Ackster locked his gaze onto the windowsill's ledge located more than a stone's throw away and several stories above ground. If he failed and slipped, he would be lucky if he got away with a couple of broken legs. If he was really unlucky, it might even be his end.
Lu made sure his mask covered his face and that his hood covered his hair before taking a deep breath.
As he breathed out, Lu transformed into a streak of white light that flashed through the air like an arrow made of fireflies.
Right before the light collided with the window, he transformed back.
Lu's eyes bounced like trapped flies as he scanned the wall in front of him before he could even start falling. He reached out toward the windowsill as soon as he located it, and he slammed into the wall with a soft thud, almost losing his grip.
"Heuh~"
Lu heaved a sigh. He had cleared the first stage.
"Did you hear something?"
"Stop trying to get out of this. You need to train. And I know you're not too drunk, so don't use that as an excuse, either. Frankly, I'm disappointed you even tried to skip out on training by drinking like this. Young Master, if you don't want to lose all your privileges and your honor as a noble, you will have to be better."
"Urgh, can't someone else do all that stuff? I just want to relax."
"If you're going to be like that, maybe you should have considered being born as a sloth instead of a human."
"You're a lot more rude when we're alone, Baryt."
"Naturally. Your father would only take it that you're trying to get rid of an annoying attendant if you complained. And if rudeness gets your lazy ass moving, I'll be more than happy to utilize it."
"It's that more than happy part I don't like."
"That's rough. Maybe if you did your work, I wouldn't need to nag you like this."
"Urgh. Can't you do all this instead? I'll become the count, but can't I be a puppet while you do all the work?"
"Nonsense. Even if I were to go along with it, I wouldn't use a puppet who can't even defend himself. I would at least need someone who can play the part. Also, since your Blessing is that good, you'll only benefit by training your essence. It would be a waste."
"Isn't your Blessing good, too?"
"Meh. Anyway. Train. I'm going to go and do the same. If you want me to take care of everything, do the bare minimum, and I'll do the rest."
"Urgh, fine."
Lu felt and heard the door to the room open and slam shut.
Mencer's attendant was gone. And Mencer, after some grumbling, had gotten silent. He was most likely training his Blessing, whatever it was. He should be alone.
Lu raised himself up and peeked into the room.
It was a luxurious inn room. It was nothing Lu hadn't peeked at before. But Mencer, sitting on the bed with crossed legs and closed eyes, caught Lu's attention. He had a book in his lap and the box that Lu had seen the attendant carry inside next to him.
'Jackpot.'
He couldn't see the box's contents. But it and the book seemed valuable. Lu was also curious about why Mencer was using it. Wasn't he just training his Blessing? Did he need a book for that?
Lu lowered himself again and looked around. It was dark, and his clothes made him blend into the brick wall. But he couldn't spend the rest of the night hanging on the window sill, waiting for an opportunity when it looked like the moon was taking an early rest.
'Fuck it.'
A cleaner method would have been better, considering Lu didn't know Mencer's Blessing or the strength of his attendants and guards. But he didn't have a choice. It was now or never. When the moon set, he would be fucked, either way.
Lu heaved himself up and smashed an elbow into the window, breaking it.
In the same motion, he hauled himself over the window and into the room.
Mencer heard the sound. It wasn't exactly subtle. And his eyes flashed open as he got up on instinct. But before he could react or process the situation, Lu had already punched him in the center of his stomach, grabbed the book and the box, and jumped out of the window in one smooth motion.
"Urgh…!"
Mencer crumbled to the ground with the air knocked out of him. But he took a deep breath, got back up, and…
"THIEF!!"
Mencer's shout startled Lu, who was in mid-air. He almost failed to activate his Blessing as his ears rang.
'Shit.'
The ground raced toward Lu's face. At the last moment, still in the moon's gentle light, he managed to jump away.
He didn't get far, and his posture was all sorts of wonky. But the momentum from his fall was gone, and he didn't break any bones. It was something he had wanted to try out during better circumstances since he lost all the speed he had before jumping. But he was happy to know that it worked.
However, now was not the time to celebrate. For some reason, Mencer had a voice like an elephant, and now most of his guard would be chasing Lu.
'Shit.'
Lu ran like the wind until he got to the city gates, which were closed and guarded.
'How did they even get here that fast?'
Lu recognized the emblems on two of the guards as the same as the ones belonging to Count Lito. They were looking for him and not because they wanted to commemorate his great theft.
'Good thing I didn't waste it.'
Lu went to a secluded corner of the city, still close to the wall, and climbed up on a roof.
He could hear and see people running through the city with torches, shouting to each other and barking dogs. It was a full-blown witch hunt.
'Sheesh.'
Lu turned to the city wall again. He couldn't see over it.
'Shit.'
He would need to jump twice. He was already tired, and he wasn't even sure he could handle one jump that far.
'Welp.'
It wasn't like he had a choice. Lu had to leave the city tonight, and there wasn't much of the night left. His Blessing was good. But it was only as good as the moonlight. Without any moonlight to jump inside, Lu would be stuck. And the moon seemed pretty intent on saying goodnight as it gradually vanished beyond the horizon.