Chapter 907: Act 83 – Infiltration Under the Night III
The two continued their bickering as they walked up the staircase to the second floor. However, their voices were as small and delicate as their stature, and no one noticed them. The second floor was still a long corridor, lined with several guest rooms on either side. The doors were tightly closed, and it was pitch black, making it impossible to discern whether those people from before were inside. But it was likely they were, as the two tiptoed past several doors and could faintly hear conversations coming from behind them.
Logically, they should have hurried past such a dangerous place, but the Sprite listened intently to the voices coming from each room. In the first room, she overheard the heavy man’s voice and that of a young man named Afai discussing their previous plans. Unable to understand a single word, she left that door disappointed and moved on to the next. Xainne perched on her shoulder, offering no obstruction, but instead curiously asked, “Who is inside?”
The Sprite shook her head, indicating there was no sound from within. She pressed on, and at the third door, she heard two unfamiliar voices—likely the two among the six who hadn’t spoken yet.
“These two are the landlady’s bodyguards,” she whispered to Xainne, as if uncovering a secret. “This candy shop must be doing quite a big business if the landlady has bodyguards.”
“Because she isn’t really the landlady,” Xainne retorted.
“Why do you say that?” the Sprite furrowed her brow in response.
“Fine, I won’t argue with you. If you say so, then it is.”
The two continued on and arrived at the fourth door—this was the last one, and not far from it was the end of the corridor where stairs led up to the attic. The Sprite stopped in front of the door, perked her sharp ears to listen closely and soon heard a strange voice: “It sounds like someone is talking.”
“Is it that old man and that woman?” Xainne inquired.
The Sprite replied while still listening, “It doesn’t seem like it; it’s that old man and another old man.”
“How could it be? Wouldn’t that mean seven people in total!”
“Maybe one of them didn’t go down. Someone has to keep watch.”
Xainne pondered this for a moment before asking, “What are they saying?”
“The first old man is reporting something to the second old man. The second old man is asking how things are going, and the first old man says everything is proceeding smoothly. Then they talk about some things the Sprite cannot understand, something about ‘long live’ something. But it’s strange. Then the second old man urges the first one to hurry up; he seems to be complaining about something.”
“Enough already, you’re making my head spin!” Xainne interrupted. “Can you put it in simpler terms?”
“But I don’t understand what they’re saying either!”
Xainne glared at her unimpressed: “You really are a complete fool.”
Poli Fireanvil had quite the name for a Dwarf, as he was part of the renowned Fireanvil family. However, unlike those of his kin who drilled tunnels in the mountains, he yearned for the outside world rather than the dull underground; everyone saw him as an oddity. Thus, he left his clan early to explore the world of humans. By now, he had become a modestly famous alchemist with a reputable standing, drawing a rich pension, and living a life of luxury that his kin in the underground could only dream of. He never regretted his choice and even took pride in it, but that didn’t mean everything was smooth sailing. Sometimes, he still had to face a few annoyances.
For instance, at this moment, he had to grumble about erasing the magic circle on the table, wanting to make that damned face disappear—one he wouldn’t want to see even for five hundred Golden Eagles.
“Damn it!” he muttered to himself. “He makes it sound so easy—just do this, just do that. Why doesn’t he come give it a try?”
He couldn’t help but complain, his voice growing louder: “I’m an alchemist, not a spy! Those guys are the real spies; if I make a single mistake, they’ll expose me and skin me alive! I swear by the Mother of the Earth, those cold-blooded bastards wouldn’t even blink. Good grief, if it weren’t for my greed back then, I wouldn’t have stepped into this mess. Fine, but don’t think Poli is easy to bully. Hmph, if you ever dare to bother me like this again, Poli won’t stand for it. Let those idiots understand that the men of the Fireanvil family won’t be tempted by mere riches!”
As the Dwarf alchemist continued speaking, he opened a drawer filled with various bottles and jars—these were potions he had brewed. Naturally, they were of the less valuable kind; hence, he dared to leave them here, while the truly precious ones he kept close. He took out a green paper bag and carefully opened it; inside was Dragon’s Rest Dust, commonly used by wizards in small doses as a meditative incense. In larger doses, however, it had a strong hypnotic effect and was not rare, hence often favored by alchemists for self-defense.
Although Poli inherited the typical Dwarven thunderous voice and bad temper, he was unusually meticulous for an alchemist. Like many who dealt with magic, they all shared a common point: a strong desire to preserve their lives. Therefore, every night before bed, he would make a simple trap with Dragon’s Rest Dust to prevent any nocturnal thieves from stealing his belongings or endangering his life.
