A man was watching the mansion from atop the wall with a pistol-type Gemgun in his hands, wandering like a warden.
Days of work had numbed his guard, planted a dangerous thought that they wouldn't get attacked by anyone today, and that fact would continue. After all, yesterday was also as peaceful.
So when someone climbed the wall from his behind stealthily, he didn't notice anything until his head received a blow from behind, putting him into slumber.
I grabbed the man before his body fell and slowly placed him on the ground. I pocketed the man's Gemgun.
"Who would have thought that they would be able to equip their men with a Gemgun. I should be careful, then..." I muttered while checking the Gemgun.
It was a budget model. Its compact chamber held a single mini G-bullet—a pressurized shard of Elemental Gem. While its kinetic force barely matched traditional gunpowder, its efficiency was lethal; one gem could discharge twenty elemental bolts before shattering.
I got 5 spare mini G-bullets from the man. That was 100 more shots after 20 shots already loaded in the Gemgun.
"Nice, nice."
With this, I would no longer have to face The Rats without any weapon in hands. I activated the safety before I straped the Gemgun on my waist.
Then I gestured for Tizmilly and Carole to climb. With Levitation on them, they could climb the 6 meters-height wall with ease.
The man I just take down also had a dagger with him, so I gave it to Tizmilly for her weapon.
"Let's go," I muttered before I led them jump down from the wall into the yard after I made sure that no one had noticed our entrance.
"The entrance was always guarded by five to seven men, five outside, two insde. We wouldn't be able to sneak in through it. We'll aim to get in the mansion from the back door subordinates like me used when exiting and entering the mansion. They only placed two to four men there."
With Carole guiding the way at the front, me guarding her at the middle with the pistol Gemgun in hands, and Tizmilly watching the rear, we advanced onward.
The yard was rather wide, since the mansion was a mansion built for a nobleman before it was abandoned by him and reused by The Rats. There was even knot garden here, and by the look of it, The Rats may have not took good care of it. We lowered our postures and used it as our cover as we stealthily circling the yard.
Tizmilly kept glancing around, while Carole was shaking while she was walking at our front.
They were innexperienced in this kind of situation, so I could get it why they were so nervous, but getting too overwhelmed wouldn't be good.
"Calm down, guys. As long as we can get Timmy, and even get some notes of their illegal transactions, it will be simple then. Just focus on our current goals, and stop worrying about other things."
My words didn't instantly stop them from feeling nervous, but from what I could see, they could now control their feeling better. Still nervous, but at a manageable level of nervousness. Good.
Ten minutes passed without any guards spotted our presences. Finally, we reached the end point of the Knot garden. A gap of about 20 meters was separating us from the side of the mansion.
From here, we could see five men were walking around at the entrance of the mansion with weapons in hands, guarding the place with relaxed attitudes and light conversations. Unfortunately, there was a man who was standing while facing toward the side we needed to crossover to reach our destination.
"Wh-what should we do?" Carole asked while crouching beside me.
Tizmilly clutched her bang and seriously pondering the matter.
"If only we have a way to attracts their attentions elsewhere..." She muttered.
I analized our team combat prowess.
Among us, I was undeniably the strongest. I could move faster, and had a better mastery in using my Magic.
Tizmilly, while lacked in real combat experience, was the top student of the Academy. She could handle those people with ease even without me.
And Carole was the weakest, since she was not even a combatant in the first place. If someone had to become a decoy, then it was of course me.
"Then I'll go face those five. While I am at it, you two go to the back door and enter the mansion."
My sudden statement surprised the two.
"Wh-what!? That's too dangerous!" Tizmilly whispered.
"A-are you sure you can handle them by yourself? I know that The Rats were not that strong. They had numbers, and money at most, but they were not weak, you know? The others might even came to surrounds you later..." Carole warned me hesitatingly, showed her deep understanding about The Rats.
But if that was only a group of men without a Gemgun with them, then it wouldn't be a problem for me.
I grinned.
"Don't worry. As long as I take them down swiftly, they will not be able to surrounds me."
Before they could voice any more complain, I immediately grabbed a stone from the ground and threw it toward those guys. The stone fell near the man who was facing at our way.
Noticed the stone, he looked at it curiously, leaving this side without anyone watching over it.
"Now, go!" I whispered before I jumped out of the cover of the Knot garden.
I cast Levitation on my body, so I jumped pretty high, at least high enough they didn't noticed my presence.
