Arcane Innovator

Running across the dim-lit street, I silently approached the unassuming warehouse while keeping to the shadows. The night air was cool against my skin, and my heart raced with anticipation as I inched closer.

I proceeded cautiously, avoiding any squeaky floorboards or loose stones that might give away my presence. At the same time, my eyes were firmly glued to the inconspicuous side entrance marked by a single flickering torch.

Yet before I could attempt to enter the warehouse itself, I had to do something about all those pesky guards prowling around the perimeter.

It was already a small miracle they hadn't spotted me until now, but I knew that my luck was bound to run dry as soon as I tried to approach the tightly guarded door.

So, since I didn't plan to leave any one of them alive anyway, I took care of them one by one with a stone bullet working from the most secluded corner of the small courtyard up to the front gate so they wouldn't notice anything being amiss until it was too late.

I was aware that they most likely hadn't taken part in the assault on our mansion. However, since they chose to work for the bastards who did, I wasn't planning to show them any mercy tonight.

When the last of the poorly equipped thugs fell to the ground with a quiet thud, I eagerly emerged from my hideout.

With the way cleared, I could finally make my way inside. So, I slowly crept toward the door, halfway expecting another guard to pop out, but to my surprise, the whole place seemed totally deserted.

Thus, before long, I found myself in a vast, dimly lit space filled with countless crates and barrels stacked all the way to the ceiling, creating a maze of narrow alleys and passageways.

The air was heavy with the smell of musty wood and a faint odor of dried herbs. My eyes darted around, searching for any signs of the thugs I saw entering earlier.

Creeping deeper into the eerie hall, my footsteps were barely making a sound as I moved through this wooden maze.

As I continued exploring, I noticed a faint flickering light coming from the very back of the warehouse.

With my curiosity piqued, I carefully made my way towards it, and before long, the soft murmurs of hushed voices filled my ears, growing more apparent with each consequent step.

'Gotcha...'

I could see many figures huddled around a small table covered in documents and maps.

One of them - the same shady-looking character from before, was just about to admonish the others about something, looking at them with a stern face and a distinct air of authority around him.

"...if we don't fulfill our mission perfectly this time around, the consequences will be dire," he said threateningly, his face hidden under a dark cloak with intricate embroidery.

The others looked at him apprehensively, offering him short, nervous nods as if nobody dared to voice their opinions.

But before the dark-cloaked man could say anything else, the nervous silence was abruptly shattered by several earth spikes skewering his underlings left and right.

I wasn't interested in listening to their illicit dealings and didn't bother making a grand entrance or doing some righteous speech; rather, I began slaying the thugs without mercy.

Some tried to escape, some tried to fight back, but I would be giving them too much credit if I said they stood any chance.

The air took on a distinct metallic odor as the blood soaked into the ground. Before long, the horrified screams subsided, and it was just me and the shady character in a room full of corpses.

"W-Who are you?" He shouted, stumbling backward. His previous arrogance was nowhere to be found.

"Where is Theodore?" I asked with a low, measured voice.

He blinked, acting confused for a moment, but then a sudden realization dawned on him, and he bursted out laughing.

"Hahaha! It's you! You've got some courage to come out here. I got to hand it to you... but you'll get nothing out of me!"

Seeing his resolved, furious look, I couldn't help but sigh, and despite knowing it was most likely a futile effort, I tried to reason with him.

"It's just you and me now... How about you tell me what I want to know, and I can promise you a swift death."

"Hahahaha!" He started maniacally laughing but didn't say anything else.

After that, an awkward silence followed as the thug only deigned to faintly smile while keeping his mouth firmly shut. I sighed again, wondering how to get the needed information out of him.

I had no experience with torture, and although I had a general idea of how it was usually done, thanks to the movies I watched back on Earth, it would be an entirely different thing doing it in real life.

I sported no affinity for the thugs, yet I was reluctant to do anything too drastic, knowing it would probably haunt me in my dreams afterward.

But before I could come to a satisfying decision, I noticed that the thug started wildly thrashing about while a white foam pooled at his mouth.

I widened my eyes, realizing he must have somehow taken poison to end his own life.

'Oh, crap!' I thought, watching incredulously as the thug's lips began turning blue while he gasped for air, yet there was nothing I could do about it. I had no antidote and was unsure if a healing potion would work against a poison.

'So, that prolonged silence and the mysterious smile... he was just buying time until the poison started working!' I cursed as I shook my head, astonished by the lengths these people would go to ensure their secrets stayed hidden.

'Whatever... it's not like I would get much out of him anyway.' With yet another sigh, I left him slowly choking to death with that poison of his, and instead, I went on to inspect that mysterious shipment they were talking about.

Approaching the half-unloaded carriage, I removed the tilt and looked inside.

'Huh? What's this?' I narrowed my eyes, watching rows upon rows of exquisite bottles. I took one out, and at close examination, I found a small label that read "Purified water."

'Oh, so this is what this is about!' I widened my eyes in realization before grimacing. I should have guessed something like this... Theo doesn't know how to make distilled water, so if they are forcing him to produce potions for them, they would need those.

Now, everything was beginning to make perfect sense. Still, they couldn't order such a massive quantity out of the blue... There must have been some records about such an expensive shipment taking place.

The Alchemists mostly come from noble households, and they were well-known for their insistence on rules and proper etiquette, so they wouldn't sell something like this off the book.

'Where could such records be kept in this god-forsaken town?' I pondered, looking at the pristine bottles with furrowed brows.

But then a realization dawned on me. 'That's right! The Mayor's residence...'

Usually, the idea of breaking into the most protected building in the whole of Ostengard would make me slightly apprehensive, but I was already a wanted criminal, so adding another offense on top of everything else wouldn't make much of a difference.

Yet I still wanted to keep my cover for a bit longer, not eager to be forced to sleep on the cold hard ground in the wild once again.

Thus, I first pocketed a bottle of the purified water as evidence, together with some spare change I found lying around on the table in the back room, before quickly making my way out to collect the guards' bodies and levitating them inside.

Then, with a flick of a wrist, I summoned a bundle of hungry flames, which I then unleashed upon the warehouse's wooden interior.

It didn't take long before the whole building went up in flames. The blaze flared dozens of meters into the night sky, announcing a dire crisis for the Small Town.

Smoke billowed out from the windows and doors, darkening the sky and filling the air with a pungent smell.

Soon, the bells were loudly tolling, urgently calling for the people to come to help fight the fire before it could spread.

I could feel the heat from the flames licking at my skin as I made my way out of the warehouse, quickly disappearing into the night.

I watched from afar for a while as the panicked people rushed out of their homes, alarmed by the sight and sound of the roaring blaze.

Turning around, I left the shocked Watchmen and the rest of the onlookers to deal with the chaos I had caused as I made my way to the Town square while thinking.

'I guess now would be the perfect time to pay a visit to the Mayor's office...'