He picked up the Dragon’s Rest Dust, still uneasy, and stuck a seed from the Glimmering Tree into his pouch before heading toward the door. But just as he, as usual, carried the packet of Dragon’s Rest Dust to the door, he accidentally heard two whispering voices outside.
“Nonsense! You’re the fool! Xainne still doesn’t understand!”
“That’s because your descriptions are too poor!”
“Xainne couldn’t make head or tail of your descriptions—she’s utterly useless!”
“Then there’s simply no one useful left in this world!”
“Unbelievable!” Poli thought angrily, instinctively suspecting that he had two little thieves outside: “They dare to openly discuss dividing up the spoils in front of the victim’s door, and even argue boldly as though the Jotungrund rats have come! Is there no justice left around here?”
With his temper flaring, the Dwarf swung open the door, which creaked loudly, revealing an unlikely pair outside: a young girl and a Sprite.
The two had been bickering without a care in the world and were caught completely off guard by the sudden opening of the door. They stood there, a Sprite, a Pseudodragon, and an old Dwarf alchemist, staring at each other in stunned silence.
“Who are you?” Poli stammered, and despite being a grumbling Dwarf, he could hardly imagine that the adorably innocent little girl before him was a thief.
Just as he spoke, a cold wind suddenly blew through his window, the winter chill so biting that even the Dwarf couldn’t help but shiver, while the Sprite across from him let out a gasp: “Achoo!” At that moment, a cloud of thick green smoke billowed from Poli’s hand and enveloped him, and as the Sprite opened her eyes to see what was happening, the Dwarf alchemist collapsed to the floor with a thud.
The sound of the Dwarf hitting the ground was so heavy that a voice from the adjacent room immediately asked alertly, “Who’s out there?!”
The Sprite and Xainne opened their mouths in shock; they clearly hadn’t anticipated that they would ruin everything—being discovered—this was their first thought—what to do? This was their second thought, but there was no third thought. They were so stunned that they couldn’t move; those people would certainly come out to investigate any moment, and even if they ran up to the attic, it would be too late, let alone the fact that there were others above. In a moment, they felt helpless and couldn’t figure out what to do.
The corridor was filled with the sounds of several doorknobs turning. The Sprite turned pale with fear. “Quick, use the cloak!” Xainne screamed, and the former seemed to finally react, hurriedly pulling up her cloak to cover herself and Xainne, making them both vanish from sight in the corridor.
The first to step out was Delphine. Xainne had heard the Sprite describe this woman as beautiful, but seeing her in person made her realize how true that was. The human girl wore a deep violet gown, her long, braided hair cascading down her back like a waterfall, and it was jet black. In Cruz and Erluin, only those with Minren blood would naturally bear such a pure hair color. Of course, black represented mystery and ominousness in Cruzian culture, but it harmonized perfectly with her tranquil demeanor. Her eyes sparkled like stars in the night sky. Her nose appeared chiseled from jade, and her slightly pursed lips had a captivating allure that could drive any man mad with desire. Standing there, her perfect figure couldn’t be concealed even by night; it seemed reasonable for anyone to believe she was the Goddess of Night.
Others gradually followed, including a tall, robust man with a massive sword on his back, two men dressed as bodyguards, and a young man in a silver robe. The four of them, upon spotting Poli lying on the ground, couldn’t help but exclaim:
“Poli!”
“What happened!”
The swordsman with the large sword reacted the fastest and rushed to the Dwarf alchemist’s door after drawing his sword. But peering inside, he saw the room was devoid of life, and it didn’t seem like anyone had broken in. However, he certainly didn’t know that right beside him, the Sprite and Xainne were huddled together, trembling with fear. Though the Sprite’s cloak could conceal their forms, it couldn’t let them move, and with no obstructions in the corridor, if those people took just a few steps closer, they might stumble right upon them.
Delphine furrowed her brow and glanced at the staircase leading to the attic. “Let’s check upstairs!”
As soon as she finished speaking, Xainne and the Sprite instinctively hugged each other, ready to start crying, as they were hiding at the staircase leading to the attic. Once those people passed by, there was no way they wouldn’t notice them.
Upon hearing Delphine’s command, the tall swordsman immediately sheathed his massive sword and turned towards the attic, but he hadn’t taken a step when a cold voice drifted down from the attic:
“If I were you, I’d choose to stay right there.”
The sudden voice stunned everyone.
But Xainne kept signaling at the Sprite—she remembered very clearly, this was the very voice that had knocked them out of the sky before.
Delphine, hearing this voice, signaled the swordsman to halt before raising her head to ask, “Who are you and what have you done to Poli?”
The attic fell silent for a moment.
