Isekai Assassin: Volume 1 Read online

  She frowned. “Because, for a time after the Thieves Guild was routed from the city, anyone caught near the guild house was sent to prison, or beaten within an inch of their lives, and then sent to prison.

  “The count made it very clear that he wouldn’t tolerate the Thieves Guild operating again in the city, so no one goes near it anymore. A roof over my head wasn’t worth the risk of getting caught. I’m not much of a fighter. I can’t defend myself, but you can. You’re strong enough to take on the guards if they do come snooping.”

  Aless seemed confident about the suggestion, and I had nothing better to offer. My funds were incredibly limited. I’d taken the dimension ring Charles wore, and I was betting there were a few vahn stored in it and around the office, but I doubted it was enough to buy me a house, let alone all the equipment I needed.

  If the Thieves Guild house was still in one piece, even if it was only temporary, it would give me some breathing room to find a more permanent residence.

  I nodded. “Alright. I’ll trust your judgment on this, and we can go check it out, but I’m not promising anything.”

  “It won’t disappoint you, I promise. It’s huge.”

  “Okay, let’s get this place cleared and go check it out.”

  We took anything of value, books, papers, and coin, and stored it in my ring. I had to hand it to the little silver band, it made things so much easier than I’d have ever thought possible. In ten minutes, we had everything of even remote value stored away.

  Once that was done, we headed up and out of the bar and through the busy city streets as the day came to a close.

  Aless led me in a winding path that eventually led to one of the gates leading out of the city.

  “We’re leaving Vohra?”

  “Not really. The land is still owned by Vohra, but it is outside of the city itself. Don’t worry, it’s literally a ten-minute walk from here.”

  As we walked through the gate, I once more had to show them my visa, and they let me through without any fuss.

  The two of us took a sharp left turn once we got far enough away from the city and veered off into the forest.

  It was slightly unnerving at twilight, but Aless has been right. After almost exactly ten minutes of walking down a poorly maintained trail that wound through the forest, we arrived at a small clearing.

  The dirt trail ended, and a paved cobblestone road began. It led to a small courtyard and, beyond that, a stone fence with an iron gate that led to the house.

  House wasn’t the right word.

  The estate was three stories of solid stone, with ivy growing up the sides and over the many darkened glass windows. It boasted a vaulted slate roof with a chimney and more than enough room for whatever I needed.

  I stood there for a moment and just marveled at it in the dying light of the sun. Aless glanced over at me, a light smile brimming on her lips.

  “Welcome to Blackfall Manor.”

  I whistled. It’s certainly a manor. I tilted my head and grinned down at her. “It’ll do.”

  “Well, let’s check it out. It’s been unattended for nearly seven years now, and I’m betting it’s going to need a lot of work.”

  “Probably, but we won’t know until we see for ourselves.”

  The two of us opened the creaking iron gate and walked up the smooth stone steps to Blackfall Manor’s arched entryway. It was wide, a small awning and a set of worn, but once expensive, wooden double doors. A small sigil was carved into the wood. A geometric pattern in the shape of a fox.

  I scratched at it, rubbing away a fine layer of dust and mold. “What’s this?”

  “The guild symbol,” Aless said, swatting my hand away. “Don’t mess it up. I used to take great pride in wearing that symbol.”

  She pulled at the strings of her cloak and let it fall to the ground. Underneath was a plain, beige tunic with a slight V collar and a pair of brown corduroy pants. Aless tugged at the collar of her shirt, pulling it down to reveal the upper portion of her chest.

  On top of her left breast was the same symbol on the door. It had been branded into her flesh, never to disappear. Below it was another symbol. The letter P with a rough crown on top.

  “What does the symbol under it stand for?”

  “Prowler.” She let go of the shirt and fixed it back in place, hiding the brand before picking up her cloak. “The crown stood for captain. I was the leader of my own group of thieves.”

  “What happened to them all when the guild left?”

