Chapter 21 Getting used to Breaking In

I sank into the waters and dived deep to make sure nobody would see me. Gloria managed to get us some alchemical time bombs. They had a clockwork mechanism with gears and all I had to do was turn the handle to prime it.

I got my hands on some alchemical glue that was waterproof, used in temporary ship repairs out in the sea.

We needed to draw out the garrison to lighten the mansion's security or to at least prevent any reinforcements with a diversion.

Our target for the diversion was the governor's fleet. There were a lot of soldiers patrolling around the navy ships but there were no surveillance under the water.

You'd think that with the Hyrisians around they would be more careful of something like this but it looks like due to them being isolationists there were no precautions taken against them. They didn't pose a threat for such a long time that any defenses prepared against them would cost too much for no real gain at this point in time.

Thanks to the Aqua Rune my underwater time increased exponentially. I didn't have gills, so I couldn't breathe underwater forever, not yet anyway. But now I was able to hold my breath for around 40 minutes.

One by one I placed a time bomb under the navy ships. They were adjustable so I timed them to explode around the same time while taking into account my movements in between the ships.

When I was done, I surfaced and climbed up at a predetermined point where Gloria, Maria and Evelyn were waiting for me. We didn't talk, I just gave a nod to indicate I was done.

We hurried to the mansion while trying not to arouse suspicion. Our point of infiltration wasn't too close to the mansion but it was still in our view. We didn't want to be spotted by anyone.

We were particularly worried about the Paladin of the Goddess's church because there wasn't much information about him other than his physical description. If we had known more about his abilities, we would have been more confident in our plan.

We waited patiently for the bombs to go off next to the vegetation around the mansion. There was a wall in front of us with spiked tips leaning outwards but we didn't move yet.

Gloria looked nervous as always so I just patted her on the shoulder and gave a reassuring smile. That's when the bombs went off. Due to the bombs going off underwater there wasn't much noise but the secondary explosions from the ammunition inside the ships went off with a thundering noise.

We could see the explosions and fire from where we were even though this was far from the pier. We waited just a bit more to give the soldiers time to respond and leave their posts.

When it was time, Maria looked at us and gave a nod.

"Let's go."

I was the first to jump up and grab the spiked tips of the fence and activated armament haki to protect my hands and add some extra force to my pull. It bent quite easily enough. I climbed on top and jumped inside. Everyone jumped in from the opening one after the other.

When we were inside Maria took lead and we followed. She was the fastest of us so she scouted out ahead. If there was danger, she could warn us beforehand.

Most of the garrison inside the mansion moved out to help at the pier. All we had to do was follow our predetermined path to the Princess's room. Avoiding the guards was easy for Maria as she possessed the Perception Rune.

It was something I really wanted as it improved the five senses and even protected against extremes. That meant that it protected you from bright lights, loud noises, strong smells, terrible tastes and even excruciating pain.

It would go really well with my observation haki. Anyway, we didn't want to stay outside the mansion too long, so we quickly crossed the small path going to the backyard and climbed up to an open window on the first floor.

The room was filled with decorations and luxurious couches and armchairs, most likely a guest room.

I didn't sense anything from behind the door, so I opened it slowly and kept quiet. Confirming that there was nobody, I gave a signal to the others and moved outside. Maria took the lead again.

We came across a few guards but they were easily taken out without noise.

When we reached the second floor, we hid behind a corner of the corridor and observed the two soldiers guarding the Princess's room. The open corridor was too long to reliably run up to them but I had an idea.

I looked at Maria and gestured to her throwing daggers. She understood me and took out two to get ready. The Darkness Darkness fruits gravitational pull was difficult to control as I didn't have enough practice with it.

So I didn't use it at all. Instead of spreading it all around me, I directed it towards the guards as fast as I could. This alerted them immediately but before they could respond Maria moved behind the curtain of Darkness and threw out her daggers.

There was the sound of two bodies hitting the ground, so I took away the Darkness and saw the dead bodies of the two guards who had a dagger on their heads. Maria and I smirked at each other. That was a good shot.

We moved quickly and opened the door.

Princess Rosalinde was alert due to hearing the commotion right outside her door but was surprised at first and shocked right after at seeing her daughter.

Me? I think I fell in love.