The plan( Part 1)

Rumius waved goodbye to Glia. A moment later a hinged plank of wood slammed shut, shutting her image away leaving Rumius by himself and with only the creak of wood and bustling sounds from the tavern as a companion. His thoughts filled with Glia's deathly expression. What even was that? Silently, he climbed the stairs and steps back up to the room that he shared with master and closed the door. 

The room was dark and the smell of smoke assaulted Rumius's nostrils. It seemed like the candles had only recently been snuffed out. Housekeeping probably.

Pinching his nose , he groped out in front of him, stumbling until eventually, he crawled onto a chair to light the candle on the nightstand between the two beds. Master's case of potions lay in the corner, half opened. Like they'd left it. The beds weren't made, and the window was closed. Maybe not housekeeping, but a strong wind then, Rumius thought. He used to think that was just a hole, but the windows had magically spawned one time when it rained at night.

Rumius went to his bed and fell down on it with an audible sigh. He couldn't shake the look that Glia had given him. Was she angry? Was it really anger? Rumius felt as if he was trying to grab at something on the water's surface. But when he reached out, his hand would fall through it, like a reflection. 

Rumius got up and paced, walking in circles before falling back onto the bed. 

' Arghhh!!! God! I'm not getting anywhere with this!' Once the realisation clicked, an urge compelled him to sit up again.

" SLAP!!"

Two light red marks left their imprint on his cheeks, burning with sting, scattering his thoughts. Shaking his head, Rumius stood up and looked around before finding and retrieving a thick grimoire that had fallen to the floor: INCANTATIONS AND SPELL CREATION. Rumius scooted close to the nightstand better illuminate the book.

I should try to be productive. He thought, hoping that the it would help him shut out the distracting thoughts on his mind. He would just be wasting time thinking about her; was the logic. He could always make apologies later.

The room fell silent except for the rustling of turning pages. Eventually, another sound entered the fray.

" Clack." 

The snapping of a lock drew Rumius's attention away from his inner world. Sounds of the tavern crept in for a moment as a cloaked figure stepped into the room. As she entered, she flicked her hood off her head and let her hair tumble down, exhaling lengthily.

" Welcome back, master." Rumius called. Folding the page of the grimoire that he was on, he closed the article and set it aside.

" I've placed the payment from the guild over there on the little desk. " Rumius pointed. "The amount is right. I've checked it already." 

In the dark, Rumius could see his master turn to him. " Why is it so dark in here?" She asked, annoyed. 

" Oh! Um I…" Rumius jumped to his feet by habit, ready to make amends when he realised that he couldn't , even if he wanted to. " I couldn't reach the lamps higher up…"he trailed off.

A sound of hand meeting face followed with a sign followed. Master snapped her fingers and small flames flickered to life overhead.

Isadora looked to the desk where a small brown pouch sat heavily. Its contents bulged slightly in the tight pouch. She walked towards it and measured its weight on her palm upon picking it up. " Hmm." She hummed in contentment. " Seems right. You said that you've already checked the amount?" 

" Yes." Rumius nodded eagerly. " It's 30 silvers and 4 bronzes."

Satisfied, Master stashed the pouch into her cloak, causing it to disappear from view. Rumius had seen her do that with many other things and at some point, he had simply become convinced that her cloak could magically store any and everything she needed it to. 

' Maybe that's why she never takes her cloak off.' Rumius pondered, not newly. " She might be just carrying a whole bank account around in that cloak

Returning to the reality, Rumius asked: " What happened at the bureau, master?" She had left for quite a significant time. Although he didn't know how long he had spent reading.

Master Isadora glanced at him and in response to his question, tossed him a folded up stack of a few papers. 

Pack! 

Rumius caught the entire parcel deftly in his left hand and unfolded them. The papers were all handwritten, but there wasn't a single letter out of form, or the slightest deviation in the lining. Rumius was impressed, he had almost thought it to be printed. 

Scanning through the contents, Rumius realised that the first piece was a contract. His eyes widened as he recognised Master's name and the faint trace of her mana lingering at the bottom. A signature. 

On the second and third pieces of paper, his eyes became saucer wide. Rumius didn't even want to look at the last piece as he set the papers down. 

' WOMAN ARE YOU INSANE?' 

Was what he wanted to say. Naturally, he couldn't do that. However, even knowing instinctively that master had some sort of plan, it was hard to imagine things going well. 

