What an awesome item! That spell had done no more than create a small ball of light, but it was actual magic nonetheless. Herscherik was elated, realizing that the little shiver was the sensation of using magic. And it uses Floating Magic. It won’t wear me down! It felt like tearing open the seal of a freshly-purchased video game. Now this is fantasy! Herscherik silently cheered.
Herscherik returned to his room as jolly as could be.
The next day, he tried using a different spell, but the watch only stared back at him in silence. Of course, a watch couldn’t speak to him if it wanted to. After some consideration, Herscherik concluded that the watch only collected a miniscule amount of Floating Magic around it, allowing Herscherik to only use minor spells like creating a ball of light or igniting a candle.
It feels like a game I pre-ordered months in advance was a pile of garbage... Herscherik sulked. For the time being, though, he no longer had to strain his eyes by reading papers in the dark of night.
The moon was hidden behind the clouds that night, the lack of moonlight making room for darkness to seep throughout the castle grounds and completely conceal the existence of an intruder. He bypassed the patrolling soldiers with ease, making it to his destination without a sound.
This intruder was an operative of an underground guild. This agent served no particular master but made a living by contracting out his services, making him particularly valuable to those with their fingers in less-than-reputable businesses. He offered services that ranged from espionage and finding lost articles of an unscrupulous nature to outright assassination. While most of this agent’s achievements would never be made public, he was reliable in his work. Those who knew this man called him Shadow Fang. The moniker was derived from his signature style: approaching his targets as quiet as a shadow, never once being detected until the very moment his fangs dug into their neck. The moniker was a sign of respect for the underground agent who never had another name.
Not just anyone could afford to hire Shadow Fang. Underground guilds priced their offerings strictly based on the talent of their agents. Quite a large sum was required for the services of Shadow Fang, who was infamous enough to earn himself a moniker. Furthermore, it was up to his own discretion whether or not he would accept the job.
Tonight, he was tasked with retrieving a written report presented by a particular noble to the royal family. In his opinion, he was there to clean up the most amateurish mess imaginable. The noble had turned in the incriminating report he meant to keep hidden instead of the report he had forged specifically for the purpose of submitting it. The location he had to break into, however, was more than a little tricky. It was none other than the royal castle of the formidable nation that was Gracis. Security was tight, unlike most noble manors he had infiltrated before, and the magical barrier around its perimeters was top-notch. While Shadow Fang knew he would be able to make it inside, the castle was quite far down the list of places he would have chosen to break into.
Tsk. I slipped up, the intruder had to admit.
He had known that the task itself was nothing difficult when he heard the job description presented to him by his underground guild. He had accepted the job because the money was good for this kind of work, and he needed to fill his coffers after an unexpected expense. Only after signing the contract did his client disclose that he had to break into the royal castle itself.
That’s why no one jumped on such a high reward.
When it’s too good to be true... the intruder repeated internally. He spoke to the underground guild’s bookkeeper after accepting the gig to find out that his client was a noble disliked by those in the underground for his reputation of pulling similar tricks in the past. When he asked the bookkeeper why they had accepted a gig from someone like that in the first place, the response was typical. “The higher the reward, the better our cut.” It didn’t help that Shadow Fang was a lone wolf. Perhaps an ally would have cautioned him against taking the job... But there was no use crying over that now. No matter what trick his client had pulled, breaking the contract without just cause could negatively affect the prospects of future work. Underground or not, the livelihood of “independent contractors” like him was built on trust.
Now, he observed the particular room in the castle he had sneaked into, still frustrated for having fallen for his client’s trick.
The report’s supposed to be somewhere in this room... What is this mess?
Shadow Fang observed a large room that could seat twenty or so. Most every desk was piled high with stacks of paper, making the room feel smaller than it was. He suspected that finding one particular sheet of paper in this room would take some serious time and effort.
The intruder first walked up to the desk farthest from the door, assuming that it belonged to the department head. Hopefully, he might even find out which desks in the room were whose. That would considerably shorten his search time. The desk in the back of the room was relatively better organized and definitely of better make than the others. The intruder began efficiently rifling through the papers on the desk when he heard a sound from somewhere within the room. The intruder halted his rifling and drew his dagger before closely observing the room, end to end. He saw no one else—only the desktop mountain range of papers.
...Just my mind playing tricks on me, I guess, the intruder concluded, and sheathed his knife.
He reached for the next pile of papers on the desk before him, and froze. He was staring down at a face that had emerged from the under the desk.
“Um... Good evening?” A languid, childish voice greeted him.