Chapter 53: The Office

The next morning when we awoke, we saw two maids standing at the foot of our bed glaring at Isabella with envy in their eyes.

Isabella got off of me and I immediately stood up.

It should be noted that I was only wearing my underwear.

The two women gasped as they saw me and stared at my chest.

"Master Mizik...why do you have so many scars!? Were you wounded in battle? You look so...manly!" One of them said.

"My sister-in-law did this to me. But that isn't important right now. What is important, is what I can do to convince you lovely ladies to help me out with something..." I said smoothly.

"M-master Mizik is interested in us!?" The other maid said excitedly.

"How could I not be when you keep throwing yourselves at me like that? But before I can make a move and feel comfortable about it, I need your help."

"Yes! Whatever it is you ask, we will help you, Master Mizik!" One of them said.

"Excellent. I have decided to take my place as head of the family. To do this, I'll need to get into Tyranus' office. You can help me, right?" I said with a suave smile.

The maids were quite flustered at my expression and found it difficult to maintain eye contact.

Right in the palm of my hand. I never thought I would be abusing my looks. Hell, I never even thought I was that handsome!

"Of course! We can do whatever it is you ask! So long as you...deliver on your promise once you ascend, Master..." One of them said.

"Of course. I'm a man of my word."

No I'm not.

"To prove that Isabella has allowed me such a freedom, listen to her yourselves," I said and motioned to her.

"But of course. Mizik is too much to handle for just me alone. And furthermore, I would be terribly upset if I prevented him from being fully satisfied. I will allow him to take as many wives as he deems necessary. But only if you can help him!" Isabella said.

I could tell that she was trying not to be sick as she uttered the words. Still, she was a great actress.

"Anyone who declares their loyalty to me in such a way will be greatly rewarded. If you could help me out, I would most definitely make the two of you high on my priority list," I said.

"Yes, Master Mizik! We will provide you with one of the keys to his office immediately! We'll go get one now!" One of the maids said.

At once, both of them bolted out of the room.

I turned to Isabella and bowed my head.

"I did what you asked. I feel dirty," I said.

"You're not the only one. I can't believe I said those disgusting things. Share you? I would never! I can't bear the thought of you being in another woman's arms!" Isabella said.

"Of course. Now let's get ready," I said.

* * *

A few minutes after we got dressed, both of the maids returned and handed me a key.

After that, we came up with a plan. We decided that going during the day was far too dangerous...

I did, however, ask the maids to keep an eye on Tyranus as well.

I didn't want to stumble into his office while he was working late, after all.

Much later that night, at about 1 am, we made our move.

The goal was simple: break into Tyranus' office and use the satchel key on the desk within the room. We would acquire whatever it was we were supposed to find and get the hell out.

Failure was not an option.

The plan was that the two maids would quickly escort us to the office and stand outside to keep watch. They would pretend to clean and prevent anyone from entering the room. Once we had finished, we would pretend to be lost and they would quickly bring us back.

I slowly walked up to the door and inserted the key.

After I unlocked it, I gently turned the handle and pushed my way inside.

Isabella followed suit and I quietly closed the door.

As far as I knew, the two maids were to clean and organize everything outside of the room and pretend they were doing some late-night work.

I hadn't even bothered to learn their names because I didn't really plan to become head of the family.

Although I was glad that I wouldn't be the family head. That would mean that I had to make good on my promises...

Not only to Lamarr but also to the maids...

I still couldn't believe that I technically sold myself to them.

Regardless, once we entered the room, we looked around.

"Illuminate," Isabella said quietly.

Immediately, the room lit up as a result of the small orb of light that appeared.

I didn't need such things, because I had...

"Night vision," I said.

The room became normal for me and we began our search.

The office was quite nice. A bookcase and cabinet stood on one side of the room while another had a portrait of Tyranus.

In the corner was a flag that had the Iratus family crest on it.

As we approached the desk, I stopped and looked around.

"Is something wrong, Mizik?" Isabella whispered.

It felt like we were being watched.

For some reason, this particular presence filled me with anxiety and dread. The hairs on the back of my neck stood up and I felt a rising panic.

