Someone Is Watching

They followed the lady towards their rooms. On the way, they noticed how all things inside the inn were fancy and expensive. It was clear that whoever owned the place spent a lot of money building it. Perhaps that was the reason behind the high price of the rooms?

It took them five minutes to get to their final destination. The place had many rooms packed with people, but everything was so big that the feeling of a crowded area was non-existent.

"This is your room," the lady said. She pointed at the doors with the numbers 49 and 50, respectively. The attendant left after that, as she had other things to do.

Aurora, shaking with excitement, entered the number numbered '50'. All of the rooms were the same, so they all followed her. Once inside, they were surprised by how gorgeous it looked. Comparing that room to the other places they stayed was impossible. It was superior in all aspects.

The marble walls gave them the impression of luxury, and the king-size bed in the middle increased that feeling. Another impressive thing was the balcony with a breathtaking view of the capital.

"I could pay the 50 silver coins just for this view," Joshua said.

While they focused on that, Aurora prepared her things for the shower. She wanted to test the famous hot tub. None of them objected to that. They wanted her to occupy herself with other things while they were out there, stealing Aetherium.

"Hey, Aurora. We will be checking the mercenaries guild," Joshua said. Aurora felt it was only natural given their nature of trying to earn money. Joshua was not sure his lie would work, so he said more.

"I'll also try to get some information about the magic academy. We don't want you to enter it without knowing things, right?"

"Really?" Aurora was surprised to see how much they cared for her.

"I'm scared of the fierce competition there. Any information about how things work inside there would help me," Aurora said.

She also glanced at Khali, saying, "and you, Mister Khali, will teach me magic, right?" She had a look in her eyes that felt impossible to refuse. Perhaps it was her cuteness or the fear of her beating their ass.

"Of course," Khali said.

~~~~

They stored their belongings in both rooms and started to move. Hanrog stayed inside the other room they rented. Khali, as a father, was not willing to let his son be in danger. Once all of them were alone in the inn's corridor, Leo came up with a good piece of news. One that would change everything.

"Hey," Leo cleaned up his throat to get their attention, "I have some good things to tell you."

"What is it?" Joshua hoped that Leo was not fooling around this time.

Leo got their attention and shared what he had in mind.

"Remember the invisibility spell I did? I figured it how to cast on other people, which means we can all become invisible," Joshua knew about that spell, but Khali was surprised to discover that. It was common knowledge that invisibility spells were hard to master.

"There's also more. This awesome mage right here," Leo pointed towards himself and said, "can also cast it on objects."

It took them a moment to realize what Leo had said.

"Wait, what? Are you saying that you can turn the crates invisible?" Joshua said.

"Shh, don't say it aloud, damn it. Remember that we are in the middle of a corridor," Leo said.

"Sorry, sorry."

They got too excited after knowing that. It was easy to invade the storage room with Khali's magic. But moving the crates without people seeing it was something they had no idea how to do. Leo gave them the answer they were seeking.

"Can we carry the invisible crates while being invisible?" Khali said.

"Sure. I told you it was good news. The plan will be easy due to my greatness," Leo said.

Knowing that made them more confident. Joshua left the inn without worrying too much about failure. That is, of course, if Leo was telling the truth about his capabilities.

~~~~

The streets of Slyvein had many people. It was dark, yet the vivid atmosphere did not vanish. The difference between the capital and the smaller cities was apparent. People went to many places at night, ate all kinds of food in the stalls, and had fun betting money on some games.

Joshua, Leo, and Khali wore a black cape with a hoody. Well, they did not use the hoody in the middle of the streets, as the guards would pay too much attention.

Different from the other places they had visited, the capital was immense. It took them a lot of time to get back to the ship. But contrary to what they thought, the trip was not that boring. All of the attractions in the street made their trip fun. Joshua thought about what he said to Aurora for the entirety of it. He would get the information about the magic academy that night, or Aurora would be disappointed.

"Here we are," Joshua said. After walking for a lot of time, they arrived at the port where the ship was. Some guards scouted the area, just like they did in the streets. That was not a problem anymore, as all of them could become invisible.

"If you let me." Leo concentrated, waving his magical scepter in strange ways. Shiny symbols appeared in mid-air, and the atmosphere mana moved towards it. At first, only Leo turned invisible, but after performing the spell two more times, that was no longer the case. Each one of them was now invisible, and only a high-leveled wizard could see through their disguise.

"This is incredible!" Joshua and Khali said together. They felt that without Leo, the mission would be impossible to accomplish.

None of the guards nearby saw any of that, so they walked toward the ship without worrying.

While all of that happened, someone inside a spacious room frowned.

"Who is casting spells in the middle of the streets? At night?"

A blonde youth wearing a robe left his office, flying above Slyvein, looking for whoever had the guts to cast a spell inside his city.

~~~~

Entering the ship posed no problem to the trio. Turning invisible was like cheating, thought Joshua. All of them were familiar with the ship's inside, so they headed directly toward the storage room. Khali created a fake wall that they could use to move the crates. Perhaps it was luck, but that wall was facing the direction where no guards looked.

Once inside the storage room, Leo tested to see if he could turn the crates invisible. He managed to turn smaller objects invisible, but those crates were huge. After trying some times, he succeeded. Just like they talked about before, they would only steal one. It was the best option. Joshua was almost sure that Frederick would think they made a mistake, forgetting one crate along the way. If they stole more than one, then things would be different.

Leo had to maintain the spell that turned them invisible, and Khali the passage. Joshua was the only one free, so he had the job of moving the crate. Using all of his points into strength proved to be worth it, as he lifted the box with ease.

"Damn," Leo said.

"This thing weighs a ton, and you're lifting like it's a feather? What did you eat?"

Joshua showed his strength proudly to those fancy mages. What if you can cast spells? I can move mountains with my bare hands.

The plan worked perfectly. They moved the crate through the passage, and no one saw a thing. Well, except for the blonde youth flying above. He was almost as high as the clouds, so no one saw the youth's presence.

"Someone is making them invisible while the other opens the passage. Interesting." The youth thought.

"For this, they will stay a long time behind bars." The man was ready to arrest them, but once he looked at Khali, he was surprised.

"What? Someone like me? I'll keep a blind eye this time." With that, he flew back to where he came.

~~~~

"It fricking worked," Joshua said.

"Of course it did. I'm here." Leo did not miss the opportunity to say that.

"Let's be quiet now and move together. We could store this box inside Khali's room for the time being and then tomorrow find another place," Joshua said.

They all thought it was the best option they had. A trio of invisible men walked through the streets of Slyvein, and no one saw a thing. Joshua did not like the idea of carrying that heavy crate all the way back to their room, but there was no one to do that.

"And to think that after carrying this thing, I also need to find information about the magic academy. This night will be tiring," thought Joshua.