Of Arms and Arcane

Chapter 221

With my targets in sight, I shrouded myself in darkness magic and climbed out the window. I slinked from shadow to shadow until I was in the darkness of the alley closest to the kissing couple. With the tall buildings on either side of me blocking the moonlight, I was one with the darkness.

I unsheathed a short wooden club that I would use to knock both of them out and was about to pounce on my targets when I saw a hooded person come out of another nearby alley near the couple.

The hooded person who just walked out of the alley came across the kissing couple and teased them about the vigor of youth. After some embarrassed chatting, the three of them made their way to the side.

This just made my job more troublesome. I could knock out all three of them, but I would prefer to do things cleanly and disappear them without anyone the wiser. So I will just have to grab them on the way out.

***

After a few hours of waiting, the first of the hooded cult members started streaming out to go home, but even after waiting close to an hour, I did not see my primary or secondary targets.

So, if they were not coming out, I was going in to get them.

I snuck up to the side door all the cultists were using and tried to open it, but it was locked. I knew that it could not be that easy.

I tried checking the main door of the tea house, but just like the side door, it was locked. That left me with one entrance that I observed from my inn, a balcony that the tea shop used for some outdoor seating.

I easily climbed up onto the balcony and walked toward the glass doors that led indoors. I peeped through the glass doors to make sure there was nobody around before I knelt down to study the lock for the glass door, and realized that there was no lock. It was just a latch to make sure the wind does not blow it open.

I guess this must be a really safe part of town to have such lax security.

Getting access was a piece of cake. I just slid the blade of a foldable pocket knife I made for fun between the glass doors, flipped open he latch, and I was in.

I snuck around the top floor, found nothing but customer seating, and moved on to the ground floor, where I found much of the same, all that was left to

A few minutes later, I was tucking the old lady into bed after I sleeper holded her in the hallway. After that, I was free to search the rest of the house and eventually found the study. From there, I unlocked a few drawers and skimmed through the contents, and I hit the jackpot.

After stuffing my bag with all the evidence I needed, I went to retrieve my carpet-wrapped package and made my way to the fast carriage service to get a ride back to my client.

The reception staff on duty gave me a suspicious look due to the huge rolled-up carpet, but they know better than to ask questions they do not want answers to.