"I don't know what you are talking about, Vick."
"You don't know? Neither I, but I can guess very well that you are doing something, Casper."
He raised one brow, in disbelief.
"So, you are accusing me without evidence?"
"I am accusing you on a reasonable basis, and I never said I haven't evidences.
Anyway, what kind of soldier would be stuck in a laboratory without doing anything, right? I doubt it would happen. That's why I kept an eye on you, White warrior."
Casper clenched his fists when he heard that nickname. He hated to be called like that, even more by the Princess.
"What did you discover? I bet that you don't have anything concrete to show."
"In this point you are right. I don't have anything much concrete to show to you now."
Casper laughed, then shrugged for her.
"So what's the matter? Why get so overly concerned with something you don't even understand completely, Vick?" He said sarcastically.
"Because I was thinking with myself here and… Isn't it strange that you are so against the researches of your behavior and origins? You spread misinformation and confuses researchers on purpose just to avoid the questions and their overall progress. You even sabotage the machines and run away from the check-ups and appointments. When I was sure of your suspicious rebel I wondered why would you do such a thing?"
The Princess gave a pause, looking to the statue and frowning.
"And we have two reasons for it: the first is because you have something on your past that you don't want us to know. The second is because you have to take advantage of the lack of information we have.
"Either way, the results are the same, Casper. If any of these are your reasons, you have something hidden that can possibly be a threat to my Castle and the folk that lives here. You know very well that you are an incomprehensible anomaly, and we don't know a thing about you; that said, it's no exaggeration to execute you if something strange happens."
Casper was concerned now. The Princess had many contacts and infinite possibilities and tricks to use against him.
With his limitations and the enormous gap of power and influence, it was nearly impossible for Casper to match with her.
Casper was running out of options there. He could only be relieved because she was still uncertain of what he was doing.
"I understand completely your decision. I will do my best to gain your entrustment."
"I know you will, but with what intentions? What do you want exactly Casper? Are you on the side of the Jarls or is there something else behind the curtains?"
Vick narrowed her eyes, staring at Casper's.
"I can't make you understand me right now, Vick, but one day you will know the reason for all of this," Casper replied, slowly.
"Can you stop with subjective responses?"
"No."
Now, who was clenching its fists was the Princess.
"Are you using the Teleporting pads at dawn?"
"No."
"Today I will set some troops patrolling each Teleporting pad near you. Is it okay?"
"I don't have anything to fear, Princess."
She nodded slightly with her head, then started to walk again, and did not say anything more during the trip back home.
Casper had lost that battle completely. He was aware of it. She could gather the information that Casper never thought she could.
The more time he fought against the Princess, the more frightening her power and influence seemed to become.
…
Despite the regrets, Casper could not be frightened. Because of it, when he arrived at his home, Casper started to get ready for the plan.
Vick had threatened him, and she made her movements to stop Casper.
Now, it was time for him to counterattack. He needed to make something to overcome the barriers that she imposed.
Casper had taken that responsibility to him. There were no excuses. Although he had put effort to hide his intentions through the month, he failed on it. However, his mistakes could not make him lose completely that battle.
If someone was to be dumbfounded and tricked in the end, it would be Vick, no matter how much power she had.
She discovered a bit of the truth, but the Princess had nothing concrete, just some guesses, and clues that could not lead to a definitive conclusion yet.
Anyway, Casper realized that, if he did not make a move that night, it was the same as being labeled as the prime suspect.
Vick had access to the registers of the Teleporting pads or something like that. Either way, she could know that someone was using them in strange times and to strange places.
Casper had used the Teleporting pads every other day, in a regular pattern. If he stopped exactly on that day, she would realize it.
Now, the White Warrior had no other choice, instead of face the challenges that she planted outside for him.
Casper had bought black clothes, gloves,
and a mask that covered all his face. He wore all of that in a matter of seconds.
He picked up a backpack filled with all sorts of stuff he would need to accomplish his plan.
In his waist was a baton involved in a metallic paper, that he could find in a market. He was not willing to kill anyone, so he choose to pick non-lethal weapons. Without any other options, a baton seemed the easiest to take. It was not like he could find a tazer lost on the ground.
