Chapter 80: Two Days Until the Wedding (1)

Ebony’s group, in disbelief, could only stare at the “Closed” sign on the guild’s door.

“What the hell!? What do we do now!?” Ebony asked, turning her gaze to Lucian, who was trying to analyze the situation with concern.

“I have no idea… If the guild accepted the job weeks ago, then that means the closing of this branch must be recent…” the green-haired elf said while approaching the sign nailed to the guild’s door.

Looking closely, he noticed the seal of the ruling family of that city.

“(This is strange… The rulers of the city were the ones who paid for the job… Why would they shut down the guild if the package hasn’t even arrived yet?)”

With more suspicions than answers, Lucian had a bad feeling, one he couldn’t describe any better than a guillotine hanging by a thread.

“I don’t think it’s a good idea to stay here for too long… Look,” Veronica said, pointing toward the start of the street, where a group of hooded thugs could be seen slowly approaching, trying not to draw attention.

So the group, without any answers, had to leave that quiet street. They continued walking until they reached the city’s central plaza.

The place had a massive fountain with silver statues of creatures half horse and half fish. However, there wasn’t a single drop of water in it.

All the vegetation that once decorated the plaza to beautify the place had withered away, and in its place there were only small tents belonging to homeless people.

“This is bigger than I thought…” Veronica said, worried about the situation in that city.

“What do we do? It looks like this place is in its final days… In any case we could just sell the necklace and be done with it,” Ebony said, worried about leaving the job unfinished.

“No, that’s not possible. This request is from a ruling family for a wedding that will take place in two days. We have to go to their mansion and finish the job,” Lucian said firmly while walking past the homeless people.

So the group began searching for the rulers’ house, but contrary to what the elf had expected, the situation only kept getting worse.

Because when they reached their client’s house they found a crowd of people protesting and shouting against the city’s leaders, the Melian family.

“You damn bastards! How dare you put our city in debt?! Give up your title!” a man shouted while raising his fist in anger.

“You’re the worst disgrace this city has ever suffered! Worse than the Red Flu! Worse than the Sorentos Plague!” said a middle-aged woman while holding back her tears.

Seeing the hostility of the people, the group could only lower their heads and move away from the crowd, since they were so close to the property’s gates that passing through was impossible.

“This is bullshit… What do we do now?” the blonde asked while scratching her head, uncomfortable and annoyed.

“Well… I suppose we could… umm… throw some kind of message toward the house. It’s several meters from the gates, but it’s better than nothing,” Veronica shrugged while trying to think through the details of her idea.

“Or we could just go in,” Daniel said calmly.

“Huh?”

“Yeah, you know. I mean, we’re adventurers. We could climb the fence somewhere that isn’t the entrance and reach the mansion. Sure, they might get mad and point weapons at us, but with an explanation it should be fine, right?”

The rest of the group fell silent at the boy’s idea. He was barely fifteen, yet he thought like a full-fledged criminal willing to lie and cheat.

“Well, it’s not a bad idea. I like it. After all, we’re not doing it for no reason. Either that or we don’t deliver the damn necklace,” Ebony said while nodding her head, approving the boy’s brilliance.

“First, we are mercenaries. Second, breaking into someone’s property is illegal. We could end up arrested… There has to be another option,” the elf said.

Lucian and Veronica sighed and began thinking of another possibility that wouldn’t land them in jail. However, their hands were tied, so in the end they agreed.

The group searched for a section of the fence where there were no people nearby. After waiting a bit to make sure no one could see them, they decided to climb over it one by one.

On the other side, the grass was green and well cared for. This surprised Ebony, who began noticing green trees and flowers growing throughout the enormous garden.

Annoyed, the blonde swallowed her words, because they couldn’t make noise or draw attention. Not from the guards, but from the crowd.

If that happened, it might plant the idea in the angry protesters to invade the place.

After a few minutes of sneaking around in complete silence, the group reached the backyard. It overflowed with color thanks to the flowers everywhere.

They even had a gigantic pool that could easily hold dozens of people, next to which stood a solitary table prepared with snacks and several sandwiches.

“This is… unbelievably stupid!” Ebony shouted angrily, because she could no longer hold back her thoughts.

“Your people are out there starving and these bastards—!”

“Shhh, shut up, idiot!” Lucian said, pulling on the girl’s clothes to calm her down.

“No way! This is excessive for any government! What kind of idiot lives in luxury while ignoring their own people!?”

“Perhaps a government desperate to keep up appearances…” a voice said, interrupting the moment.

From the mansion emerged a butler with white hair and light blue eyes. From his appearance he could have been over fifty years old, yet his body emanated a hidden magic as strong as that of a young man.

“Umm…” Ebony, after the butler’s arrival, didn’t know whether to continue complaining or show respect, but in the end she chose to keep going.

“Well what a shitty government if it has to keep up its damn appear—”

At that moment Lucian covered the girl’s mouth and grabbed her arms as she twisted in anger, trying to shout every insult she could think of.

“Forgive my companion… and I apologize for entering the mansion like this. We are mercenaries who accepted a job from the Melian family. It was a request to deliver a necklace.”

Lucian’s voice was kind and calm. He knew that one wrong move could mean prison or worse, leaving without their payment.

“Mmmm… I see. So you are the messengers who brought the wedding gift. In that case I—”

The butler was interrupted at that moment, as voices began approaching the area while crossing the mansion.

“This is not the time to talk. For now go hide in that storage shed over there, quickly!” the old man ordered, pointing to a small wooden shack near a massive oak tree.

The group didn’t hesitate and ran to the place, hiding inside.

At that moment a woman’s voice could be heard clearly.

“Lord Regulus has arrived… He’s more handsome than I expected, but his gaze is unpleasant… I know it’s because of the city but… I don’t know if I’ll be able to marry him.”

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