Chapter 676: Chapter 676
After that quick exchange, Worthramble activated visual and presence camouflage simultaneously, after which Mira headed down the stairs.
The underground hideout of the mansion looked like a long hallway, with various doors on each side, leading into at least ten other rooms.
But what caught Mira’s eyes the most was how luxurious everything looked. The furnishings there were just as shiny and gaudy as those of a noble, so that hidden area likely belonged to someone important.
(They’re really living things out down here.)
All of those items belonged to the assassins, so Mira already knew what would happen once the assassins were apprehended. The mansion would be cordoned off, and all items within would be declared abandoned and confiscated into the imperial coffers.
That realization soon tempted her to take one or two items herself, as they could be useful when bartering for items with spirits in them later on. But she soon stopped herself, as it did not matter how much she rationalized it, it would still be stealing at the end of the day.
(Having to work honestly and earn enough to obtain them is what allows us to accept each other.)
Any of those items would sell for upwards of ten million Rils, making them really enticing, but Mira forced those thoughts out of her mind, telling herself that they would at least give her some reward money for her work there, and moved through the hall.
“Really? You want to carry that all the way out?”
One of the doors was slightly opened, and she heard those voices coming from within. Peeking inside, she saw a man holding onto a rather unsightly vase, and another one looking at the first in disbelief. Both of them were also wearing eerie masks, making them rather unsightly as well.
The ground floor was currently filled with cries of dismay as they all fell at the hands of Mira’s summons, but those below were unaware of all that.
She checked other rooms as well, and heard people casually talking about how they struggled to sleep with different pillows, or how their plants were about to sprout, what was worth taking, and so on. They did not seem to have any rush in leaving.
For a moment she wondered if they had no idea what was happening above them, but that was not quite it.
“They got here far earlier than anticipated, huh. At least we shouldn’t have any issues.”
“Yeah. It’ll take them a while to find this place.”
There was a large room at the end of the hallway, where the men in higher positions began to gather one after another. There were around twenty of them in total, and they seemed unbothered by what was happening upstairs. They were confident that no matter what happened, they would be able to get away.
And they had more than enough reason for that, as simply finding the existence of a secret room in a mansion took time, and prying open the way there took even longer, giving them plenty of time to get ready to escape.
The way they spoke also made it clear they had more authority in their group than the rest. All of them wore masks, and referred to each other by whatever their masks represented.
(Hmmm… It makes sense for the higher-ups to be in the secret area. And they have a secret route out too…and it’s somewhere in this room)
It was almost expected for a secret area in a mansion to also have an escape route. So that was the first thing Mira searched for in there, and deduced that it was located somewhere in the big room everyone was gathering in.
Mira silently snuck into the room as well, staying in a corner to observe what would happen. She did not want to let a single one get away, and it was better to just get them all in one go, so she waited until everyone was there.
She also noticed some movement in the farthest end of the room. A large Gardia Tribe man, the boss of everyone there, had just ordered the three assassins Mira had initially tracked to tear off the wallpaper.
“Ah, there it is, that should be the lever.”
“Let’s get away already!”
After a brief moment of confusion, Mira understood why they did that. There was a cavity in the wall beneath the wallpaper, housing a hidden lever, which was likely the way to open the secret exit. Seeing it, the three assassins gathered around it in unrest.
“Stop, don’t even think of pulling it yet.”
And then the boss stopped them. That lever would open the way out, but it would also activate a mechanism that would destroy the exit after three minutes. So they could only leave once everyone gathered.
(Hmm, only three minutes… That complicates a potential pursuit.)
At least that meant that no one would leave ahead of the rest, something Mira appreciated as she grinned devilishly while sitting in wait for the remaining members.
“I wish I had an Operator’s Bracelet too.”
“You were expelled once already, right? Then just give up.” Follow current novels on ɴovelfire.net
The men arriving were all carrying large and heavy loads, and they seemed to really regret not being able to take more of those valuable items with them, as they constantly complained about it. Still, they knew that facing the assault platoon was a losing battle and had no choice but to escape.
“I just secured the entrance, but things are really ugly upstairs. That assault platoon is far stronger than we heard, especially those in gray armor. Just who’s the moron that failed to report on that?”
One of the men who entered, who gave off a rather knowledgeable appearance, began complaining about that. Somehow, he gave the appearance of being the boss’ right hand.
“They got here faster than we thought, and they’re also stronger. It seems they were feeding us fake information.”
The boss replied with a clearly irritated voice, but without raising it too much. “We’ll make sure to pay them back for this,” he added, grinning menacingly, to which his right hand man replied while smiling similarly, “They’ll regret making us go all out.”
(Sorry about this, but I’m not the assault platoon you were expecting.)
The higher ups down there still were under the impression that Mira’s summons were the assault platoon, so they kept repeating things like, “Next time we’ll slaughter them all,” “Just wait and see what happens next time when I go with the search team,” and so on, already making plans for the future.
(Sorry again, but none of you will have a next time.)
Finally someone arrived, apologizing for the wait. He was the final member, so with him there the boss said, “Time to leave then,” and gave the order to pull the lever.
Just in case, Mira used Life Sense to check the surroundings and verified that everyone had gathered in the room. That meant it was also time for her to act, so after looking around the room, she went to the door.
“Hm? Is it me or the door just opened on its own…”
Everyone was looking at the three with the lever, when one noticed a soft noise and turned around, noticing that the door was slightly ajar. And Mira aimed for that moment.
(Catch! A small present from me.)
Mira and Worthramble had gotten out of the room, and Mira chuckled as she threw various Magic Bomb Sealing Stones into the room.
The stones became visible once they flew outside of the optical camouflage range, making the man that turned around raise his voice in confusion. That prompted everyone else to also turn around to look at it, just as the stones were set off into a thunderous explosion that shook the whole building.