The fact that the baton had a metallic aspect would surely show its reason later.
Casper checked the backpack once more. Inside it was a green lab coat and a fake credential. There was an exoskeleton he borrowed from the Main Lab, a mask identical to the ones that the Jarls used, some tools, a green card, and explosives.
Those things would be essential for every part of his plan and he needed to make sure to not forget them.
Casper had only one chance. Now, he would have an extra issue on the way to the laboratory. If something went wrong, it was unlikely that he could do the same thing two times.
He walked to the window of his apartment, tying the rope on the sofa leg. Then, he threw the rope, which was about the same height as his apartment were in that building.
Before using it to go down there, Casper sighed hard.
"Why do I need to put myself into such dangerous situations?" He thought, tired.
Then, what the Princess had said popped into his mind.
"What kind of soldier would be stuck at a Laboratory without doing nothing, right?"
At that point, he needed to agree with Vick. Nobody so active as Casper would do such a thing. Particularly when a lot of mysteries were still to be solved.
"Let's get going!" Casper hung on the rope, crossing his legs around it and gripping tightly with his hands.
Little by little, he let his hands slip through the rope, and then he started to go down in a good rhythm until the ground.
Once he got there, he started to pull the rope with all his might, using all the weight of his body and arm's strength.
Soon enough, a crack sound could be heard and the other end of the rope was sent flying through the window with the sofa's leg still attached to it.
Casper could not afford himself to do even the slightest mistake. He needed to be careful with every single thing.
If he let the rope there, and someone was to walk inside his apartment or around the building, they would see the rope and Casper would be easily incriminated.
He kept the rope inside the backpack quickly and then started to, slowly, go check the front of the building.
As he thought, Ridire were guarding the entrance and surroundings of the building.
Casper needed to be careful to not be spotted by them.
He looked around but had no clue of what to do to overcome that. The place he was sent to live was like a small village composed of buildings. There were not so many constructions to hide, nor alleys.
"I think I will need to do it with the old-fashioned style… But I am not sure if I should." He was puzzled. He had just started everything but had already bumped into such a troublesome obstacle, needing to choose between two unreliable options.
"One way or another, I will need to do this. I will go with the most peaceful one first, but if it didn't work, I will need to make some fuss."
Casper continued to sneak far away from his building. If he was to be spotted, he did not want that this situation happened while he was near there.
Although it was a Village, plenty of people were living there, and no one could blame Casper entirely if a guy was to be spotted in the surroundings.
He started to walk carefully on the streets, sneaking into covers every time he could and always being attentive to his surroundings.
"If sneak until the Teleporting pad doesn't work I will need to run for it."
Casper was almost there. If he could pass more than 50 meters he would be able to reach the Teleporting pad.
However, of course, it would not be so easy.
Near that Teleporting pad, the security was doubled.
Besides, there were two guards ready right in front of the Teleporting pad.
"The Princess doesn't underestimate me. Not even the slightest. She must think that whatever I am intending to do now is something huge…" Casper really tried hard to maintain an average appearance to the people he interacted with.
But at some point, he got carried away and let the Princess know that he was no ordinary guy.
Because of it, now he was paying for every mistake he had done through all that month.
But he was not so concerned at all. No plan will go exactly according to how they are meant to go. It was a must for a strategist to know how to overcome the variables.
Casper positioned himself a bit further, trying to close even millimeters from the Teleporting pad.
Suddenly, he started to run at full speed towards the local.
The Ridire did not get surprised by that. Their senses were sharp and they knew how to keep up with their cool.
Casper avoided being buttered by the weapon that a Ridire was wielding.
"Great! If they aren't shooting then they have orders to not kill!"
Once he realized that, Casper ran even faster, avoiding the blows that the Ridire were aiming at him.
After two weeks without doing any exercise, and then more than two without doing anything except walking a bit, Casper was not in his best shape, but he could do more than a normal person would, at least.
The two guards keeping the Teleporting pad raised their batons, in a motion that let no doubt that those two would attack horizontally.
Casper jumped forth and somersaulted on the ground, passing through the guards while avoiding their attack.
He stepped in the Teleporting pad and then said the coordinates he knew very well at that point…
But nothing happened.