  She raised her hands, shaking her head. “Some followed after them, some stayed, kept stealing and ended up dead. And some joined me, became pickpockets. A much less risky occupation.”

  I rubbed my chin, leaning back against the stone archway. “But stealing is stealing. Is the punishment for pickpocketing not the same as burglary?”

  “It was. Even now it’s still harsh; ten years in prison or five years in the mines if they don’t decide to just kill you outright. But they mostly stopped executing people about a year after the guild left. Their point had been made.”

  Harsh. Draconian. Effective. How does the count get away with it, though? He’s still beholden to the queen, though maybe she’s too far removed from the situation to care…or perhaps she even approves? Crime is probably down as a whole.

  Whatever the reason, neither it nor the queen were my concern at the moment.

  The massive manor was.

  Gonna be a nightmare to clean.

  “Alright, let’s go in and check it out.”

  The door wasn’t locked, which was a subtle surprise, but the heavy wooden door was stuck from having been stationary for so many years. I put my shoulder into it and shoved it open. It flew open, nearly depositing me on the ground, but I managed to keep myself righted.

  A flurry of dust kicked up from the door opening, rushing to my nose as I inhaled. It clung stagnant to the back of my throat and nose, and I fought to keep from sneezing. I wiped my face and stared around.

  The air was stale on the first floor. Which seemed to be more of a meeting area than a parlor room. To my right were a number of sofas and lounge chairs, small round tables sat next to each piece of furniture, forgotten mugs sat waiting for their owner’s return.

  To the left was a bar. It was small, a six-foot, wooden countertop behind a few shelves with spirits. Stools sat in front of the counter, and tables lay scattered atop the slightly bowed hardwood floors.

  Straight in front of me was a dual spiral staircase that led to the upper floors.

  “What was this level?”

  Aless chuckled and pointed at the lounge area. “As you can see, this floor was for us thieves to gather and relax after a job. We have comfortable chairs, a bar, and even a kitchen in the next room. Along with the bathrooms, of course. This place was always busy, no matter the time of day.

  “’Course the bedrooms were right above the bar, so it was always hard trying to go to sleep at night, or morning.”

  I glanced up at the hand carved wood of the stairs that led to the second and third floors. “Is the second floor just the bedrooms? Seems rather large to just be for that.”

  She laughed and walked over to the bannister, running her fingers along its dusty surface. “It’s not. It’s also where the training rooms are, and beyond that are the third-floor offices and library. Though I don’t know what’s in the office. I was never allowed to go in them, only the Six Fingers were allowed in there.

  “And before you ask, the Six Fingers were the ruling council of the guild. They ran everything and were pretty powerful people, though I never knew who they actually were. They wore masks and used false names.”

  “Smart. Seems like Vohra used to be a pretty decent hub for the underworld. Hard to believe the count wiped out pretty much everybody in just a couple of years.”

  She shrugged. “Don’t know about all that. Just know I lost my home to that bastard.” She held her hands in front of her, pantomiming choking. “What I’d give to ha
ve the chance to kill that man. I’d take my time.”

  I snorted and walked over to her. I patted her shoulder. “Well, you’re in luck. He’s my target. So, if you can prove yourself, you may get a chance to help me end his life.”

  She whirled on me, her eyebrows raising so high I thought they’d fly off her face. “You’re after the count?”

  I nodded. “Yep. But I can’t just kill him and walk away. I need a strong base under me before I attempt something like that.”

  “Which is what you’ve been doing. Taking out Charles, gathering up the pickpockets. You’re building something. Something like what the Foxes used to be, right?”

  “Maybe.” I shrugged. “But it’s not going to be easy, and I can’t do it alone. I’m going to need to find people I can trust to help turn this chaos back into something recognizable.

  “But that’s not going to be for a little while. The first thing I need to do is get myself set up so I can start taking out the thorns of this city. Only then can I even think about rebuilding the underworld.”

  She nodded along, her eyes never losing their luster. “What do you need from me?”