I landed silently behind them. Before the first man could even turn his head, I had already deactivated the safety. Five quick pulls of the trigger—the Gemgun didn't roar; it hissed. Each discharge was a sharp, muffled 'psshht' as the elemental mana pierced the air.
Five holes, cauterized by elemental heat, appeared on their backs. They collapsed like puppets with their strings cut. No screams, only the heavy thud of bodies hitting the dirt and the faint smell of ozone lingering in the air.
I spared the man guarding the wall before, but I couldn't do the same with them, since it would be too risky.
"Sorry, but you can only curse your choice to joins a criminal organization like The Rats..."
I glanced toward Tizmilly and Carole, and they were already gone as we had planned before.
"I'll leave the task of finding Timmy to them, while I will try to collects as much evidences as I can..."
To destroy a Criminal organization like The Rats that had operated around the Dungeon City until now without the Guard Corps ever dared to touch them, we needed a solid evidence of their crime, and strong political power.
Currently, we possessed neither. However, with My and Tizmilly's statuses as The Academy's students, we could let The Academy handled the problem with the lack of political power. But even the Academy wouldn't be able to move without a clear reason, so...
I turned toward the main door of the mansion.
"Let's finish this quickly."
We didn't have much time before the other group of thugs that were chasing after us previously returned.
These people were armed mostly with swords, so I didn't take any of their weapons with me. But I still took one dagger from them with me, just in case.
Time was ticking.
Killing people was not my style, but well, if the situation forced me to do so, then I wouldn't hesitate.
...
I pushed the door open just enough to created a small gap. I peeked into the building through the gap. There was no one inside, at least not near the entrance. Maybe that was obvious, since if there was someone inside before, they would have immediately rushed out after hearing the sound of shootings from my Gemgun.
With the Gemgun's muzzle pointed at the ceiling to avoid misfire, I carefully entered the building.
There was an intersection after the entrance. A corridor to the left, a corridor to the right, and a staircase leading to the second floor. The right corridor and the staircase were empty—I confirmed it with my hearing. However, the left corridor was different. There was a sound of footstep coming from that direction.
The footstep coming slowly, leasure, a sign that they haven't noticed our infiltration.
I leaned my body on the wall and waited for them. The moment he entered my vision and my reach, I immediately yanked him and hit him on the face with the Gemgun's handle, instantly put him into a sudden slumber.
After confirming that the corridors were empty now, I decided to go to the second floor.
There was a big door after the staircase. No one guarding it, but I could hear vague voice of people from outside. There were people inside.
'Four... Or more.' I estimated.
As expected, their guards were very lax. They were having a lewd conversation about the styles of Red District's girls instead of actually guarding the place. Days or years without conflicts must've had grown them complacent.
That was a bad news for The Rats, but also a good news for us. Now, I could attack them without worrying about the scenario where they were actually some very dangerous Criminal organizations or something.
After taking a long breath, I braced myself and kicked the door open.
""!?""
I raised my Gemgun and aimed the muzzle.
The weapon vibrated in my hand, releasing a bolt of compressed heat. The sound was no louder than a heavy book falling onto a carpet.
"Intruder—" One of them immediately opened his mouth to tell out a warning to his comrades, but my shot was faster.
One by one, they fell. The 'spit' of the Gemgun was consistent, a deadly rhythmic whisper that ended their conversations forever before the echoes could even reach the hallway.
After that, I advanced forward.
I killled those who had seen my faces and would certainly remember that someone was intruding their base if I only knocked them unconscious.
When I encountered a room, I entered it and started looking for Timmy and maybe even notes about their crimes.
But of course I wouldn't be able to find an important document like that so easily from a random room.
It was only after I stumbled upon a room at the fourth floor with ten men guarding it that I thought that maybe, I would find it there.
I deactivated the safety of my Gemgun after I reloaded it with a new mini G-bullet, preparing myself to kill them and check the room. However, before I could even took a step forward, the door of that room opened with a creak.
A big, tall man exited the room.
My eyes widened seeing his greyed hair and his muscular build.
I knew him.
Indeed, he was not a big villain in the game, only subordinate of a big Boss, at most, but still, I had never expected to meet a named character from the game here.
Roygerd Fotavich.
The Commander of The Abyss Knight from the Abyssal New Gate.
A villain that was known for how resilient he was. A cultist knight that was quite tricky to defeat in the game. Not hard, but took time.
Fighting him clearly would waste a lot of time.
I would rather avoid him if I could.