“How did this happen?!”
”Someone go tell the master at once!”
”There’s an intruder in the house!”
”Search the area!”
I could hear people running around and yelling outside. In the dark, I held my sword tightly and prepared myself to ambush whoever came in.
“Ha…”
Kale was standing next to me. When we heard footsteps, we ran inside the master bedroom. I was prepared to knock out Mr. Bozzelli once I came in, but no one was inside.
‘Where could he be at this time of night…?’
“We have a lot to talk about, but for now let’s find the paper.”
Kale and I were after the same thing. I nodded, and looked towards Faye.
A spell was cast that lit up the corner of the room. There was a small locked storage next to the bed that was glowing.
Cling
The lock came undone and it swung open. A piece of paper came flying out from inside and stopped midair in front of me. I quickly read through the contents, and nodded at Kale.
“Let’s go.”
Kale walked towards the window and looked down to make sure that no one was outside.
“We’re going to jump.”
He opened the window, and went over it with no hesitation. I looked down to see him land perfectly on the ground. I don’t know how he did it, but his land made no sound at all.
I also jumped out of the window but instead of falling, I floated down.
“This way.”
Kale walked towards the back of the house where there was an uphill with tall trees. We could easily get away by hiding ourselves within.
Stomp stomp
Before we could escape, I heard footsteps getting close.
’Faye, quick!’
“They must have jumped down from there, and escaped through the back. Let’s go, we can’t let them escape.”
There was a serious looking man with a scar straight down his right eye. He was standing right in front of me, but wasn't able to see me or Kale. He had a sword at his waist and was wearing a guard’s uniform.
Behind him there was another guard. He was the one who we saw in the morning in front of the gates. He was a much younger man than the one in front of me.
Kale reached for his sword. There were only two of them, and he was certain that we could take them down quickly.
“Captain… How long are you going to keep pretending? The problem right now isn’t the intruders.”
The captain stopped in his steps towards the hill. He turned around and faced the younger guard.
”I’m sure you’ve realized as well that our men and the workers in the house have been disappearing one at a time. Every time I asked, Mr. Bozzelli would say they quit. But there’s no way Sam would have left without telling me.”
“…”
”I suspect that Mr. Bozzelli may be hiding something from us. We need to find out the truth!”
The younger guard was gripping his fists tightly in anger.
Kale flinched, and there was a sudden sliver of light passing through the young guard’s chest. His eyes were open wide in disbelief and betrayal. Once the light faded, all I could see was red as blood splattered into the air.
The man in front of me had his sword pulled out.
The young guard fell to the ground while blood was spilling out from his chest.
“…All you had to do was do as you’re told…”
”Cough cough Captain… how could you…”
The young guard coughed up blood and used his last breaths to speak. There was anger in his eyes.
”S-Sam too… you did this…”
The guard wheezed until he was breathing no more. His eyes still open, unable to rest even in death.
The man stood over the dead body in silence for a few moments, until he sheathed his sword.
I looked at the dead body. How was I so calm? I had never seen a person die before… but the beat of my heart was steady. Too steady.
“Captain.”
Without a sound, another person appeared. It was Mr. Bozzelli. Something about him felt different than before. He looked down at the dead body with a calm expression, and frowned slightly.
“We could have given him to the Order. A wasted death.”
The captain immediately knelt down on one knee.
”Forgive me… I believe he would have caused problems.”
”Well…I trust your judgment. More importantly, the intruders?”
”They ran through the back hill.”
”Now of all times when your men aren’t here…”
”They should have arrived at the location now.”
”Good. The boy… he’s dangerous. And we already know what the other two are capable of. Better to get rid of them before it becomes an issue.”
”Yes sir.”
”As for the intruders-“
Mr. Bozzelli looked behind the captain, where a presence was.
***
Huff huff
I ran past through the trees and leaves, while looking at Kale’s back. Kale was running at full speed, and I was barely able to keep him in my sights with Faye’s help.
“Peter…”
Kale’s voice was full of concern. We were running the moment we realized Mr. Bozzelli’s plan.
When we got close to the office, Kale grabbed a small necklace out from his jacket’s inner pocket. It emitted a bright light, and turned into a long spear. The tip of the blade shined red.
