There was a large building close to the abandoned well, Daraku was hiding in its shadows, almost indistinguishable, to the point he managed to scare Cain the moment he showed up. He was wearing a terrifying white mask, like a smiling jester!
Daraku gave Cain a mask that looked the same as his, he came prepared! getting seen was dangerous to rogues in action as they might be caught later!
“We can get in through the back of the mansion, security is low on that side at this time!” Daraku seem to have investigated beforehand, he was serious about this mission.
Hearing those words, Cain felt relieved. It’s nice having someone you can count on by your side! Cain himself wasn’t that much proficient in sneaking, he just relied on magic to get him through!
This was a good opportunity to learn from an expert, a once-in-a-lifetime chance to see a rogue of Daraku’s level in action close by!
“I have a safer way, There is a secret passage connected to the well!” As much as he wanted to experience the thrill of sneaking past the guards like a real rogue, Cain wanted to make sure the mission succeed.
Daraku wasn’t the type of person to pass on this kind of information, he didn’t know the passage existed. With a wide grin, he looked at the well in excitement.
The two of them made their way down the well, Cain jumped first and them Daraku. The well was pitch black as the moonlight didn’t reach down there.
“You said to not bring any lights, how are we going to get through this?” Daraku asked a reasonable question, he was unable to see in the dark.
“Just give me your forehead, we will use a dark vision spell!” Cain then quickly cast the spell on both of them. Yamauba wasn’t able to use this spell so Daraku didn’t experience it before!
They could see as if the sun was out, even the smaller details, the only downside is that everything was in black and white! Cain informed Daraku that with experience and long use, he could learn to differentiate between the shades of grey to tell colors.
It didn’t take them long to reach the mansion as the cave was devoid of monsters, Cain had already cleared it yesterday!
“Wait here, I will check if the road is safe!” Cain said as he used [Short invisibility] and [Soundless] to poke his head and look inside the bath.
The lights were off, it was still wet so someone must have just finished using it!
The two of them got out, walking on the tips of their toes.
“I smell blood, something must have happened here just minutes ago!” Daraku warned Cain, quickly signaling for him to stop.
“You don’t have to worry about that, most likely it belongs to Alice! With her condition, she must wash the wounds every day!” Cain informed him, that just thinking about it was enough to make Daraku feel uncomfortable.
He had experienced something like this before, albeit to not the extent of Alice! Keeping a single cut-wound clean so it won’t get infected was hard enough, if Alice’s whole body was damaged he could only imagine how it feels!
“Then let’s move quickly, I can’t stand letting her suffer like this!” Daraku gritted his teeth.
They now were faced with a great hurdle, finding Alice’s room without being discovered!
Cain slowly opened the bath door, looking into the changing room. The lights were off but the smell of blood filled the air! The source of the smell was a bag tossed to the side, upon inspecting, Cain found it was filled with Alice’s used bandages and clothes.
Daraku’s restlessness just increased as he saw it, he could be seen griming one of his daggers, ready to cut someone’s throat!
This time Daraku took the initiative to open the door and take a look outside! It led them to the hallway.
The hallway was long, dimly lit with candles, and decorated with plants. The walls were stacked with paintings giving it a creepy vibe.
“Wait here, I will check if our surroundings are empty!” Daraku said as he got out, leaving Cain in the changing room. A few minutes later he returned.
Daraku quickly explained what he found.
To the right is the Lord’s bedroom, he seems to be fast asleep alongside a maid with red hair. The other rooms in that direction are empty.
Downstairs in the servant quarter, some of the maids seem to be still awake so it’s dangerous to go down there!
To the left seems to be the children’s rooms, one of them seemed to have to maids at the stand by at the door which made it a bit hard for Jack to get past them.
“That was quick!” Cain was impressed by how well Daraku could do his job, without him, he would have had to waste MP searching around.
“The room guarded by maids is our best bet, they must be on stand-by in case Alice’s condition got worse at night!” Cain said, preparing to leave the bath with Daraku.
“How are you going to get in without alerting the maids? Even with invisibility, you would still have to open the door!” Daraku asked as he didn’t see it possible.
“I will go through the window, All I need to do is find the room and get outside!” Cain’s plan was simple yet understandable, the execution could be easy if everything went smoothly.
The duo then moved in quick succession toward that room, making sure they made no noise.
To get outside they decided to enter one of the other rooms and then jump out of its window! The room they entered seemed like a storage room for cleaning equipment, it was old and dusty as if not opened in years!
After using [Short invisibility] and [soundless] on the both of them, they jumped from the window, climbing to Alice’s window. Luckily it wasn’t locked!
As they entered, Alice was laying on her bed covered with a white sheet, her eyes quickly opened.
“You have returned?” She seemed to be fully awake, staring at them with her eyes wide open.
“Can you leave us alone for a moment?” Cain asked Daraku and he got a positive reaction.
“I will then explore the mansion as you two talk. you have no problem with that young lady, right?” Daraku looked at Alice directly.
“Not like I can stop you, please just don’t hurt anyone!” She said, barely able to speak.
Daraku then left leaving the two of them alone, Cain was still thinking of a way to start the conversation.
“It’s this late and you’re still awake?”
“I can’t sleep because of the pain, but yesterday I managed to get some rest thanks to you!” She replied.
Hearing her words, hardly able to speak. It made Cain’s heart hurt.
“I will cast the healing magic on you again, you don’t mind right?” He asked.
Alice just nodded as she was finding it hard to speak. Cain proceeded to Cast magic on her.
Alice was naked under the white sheet she was covered with, laying flat on her back. It seemed that she can’t wear clothes whilst sleeping as they will get entangled in her wounds and potentially hurt her more.
On a small table right beside her, there was an oil bottle. As she sleeps, her damaged skin will harden and it might get pulled out by the bedsheets. She needed to have her whole body oiled before sleeping to avoid that mess!
Her condition was even worse than Cain expected, he has to hurry.
Cain didn’t care to ask her as he could already guess her answer, he directly put his hands on her upper chest, directly below the left side of her collar bone. Trying to get as close to the heart as he could without making it look bad.
Using half of his MP, Cain blasted her body with as much healing magic he could. her expression seems to have relaxed a bit after that.
“Thanks, I feel better!” She said after he finished, It was clear it worked as she found it easier to speak.
“Don’t mention it, there is another thing I want to talk about!” Cain said, preparing to tell her about what he intended to do.
“If it is about what you did to my brother today, I very much appreciate it!” her sentence shocked Cain, he was wearing a mask and even yesterday he was covering his face! How did she manage to know him?
“Not just me, my other brother Leon and father are both happy you gave him a thrashing!” She continued.
“To be honest, I had another thing to speak with you about!” Cain started and Alice looked at him in anticipation.
“I know of a way to fix your condition!” His words didn’t seem to surprise Alice that much, as if she expected that, she replied with one word.
“Yes!”
