16 Rider's Mansion
"Your visit was short, but I'll have to kindly ask you to leave this instance" the masked man says.
He takes out a Rapier and approaches us slowly.
"It's either you leave, or I make you leave. Your choice" he says
"Make something up, we need to look around this place" Seph tells us through telepathy.
Ravenna and I looked at each other and nodded
"We're here on urgent business" I say out loud
"Urgent business, and what might that be?" the masked man asks
"My name is-"
"Athelstan, yes yes I know of you wanted criminals. What would you trouble makers want to do here?" he asks
I was gonna make some up on the spot lie, but I guess this is a flaw of being part of a well known group of assassins
"We've been hired by the king" Ravenna says
"Hired to do what?" He asks
"Something we can only say to the lord of this mansion" she replies
"Hmph, then I guess you can enter.." he says opening the front doors
The three of us make out way avoiding the magic circle and we enter the mansion. The moment we enter, we were in a very big spacious room with sofas and tables on both sides and hallways at the other end leading to different parts of the mansion. There would be three girls in maid uniforms, all half-human. One girl has almost light green skin colour, one has cat ears and wears glasses, the third girl is a half elf with her very unusual blonde hair. Yes, most elves have hair that don't look natural, her's is almost like as if its made of gold.
"Welcome guests" the three maids bow down saying in unison
"Prepare tea and a light snack" the masked man says
"Understood" they say
The three maids went off following the order of the masked man.
"Please just wait here, I shall call the master" he says
We sit down on the sofas and the masked man walks away towards the hallway.
"Since when did you have telepathy?" I ask Seph
"For a very long time" she replies
"How come you've never used it until now?"
"Let's just say there are a lot more things I have hidden" she answers
"So we're keeping secrets huh"
"Too many things about us are already exposed enough as it is" Ravenna says
"Fair enough, so what now?" I ask
"Let's just wait for the master to arrive, tell them a story that leads to us being here before we start asking questions" Seph answers
After a few minutes of waiting, the maids rush in with tea cups and a pot. The half elf puts a tea cup for each of us, while the half orc pours the tea in. The maid with the cat ears prepare us a sandwiches and we have our plates. The table would be filled with four plates with the extra plate being for the master and a bell in the middle of the table.
"Please ring this bell if ever you need anything, one of the maids will come rushing" the half elf maid says
I started digging in and the maids leave, not far they bow down and hear them greet.
"Good day Master Theo"
Ravenna and Seph stand up, I follow their example putting the half eaten sandwich on the plate. The Theo person glances at us and lets out a smile. He'd have black hair swept back, wearing a brown coat, brown slacks and black boots.
"Greetings Assassins of Dusk, to what do I owe the honor of your presence? Isn't there supposed to be five of you, not three?" he says
We all take a seat and I continue consuming the sandwich. Seph starts sipping her tea.
"It's a great pleasure for you meeting with us. Forgive us for our rudeness for arriving unannounced" Ravenna says
"For such a small act, let's not think badly of it. You did say you were hired by the king"
"Indeed, the king believes that there would an upcoming war" Ravenna says
"A war? How intriguing, against who? he asks
"That is something he has not told us, and he requests for financial aid from the nobles of this land, for the king plans to invest in the kingdom's blacksmith. Creating new weaponry that can bring glory to Zlatan" Ravenna lies
"So it's just financial support he requests?"
"Correct, we would like to ask you about the magic circle in the garden" she says
"Oh? We're planning to set up a barrier, increasing my territory's security" he answers
"Ah a barrier that big must be requiring high level spell casters? Where did you find such strong people gifted in the arts of magic?"
"I have my connections to notable people. Perks of being one of the biggest nobles here"
"We'll come back in a few days to collect the your support" she says
"I will await your arrival, til then"
Before he could stand up, I speak to get his attention
"Wait, so we've never been in a noble's mansion before" I lie
"We would like a tour around the place, as this is our first time"
"A tour around my mansion? What a request, I believe that everything comes in a price. What do you have to offer for a tour?" he asks
"As you know Zlatan may enter war. If ever the country is to be under siege. We will make sure, your territory is to be accounted for" I answer him
"Really? Protection is what you're offering? How reliable is this protection. I'm already on the move in creating a strong barrier to protect my land. How can you prove that your group can offer better services?" he asks
"You are aware that we are the Assassins of Dusk. We are very capable of doing things in our way. Protection is another task that we are proficient in. We've been hired by multiple clients in the past as their body guards. We can do the same. Besides, this war can bring about the unspeakable, your barrier can't provide absolute protection" I say
"You can provide absolute protection?" he asks
"Without a doubt" Ravenna answers
"Very well then, I'll have one of the maids show you around the mansion. Enjoy your time here. I shall be on my way to prepare for a business meeting with the other nobles"
"Thank you for your kindness, Mister Theo" Seph says
Theo nods and stands after sipping tea and makes his leave. Ravenna starts eating the sandwich and sipping her tea. A maid approaches us, she looked purely human but knowing the country is a place for half humans it'd be a blunder to assume she was human.
"I will be your guide for the tour around the mansion. We will begin our tour once ready" she says
"You think Theo is a Gem of Rider?" Seph asks through telepathy
"I think he's the leader, his answers are quite sketchy" I thought to myself
"Sounds logical" she replies through telepathy
"You can read my mind?" I thought to myself again
"Yes" her reply through telepathy, again
