After I left Diana, I turned myself into the appearance of the mistress of this house and slowly progressed my way towards the basement where I could find the three rooms that I've planned to visit.
On the way, I couldn't help but recall my earlier conversation with Diana.
'Can I also be strong like you?'
It really caught me off guard.
In reality I don't believe that I am strong. May it be physically or mentally.
Although you can say my doll body is already cheating, I don't believe I can still consider myself strong.
A strong person is that of an individual who faces their challenge with courage and willpower. An individual who charges ahead against their fears and anxiety.
A person who doesn't lose hope and has the courage to move on even in their difficult times.
Someone like Diana.
For a decade, she endured this abusive environment. Yet, she still held onto hope even if she was on the verge of being broken.
She has the courage to come with me even against the nervousness and anxiety that she has while we are escaping.
If I was her in this type of situation, maybe I would have lost my emotion and willpower under 5 years under this abusive environment.
I can not see-….No, I could not want to find myself being her in this situation.
This is too harsh.... but she managed to still stand for her own.
She is different from me...She doesn't need to be me.
She is much stronger than me….. I hope she realizes that.
—------------------------------------
After navigating and following the map on my head. I finally reached the entrance to the basement.
And rather than a door, it's more like a tunnel with a stair leading down.
I followed it and when I finally reached the bottom, a long eerie hallway with dim bulb lights illuminating the path.
Lights?
This is kind of bad, isn't it?
If there are lights, then sneaking will be difficult.
Although I am currently disguised as the mistress, my movement will be more restricted.
I sighed and continued following the path.
Based on the map, the hallways have turns so it's not really a straight path.
And if I turned on this corner. The first room that I will see is the storeroom for the food.
I peeked on the corner trying to see if there were people but fortunately, there was none.
Without any hesitation I quickly entered the storeroom and locked the door behind me.
Wait where is the light?
I reached out towards the wall beside the door trying to find the switch.
And I found it.
I opened it and the room suddenly brightened up revealing the rich number of vegetables, flour, spices, rice grains and a few large pieces of meat hanging on a thread.
… … .. Heh
Isn't this nice?
The more ingredients I have, the more variety of food I can give Diana. And with this amount of food. Maybe me and Diana can last a few months.
This is a good start.
I then chanted
'Storage'
And just as I said that A space in the air suddenly warped before a black hole appeared in front of me.
Let's see….
I grabbed one potato and dropped it in the hole. And when I let go of it, the hole pulled the potato in.
Seeing the hole absorb it, I then looked on top of it and below it.
Uuuuuu…Impressive.
It really is mysterious.
Now then. let's try getting it out.
I then tried putting my hand inside the black space. But oddly enough, I couldn't feel anything.
Hmmmm…
....
Do I just need to imagine the item inside my bag?
Let's try it out….I hope it will be that simple.
I then imagine the potato that I just put inside.
I then felt a strange feeling on my hand as if there was an energy gathering on my palm.
When I pulled my hand out, I was holding a potato.
.....
Wow.
This is really amazing.
Wait no…
Enough of that. I am getting distracted.
I shook my head and returned my gaze towards the food in front of me.
Let's get to business.
It didn't take a while before the whole room became empty. The shelves became empty. The table became free, the hook where the chunks of meat should be is now gone. The floor and corner where sacks of rice and flour became clean.
I completely stored them all inside my magic storage.
I didn't leave any food for this mansion to cook. Not a single one.
Don't blame me for being greedy, I don't really care if the people in this mansion starve to death.
They starve Diana and didn't feed her any proper food. So, what if they starve. That's not my problem.
… … …
After I am done with this room, I then head to the next room which is the armory.
On the way, I heard footsteps echoing in the hallway.
And in the far ahead corner in front of me, two men appeared and turned, making them see me.
"Mistress?"
They quickly stood on the side and clenched their right hand on their chest as if they were showing a salute.
Luckily since I am wearing my disguise. Those people don't seem to suspect me.
I mean why would you suspect the person who is the wife of the person you are working for.
I stared at them for a while thinking of what I should do with them.
Should I kill them?
No…. There are no doors here, I can't hide their bodies.