"Enemy detection," I whispered.

At once, my vision became slightly altered and I scanned the room.

"I think I feel someone's presence..." I said quietly.

Unfortunately, or should I say, fortunately, I couldn't pick anything up with enemy detection.

Interestingly enough, enemy detection worked by sensing hostile intent. Even allowing someone to detect poison in their food if it was meant for them. Anyone or anything that contained the explicit intent to harm the user or their party would be highlighted.

It was a very useful ability, but I didn't always have it active.

"Can you see anything?" Isabella asked.

I shook my head.

"It feels like we're not alone, but I can't see anything," I whispered.

"Maybe it isn't hostile?" Isabella said.

"Could be. But I don't know..."

Whatever this presence was, it made me very uneasy. I wanted to finish up here and get away as soon as possible.

"Let's just hurry up and get out of here," I said.

Isabella and I quickly began searching the desk in the room.

There were several drawers with keyholes on them, but none of them would fit the key that I held in my hand.

In the top drawer of the desk, I found a peculiar item.

{Item Name: Talisman of Returning}

{Item Description: A small talisman that allows the user to mark a location and return to it later. This item is single-use, and will crumble to dust once activated.

Quality: Rare Magical}

"Look at this," I said.

Isabella examined the item and nodded her head.

"That could be really useful. Should we keep it? It might make a good escape item if we use it in preparation," she said.

I decided to place the talisman in my inventory and we continued searching for a while.

Before we started feeling frustrated, however, Isabella beckoned me over to her.

When I looked, I saw a small keyhole just behind a corner under the desk.

Completely tucked out of sight.

I inserted the key and found it to be a perfect fit. Once I turned it, the key flashed and the outline of a rectangle appeared around the keyhole.

The new drawer popped out and I pulled on it.

The drawer seemed to be made of a strange metal with rune engravings on the inside. Likely to prevent anyone from detecting it by searching the desk.

Within the drawer was a single journal.

I took it and immediately placed it in my inventory.

After that, I closed the drawer and locked it. Doing so caused the drawer to disappear.

"Let's get out of here," I said.

Isabella nodded and we approached the door.

I tapped the door once and waited for a response. This was a code that Isabella had come up with. We would tap the door once to say that we had what we needed.

The maids would tap the door once to let us know if someone was around. If not, they would tap the door twice and unlock it.

And that's exactly what they did.

Once we exited, we locked the door and the maids pretended to come to our rescue.

"Master Mizik? Mistress Isabella? What are you doing up so late? One of the maids asked.

"Sorry, we were just having a look around and got lost on our way to the library. Could you show us back to our room?" I asked with a smile.

"But of course, Master. Please follow us," the other maid said.

* * *

After we arrived in our room, one of the maids approached me.

"Master Mizik, did you find what you were looking for?" She asked.

"I did. We still need to read it, but it seems like exactly what we need. Well done, you two. Thank you," I said.

"Would you like to thank us another way?" The other maid said.

"I'm pretty sure that I will wait until all of this is over. Then you will have your reward," I said.

"Of course, Master. Please forgive this servant's impatience. The anticipation is very difficult for us..."

After that, the two maids left. Isabella and I got ready for bed and laid down.

"Mizik, what does the journal say?" Isabella asked as she pulled herself close to me.

I reached into my inventory and grabbed the journal then opened it up.

Property of Duke (Sir) Ulysses Iratus

Entry 1

I have decided to keep a journal because Amelia thinks it's a good idea.

Lately, it seems like she's my only ally in this place. I don't know what good keeping a journal will do me, but here it is, I suppose.

Entry 2

Amelia says my handwriting is terrible. She also says that I should write about more important things. If words could imply that I'm sticking my tongue out at her in protest, that's what I would write here.

Entry 3

Amelia hit me because she thinks I'm just being childish.

Entry 4

My sweet little sister has become a monster that threatens her big brother whenever he does something wrong. I miss the days when she would come to me because she had a nightmare. Now the nightmares are scared of her.

"Mizik, does your father have a little sister complex or something?" Isabella asked.

I placed my hand over my face.

Dad, you make it hard to defend you, sometimes.

