'The Young Master's safety is my top priority. I'm thankful to the Tourey family. I am loyal.
'Don't look at the food. Focus on your duties!'
Tapper started to repeat that in his mind.
But it was so difficult. The food smelled really good!
Many dishes were filled with delicacies Tapper has never seen.
They looked so much better than the meat buns that Tapper and Ink could only afford once in a while.
The meat buns were one of their rare enjoyments in life.
And now, right in front of him was piled high with food of much better quality than meat buns.
'The Young Master's safety is my top priority. I'm thankful to the Tourey family. I am loyal. Don't look at the food. Focus, damnit!'
Tapper mentally repeated once more.
He rapidly blinked his eyes and still scanned the area.
'Oh, there is a suspicious girl who left the friend group?
'Never mind, she's only getting some food. Damn, stop looking at her plate…'
'Oh? Another kid is behaving abnormally??
'... he just ate too much and had to take a dump. I didn't eat anything yet…. no, focus!'
It was hard not to look at the food. It was really hard not to look at the food. Since it really was everywhere.
Tapper kept fidgeting with his hands behind his back as if reminded of his old thief days.
Those rising thoughts that had been suppressed by Tapper's continuous self hypnosis were squashed but it led to Tapper fidgeting even more.
Thank goodness no one was watching him.
Contrary to Tapper's beliefs, all his actions had been noticed by the man seated at the head table.
Wayde could somewhat guess what was causing the fidgeting in Tapper.
He had a thoughtful look in his face. After seeing Tapper once again slap himself, he couldn't help a snort of laughter from escaping.
After a while, Tapper simply couldn't hold it in anymore. If he did not look away, he might scream.
He was incapable of focusing on scanning for dangers with such dangerously tempting plates of reachable yet unreachable mounds of food.
The heaping pile of deep fried chicken wings, large bowls of steaming creamy soup. Fish covered in gorgeous sauces. Various roast meats giving off an alluring scent. Stir fried vegetables and salads so fresh it glowed under the light….
And even that meticulously decorated birthday cake. Covered in smooth frosting and so fluffy that one could feast on it with their eyes.
Tapper's breathing rate had slowly risen and he desperately tugged his gaze away from all the food.
He suddenly realized that he was sweating and was out of breath. He had also realized that other than closing his eyes, he could only look upwards. Upwards and away from food.
'There is no food on the ceiling. Stop thinking about food!'
Tapper slapped himself again.
'Look at the ceiling's murals!
'The naked angels… the ferocious beasts… naked ladies and half dressed men—
Tapper stopped.
'My god,
'What an obscene painter' he thought.
'So much nudity! Sigh. At least the artist made sure to paint one fellow dressed.
'Black clothing..
'Mask...
'Sword…'
Then Tapper realized it.
'Sword?!'
There was a suspicious man on the ceiling!
He had warn the Master!
To be able to sneak in and observe without being caught at all meant that the man was very dangerous.
Wayde who had watched with amusement as the nearly drooling child from the AlleyWays turned his head away from the food. But he had also noticed the sudden change in Tapper's expression.
He too followed his gaze, and in shock, also noticed the observing man on the ceiling.
A dark frown covered his face.
'How did this fellow get in? Who is he? What does he want?'
Regardless, being able to sneak in means he wasn't an easy opponent.
The ceiling man felt the murderous gaze on him from Wayde and realized he was discovered.
It was an eventuality but he had never thought it would be so fast.
Maybe Wayde was stronger than the information had stated?
Quickly, the man scurried away out of sight.
At the same time, Wayde also disappeared, shocking the man that he was talking to a moment ago.
Various guards have also begun to move.
The guards that directly followed Wayde had disappeared as well. Tapper had recognized one of them as his knife teacher.
If it was not such a tense situation, Tapper would have been surprised but now it had been quickly replaced with worry.
If even six guards on the level of his knife teacher had to be mobilized, it goes to show the level of danger of the uninvited guest.
The evening continued with the majority of the guests oblivious to the hidden chase going throughout the mansion.
After it started to get late, all the guests started to one by one retreat into their rooms for the night.
However…
Bang!
A noise pierced through the jovial atmosphere in the celebration.
Now, the hall was completely silent and frozen. The music no longer played and the laughter and conversations had ceased.
Suddenly every light mansion had been extinguished.
In this dark environment, it was the perfect way for the mystery man to make his move!
Amongst the slowly spreading panic in the crowd, Tapper analysed the situation.
He remembered at one time, him and Ink had been caught pickpocketing by a police officer he never noticed that had been behind him.
Ink and himself had been forced into a random nearby building in order to escape pursuit.
To escape, Ink stuck a fish from a nearby tank into an energy socket and as a result, all the power within the building shut down.
The living energy core had disrupted the energy flow of the energy system that powers the New Era's daily life.
When they got out, Tapper asked Ink how she knew the power would go off like that. Her reply was.
"A while back, I tried to connect an energy system in our little den. However, I accidentally brushed against a stray energy thread.
"I got knocked out for a few hours.
"And the thread was only a little stray thread.
"When I woke up, the surrounding energy system appeared as if it got fried and wasn't usable anymore."
Tapper had flicked Ink's forehead before he pulled her into a hug.
"Silly you. You have to be careful!"
At the present, the power outage was too thorough.
So it meant wherever the intruder had combusted the energy system must have been close to the energy core.
Tapper also considered if the intruder had knowledge in System Engineering.
Normally unless a person comes into contact with unprotected energy strands hidden deep in walls and sockets, there was no way they could have known how to thoroughly disrupt the system.
