33 Goblin On The Case

Jellal surprisingly doesn't give chase when the young staff member bolts. With his mana's range it would be nearly impossible for them to escape so he decides to take his time. Casually walking toward the front of the warehouse he brushes past Violet, not forgetting to pause and taunt her on his way past.

[It would seem the merchant association isn't all it's cracked up to be. To think an employee would even dare to steal in front of their boss. With such shady individuals working here it raises a lot of questions. The reason you're able to stay afloat and make so much money isn't because you're working with criminals, is it? I would love to stay and chat, but someone took something that belongs to me and I'd like to know why. Ah, good luck with the damage control when people find out your employing thieves, kekeke.]

Leaving the warehouse he takes a leisurely stroll, following after the thief. The guards see him walking around like he owns the place and move to intercept him. As they're about to draw their weapons Violet also steps out of the warehouse and waves them off.

Leisurely making his way to the three and a half meter high wall surrounding the premises he jumps. Turning his body horizontal he places his right hand on top of the wall as he easily clears it. Landing on the other side he speeds up his pursuit.

Instead of following behind the criminal where he would be expected to be, he moves down streets running parallel to them. Eventually the thief makes his way to a rundown building. Looking around suspiciously to ensure no one's following him he ducks into the building.

On a nearby street a group of guards patrol, looking for suspicious activity. Seeing the familiar head guard and his men Jellal adjusts his plan. Jellal walks up to the head guard and throws his arm around his shoulder.

[Long time no see, umm …] [Kite] [Well then Kite, we have work to do. Let's go.]

[Unhand me! I have an obligation to protect the citizens of this city. Listen to me! You can't just drag people off on a whim!]

[I told you already, it's work. Your job is to stop criminals. I know where one is, so do your job.]

Kite's complaints fell on deaf ears as he's dragged to the building the thief entered. Barging in as if he owned the place Jellal traced the steps of the criminal. Arriving at an inconspicuous fireplace he releases his temporary partner so he can continue forward.

Sticking his hand under the pile of burnt wood he presses a hidden button. While it's still pressed he reaches up and tilts a brick on the top of the fireplace forward. Releasing the button he uses his newly freed hand to flip a switch that had been previously hidden by the brick.

The back wall of the fireplace creeks as it swings open to reveal a flight of stairs leading down into a secret passage. The noisy Kite finally falls silent when he sees such a thoroughly hidden secret tunnel. With his guard down he's once again grabbed and pulled into the secret tunnel.

His men reluctantly enter the house chasing after their kidnapped leader only to find an empty house with no one in sight. No matter how hard they search they can't find so much as a single clue. Unsure what happened to their leader they leave three people in the house, three in front of the house, and send the remaining three to the guard station to report the situation.

Meanwhile Kite and Jellal are reaching the end of the tunnel. Being extra quiet they climb the flight of stairs up to a brick wall which blocks their path. Placing his index finger in front of his mask Jellal signals his partner to stay silent.

Without a sound he pushes a brick on the wall with both his hands and one of his feet. When all three disguised buttons are pressed he methodically turns the wall and slides through the opening. Kite, having already come this far, follows along willingly.

Crawling out of the fireplace they find themselves in what seems to be a study. The wall opposite the fireplace is lined with bookshelves while a large desk sits at the back of the room. Behind the desk hangs a large painting of a dragon spewing flames toward the viewer.

At the desk Jellal twists the base of the candle holder before pressing down on the handle of the top left drawer. Moving to the centermost bookshelf he grabs the wood on the left side between the fourth and fifth shelves. A solid yank reveals it to be a well-hidden lever, opening another hidden door.

'The owner of this place must have some sort of obsession with secret rooms and contraptions. What kind of person puts a hidden tunnel leading off their property and a secret room in the same study? I'm sure it's convenient for concealing anyone who comes through the tunnel, but putting them in the same room is just increasing the number of things an outsider can stumble upon. There's also the hidden safe to worry about being discovered. Taking the risk of sticking so many contraptions in a single room doesn't make much sense unless they're obsessed.'

Silently creeping next to the door Kite listens in on the conversation happening within. Jellal takes the opportunity to slip away to handle some other business while Kite's distracted.

[Are you sure it's his?]

[Yes, my lord. The items we gave him were marked with a symbolic spiral in three places. It's as you said, if something happens to the bandits the normal items will be sold to the merchant association. You're truly brilliant to brand them so we'll know immediately if something happens. This humble servant could never have thought up such a magnificent plan.]

[Are you sure it wasn't one of the bandits trying to eke out some extra profit?]

