17 Theo's Tour

The three of us stood up and we followed the maid around the mansion. The main room is already huge, imagine the whole mansion. From where we are right now, there are three hallways. One leading left, the second leading to the right side, the last leading forward. The maid first brought us to the left side of the mansion. She kept going on and she showed us the library.

"What kind of books do you keep here? Bet they're children's books" I say

"Not just story books, but in this library you can find books about history, geography, legends and myths, many more" the maid replies back

Interesting how the library can hold this, maybe I can come back here when I need information about magic or sorts. The took both floors and the entire left wing of the mansion. Just how big is this mansion, and this library taking up the whole space. The library had chairs and tables in the front area in both floors, with shelves filled with books all labeled which section is which. There's also a round staircase. This huge library, yet the whole place is off limits to public. The maid continues on with the tour showing us the back area of the mansion. On the way, we followed her to a hallway of doors. She said that the doors were rooms, with most of them vacant. She also said that there are only six maids, so far we have only seen four including this maid that resembles of a human, now that I think about it. I'm pretty curious about her race.

"Hey, I'm just wondering but know this country is a place for half humans what's your half race?" I ask the maid

"Oh my race? I'm human, anyways there is more to show about the mansion" she replies

The maid continues walking and Seph uses her Telepathy skill again, saying that she isn't human. According to her, she read deep in her mind and found out that she's a Changeling. Changelings are races that have the ability to change form to anyone that they've seen before. I know a lot about them from the doppelganger case when we had to find out who the Changeling was. Pretty hard work, but we received a good pay. She can turn into anyone, now that she's seen us she can also transform into one of us. Right now, only Seph can find out the Changeling through mind read, but if they go serious it'll be hard for Seph to read their mind. It'll be like they cancelled her spell. Anyways, the maid continues on with the tour, she brings us to the garden and it was huge. They even have a lake, and ducks too.

I go to one of the ducks and as I approach, the usual thing happens. They run away with the mother duck extending her wings showing a defensive position. I look at the lake, and it was dark as ever. Though I can see some movements in the lake, so that should indicate that there are some life forms in the lake. The maid allowed us to wander around the garden for a bit. There are a lot of flowers here, they're all of different colours. I have no idea what they're called but I do know that there are roses and sunflowers, other than that I have no clue what the others are. I see another maid, it's the cat girl maid, watering the plants around. I wave at her, and she glances at me smiling waving back.

I head back to the entrance with the rest and the maid brings us to the right wing of the mansion. We passed by another hallway of doors. She explains that each of this room have some sort of use, like one was the kitchen, the other was a storage room, another is a second door of the kitchen and another one for the storage. We made it to the end of the hallway having a staircase going up to the second floor. We went up with her. So far the tour seems normal, nothing out of the ordinary. Nothing looking like a Gem of Rider hideout. As we made it to the second floor, there's no hallway. Just a door leading to a room. We open it and it's something like a training room, or a dojo. There are weapons on one side, and armour on the other. The middle of the room has a wooden square platform and we see that masked guy again with the suit.

"Are you a maid also?" I ask

"A maid? Me? Quite hilarious don't you think?" he responds laughing

"Good day, Master Kurt" the maid greets

"Ah so your name's Kurt" I say

"Say, now that you guys are here. Anyone willing to spar with me?" he asks

"Master, they're only here for a tour. They can't-" the maid says before she was interrupted

"I'll take you on!" I declare

Seph nudges and softly says that we should be getting out of here as soon as possible. I just nod to her hoping she gets the message of me saying that I'll make this fight quick, because my confidence tells me that this Kurt person will easy. She turns to Ravenna nodding. Strangely, the maid has been keeping her eye fixated on Seph. As if she knew our intentions and that Seph can do something while we're acting all peaceful and innocent. So I have to be extra cautious with her.

"We'll be using wooden weapons" Kurt says

"Wooden? Why not just use the real thing, unless you're afraid that is" I reply

"Oh, you're right. I'm afraid I might hurt you if we use the real thing"

"That's my line" I reply back

We both went to the weapon area and picked wooden weapons. Kurt got a wooden rapier, while I got a wooden short sword. Seph, Ravenna, and the maid are standing at one side. Seph looking around to see if there would be anything out of place, that's what I think she's doing at least. While Ravenna just gave me a look as if saying you better be quick, we have other things to do. I gave her a nod as if saying that I got her message and understood her. The maid got the three of them chairs where they can sit on as they spectate us in our short fight.

I stood on one side with Kurt standing on the other side. No armour for both of us. Just our regular clothing, so this will rely on our reflexes.

"Ready or not, here I come" Kurt says

He lunges in with the rapier with the intent to get the first strike. If I can get a good hit, I'm sure to end this. With the rapier, he thrusts it towards me. I went on a defensive position planning to counter his attack resulting to me disarming him. I leapt backwards with my short sword positioned defensively, hanging the sword to my left side. As I leapt back, the rapier makes contact with my short sword. Blocking the attack, I land with my short sword ready for a strike. After the failed attack, he stands with his rapier facing directly at me and on a stance with his two feet having distance between each other. I rushed forward slashing. It happened so quickly, he knew I was going to do that, so he extended his reach with the rapier right my neck. Before I could even do the slash, his rapier was already one me.

"Good Game I suppose" Kurt says

"I went easy on you" I reply

"Sure you did, well anyways. You can continue on with your little tour" he replies

Kurt and I both returned the wooden weapons and the maid returned the chairs. With Kurt staying in the dojo, the rest of us continued on with the tour. We left the dojo through a door opposite side than the one we entered in and it was a hallway of doors once again. The doors were vacant rooms for guests, that's what the maid said at least.

"This mansion was built years before the Great Realms' War. The king's magic provided protection to the whole land during the war. So it's kept its shape well. The place where the mansion was built is in a village. Right now, the village is off limits to people because of the country's current situation. As you guys are assassins, I'm assuming you know what that situation is" the maid says

"Something I've noticed, but is it the rebellion against the king?" I ask

"Correct, the mansion safeguards the people in the village. Though, they are not allowed to leave their houses. There are some exceptions, only those that are above 21 years of age can leave their homes but only if it is important. Another rule is that, if ever someone does enter the village that we are not familiar with. We are to stay indoors, and to wait for assistance from this mansion" she replies

"Is this rebellion attacking everywhere in Zlatan?" Seph asks

"Indeed, that's why the King increased the amount of knights during the watch. There are more city vigilantes now. But none of them have been able to hunt down the Gem of Rider. Until recently when you guys were involved, other than that it's been failure for them" the maid responds back

"Aren't they doing any investigation on them?" Seph asks

"They're saying that the investigation is ongoing, but it's been ongoing for months already"

"What do you think is the reason?" Seph asks

"I think the Gem of Rider are just good at staying hidden. The knights are loyal to the king and we know they're doing their best to hunt them down, but no leads. It's like there's something influencing them" the maid replies

"This concludes the tour. We will await for your return when you come to claim the aid, but when you do. Please come with an official seal from the king requesting it. Otherwise you are not able to claim it" she continues on

She leads us out of the mansion and out of the village. While passing by, something I just noticed is that how dead the place looks. I can see some people staring out through their window, but other than that the place just looks so quiet and isolated. No joke about them staying home. Well now that this has happened. We're just gonna wait to see what Seph thinks before we can say that Theo the Noble is a part of the Gem of Rider.