I don't want to drag their bodies too while I walk.
Too bothersome.
Maybe I should let them be.
But anyways, what should I say?
Do I need to say something?
I then tried thinking of some lines to say.
When a leader is saluted by their follower they salute back. But it will be weird if I salute back.
I mean, it's too weird to salute back in this situation.
Should I just walk past them and ignore them?
Hmmmm that's one option.
I can also say 'continue what you are doing, don't mind me.'
That sounds natural right?
Yeah, let's do that.
I then started walking and didn't look at them.
Once I was finally in front of them, I opened my mouth.
"Don't mind me, go back to your work."
"Ehhh? Y-yes, understood. "
After I finally walked past them, they continued walking in the opposite direction.
… …
Phew.
… … … .
After that encounter. I finally reached the armory.
And what greeted me was a vast large space full of weapons and armory.
Compared to the previous room, this is like 5x wider- no I think 10x wider from that.
Wow… .
I couldn't help but be impressed by the large number of weapons.
There are different kinds of weapons. Ranging from swords, bows, spears, halberds, shields, knives, maces and many more.
There is also leather armor, chain mail, helmets, metal gloves and plates and other types of body armor.
And on the corners, there are also barrels with a label 'gunpowder' on them.
… …
This is… .. Cool.
It's not everyday you could see medieval weapons like this up close.
Seeing them in person rather than from games is really amazing.
But anyways… .
I then walk towards the shelf that is holding the polearms, spear and halberds.
I grabbed the halberd and held it with both arms.
…
I don't know why… but I feel kind of happy.
Out of all the weapons that I really like when it comes to the medieval genre. I really prefer the halberd the most.
First is of course their design. The mix of the axe and then the sharp tip and also the side blade like teeth on the other side is really nice.
And second is how practical they are in combat.
You can use the axe for slashing down the enemy, the pointy tip for stabbing them, and then the side teeth like blade for pulling the shield of the enemies or also pull them down from their horses.
All of that in which you can do while staying a safe distance away from the enemy.
But of course, there is also a big downside when it comes to halberds and also spears. You are very vulnerable if your enemy gets too close to you.
If a person holding a sword or a dagger gets past the blade and tip of the spear. They can just slash you and stab you because you are wide open.
Also, there are those anime characters wielding halberds and doing some freestyle moves where they use the pole of the weapon to jump and turn and then kick opponents around them. So yeah.
… …
But again, for me. It's a very nice weapon.
I really like it.
I then put the halberd inside my storage and looked towards the other weapons around me.
Let's take them all.
… … …
It didn't take long before the room became completely empty.
And thinking how many weapons I have in my arsenal now makes me feel a bit powerful.
This will not only benefit me but also Diana. Imagine if she is able to use all the weapons here and gain mastery over them.
That would be great.
I then smiled after imagining a Diana who is able to defend herself with some weapons.
Well then, since I am done with this room. I should go to the other storeroom. The one filled with random junk.
I don't know what I might find there but I hope there should be a ladder there.
I then left the armory and hurriedly made my way to the other storeroom.
… …
I finally reached the room and what appeared before me was a place full of random stuff.
There are bed sheets, clothes and other fabrics, pillows, blankets, papers, and other stuff.
But what is most important is the ladder. Which is in here.
But there is a problem….
I don't think that ladder is going to reach the top of the wall.
Absolutely no way, not with that length.
… …
… … oh no.
Shit.
I inwardly cursed myself knowing that this will be a major problem for both me and Diana.
Why didn't I consider something too common like this?
Of course, not all ladders are long, there are ladders used for small rooms.
Urghhh…..
Darn it… I think I messed up big time.
This is not good, definitely not good.
What the hell am I going to do?
I didn't expect this to happen.
I need to think…
What can I do? What should I do now?
...
…..
Shit…
I could feel the anxiety building up inside me.
With this ladder, we won't be able to reach the top. And not reaching it means we need to find another way.
But where should we go?
I don't recall any other path except that ... .Although there is the main gate, I doubt if we can sneak pass by that heavily guarded place.
No…It's impossible.
… …
… …
There are no ideas coming inside my head.
Urghhhh.
I need to think about this but now is not the time.
