Unexpected encounter is also a chance (part 2)

There was something odd going on... The warehouses belonged to the kingdom and the royal family, and many aristocrats living in the capital were making the area into their land base of trade without a doubt... But where were all the guards? The security couldn't be that lax, but Medea didn't hear or see even the slightest evidence of any sort of surveillance...

Even though the most valuable stuff was at the most guarded center of the area, it was simply hard to believe that there was no one standing guard at the outskirts. Even if that particular warehouse was empty without anyone checking out on it, it could literally become a hiding spot for thieves who would try to get their hands on the contents of other buildings.

"..."

Medea sneaked his way to the edge of the building and glanced over...

The lines of the few next warehouses were perfectly aligned with each other, with the torches on in the metal rings handing down.

All buildings had torches, but the difference between the first three ones was that the torches were a few days old while all the others were replaced and, more importantly, lit and illuminated the area.

Certain that he won't be seen, Medea stayed in place to observe the situation for a few more minutes and ended up witnessing a curious sight.

Some youngsters walked on the road going alongside the wall with the walls with torches, saw the old ones in the three last warehouses, and hurried back to show up with brand new ones, clearly intending to replace them.

"Gregory! You oaf, I swear a baby bird has a better memory than you!"

"Huh, but...? AH!"

The thing was, as the youngster was rushing to do his job, another person showed up and called out after him in a scrolling manner, causing the boy to flinch and gasp in realization before hurrying back without replacing anything.

"..."

Medea furrowed his brows and remained in place.

Shortly after, six guards showed up to patrol the vicinity, but they also only walked around everything except the three last buildings, purposefully abandoning the area.

The confidence that the drunken guys at the inn the previous evening had begun to not look as unfounded as Meda originally thought...

After all, if whatever group they belonged to managed to have enough connections to get to pull something like that off, then, well, they did have to be at least close to one of the crimelords from the capital.

The black-haired man made sure to have an easy access to at least three types of magic pellets and then proceeded to get snuck inside the first warehouse...

"..."

...that turned out to be empty...

Completely empty, without even shelves or parcels, just bare walls and a dusty floor.

"...nooooo...!"

"...!"

All of a sudden, the muffled horrified scream made the black-haired man turn even more cautious, but since it came from the opposite direction than he came from and there were no signs of him being spotted, his objective didn't change.

Since just walking across the floor would leave a clear trace in the dirt, Medea backed out the same way he got in and began to walk around the first warehouse to check on the source of the distraught cry.

Well... truth be told, Medea just wanted to check the next warehouse in search of the individuals to dispose of, and the cry wasn't a real factor, but still...

******

"After all, I cannot agree to it...!"

A pale-blond-haired teenage girl clenched her fist on the brown skirt she was wearing, crumpling the fabric, while looking at a pale-blond-haired teenage boy dressed up in fancy clothing that was popular amongst the young aristocracy.

"There is nothing to agree on, Charlotte. The second prince is more important than some orphaned girl being used as a security deposit."

The boy combed through his hair, making sure they looked the part while breathing in and out to calm down.

"But...!"

"No. There are two options for you. First, your older brother will manage to fulfill his part of the deal with those thugs, and you will be freed, and you will be able to get help for me. Second, I will make enough of a ruckus for those bandits to allow you to slip out and get help."

The girl took a step forward, trampling upon some freshly cut hair, and opened her mouth, but the boy shook his head and raised his hand decisively, declaring without hesitation.

"It should be of no question who is the more important out of the two of us. The second prince was kidnapped, and his life is worth something; on the other hand, a simple commoner girl is so insignificant that literally, no one will believe that she was kept together with the abducted royalty. Think about it. Out of us two, who will be prioritized more?"

The pale-blond-haired boy said with a serious expression, reaching out to grab the girl's shoulders and look her in the eyes.

Up close, it was even more uncanny how similar the two looked. Not only the color of their hair but even their eyes matched. Their faces were hard to distinguish with the shape of the eyes, nose, and mouth, as well as the height of their cheekbones were only slightly different. If anything, it would not be odd for someone seeing the two to assume that they were actually twins separated after birth and not two completely unrelated strangers that met a few days earlier because of the shared fate of ending in the clutches of a criminal organization.

"...ugh...!"

The girl bit her lips and looked down, clenching her fists even harder – clearly knowing that the boy was right but desperately trying to find an argument against his plan.

"Honestly, I have a bad feeling about Mark, so I believe we should go with the second option."

"...!"

The boy murmured, sounding distraught to even speak of such a dark scenario regarding the girl's only remaining family member, which caused her to flinch and raise her head to look at him with trembling eyes.