  “Your pickpockets. I need them under one flag, so to speak. If we can get them organized, as well as the beggars, then that gives the basis for an information network.”

  “Beggars?” Aless tilted her head slightly, her eyes narrowing in confusion. “Why beggars?”

  “Beggars, urchins, prostitutes. Those who hear and see all but go unnoticed by most. Beggars and street rats hear and see more than anyone would ever expect. And they’ll happily spill those secrets for a pittance.”

  She smiled wide at me, coming closer. “You’ve put a lot of thought into this, haven’t you? Where did you learn all this? Even the Foxes wouldn’t have thought to weaponize the poor and the desperate, and they were the smartest people I’ve known.”

  Really? Is it because of a stigma against the poor and the damned, or just an oversight? That seems a common thought, but again, I’m not on Earth any longer. Xenai definitely operates by different rules than I’m used to.

  I chuckled and walked up the stairs, tilting my head back towards Aless. “Let’s just say it was a common practice where I come from. A place that’s very far away from here.”

  She nodded along. “Well, whatever it is, I’m just thankful I tried to pick your pocket. Maybe we can bring back the glory of the Thieves Guild.”

  “Oh, no. The Foxes will never again operate in this city, if I have my say in any of it.” I shook my head. “Though there might eventually be a facsimile of a guild, it just won’t be what you’re expecting.

  “I don’t know enough about the Foxes to trust them. They probably have their own methods and traditions that will likely clash with what I’m trying to do. I’d rather build my own version of the guild if it comes to that, rather than relying on the principles of a guild I know nothing about.”

  “Okay. I don’t really understand why, but you seem to be many more steps ahead of me, and I trust you.” She looked away, her eyes heavy.

  I smiled at her. “Hey, cheer up. You’re not a thief anymore, but an assassin’s apprentice. Assassin beats thief in my book, though our two careers overlap more often than not.”

  She matched my smile. “Right, not a thief, but an assassin. I can live with that.”

  With that said, we climbed the stairs and went to check out the second floor.

  It was just as she said, room after room filled with beds. They were separated by heavy curtains like the ones I’d seen in the hospitals of Earth, but they were thick, dark wool, meant to keep out sunlight as well as offering a measure of privacy.

  On the other side of the floor were the training rooms. A few for hand-to-hand combat or just calisthenics. Even one that seemed to be built for moving the way Aless did. It consisted of plush mats and a bunch of bars and obstacles.

  Even I had to grin looking at it. Okay, now I do have to admit that that seems like fun. When was the last time I just had fun?

  It’s been years…since Elizabeth.

  I’d greatly enjoyed being her teacher. She’d brought a bit of life to my rather dull existence. I’d grown fond of her quickly and then, without even meaning to, fallen in love.

  And then she betrayed me. I won’t let that happen again. Aless reminds me so much of Elizabeth. I just hope she doesn’t turn out the same.

  Though I kind of liked Aless, I couldn’t let her get too close.

  Rule five. People lie and betray. Trust yourself. And if you must trust another, never trust blindly. Verify.

  A rule that was born only after Elizabeth left me. But it was a valuable lesson learned.

  After we checked out the training rooms, the two of us headed to the third and final floor. As she’d said, it was a mixture of a few offices, a study, and a library. All of it as dusty and abandoned as the rest of the house; spiderwebs nested overhead and in the high corners of the ceiling, probably upset at the intrusion to what had been their domain.

  I went to the left and began looking through the rows of books. I picked one up at random. Locks and How to Pick Them; A Hobbyist’s Guide by Milton Horn. I snorted and put the book back where it belonged.

  The library was a nice addition to the space, but I was more interested in the offices that lay just beyond it.

  I walked through and grabbed the door handle. It was locked. The first locked door I’d come across in the mansion.

  Well, that’s no big deal.

  I pulled my pick set from my pouch and knelt to get a better look at the lock.