" The bureau knew about the bandits." Rumius surmised, trying to appear steady amidst the roaring waves in his mind. " But they did nothing to stop them. It even says here that it is basically confirmed that there's a mole! Why are you getting involved in Agravoss's politics? Shouldn't we just leave this to them?" 

Rumius had intentionally specified only that master had a role by using 'you' instead of 'us'. It was meant to test if what he feared was going to come true. 

As ever observant, Isadora picked up her disciple's intention in a heartbeat. She smirked, sending chills down Rumius's spine.

" ' You?'" She questioned. There's no escaping this. You're to participate as well." She said as she hung her cloak up on the door.

' Ah…I knew it.' The realisation didn't make him any calmer. 

Speechless, Rumius double checked the outlines of the proposed plan. ' Why do I have to do this crazy shit?' He griped. Rumius triple checked and rubbed his eyes. He didn't know what he was expecting, but it was not an emotion of understanding and a spark of a faint hope as suddenly, he began to see the opportunity that could lie in this. ' Maybe I'm also going crazy.' He thought.

' No…no..no..no. A million and one things could go wrong before that even happened.' He shook his head. This was insane! He had to convince master to abandon this! Or at least leave him out of it! 

' Wait…If master screws up…what the hell do I do? I can't go home. I have only one magic spell. I'll be equally screwed wouldn't I?' 

Steeling his resolve, Rumius had to convince master away from this course of action!

" Master….." Rumius began slowly. " I don't think that this is a very good idea." He waved the paper, which detailed the plan. " We're being used like bait." He pleaded. " Once we've fulfilled our role, these ' Regrator' people will just scoop in and take the credit!"

Isadora sat down and got to removing her boots.

Not receiving an answer, Rumius pressed on harder. Choosing a line to quote from the plan, Rumius was about to open his mouth when Isadora interjected.

" As of current events, the bureau knows that there is a mole in the city council. Given the size of the corruption relative to the audits of the coffers over the latest checks, it's obvious that only three figures have the authority to do such transactions. " 

" That means, that our targets are only three people." She glanced over her shoulder at her apprentice. 

" What makes you think this will be that hard?" She asked flatly. 

Rumius was taken aback by her frankness. Sure, they were just three people, but these were three of the most influential demons in Agravoss! The first was The Lord Overseer who held vested power over the entire region, the Treasurer who had direct access to the coffers, and the Overseer's right-hand.

How would they even begin to find out which of these three people were corrupt? 

" We can't back out anymore." Nodding towards it with her head, Isadora explained. " That is a magic contract, its binds its user to fulfilling the contract by seizing control of one's mana. I've already agreed to the price and I can't retract my word." 

Rumius's eyes widened as he realised that he never had a say in this from the beginning. 

" Oh don't look so glum, it isn't like we don't have a chance at winning whatsoever. And to be exact, I only need you for the final phases of the plan. I need someone I can trust taking care of the loose ends. "

" Wow…thank you master." Rumius replied sarcastically. Slave collar? Trust? Those two words in a sentence is like trying to mix water with oil. Isadora saw Rumius's expression and gave him a knowing smirk. " You're getting smarter. At least there's that." 

Rumius could throw his hands up in exasperation. 

Giving silence as his consent that he would play along, Rumius, shaking his head, folded the papers up and threw them back. As the stack of folded paper landed next to Isadora, Rumius realised something interesting . 

' What kind of contract is even strong enough to keep master to her word?' Although Rumius was sure that Master keeping her word because of the contract was less than half the story, it was still a worthwhile ask. 

" By the way, master, what happens if you don't follow the contract?" 

Isadora turned at the question and looked Rumius in the eye. With dead seriousness, said: 

" Then, I lose my magic." Her lips curled up even higher, as if she was savouring the moment. Then she smiled and dropped another bombshell." Oh and if we fail, then I also lose my magic." Her smile remained on. " Because if the Bureau loses against these corrupt politicians, then be contract would be considered unfulfilled. Once the duration stipulated for completion is over, penalties will be exacted on both sides."

She shrugged. " Every last member of the bureau will be dead by then so I doubt they will feel much of the repercussions."

" ...…" Rumius was at a loss for words.

"...…"

"….Please tell me that there are benefits to doing this." He finally pleaded. " A please tell me you have a plan." And thankfully, Master replied with a smile:

" Yes, there are, and yes, I do."