[There were several armors and weapons we provided along with some shoes, my lord. The person who brought them in also admitted to them being from a bandits' den. All signs point to total annihilation. Unfortunately I was noticed collecting the evidence and had to make a run for it. Please punish this useless servant for being unable to perform his tasks properly.]

[You were caught? Are you certain you weren't followed?]

[Of course, my lord. I checked behind me on the way to the house and at each entrance I passed through. There's no way I could have been followed, rest assured.]

[Go back where you came from, and tell the others to be on the lookout for the person who brought in the items. First Ellis gets caught, and now Murdoc's done for as well. Why is it so hard to find competent subordinates?]

The pair walks to the entrance of the secret room before going through the overly complicated procedure to unlock the secret door and leave. Stepping into the study everything appears normal.

The mastermind sits behind his desk, waiting for the grunt to take his leave. When the room is clear of any extra eyes he turns around to look at the painting. Standing directly in front of it with his feet shoulder width apart he begins caressing the right side of the painting, knocking it slightly off kilter.

Pushing the lower right corner it sinks into the wall. Reaching under the corner he pushes the button that unlocks the hidden safe. With it unlocked he straightens the painting before pulling its left side, causing it to swing open along with the door of the safe.

The safe is filled with jewels and gold, along with an item bag containing a stack of papers detailing his shady business practices. Using these files he's managed to avoid being cheated by the less than reputable people he's been doing business with. Naturally, having detailed accounts doesn't always have persuasive power on criminals but coupled with his status and ability to manipulate things from behind the scenes very few have the guts to try to double cross him.

The business partners that do betray him or lose their usefulness tend to be killed by reputable figures shortly afterwards. When they no longer exist their files don't need to either, which is why he only has the single stack in the safe. The files that become a liability are immediately destroyed to keep things well organized.

Reaching into his item bag to grab the files he notices something wrong; he can't use his item bag. He specifically chose to use an item bag because they can only be accessed by a single individual. As long as he didn't pull out the files in front of people it would be completely safe, or so he thought.

Panic sets in as he whips his head around to find Kite and Jellal standing in front of the secret tunnel. Jellal is flipping through the files while a displeased Kite glares at the mastermind.

While the criminals had been finishing up their conversation they had slipped back into the tunnel. Jellal ran to unlock the other side and let the guards waiting outside in before he rushed back to meet with Kite who had stopped part way through the tunnel to catch the pawn. He never expected Jellal to throw a knife over his shoulder and kill the perp without giving him the chance to make an arrest.

After killing the pawn they rushed back to the mastermind just in time for him to turn around and spot them.

[What a coincidence meeting you here Sir Holt. Care to explain why I ended up here when I was following the trail of a thief?]

[For a guard to break into a noble's house is a grave crime. I'd like to see how you worm your way off the execution block after trying to frame a noble. Security!]

Following Sir Holt's scream a group of twenty armed guards rushed into the room. Backing away Sir Holt attempts to circle around behind the guards.

[Any of you that get in the way will be charged as accomplices in your bosses crimes. If you drop your weapons and surrender you still have a chance to prove your innocence.]

While talking down Holt's security a pair of Kite's men come out of the tunnel as backup.

[Go to the guard station and have them send backup to Sir Holt's manor. Be sure to leave a couple people to guard the secret tunnel just to be safe.]

Giving a salute the city guards immediately rush back through the tunnel to carry out their orders.

[Last chance to surrender peacefully. If you don't, you'll only have yourself to blame if you don't live to see the investigation.]

[Hurry and kill the intruders. That's an order.]

Facing threats from both sides Holt's guards glance at each other before unsheathing their blades. Grouping together in threes they lunge at the intruders. They have three groups go after each intruder while the two odd men out act as guards for Sir Holt.

Kite draws his swords as he circles to his left. He uses a series of horizontal swings to threaten as many of them as possible he keeps his back close to the wall, preventing himself from being completely surrounded.

Jellal pulls out a pair of throwing knives as three groups approach him. Four blades approach him at the same time, yet he casually lifts the knives. Stepping forward he ducks two blades while using his knives to simultaneously deflect the other two.

Lunging forward he jams a knife under one guards chin. Springing off the ground he places his hand on the freshly deceased man's shoulder and spins over top of him, deflecting two attacks in the process. Giving the corpse a solid kick he launches it into some guards while propelling himself forward.

As he lands he throws both knives at guards approaching from either side before charging two guards at the back of the pack. Doing a spin horizontal to the ground he narrowly avoids a pair of horizontal strikes aimed at his neck and knees.

