DECISION

Kaylee woke up feeling refreshed.

Getting up from the bed and looking out her window, she sighed in contentment. The time was around midday. Just like she planned, she had slept for more than half a day and just as expected the long rest had washed her stress away and cleared her mind.

She now knew what she had to do.

Standing up from the bed, she walked over to a medium-sized basin placed on a stool. One of the inn girls had probably brought it in while she was asleep. The gesture was much appreciated.

She splashed water onto her face to clear away the drowsiness that still remained. When her muddle-headedness was gone she proceeded to wash off the rest of her body with a cloth. Minutes later she got into her trademark black leather shirt and pants feeling refreshed. Then she strapped on her bow, quiver and dagger before proceeding to leave the room.

Her steps were light as she marched to the bottom floor, all the while paying attention to a certain direction.

Unfortunately the undead bitch was still in the city. Kaylee could feel her. By her estimation, Sage was approximately a kilometre from her. Unlike previous times, she now regarded the ability to sense her as a blessing. By being able to tell where the scarred bitch was, she would know which places to avoid.

Being tied to the undead was bad enough. She did not want any other connection with her.

Upon reaching the ground floor she found the common room packed, which was strange. Usually, at this time of the day the people went about their daily business, leaving only a handful of patrons in the inn. However, today more than three quarters of tables were occupied. Everyone seemed to be discussing something, which caused her to frown in confusion.

Did something happen?

She approached the counter where, instead of Mrs. Mable, she found the woman's teenage daughter Katya. The girl, who had been speaking to an inn patron in hushed tones, looked up when she approached.

"Hey," Katya said with a warm smile, shifting her attention from the patron to her. "You've slept the day away. Must have been really tired huh?"

"You have no idea," Kaylee responded, seating on a counter stool. Her gaze darted around the inn before settling on the innkeeper's daughter. "Something happen?"

"Yes!" the girl said, a little excited. She leaned in and began to whisper in an animated tone. "Something really big happened last night. You know that clothing shop, Divine Garments, the one that charges everyone an arm and a leg for a piece of clothing?"

"Yeah?" Kaylee replied, leaning in to hear better.

"Someone robbed it last night," Katya said giddily.

Hearing this, Kaylee's heart skipped a beat. She looked at Katya with disbelief.

"Really."

Her response caused the girl's smile to widen. "I doubted it when I first heard it too, but it's true. And it's not only Divine Garments that was robbed. The thief even broke into Glamourous Shoes, Mandla's bookstore, Yusuf's Smith and Radiance. Yusuf's only seemed to have lost a sword while Radiance was cleared of its entire stock?"

Kaylee could not control her mouth to close as she listened.

Every shop that could line the main road was well connected, so well that people would not dare to even think about robbing them. The last person to do so was chased down like a dog and whipped to death in front of the masses as a warning.

That had been three years ago. Since then no one had entertained the idea.

Since these shops had connections, it was a fair assumption all sorts of measures had been placed in the stores to prevent theft. According the Arletta, these shops were lined with not only alarms and restrain spells, but also spells that placed a tracking mark on the intruder just in case they managed to successfully get away. The place was full proof. Even if there was a thief capable of dispelling these magics, doing so would only trigger another, hidden, alarm.

"What happened to the culprit?" she asked.

"Escaped," Katya said. Her tone dropped by an iota as her eyes left Kaylee and looked around cautiously. Then she turned back and muttered, "The thief got away. They were truly skilled, managing to avoid all the traps and spells. The break-ins weren't even discovered until morning."

"That's impossible," Kaylee said, baffled. "Those shops, especially Divine Garments, should have some kind of restraining spell. Even if the thief somehow managed to avoid the restraint with some sort of spell, the fact that magic was used in the store should set off an alarm."

Divine Garment was a shop with branches across the country. Rumour had it that its stores could be found even beyond Ysh. The business belonged to the Mason family, the richest family in Tiih, with an influence in the city only second to the ruling Dickmunds. There were rumours circulating that Byasha Nisha, one of only five 7th Order sorcerers in Tiih, was in the family's employ. It was also common knowledge that this senior mage often visited Divine Garments. There was no way the shop's protection had been neglected.

The only way the culprit could escape was if they were a senior mage as well. But a magician of such calibre would never debase themselves to the level of a common thief.

However, that possibility could not be wholly dismissed. Life had all sorts of possibilities.

"What kind of magic was used to evade the spells?" she asked the girl.

Katya shrugged. "None. There was no evidence of magic used at the scene."

"Then how?" Kaylee asked in disbelief.

"I don't know. It's like the place was robbed by a ghost," the girl replied.

