Harita chuckled mischievously as he walked along the hallway of the Marigold Inn second floor. There was a sly smile on his face.
Lieren had a dubious look on his face. He muttered quietly:
"Did… did you have to do that?"
Harita glanced at him with a barely-concealed glint in his eye, reveling in his self-claimed victory. His smile grew even wider as he inserted the key into the keyhole, twisting the knob of their room.
"Absolutely."
Despite the owner's humiliated retort, she still handed a different key to them. Harita grinned the entire time, his pettiness prevailing over all else. There was a strange silence the whole time, as if it was the only acceptable response to the whole situation.
Lieren sighed heavily, as if a great wright had been placed on his shoulders. For some reason, his back felt really sore and aching.
Was that not something only old people experience?
"Anyways…"
Harita's slaphappy voice threw him out of his trance. He glanced at his Aegis upturned.
"This seems to be it. Just like the lady said."
A plain wooden door with a four-leaf clover engraved in the middle lay rigidly standing in front of them. Harita inserted the key and twisted the knob, his eyes momentarily narrowing.
The lean man was astonished, letting out a gasp and whistling an impressed tune.
"This… isn't actually that bad, actually."
The room was fifteen meters wide, not very spacious by normal standards, but still comfortable enough to be considered a proper living space. There were two beds with white sheets. They were cleanly kept, carefully laid down, and properly maintained, just like a high-end hotel. Most of the time, the staff handling maintenance matters wouldn't even brother and just clean the bed and store the blankets someplace else and leave it for the guests to handle themselves. It was a nice piece of service, one Lieren had to wonder if that was because of his Aegis charisma or a natural affinity of the inn.
Who could really know?
Through the lone window facing the door, the last light of day was drawing near, slowly sinking.
Harita sat on the bed and bounced for a second.
'Couldn't be…'
Lieren's eyes opened wide.
"The sun is setting. I guess we'll sleep for now. We're both tired so it should do us some good."
Harita left with a word of advice, knowing full well that his voice would not be heard by anyone. Especially by the ten-year-old boy busily jumping on the bed with a beaming voice of utter glee and childish wonder.
The man fell to his back lazily and closed his eyes, letting out a ling, tired sigh that carried deep stress.
"Something tells me it's going to be a long, long knight."
◇◆◇◆◇
Deep into the night, when the moon of gnaw and construction cast its reflected light onto the world, bathing it with its omnipresent existence, four figures lay hidden, doused by shadows.
All of them wore deceiving masks, hiding both identity and their revealing characteristics, except for a the small slit that served as their eyes to the world, letting them partake in all its glory with all of their senses.
One spoke, his build the largest and most menacing:
"Do we really have to do this? I mean, not tgat I'm complaining. If you're troubled by money, we can just take on quest like normal. I can't come with you obviously, but I know somebody who maybe can."
The figure he was speaking to snapped her head and glared through the slit of her mask. Her voice was rigid and stiff, as if she had inhaled a great deal of smoke.
"Stop asking stupid questions and just get back to work, idiot. The boss wants this done by tomorrow or it will be our heads rolling."
"Yeah, that's right!"
Another figure, frail and thin, stepped out of the shadows and leaned close to the two of them with humor in his eyes. His gait was loose and unguarded.
"Keep your voice down. Are you trying to get us killed?
The second figure pulled the frail shadow and glared at him, earning a cocky look from the thin man.
Clicking her tongue, she pushed the man away, but not so much the he would make any loud noise sudden yelps. There was murder in her eyes as she asked:
"…What did you find? Did they match the description the boss gave us?"
Even through the deceiving mask, the second figure could see the smirk creep up his face.
"Exactly so, to the point where I wonder if he's seen them before."
Second frowned.
"That's impossible. Boss never meets anybody not worth his time. That or he just straight up kills them."
Third took a few sudden steps, his footing even and excited. There was anticipation in his voice.
"I know right? It's really odd. Very odd. Almost like… somebody…"
"…Told him about them," First finished the thought.
Third glared at the towering man, frustrated. He grinded his teeth.
"Yes, that's exactly right. Just as how "I" put it."
His voice was almost as high as his self-esteem. Almost.
Then, he fell uncharacteristically silent, glancing to the two with apparent anticipation.
Second sighed and slumped her shoulders exaggeratedly. She asked with a deadpan voice:
"What else did you find out? You so clearly have something else you want to say."
At that, Third's eyes squinted into narrow slits. They held deep avarice and treachery.
"The guy, that adult man, seems to have a small fortune on him from that pathetic noble's son. He sold something to him, apparently."
Second merely sighed and looked aside, peering into the darkness and gazing at the sole window of the room their target was staying in comfortably, not knowing the fate about to assail them.
She shrugged and looked around.
There was nobody around to be suspicious of.
…Except for Fourth.
"How much? Considering that idiot, I doubt it could be anything more than a few shells. His father couldn't have given me that much money."
Second had already lost interest once the topic of money came around, especially concerning the most pitiful noble in town. It was such a giveaway conversation that she did not even bother caring and merely moved on with her life… not expecting the next words at all.
"I heard it's one thousand five hundred shells."
"What?!"
Her eyes fully expanded in jolting surprise as she reacted to the vast amount with start.
First almost fainted.
Completely ignoring the scene they were just in, Second grabbed Third's clothing and pulled, hard, until he was practically face-to-face.
Her voice was a hushed whisper as she muttered lowly and clearly:
"Are… are you sure about that? Your information isn't fabricated is it? You know how much I hate traitors."
Third slowly nodded, his eyes bled genuine remarks for the first time in his life.
He pointed at the inn, to the room where the man stayed, sleeping throughout this all.
"Yes, I'm serious. It's all up there, just at the second floor of that simple, mundane inn. We need take it."
Second lingered for a moment, then made a decision. He glanced at First for confirmation, and he simply nodded, as if he expected this, which was not very different from the regular.
"Okay, we are doing this. All of us…"
However, before she could finish, a lean figure finally revealed itself, smiling grimly. His very presence seemed to cause a primal sort of fear from deep within those unfortunately present.
Second stammered.
"Who… who are you?"
The figure responded, grinning madly.
"Me? I'm just a simple servant, you could say."
His voice grated in the three's ears like rusty gears.
Fourth had come.