Kicking out the left guard's knee he causes him to collapse. Placing a foot on the guards shoulder he uses him as a platform to perform a backflip off of, giving him a foot to the jaw in the process. The right guard's sword cuts through where he had just been standing as he soars over the guard's head.

He pulls out another pair of knives before sticking the landing. Four guards approach from behind, but he ignores them and rushes the two in front of him. Spinning as he brushes past the foremost guard he deflects one attack while throwing his second knife at the one struggling to stand.

Planting his foot past the guard he lodges his knife in the back of his head. Instead of kicking the body he aims for the hand holding the sword, wending it flying toward the four approaching guards who hastily dodge.

Taking advantage of the gap created he turns on the jets, speeding past two of them. Blood spews from their necks as they fall lifelessly to the ground, not even knowing how they died. Before the other two have a chance to turn around one of them has a throwing knife lodged in the back of their neck.

The final guard turns around at the same time as Jellal. Slowly approaching the last guard Jellal sticks his hands out to show he's unarmed. The frightened guard refuses to attack even when he gets in range, intending to counter when he's attacked.

Jellal reaches toward his opponents face, prompting him to counter with a short precise swing aiming for his hand. Stepping forward he catches the enemy's wrist preventing them from attacking with their sword while simultaneously delivering a kick to their ribs.

The guard throws a punch to force him to retreat, but it's caught by Jellal's free hand. Using a series of kicks to the inner knee he forces his opponent to kneel in front of him. Delivering a knee to the face he releases his off hand and pivots around to their back before wrenching their sword arm.

Unable to keep hold of the sword it falls gently into Jellal's waiting hands. Holding the hilt with one hand and the blade with the other he holds it in front of his foe's chest. He brings it toward their neck as he uses his he to press them forward.

Desperate to protect his life the guard uses both hands to grab the blade, attempting to force it away from his neck. Blood drips from his palms as he uses everything he has to stop the blade, but to no avail. It moves closer at an intentionally slow pace as it begins to cut into his throat.

As the sword inches forward increasingly profuse amounts of blood flows from his neck. The light gradually fades from his eyes as he stops resisting. A final strong knee to the back sends his head and body falling to the ground separately.

With the grunts that came after him taken care of Jellal moves in front of the door to ensure Sir Holt doesn't escape. Under normal circumstances he wouldn't go out of his way to stop a criminal, but Sir Holt made the mistake of ordering his men to kill him. Such a transgression is something he obviously can't overlook, thus Sir Holt's fate has been sealed.

Pulling up a chair he plays the role of spectator as Kite fights with his life on the line. With a sword in each hand he maintains a solid defense. Being chased around he waits for one of them to overextend and separate from the pack before unleashing a flurry of blows.

The guard blocks a good portion of the attacks but is still left with numerous cuts. When the other guards catch up he returns to kiting them until one of them is alone. The guards aren't stupid enough to fall for the same old trick every time and intentionally spread out.

Instead of chasing they block his escape routes and slowly close the net around him. As they get closer together a light blue glow faintly covers Kite's swords. He crosses his arm in front of him, a blade pointing behind him with the blade out on each side of his body.

Letting out a shout he swings his swords at the same time. His aura trails the blades forming a crossing pair of crescent moons stretching from one of his sides to the other. The aura only travels out two meters, but it's far enough to hit all the guards that had grouped up to attack him.

The guards use their swords to block, but are ultimately unable to stop the aura. Every guard in the vicinity is left with bloody gashes on their chests. Two of the weaker ones failed to block in time resulting in their deaths while the other seven are left severely wounded.

The attack also did a number on the guards' weapons. Although they aren't broken, their integrity is already compromised making the fight even more dangerous for the guards.

The sound of clapping comes from the entertained spectator in the doorway, disrupting the tense battle distracting the guards. Kite jumps at the chance and goes on the offensive. With his aura coated blades he charges forward delivering a flurry of blows, easily breaks through the compromised defense of a pair of distracted guards and giving rise to two more casualties.

The next guard to fall is a victim of untimely weapon failure. With a broken sword the chances of stopping the onslaught disappears along with his life.

Half of the remaining four move forward together while the other two swap weapons. Joining the fray with their fresh weapons they allow the other pair to back off and swap their weapons as well.

Fending off the pair of guards Kite makes sure to always keep them both in front of him. When one of them gets overzealous and attacks alone he chops at their sword from both sides with his blades, breaking it. The other guard is quick to react, but is unable to protect his comrade while defending himself.

The guard retreats to find another sword leaving his partner to deal with Kite alone. Following an intense flurry of blows another sword is shattered to pieces leaving both guards vulnerable.

[You can either surrender or you can die fighting. Take your pick.]