Chapter 366: Secret Lair.

Chapter 366: Secret Lair.

Name :

Mary L151

Classes

T3 Umbral Stalker L1

T2 Ninja L39

T2 Infiltrator L50

T1 Thief L25

T1 Scout L25

‘And Umbral Stalker? Never heard of a class like that one...’

Roland looked through Mary’s status screen and tried to figure out what her new class was all about. Considering that even he who had gone through an extensive evolution to his senses could barely see her, the class had stealth as its main option. She didn’t seem tired while moving around so it made sense that it was some type of passive which probably came with her new class acquisition.

‘I wonder if her presence disappears if she disengages during combat, it would be quite the broken passive...’

In the past, Mary was using a tier 2 passive that allowed her to not make a sound when walking. Her presence was faint but not something that he couldn’t sense. Thanks to his armor such skills didn’t really faze him as he could still feel mana that was being produced by a person’s body. That problem seemed to be alleviated with this new class as he could barely feel any mana being exuded.

Everything in this world had mana inside of them, even rocks and trees. Thanks to this phenomenon his eyes of mana skill could function by perceiving the world’s manaflow. The amount of mana everything had varied, a simple rock would have a lot less of it than a living creature. What Mary was doing now was lowering this perceived amount to be more aligned with a rock.

‘I need to analyze this skill, it will make perceiving assassins much easier in the future.’

This class was not something common and it was probably fixated on hiding. If he was able to study Mary’s skills it would allow his armor to warn him from hidden threats. It would probably be also possible to enhance his sensors that were also placed around Arthur’s villa. Even if he couldn’t increase the range that much it could be alleviated by placing more sensors. When an assassin passed through such a sensor, they would trip the alarm.

“Wayland my headset of head knights, what do I owe this pleasure?”

“...”

While thinking Roland arrived in Arthur’s office which looked to be covered in more papers and scribbles. It was clear that the man wasn’t sleeping much either and the empty bottles of stamina potions confirmed his hunch. This noble had developed a liking for his new head knight and would throw strange one-liners like this whenever the two were alone. Mary, who was standing to the side, even chuckled before covering her mouth with her hand.

“I heard that.”

“My apologies.”

He was getting a lot more respect from the cat maid at least. She had even become a bit more trusting after achieving a higher tier. Perhaps it was also because she now knew that the man before her was also a noble’s son. Maybe they were just having fun teasing him, who was usually more of a serious person but it was usually better to keep things light so he ignored it.

“I see that you have also improved, congratulations.”

“You need to do something about that habit of yours, it’s going to get you in trouble one of these days.”

Roland glanced at Arthur’s status screen almost instantly as he stepped into the room. He had grown accustomed to using this skill whenever he conversed with almost anyone. His propensity for not trusting people or what he saw was still there and this somewhat made interacting with others less stressful.

Name :

Arthur Valerian L102

Classes

T2 Aura Duelist L2

T2 Spirit Fencer L50

T1 Sword Warrior L25

T1 Warrior L25

“We really need to fill this place out with something, Mary do you know how much longer it will take to finish?”

“The dwarves said that they need at least a week to prepare all the parts at their workshop.”

“Good, let them prepare they won’t be able to leave after they come here.”

It sounded worse than it was. It was quite troublesome to let people in and out of the secret chamber. Everything needed to be made in secrecy and only a few people would actually be allowed inside. There they would be stuck for a few days until they finished their job and let out when it was finished. When it was finished the area would have several rooms for storing costly artifacts and also act as a panic room with access to all turrets within the villa.

“So Wayland my friend, why did you want us to move here?”

“It’s better to organize everything before we continue, one of the rooms is partially finished and I need a board to place the portraits.”

“Portraits?”

“You’ll see...”

What Roland wanted to create is an evidence board that was usually portrayed in many tv shows about criminal cases. A large empty board was not hard to prepare and soon it was hung up on one of the walls. In the middle, he placed a current map of Albrook and to the side, he started pasting some sketches. They represented the criminal bosses in the city with the one representing the guild master being just an outline with a question mark.