A ghost. An undead with the ability to bypass all sorts of physical barriers. Apart from Light Magic, the only spells that could affect them were the 4th Order [Solid] and 7th Order [Corporeal]. These spells had been designed for the sole purpose of dealing with spectres, more specifically wraiths. Ghosts were the most harmless among the undead.

Undead.

Kaylee suddenly whipped her head in a certain direction. Her eyes narrowed as if she was scrutinising something far away, something only she could see through the inn walls.

"Something wrong?" Katya interrupted her after a few seconds.

"Nothing," Kaylee replied, turning back and smiling at the girl. "So, what's for lunch?"

"Chicken stew and steamed potatoes," the girl replied. "Mother is almost done preparing it."

"Thanks," Kaylee said with a kind smile. "I'll wait here then."

Minutes later she exited the inn while patting her stomach. Filling fulfilled, she set upon her day.

First she visited the blacksmith.

Not the hack on the main road. That bastard charged exorbitant prices for aesthetic junk that was only good for displaying.

The one who stole that knife would soon discover that fact.

It was unfortunate that the true blacksmiths were suppressed by the influence of the fake's backing, causing them to set up their shops a distance from the main road. One such shop was two blocks from it. The owner of smithy was Hudge, burly man whose build outed him as the offspring of a human and a dwarf.

In this place she got her equipment checked while she chatted up the man and his wife. She learned that the clothing shop on at the end of the road had been robbed as well. According to Hudge's wife, the shop owner was quite devastated.

Kaylee listened and nodded in understanding. In her mind she fired a few colourful words in Sage's direction.

After the maintenance on her weapons was done, she dashed back to the main road. The place was heavily guarded, something she had noticed when she left the inn previously. However, she had not been aware of just how much the security had been beefed up.

Upon entering the main road she was approached by a City Guard with a cautious look. The man demanded her identification while his hand rested on his sword. Luckily she was able to shoo him away with her mercenary badge. When the man saw that her badge was inscribed with three stars he left without another word.

Mercenaries aligned with the Guild were assigned badges aligned with their capabilities. These badges ranked from one to six stars. Three stars, which was middle rank, was considered impressive. In their party she and Zachary were three-star mercenaries while Arletta, whose experience was still on the shallow side, was a two-star. As for Marcus, he was a four-star mercenary. It was one of the reasons why he was the leader.

When she entered the Guild she found it even fuller than the inn. Seated mercenaries were discussing in hushed and excited tones as their gazes occasionally shifted to mission board, which had a crowd forming around it.

She ignored them and looked around. A moment later she exclaimed as she caught sight of her friends seated at one of the tables.

They were all here. Good.

She called out to them and made her way to where they sat.

"We came by the inn earlier," Marcus said, as she sat down. "But you were asleep."

"Oh," she responded. "I didn't know. No one told me."

Katya probably forgot, as was usually the case when she was excited about the latest gossip.

"Was there something?" she asked, smiling; trying to stay calm.

"You heard about the break-in at the shops right?" Arletta asked. She sounded almost as excited as the Katya had been.

"Yeah," Kaylee replied. "What of it?"

"Old Traven Mason is pretty mad," Marcus interjected. "Not only does he have the City Guard searching for the culprit. He has also posted a mission on the Guild board, offering twenty gold for anyone who can find the culprit."

"Shit!" Kaylee exclaimed. "He's that pissed?"

"Yes," Zachary said. "I cannot believe there are still people brave enough to rob Mason. Its common knowledge that the aristocracy has dealings with the darker side of the city. That old crook probably has his goons searching for the culprit in the shadows already. He'll probably be caught by them soon."

"Not if we catch them first," Arletta said, her excitement building up. "With Bono's {Clairvoyance} we might just be able to do it. Unless of course someone else's Familiar has it too, but the ability is pretty rare. So we're going to do it and succeed before anyone can snatch the prize from us"

"Isn't Bono with your mother?" Kaylee asked.

Unlike other mages, Arletta hardly stayed with her Familiar. The creature spent most its time taking care of her sick mother.

"Mother is feeling better today," the redhead replied. "Besides, I paid five silvers to have the neighbours look after her in the event that I summon Bono away from her."

"Then everything's in order," Marcus said standing up. "Summon the monkey and let's go."

"Actually, there's something I need to talk to you guys about," Kaylee quickly said before the others could follow.

This stopped her companions in their tracks and they turned to look at her. The gaze that they had been giving over the past few days had been missing since she came here, however, at this moment the same suspicion returned as they settled down to listen to what she had to say.

It caused dread to begin encroaching upon her heart. However, she quickly shook herself out of her panic and released a heavy sigh.

What she was about to do was the only thing she could do if she wanted to stay with them in the long run. This was the decision she had made.

She looked at her companions one by one before opening her mouth.

"I'm taking a break from the mercenary business."