"I don't think so...at least I hope..."

I decided to keep reading.

Entry 5

At Amelia's request, I will begin writing down my progress in ridding this country of the filth that infests it. The Emperor of Kalsa has become old and defenseless in recent years and I am sick of it. Ever since the war with Albatross ended, he has acted very strangely.

I will investigate this.

Entry 6

Prying into the inner workings of this country is a dangerous thing to do. Two assassins attempted to kill me today, but they bit off a lot more than they could chew. Who did they think they were dealing with? I fought Walter Orthright to a standstill and survived.

That guy is a masterful warrior. He's a good man, too. But enough about that. I should prepare for further attacks.

I decided to skip ahead to the more relevant entries.

Entry 17

Jaques has been working hard in the capital to figure out what the problem with the Emperor is. Several members of my own household are beginning to eye me suspiciously. I don't like this at all.

Ever since Tyranus acquired that damn sword, Justice, he's been out of his mind. Constantly spouting about punishing people for their sins.

Yet when I confront him about it, he doesn't want to help me rid the country of evildoers. Is he insane?

Entry 22

The underground guild seems to have expanded its territory into our lovely city of Noir. I plan to investigate immediately.

Entry 24

I met with Jaques today to discuss the growing frustration with the Emperor. He tells me that I worry too much and ask too many questions... But told me that there was a significant problem.

Apparently, Tyranus makes frequent trips to the capital to speak with the Emperor in private.

That boy is only twelve. TWELVE!

What is going on here?

Entry 29

We found Waldo dead today....

The cause of death is unknown. He was a pervert, but he was still my brother. I will miss him greatly...

Lately, I feel like I'm being watched all the time. I'm not sure who it is, but every time I think I'm alone, it feels like I'm not.

Entry 34

Jacques is sending worried letters to me. He thinks his life might be in danger or something. He is also convinced that Tyranus is doing something behind the scenes.

He's only twelve and I worry about him. His heart is full of darkness.

Entry 40

I continued my investigations and uncovered something terrifying.

Our kingdom is under the control of the underground guild. The leader also apparently resides within this country.

I lost several good men trying to find this information out, and I almost consider it worth the heartache.

Entry 42

My snooping around has proved to be quite fruitful as well as dangerous. Jaques sent me a letter saying that he would likely be executed soon and that I should prepare for exile.

The most probable reason is that they don't believe they can kill me and I know too much.

For example, Tyranus is far more dangerous than anyone else right now. He has somehow managed to take hold of the underground guild and is pulling the strings behind the Emperor.

In short, Tyranus IS the Emperor of Kalsa.

Entry 43

I attempted to confront Tyranus on the issue and he denied everything.

He claims to know nothing.

Yesterday, Jaques was executed in the capital. My heart aches for him and his family...

Later, one of the Emperor's officials informed me that they needed the help of Duke Oswald in Lorelei for dealing with the underground guild.

Do they think I'm stupid?

Duke Oswald is one of the top members of that guild.

Entry 44

Today is the last day of my life here in Noir. My orders are simple, go to Lorelei and convince Oswald to help us take down the underground guild.

They will be sending money, as per my request, to pay for the entire trip.

I don't think I will be returning to Noir.

I will endeavor to start a new life in Lorelei...

Perhaps I will find a pretty girl and have children like Jaques said. I want a son. If I get one, I'll treasure him always. No matter how bad things get, I'll always be there for him. I love you, my son that I don't have yet!

Say, if I had a son and he's reading this...can you do me a favor? Tell Amelia that I love her. And if you're able...take that bastard Tyranus down for me.

Lastly, if you're my daughter, ignore the bit about my son! I love you, sweetie!

As I closed the journal I felt tears flowing from my eyes.

I put the journal back in my inventory and Isabella held my head against her chest as I cried.

"That bastard... He sent his own uncle...my father...to die in that town!" I managed to say through the tears.

"Just let it all out, my love. It's okay... I'm here for you," Isabella said softly. She kissed the top of my head and held me tightly as I cried.

I didn't know how long we remained that way. I cried until I couldn't cry anymore.

Eventually, I passed out in her arms.