himself. “Thanks, I really wouldn’t have been able to do it without… you…” Travis stopped speaking as he turned around.

Leaf was not in the room. There was still a candle on the table, lighting up the room, but the elf woman was nowhere around. Looking at his shoulder, he noticed that the crow also disappeared. However, as he glanced over her bed, her backpack was still next to it.

‘She must’ve gone to the restroom.’ Travis nodded lightly. ‘I’ll wait for her here.’ he lay on his bed, fidgeting with the earring in his fingers. Although the light conditions weren’t the best, he now could see that the earring was exactly the same as his teacher had shown him two weeks ago.

-Meanwhile, near the Goldhilt’s plot-

Violet quickly rushed, seeing how the man finally disappeared from her sight. She wasn’t worried in the slightest about losing him; she knew exactly in which inn he resided with that woman.

She breathed a little sigh of relief. In all honesty, she was a little worried when she noticed how quickly that man rushed into the mansion and how seemingly careless he was in going between different spots of the building. It was like he already knew its layout. Of course, she realized it must’ve been that Necromancer’s work, even if Violet didn’t know how she did it.

‘He’s not a Rogue anymore, but his training definitely stuck with him. Miss Cecilia is definitely a good teacher.’ she reminded herself of how she trained under Cedric’s sister a few years in the back. Cecilia was a cold and strict person. She didn’t accept failure easily, and less than half of her students were able to hold on for long enough to finish their training. That’s just how much she pushed them.

But that didn’t matter anymore.

She knew well what was going to happen next: that man was going to finish his quest and quit studying under his teacher. ‘A shame, on one hand. He definitely has persistence, to stay as her student for almost half a year with barely any improvement.’

Violet scaled the fence once again easily, landing softly on the ground. She relaxed a little, taking her steps forth into the nearest road.

However…

At the very last second, she halted the movement of her foot, sensing something coming from the darkness. As she did so, an arrow pierced the ground, missing by a few centimeters. Had Violet decided to keep going, she’d have her foot pierced right through.

Her instinct took the better of her, and she quickly unsheathed two daggers from her waist, bringing them into a defensive position.

“Who are you?” she heard a voice from the darkness, as a figure holding a bow appeared.

…

‘…how is she here?!’ Violet thought, eyeing the elf woman. A hawk-eye stare was emanating from her sapphire eyes. Her hands held an arrow on the bowstring, and the weapon pointed to the ground for the moment. However, this was a false sense of hope; if she put her mind to it, she could aim a shot in an instant.

Then, Violet reminded herself of something. ‘That man had only one of the crows on him… Was the other one scouting around?’

“…” She didn’t answer, taking a slow step back.

However, Leaf was having none of it, as she quickly fired an arrow right next to her target, signaling a warning shot.

“Who. Are. You?” she repeated her question, this time, a bit of aggression seeping from her tone as she expertly loaded another projectile.

‘…I became careless.’ Violet berated herself momentarily. ‘I may not have a chance at resolving this peacefully.'

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