Calm down… ..
I need to calm down.
I will mess up more if I am panicking so much.
…
I then closed my eyes and breathed in before softly exhaling.
…
fuuuuuuu….haaaaaaaaa….
There.
I can think about it later once I return back to Diana.
For now, let's focus on our main task.
Just like what I did with the previous rooms, I will empty this room and move on to the last room which is the treasury room.
—------------
I finally reached the treasury and there were two armed guards talking in front of the door.
They each wore a sword on their waist and also wore armor plates on their chest, ankle, and arms.
So…. What should I do now?
Since I will be entering that room behind them. Leaving them alive will be problematic.
If they peek inside while I am clearing the room, they will be alarmed. Come to think of it. They might also hear the noise that I will be making when I am moving the money or treasure that I can see there.
They will also find it suspicious if I told them to not peek or if I tell them to go away,
...
…
That's it.
Seems like they will need to die.
I then walked towards them and when they both saw me, they widened their eyes and suddenly stood at attention before greeting me.
"Mistress?"
"Milady? Do you need something here?"
...
I continued walking and stopped when I was finally an arms distance away from them.
...
The both of them kept silent and didn't speak. They stared at me waiting for my next words.
…
"I need to get in."
"As you wish…here is the key,"
The man on the left put his hand on his back trying to get the keys. And seeing that, it showed me an opening to strike.
Now.
I then quickly turned my right hand into a blade and targeted the neck of the man on the left and slashed it without any hesitation.
"Guuuuggghhhhhh!"
Blood spilled from the neck of the man, he turned his head towards me with expression of confusion and despair before he finally fell on his knees.
The man on the right opened his eyes so widely as his partner got killed so suddenly, He didn't believe what he just saw.
"!!!?"
And before he made his next move. I use the momentum of the arm that I have stretched before pulling back again and swinging it to slice the head of the man on the right.
....
The blade effortlessly sliced the head of the man into two.
And just like the other, he fell on his knees.
....
Now then. The keys.
I bent down and grabbed the key that the man who I first killed was holding.
I used it and opened the door which revealed the glow of gold reflected by the light from the door where I am standing.
…
Woooo.... nice.
I was amazed seeing the reflection of the gold in front of me. And after admiring it, I quickly went back to my task and tried feeling the switch on the side of the door.
Once I felt it. I switched the light on which revealed the other treasures scattered around the room.
There are sacks of gold, treasures, jewelries like pendants and necklaces and more.
This room is full of riches.
And to think I will be the owner of this collection. It makes me happy.
This will greatly be helpful for me and Diana in the long run.
Hehe
… This fleeting feeling. I wonder how pirates feel when they uncover treasures from treasure maps.
It doesn't feel bad for some reason.
Now then .... Let's steal them all - Wait.
Once I was about to step inside. I then remembered something.
The two bodies that I killed. I need to pull them inside. It would be suspicious if someone saw it.
I then turned around and grabbed the legs of the two dead bodies. I then pulled them and brought them inside the treasury room with me.
Once inside. I threw them in a corner and locked the door behind me.
I shifted my focus back on the treasures and grinned.
...
Sorry not sorry…don't blame me if this mansion became bankrupt. It's all the people's fault here in the first place.
And with that,I then began doing my work.
...
…
—-----------------------------------------------------
And just like that, after a long while has passed by. The room that was once filled with riches is now an empty storeroom.
I stood there in satisfaction and turned around.
Now that I am finished, it's time to go back to Diana.
I hope I didn't make her wait for too long. Hmmm, I wonder if she will jump into my embrace again when I return.
I recalled her face and warmth when she jumped and hugged me earlier. And honestly, it doesn't feel bad at all.
I want to go back….
I then left the room and began walking my way back to Diana.
There are many things to think about especially since a major flaw appeared in my plans. The ladder was an important factor. But now, I need to create a new plan.
I need to go back to Diana first and I will take it from there.
...…
While I am walking the long and silent hallway. I then heard multiple footsteps from faint sounds to getting fast and louder.
There are also voices yelling and shouting.
...
"Search every room!! Find the intruder !!"
Oh no.
Am I…Caught?