Kale swung open the door to Peter’s office. From behind him, I could see around 20 men in the room holding weapons. On the floor was Peter. His glasses were broken and on the floor next to him. Blood was dripping down his head, and his left eye was barely open from a punch wound. Blood was dripping down his mouth.
“Cough cough Idiot… why did you come…”
Peter coughed out blood.
“Peter!”
Kale ran inside, and his spear was glowing red. It was spear aura.
“He’s only half a master. Attack!”
One of the men swung his short blade at Kale. Kale avoided to the side, as the blade cut the air only an inch away from his face. Kale had his spear low, and swiftly swung it up.
Shing
Slice!
The sound of the cut disturbed my ears, and I could see two arms flying up.
“Aughhh!!!”
The man let out a pained cry as he fell to the ground.
“Get him!!”
Three more men charged at Kale with their weapons held high.
I lifted my hand towards them and in response, Faye stopped their movements.
However, these men were elite swordsmen. They may not be masters like Kale who are able to bring out sword aura, but they still had aura inside their bodies. The aura dispelled the magic that was constraining them.
Slice!
Kale didn’t miss the moment that I had bought him. He swung his spear horizontally, before the blades could touch him.
“Arghh!!”
”Ahh!!”
”Hngg!”
A large gash appeared on the three men as they fell to the ground.
”Stop!!”
Kale flinched, and looked towards Peter.
A man was holding a small blade to his throat. I could see a line of red forming on his neck.
”Drop your weapons or I’ll kill him!”
Kale glared at the man while gripping his spear tightly.
“Now!”
”Kale, just go!”
The man pushed the blade in deeper.
The moment Kale released his hand from the spear, I could see a black ferret appear from behind the man. It was Rene! She dug her fangs into the man’s neck.
“Argh!!”
The man let go of his blade, and grabbed Rene with both hands. He tried to get her off him, but she continued to stubbornly bite into his neck.
Right before Kale’s spear touched the ground, Kale kicked the end with his foot. It sent the spear flying straight at the man, puncturing him through the head.
At the same time, the rest of the men charged towards Kale and I. Kale unsheathed his sword, and Faye resummoned a white sword in front of me. I held it in front with my back against Kale.
Cling!
Clang!
Sparks flew as blades collided.
Crash!
Crash!
“…”
I looked down at the sword speechlessly. Just like in my fight against Kale, my unstable swings sent the men flying and crashing into the walls. Except this time, they were unable to get back up.
”Hahaha…"
I could hear Kale laughing from behind me.
”Seriously, what are you…?”
I was wondering the same thing. Not about myself but about this white sword, and Faye who is able to summon it.
The fight eventually ended with a few men running away. Kale and I didn’t chase after them.
Instead, we walked over to Peter who was standing up wobbly.
Kale grabbed his arm, and swung it over his neck.
“Let’s hurry and go to a doctor.”
***
Luckily, Peter didn’t have any life threatening injuries. With a few days of rest, he would be fine.
I was more worried about Kale who continued to frown as the doctor checked Peter’s injuries. I could even see the doctor sweating a little. Once the doctor left the patient room, Kale told Peter he was going to get revenge for him.
”Kale… I’m okay. I don’t want you to do anything.”
After a few back and forths, Peter managed to calm Kale down and convinced him to let it pass. It sounded like Peter was worried the administration would get involved.
”Thank you, Vyn. To think you and Kale had the same plan…”
”Oh that’s right! We managed to get the contract-“
I pulled out the piece of paper that I had taken from Mr. Bozzelli’s room.
“With this we-“
Before I could finish my sentence, the paper shined brightly and disappeared from my hand.
”…”
”…”
Kale and I looked at my empty hand in disbelief as Peter sighed.
”Most contracts as important as this have a spell on them that prevents them from being stolen. By now, it’ll have returned to Mr. Bozzelli.”
Peter barely managed to stop Kale when he said he was going back.
”We can still help the orphanage in a different way. I’ll ask around for a place they can move into, or families willing to adopt… I want both of you to be careful now.”
After Peter fell asleep, Kale told me he would stay with Peter, so I made my way back to the inn.
Or so they thought.
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