'That bang from earlier must have been the disruption device! And the direction the intruder was towards the energy core maintenance room.
'Only in that area would a disruption be able to cause so many lights to go out simultaneously. Since that is where the energy was closest to the outside!'
A riot had started in the ballroom.
Guests weren't listening to the directions of the guards. Everyone was looking to rush out to reunite with their own guards.
Roman was feeling afraid as well.
He didn't know what to do and decided to follow the crowd as well. However a hand had reached out and stopped him.
"Who are you? Let go!"
Roman frantically shouted. He struggled. Roman couldn't see the person holding him very clearly.
"Young Master," Tapper said. "It's me."
Roman stopped struggling and squinted at Tapper's face.
Tapper continued in a serious tone. All of his usual easy going manner have all but disappeared.
"The outside is not safe.
"There might even be some cohorts that are waiting outside, on the uncovered field for your arrival so then they can kill you!"
The words of Tapper shook Roman out of his herd mentality.
At the same time, some screams had rang out as a few guests that had children suddenly exploded.
The guards rushed and set up a barrier and began to battle the assassins.
Roman looked horrified. He rapidly backed away from the direction of the screams.
This time, when Tapper yanked his arm, he didn't resist and just followed.
Tapper touched his pocket.
In it were a few coils of fish wire he had kept with him.
'If it comes to a fighting situation, I better take some other things with me'
Tapper used the fishing wire to hook a few meat knives as if he was back in the AlleyWays hooking wallets.
It was gentle and silent.
Even Roman didn't notice even though he was right behind him.
Tapper wanted to go to a place with no people.
Who knows who the assassin might impersonate?
For a period of time, both of them ran in complete silence.
Tapper wove in and out of passages, rooms, and hallways fluidly.
He dodged every area he deemed to have the presence of people. His time spent on making escape paths had finally came into use today.
To say Tapper wasn't a bit afraid would be lying. Especially since he was dragging along the Young Master.
However, life and death was the normality in the AlleyWays. Danger was in every moment and Tapper had long been used to it.
As he ran, he repeated his hypnosis words in his head. It would not be good if an attacker caused him to ditch Roman. Then even if he survived, Wayde will get rid of him.
Finally, they reached the destination that Tapper had been aiming for.
It was the emergency shelter prepared for disasters.
Within was food, water, and other necessities that could last up a few months. It could last up to years if used correctly. Not that they were going to stay there that long.
Tapper pushed the door close behind him and locked it and heard a sound.
Roman was crying.
"Wahhh… I'm scared.
"Sob. I want my father… sob."
It's understandable for Roman to cry. After all, he was a typical child thrown into a life threatening situation for the first time.
"Young Master, this shelter was specially constructed by the Master.
"He will be fine." Tapper comforted
"We are safe here as well.
"Why don't you look for some food that is stored here?
" I will keep a lookout for any sign that we could leave."
Tapper patted the young master on the shoulder. He took his sleeves and wiped the tears off of Roman's face.
He smiled gently.
"Fear not. I will protect you. Everything will be fine!"
Roman looked at the smile of his servant and felt reassured.
'The servant is right. My father is so strong. I will be fine.'
Roman soothed himself with those thoughts. Immediately, he felt much better.
Come to think of it… he never asked for his servant's name.
Inwardly, Tapper was thinking...
'Why is he crying so much? We aren't even being attacked! Wait. I mean. It's my duty to protect and serve the young master. I am loyal. I am loyal…'
Roman had calmed down after a bit and decided that it was safe in here. He took out a bottle of water and drank it.
Running had made him tired. He wasn't exactly in shape either.
Thankfully, Tapper had encouraged him to stop skipping his exercise classes as he had done during the days Fin was there.
Otherwise, he would have collapsed midway!
Tapper had done an inspection. He was satisfied. The shelter was truly well built.
'High class people even have such things. Sigh. If only something like this existed in the AlleyWays!'
Of course, Tapper was still wary.
His life experience told him that no place was truly ever safe.
Just look at today!
The only way an assassin could access the ceiling was …
A sound of footsteps interrupted Tapper's thought process. Roman had also turned tense. Both of them focused on the sound of the approaching person who looked awfully familiar.
The person stepped into the light under the two gazes of the children. One terrified, and the other wary.
"Young Master?
"Are you in there?"
A familiar voice rang out.
It was the head maid!
Excited, Roman yelled out. "Maple!!"
Tapper glanced over curiously.
'Maple must be the name of the head maid.
'Huh.
'Isn't this the first time I'm hearing of this? I know none of the names of the other servants besides the dead Fin.' Tapper thought
"Maple! What's going on? Where's Father?" Roman anxiously asked.
"Young Master, thank goodness. The Master has defeated the intruder. You can come out now!"
"Yay! Ha ha!" Roman joyously exclaimed. He wasn't even this happy this morning on his birthday. Roman unlocked the door and rushed out. Tapper followed behind him.
Tapper was relieved as well.
Finally, it could be considered that he had done his job. He observed the surroundings and noticed a particular scent coming from Maple.
It was a little familiar. Like slime and alcohol mixture.
Suddenly, a horrible thought occurred.
'Wait. How did the assassin know about that passage?'
Going through a precarious and narrow path made for the ceiling's mural painter back when the mansion was built was the only way to access the ceiling.
That path was also hidden really well.
None of the other servants knew.
Only he had discovered it when he was doing one of his scoutings!
The door to that area was constantly guarded too. Why was no guard placed there today?
Tapper suddenly realized something.
The familiar smell coming from Maple….
…. was the scent of the Southern district in the Market Area's AlleyWays!