  At once, I knew it wasn’t what I was used to. It was special made, but no maker’s stamp was engraved into it. I pulled a hook from the set and ran it over the tumblers, getting a feel for them. There were seven in total, which was odd. Most locks only had five pins.

  “Ah, this one is tricky.” I tapped it with my pick. “It has a few false pins. Trip one and it resets. This is an advanced lock. Makes me curious what lies beyond it.”

  “Can you pick it?”

  I nodded. “Of course I can. Never met a lock I couldn’t pick, but this is a nasty little monster, that’s for sure.”

  Grabbing my tension wrench and my hook, I got to work. I preferred single pin picking over raking. It was much more precise and required a lot more skill, even if it took more time. It only took a couple minutes and a single failure, but once I found the false pins, it held no more challenges, and the satisfying click of the lock engaging was music to my ears.

  “Got it.”

  Your Lockpicking skill has increased by 5! [Lockpicking: 9 (Novice)] +125 Exp!

  Five points? Guess that tracks. A lock like that doesn’t come along every day, now does it?

  I opened it to check for traps, but the door was heavy and moved on its own before I could control it. Tension tugged at the door followed by a snap of twine.

  My instincts screamed at me and I turned, diving at Aless. I tackled her to the ground as a rush of air sailed past followed by a thwack as an object struck wood.

  Your Agility has increased by 1! [Agility: 42] +100 Exp!

  Damn, that was close. I figured it was trapped, but I should’ve had a better grip on the door.

  I tilted my head back toward Aless who was less than an inch from my face, our noses actually touching.

  “You okay?” I asked.

  “Uh-huh.” She breathed out. The sweet scent of mint drifted past my nose as her hot breath tickled my cheeks. She smiled. “Though if you wanted to get a handful, you could’ve just asked.”

  I looked down at my hand very much on her breast, the thin cotton shirt doing nothing to disguise the softness of her curves. I chuckled, removing my hand very carefully.

  “Sorry about that. But I’d say an accidental groping is better than getting killed by a trap, don’t you think?”

  “Infinitely.” She smirked at me.

  I sat up and held a hand for her. She took it, and I hauled her up. I went to the far wall
and found what almost killed us. I pulled the quarrel from the wall and held it up.

  “Crossbow bolt. Would’ve torn through us like parchment.”

  “Guess I should thank you for saving my life,” Aless said.

  I shrugged. “Think nothing of it.

  “Now let’s go see what your Six Fingers were trying so desperately to hide.”

  Not taking any chances, I took the lead. I crouched low, making sure to double and triple check for traps, because if there was one trap, there would likely be two.

  Lure someone into a false sense of confidence and then spring the second trap. It’s what I’d do. Though anyone with the skills to pick that lock would be wary of traps.

  So maybe it isn’t a trap to kill someone, but a test. A challenge.

  But for what, I wonder?

  With caution, we stepped inside.

  Chapter 16- The Beginning

  As the door creaked open, I was cautious, trying to avoid stumbling into any more traps.

  But as we entered, there were none that I could find.

  The office was quaint and very muted compared to the affluence I’d seen in the Noble District. The wooden floor, though worn, was well constructed. The walls were stone, though the vaulted ceiling and support beams were wooden. A large, stone fireplace sat in the corner next to a pair of old leather chairs and a couch.

  The study reminded me of my own home back on Earth. Well cared for and quality, but nothing that screamed excessive wealth. For a brief moment, it was like I’d returned to a place I’d likely never see again, and a wave of nostalgia settled in my chest.

  Because of that, I found I liked the place. It felt like home to me.

  “It's nice here, but I was expecting more gold, to be honest,” Aless said.

  “Gold would look distasteful here. This place has everything it needs and nothing it doesn’t. I like it. It reminds me of home.”

  Aless came over, bumping my shoulder with hers. “You talk like you miss your home. Why’d you leave?”

  “It’s a long story, but let’s just say I came here as a favor to a man who saved my life.”