Winter in April

[08:46 | April 11, 2035]

Shin checked down both ends of the hallway before stepping in. The maid from earlier was seen going in a room on the left side of the hall. He didn't know where he was going, so his only option was to follow her to scout out the building. Shin snuck up to the entrance of the door.

"Hmmm hmmm hmmm."

Shin could hear a faint humming coming from the room inside. He stuck his head inside and found the maid holding a cup. Her silky white hair was tied up in a ponytail that flowed down to her waist. She wore the usual maid costume that you would come to expect from fantasy settings. From her ears hung a set of golden cross earrings.

"Seems like even the maids are of the Lexicon faith." Shin thought to himself.

He couldn't quite tell what her name was, as he was too far away for the name to be rendered. Shin couldn't even tell if she was an NPC or not. His first impression was that she was a player, given the humming. His only encounters with life-like NPCs were the ones who had scripted quests like Rodgier and Adam.

Shin inspected the room. The room was fairly small, consisting of a few cabinets, shelves, a closet, and a small stove. It was dimly lit by a candle on the countertop next to the maid.

Shin quietly stepped into the room and around the corner, hiding behind a table. Now that he was closer, he could tell that she was indeed a player. The maid was preparing tea. She picked up the teapot with the precision and expertise of a professional. However, the movements were not perfect to the degree for Shin to suspect her to be an NPC.

Unexpectedly, she took a small white packet out of her sleeves, slit it open with scissors, and emptied the contents into the teapot.

Shin's first thought was that it was just sugar. However, no one would hide sugar in their sleeves like that.

"Could it be poison?" Shin thought.

"Hummm hmmm hmm." She continued to hum.

Her voice was soothing to the ears.

The maid put a saucer on the cart followed by the cup of tea that she prepared and began wheeling it towards the door. In a panic, Shin ducked under the table once more. However, his clothes made a barely audible rustling noise.

Immediately, the maid looked over at Shin's direction. Her gaze was stone cold, as if her eyes could pierce through the table and see Shin directly.

She hesitated but then continued to push the cart out of the room. Her eyes never looked away from the table while she walked out and around the corner.

Shin let out a sigh. He never had to be stealthy for any situation before, so he had no experience with it. He got up from behind the table and stood at the corner of the room right next to the door.

Shin peeked around the corner and found the maid's hand stopped in front of the door in a knocking position. The door she stood in front of was intricately designed with a floral pattern surrounding a golden cross in the center.

As if unfreezing time, she cleared her voice and knocked on the door twice.

Shin could not hear if there was a response on the other side or not.

She stood in front of the door completely still with her hand hovering right above the doorknob.

Shin heard footsteps approaching from the other side of the hall and hid inside of the room once more.

Another maid's voice called out to her.

"Ah, the young master is away right now."

"Oh, is that so. I didn't get to bring him his morning tea yet."

"Why don't you toss out that batch in the service room. I can prepare another one while you finish your cleaning duties."

"Yes, ma'am."

The footsteps receded once more and soon after, the sounds of the cart began getting closer to Shin again.

Hearing this, Shin looked around the room before hiding behind the same table as before.

He could just barely see the cart pulling up to the door. Shin expected for it to turn around the corner, but it suddenly stopped right in front of the entranceway to the service room.

30 seconds passed and not a single sound could be heard. Shin was left completely frozen in place and at a loss for words.

Suddenly, Shin felt the temperature plummet. A dark cloud of smoke drifted in front of him and a hand covered his mouth. A black blade appeared at his throat. Dark blue lines embellished the black steel, following along the edge.

Shin was completely overwhelmed in an instant. His instincts told him not to resist.

She spoke in a whisper into his ear.

"Who are you? What did you see?"

Her breath was as ice-cold as her tone of voice.

She lifted her right hand from Shin's mouth.

"I-I saw you preparing tea, that's it." Shin's voice was rough and out of breath.

"What are you doing breaking into here?"

"That one… I can't quite answer."

