Quick wits

After Kin shared his plan with her, Hana made her way back into the warehouse. She had been working there for the past week and was already getting tired of the mission.

They had received the information they needed from an informant close to The Sulten, according to Lady Meliesse. She wanted Rafa to come, but the girl was still shaken after the brush with death the night they kidnapped the Sulten's daughter. Since Rafa was not fit for action, Hana was sent instead. She had been here for just a week, but her patience was already running thin. She had played out different scenarios on how to infiltrate the tunnel, but she couldn't get any to work out. She tried coming at night only to find out more men were on guard than even during the day.

"What is really down there?" Hana wondered. Well, today was the day she was going to find out if Kin's plan worked, that is. She acted her usual self and continued with her work, trying not to cause any suspicions.

"Where have you been?" a young woman asked after Hana returned. "How long does it take to dry out some clothes?" the woman asked.

"I'm sorry," Hana apologized immediately.

"Tch, I can't believe Lord Bassam asked me to hire a child," she complained. "Well, get back to work," the woman ordered, seeing Hana was still standing there. Hana immediately left and resumed her post.

"Damned slaves," the woman said with a snarl.

Hana hurried back to work. She had to put up with this just for a while longer. After that, her mission would be complete. But before that, she moved closer to another child who was with her and whispered, "It seems I will be able to get into the tunnel today. I can't really go into the details, but I met an interesting person a while ago, and he has offered to help. Now we can get into the tunnel and find out more about that mysterious kid at the same time."

The young girl beside Hana was quiet for a while before replying, "Alright, but I hope you know we can't trust him."

"Of course, that's why we are going to dump him first, before he gets the chance to dump us," Hana replied.

"Great, carry out the mission then. I'll report things to Lady Meliesse," Rebekah replied.

Hana and Rebekah went on with their work, and a few minutes later, they noticed more workers were paying attention to what was going on outside. Seeing the ensuing ruckus, the person in charge called on one of the guards.

"What's with all the ruckus?" she asked.

"It seems an artist is putting on a show," the guard replied.

"What? Someone brought the circus to this place?" she replied with a sigh. "Make sure you keep an eye out for anything suspicious. It might be those damned spies Lord Rashid warned us about."

"Yes, ma'am," the guard replied and went back to his post.

A few minutes later, the guard returned in a hurry.

"What's the matter?" the woman in charge asked.

"You have to see this," the guard replied.

She followed the guard out to where Kin was performing the whole show. Seeing that fewer eyes were on her, Hana used the opportunity to sneak to where the tunnel was. She carried a tray with some plates on it to make it seem like she wanted to serve them food and walked inside.

"Oh, it's time for lunch," one of the two men standing guard quickly noticed Hana.

The men were clad in armor and were armed. In the brief seconds she had to get close to them, she used them to evaluate her opponents.

Normally, she would have waited to have a better plan, like putting something in the men's drink to make them sleep, but at this point, things were moving too fast.

Since there was no time to prepare properly, she had to rely on her curse and ability. She used her cursed ability to heighten her senses, which gave her the ability to examine everything quickly and swiftly, trying to grasp the situation quickly.

She transformed her fingers, elongating them till they turned into deadly claws. Her eyes turned blue, and a soft growl escaped from her lips, causing one of the guards to grow cautious, but it was too late.

Immediately, the first guard got close enough. She cut the throat of the unsuspecting guard. As the guard fell, the second guard tried to react, but before he could do anything, Hana moved swiftly, appearing right before him. This time her legs had also transformed, causing her to close the short gap effortlessly.

With her senses now sharper and deadlier, it was nothing but child's play for someone like her. Someone who had the blood of the Wildes running through her veins.

She used her claws to attack the second guard, tearing his throat off.

With the two guards dead, it was now time for her to explore the tunnel without worry.

"Well, I'd have loved to wait for you, but I'm in a hurry," Hana said as she made her way towards the tunnel. As she was about to enter, a voice called from behind her.

"Where do you think you're going?" the woman in charge of the warehouse called.

Hana looked towards the door and saw Kin walking in with some guards and the woman in charge of the warehouse.

"Do you believe me now?" Kin said as he stared at the woman beside him.

"So it is true, you are one of the spies Lord Rashid warned us about."

Hana bit her lip as she stared at Kin hatefully. "You betrayed me," Hana said.

"I was never loyal," Kin replied.

He turned to the woman and said to her, "Lord Rashid asked me to examine the tunnel and report how things are to him."

"We'll do that after we've dealt with the rat," the woman said.

"Good, you can take her to Lord Rashid. I'm sure he would be happy to question the spy himself."

"You bet," the woman replied. "But, unfortunately, Lord Rashid will never know what happened here today," the woman said.

In a swift moment, the woman cut down the two guards standing beside her, causing Kin to stand back in shock.

"What?" Kin said, but as he tried to grasp what was going on, he felt a sharp pain in his neck.

"What is going on?" he thought as he suddenly felt lightheaded and collapsed.

The last image he saw was that of Hana smiling at him.

"It seems I've been played..."