Then the voice answered, “I, like you, am a guest here for the time being. As for what happened to your companion, it has nothing to do with me.”
At that moment, the tall swordsman took the opportunity to check the Dwarf alchemist’s condition. He found Poli lying on the floor, fast asleep, looking like he hadn’t been injured. He dipped his hand into the green powder on the floor and sniffed it, revealing a look of realization: “It’s Dragon’s Rest Dust.”
“Poli is cautious; he would never cause such a blunder,” Delphine replied. “Even if Dragon’s Rest Dust belongs to him, something else must have happened; I distinctly heard other people’s voices when I came out—Madam in the attic, I don’t mean to offend, but I believe you must understand what happened, right?”
The two hiding under the cloak understood she was referring to whoever was up in the attic. They hadn’t expected the figure up there to be so astute, knowing every movement that occurred below. Realizing the purpose for their invasion into this place, they couldn’t help but tremble with fear. Normally, this wouldn’t have been a problem, but the more they trembled, the more severe it became, until it was visible from outside. The swordsman with the massive sword began to see the space distort and, thinking it was a spatial turbulence, jumped back in fright only to realize something was amiss.
“Mr. Sorens, what’s wrong?” Delphine frowned.
He didn’t answer but instead pointed his sword, causing the Sprite and Xainne to be exposed to everyone. At that moment, they were both aggrieved and afraid, bursting into tears: “Waaa! Don’t kill me, Mommy! The Sprite is going to die!”
Everyone stared dumbfounded at the scene unfolding before them.
Delphine seemed to finally recognize the little one in front of her: “It’s you!” she exclaimed in surprise, but suddenly realized something else, her brow furrowing: “You were eavesdropping on us!”
“I-I didn’t! Wuu wuu wuu!” the Sprite hurriedly denied, panicking.
“Mr. Sorens, catch her first!” Delphine said in an annoyed tone.
“Ah, don’t catch me!” The Sprite was clearly terrified, dashing towards the stairs leading to the attic with tears and snot streaming down her face, while Xainne, demonstrating her loyalty, flew in front to block them: “Sprite, run quickly! I’ll hold them back!”
Unfortunately, before she finished her sentence, Sorens grabbed her by the wing. At first, he thought Xainne was just a lizard, but once she opened her mouth, he immediately recognized her rare species. The Pseudodragon was knowledgeable and possessed high intelligence, capable of casting some small spells. It could be said to be the rarest wizard pet. He couldn’t help but express his surprise: “What a stroke of luck, Miss Delphine!”
“Let go of me! You’re hurting me, you big jerk!” Xainne screamed.
Upon hearing this, the Sprite’s expression changed. Xainne was her best friend, and she would never allow them to take her away. “Let go of Xainne!” she suddenly turned and tried to dash towards the tall swordsman, but unfortunately, her small body held no intimidation. She slammed right into the swordsman’s waist, bouncing off and landing back next to Poli.
Delphine’s two bodyguards and the young man beside her couldn’t help but burst into laughter at the scene.
The Sprite, scared and angry, worried more about Xainne being taken. With tear-filled eyes, she pulled out a dagger and threw it at the big guy. Unfortunately, Sorens didn’t even look, simply flicking the soft dagger away. She then threw down her sword, bolts, and other items without hesitation; none of these things had any effect on Sorens, who couldn’t be bothered. He was a well-known swordsman, after all, and certainly wouldn’t stoop to bother a little girl. After throwing everything the Sprite had on her, she then reached for a small paper bag from the unconscious Dwarf and threw it at him. The bag burst open upon hitting Sorens, releasing a wave of red smoke.
At this moment, Sorens was caught off guard and had a terrible time. “Poli’s chili powder!” he yelled as he covered his eyes and nose with tears streaming down his face.
Xainne seized the opportunity to fly to the Sprite’s side, still looking apprehensively at this scene.
“Damn it! You all better catch her!” Now it was Sorens who was in a messy state, yelling in frustration and embarrassment as he hadn’t expected to fall for a little girl’s trick momentarily. Delphine looked at this scene, thoroughly displeased. After getting the nod of approval from her two bodyguards, they approached the Sprite with amused grins, one to either side.
The Sprite was terrified; realizing the value of what was on Poli, she began to frantically rummage through the poor Dwarf’s belongings. In no time, she pulled out a round, ball-shaped object from his pouch.
The others were fine, but the young man behind Delphine changed color upon seeing the object. “Don’t throw it!”
He shouted, but regrettably, the Sprite seemed not to hear him. Upon hearing his shout, she got scared, trembling hands losing grip of the rounded object and sending it flying towards the young man.
“Close your eyes!”
The young man yelled in exasperation.