In one motion, Shin turned around while elbowing her left arm out of the way and called his dagger to his hand. He stood up and took his combat pose. He looked around using his perception skills but couldn't find her.

In a flash, the smoke appeared once more behind Shin. Before he could react, the maid's kick swept Shin off the floor and she disarmed him with her other arm while he fell.

Shin dazedly opened his eyes. He felt a weight on his chest. The maid had one foot on him and her dagger was pointed at his face. Her eyes glowed a deep blue in contrast to her pale skin. He could finally read her name.

[Fuyumi]

"Can you answer now?" She taunted.

Shin put both of his hands up beside his head in surrender.

"Okay, okay, I'll spill it."

Even though her eyes stared daggers into him, he couldn't help but notice her features. She was by all measures, beautiful. Her body was petite but her clothes accentuated her slight curves.

"I was sneaking in to see if I could kidnap the guild master. You completely bested me. If you need to kill me, then so be it." Shin said flustered.

Fuyumi's posture loosened and her face broke into a slight smile.

"Oh, is that so? And if I told you that I was planning on doing something equally despicable?"

Shin stared at her with a blank look on his face.

"Well, I wouldn't be surprised. You literally put poison in his tea." Shin replied flatly.

The heel on his chest dug deeper into him.

"Ow, ow, okay sorry! Our interests align right?" Shin said playfully.

A knock interrupted them.

"Is everything okay Miss Fuyumi?" The other maid's voice came through.

"Yes, everything is fine ma'am." Fuyumi replied.

She took her heel off of him and sheathed her blade. Fuyumi extended her hand out in aid. Shin grabbed her hand and stood up, patting the dust off of his coat.

"You've already figured me out too so I might as well work with you." She shrugged.

"So… Can I have that back?" Shin pointed at his dagger in her hand.

"Once I can trust you, sure."

Fuyumi closed the door to the service room and turned on the light. She sat across the coffee table from Shin.

"So, why do you want to kidnap Syros?" Fuyumi asked bluntly.

"I was planning on extorting him or the guild out of some silver or gold. I'm kind of in a financial situation. My mom's stuck in a quarantine facility and I don't really have any money to pay for rent or the monthly bill for my mom after this month." Shin explained.

"Things aren't any different in here as in real-life." Fuyumi replied.

"I… Well… You saw what I was trying to do. I kind of have a personal grudge against him… Er, rather the church." Fuyumi said while staring at her shortsword.

Looking at it closely, Shin noticed Fuyumi's shortsword was designed was like a dagger. However, It was about twice the length of Shin's.

"I'm in a similar situation as you. The poison that I added to the tea wasn't potent enough to kill. I was also planning on blackmailing him to some degree. I'm stuck with a debt that my mom had. She passed away shortly after the war."

Fuyumi clenched her fist.

"My mom… A soldier broke into our home during the invasion. He killed my dad instantly. He turned to me right after. My mom grabbed a kitchen knife and stabbed the guy in the back. She fell to her knees right after crying. She felt guilty, and I couldn't do anything to help her." Fuyumi continued.

"After the war was over, my mom found solace in the Church of Lexicon. The church convinced her to donate an insane amount of money for her to be forgiven by God. She took up loans and everything. When she couldn't make the payments in time, the loan sharks beat her. Even then, I was as powerless as ever." Fuyumi continued as her voice grew raspy.

"She passed later that evening. I was stuck with her debt but the "great Church of Lexicon" felt bad for me so they temporarily paid off the loan for me. Syros looked at me like I was scum. So, now I owe the church."

Fuyumi put Shin's dagger on the table between them.

Shin picked it up and sheathed it.

"I'm sorry to hear. Sorry for your loss."

"Ah, sorry, I said too much. We don't even know each other." Fuyumi's face turned red in embarrassment.

"No worries. That can change over time." Shin said playfully.

"Oh, shut up." She snapped back.

"Anyway, we both want to fuck over the church so why don't we get some revenge together?"