“So these are...”

“Yeah, these are apparently the current underground bosses.”

Roland had used his good memory and recording skills to make a copy of the Guild Master’s booklet. In it there were actual sketches of the people involved included with their names and battle power. It was clear that Aurdhan came prepared when handling things in the city and that someone on the inside was helping him. Considering that he singled one boss out of the others, there were two or three potential suspects.

“This is Mr. Ivor, he is quite recognizable by the large horizontal scar. He is involved with the gambling aspect of our city and usually hangs around this man, Kabir. Whenever someone needs to be intimidated or extorted this man is usually involved.”

There was a nice sketch of the scarred man with a large cigar in his mouth. This was an evidence board so Roland used some red string to connect him to the next person, Kabir. The man seemed to belong to the Goliath race as well and was responsible for the muscle side of the business.

“These two usually work together, they have split the district in half and apparently continue to push in further to the dissatisfaction of the other bosses.”

“Hm, I see. These two seem to be disrupting the balance, could it perhaps cause a war between their factions?”

“That is a possibility, if something like that happens a lot of people will get harmed.”

It wasn’t anything new, the thieves guild wasn’t a unified force. It was mostly composed of smaller gangs with their own agendas. The guild master at the top would only step in if things got too hairy or their position was in danger but other than that, they would remain neutral. They received a big payout from people under them similar to a lord taking in taxes and usually didn’t care about who was giving them the money.

“So, are those two people there, their opposition? Is that madam a criminal too?”

“Yes, her name is Faye but most call her Madam Faye or Headmistress Faye. She runs most of the ‘pleasure’ portion of the district and controls all of the brothels. The man with the snake mask is called Viper and is responsible for making people vanish...”

“Vanish? You mean?”

“Yeah, he is an assassin and might have access to one of such guilds, it would be better to not get involved with him before this villa is outfitted.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.”

“He has some kind of involvement with Madam Faye but I don’t have much information about that side. Maybe if Mary has some time she could investigate further.”

“It would be good to keep ourselves informed about a potential assassination guild member.”

Arthur nodded and Mary did the same. While the Thieves Guild was a larger organization there existed smaller ones. Assassination Guilds were hidden away to avoid detection. Some went after very influential individuals that even the Thieves Guild wouldn’t be able to protect them from. Instead, they hid away from sight, as long as no one knew who the assassin performing the task was, they were safe.

The board was quickly filled up and connected through red string. On the map, Roland circled in the main buildings that housed these people. The number of people working for these people could only be eyeballed as even the guild master wasn’t sure. Now Arthur needed to make a decision, would they attempt to cooperate with these people or strongarm them into submission?

“What would you like to do? These people don’t have to become our enemies, I’m sure they’ll offer you quite the sum if you decide to work with them...”

Roland was somewhat leaning in the direction to oppose the evildoers as he didn't appreciate the type of loitering in his city. However. it was possible to cooperate with these career criminals. They wouldn’t need to lift a finger and just accept large bribes. If they started any infighting they wouldn’t have to send in soldiers or lose them in potential gang fights. The area would in a sense be governed by the Thieves Guild and become its own little country.

Some cities went with this option which was quite troublesome for its people. The ones harmed the most would be the commoners that would lose the protection of their guards. It would slowly cause an erosion of the population and a drop in favorability to the lord. Yet, some considered the money gained from bribes more than enough to endanger their people.

The second option was to go against them and not allow the spread of this slow-growing disease. It would toss the guards and soldiers they employed into some danger but that was what they signed up for. The crime dens would then be taxed in a legal fashion and with a lessened criminal factor be used by more people that found safety in the city watch. The second choice was the more difficult one and brought in rewards slower.

“Okay, I have decided!”

Roland nodded, he could not force his views on Arthur who was the lord of this city. He could only present him with some choices which the young man needed to decide on by himself. However, if the decision impeded his future then he would voice his dissatisfaction and act on it if the need arose...