Chapter 40

The moon shone brightly in the sky. Under normal circumstances, John would be happy with it. But this time, it was unfortunate. The clear skies made everything lighter. Sneaking in would be difficult. Unlike when they were in the dungeon, they couldn’t turn off the light at will. They need to be careful. If one of the guards notices them, then it’s over.

The three of them gathered in the treasure hunters’ guild, wearing special clothes. The mask covered their faces, making them look like genuine thieves.

“Are you ready?” Isak asked. He didn’t seem worried in the slightest. Considering his job, he must have dealt with these kinds of things often. Maybe sneaking in and out was second nature to him.

“Ready,” John replied. Leyla gave them a firm nod.

“Should I even wish you good luck?” Ellie asked. The guild was supposed to be closed at this point. It was already midnight, after all.

“Well, you’ll be free, won’t you?”

“You do know I can quit whenever, right?” Ellie yawned. “I just don’t have anything else to do… Traveling again would be nice… Well whatever. Just go already.”

The three exchanged glances, and Leyla teleported them to the count’s mansion.

The second they arrived, they immediately took up a fighting stance. They expected someone to be inside the room, but that didn’t seem to be the case.

“This doesn’t look like what I expected…” Isak murmured. The room was messy. There was a whole load of paper everywhere. On the desk, in the shelves, and even on the sofa. A small window behind the desk gave light into the otherwise dark room.

John checked with the key. The chair they were looking for wasn’t here.

“What room is this? This looks like an office, and certainly isn’t like the ones my colleagues described,” Isak said, looking around.

“Maybe your subordinates were taken to a fake office,” Leyla said. Unlike Leyla, regular teleportation magic was limited to places the caster had been to before. They needed to be able to imagine it.

“The count might assume that someone knows teleportation, and thus, they can teleport straight to his fake office.”

If that were the case, then he might place soldiers on standby there. There might really be a trap waiting over there.

“I’ll get to searching, then.” Isak began looking around the room. It was time for John and Leyla to move as well. As promised, Isak unlocked the door for them. They moved into the hallway. The moon’s shine traveled through the windows, lighting up the otherwise dark corridor.

The secret office was on the top floor of the building, at the farthest end of the hallway. The chair was somewhere underneath. They could only hope that it wasn’t in a bedroom, or any room with someone in it, for that matter. Guards patrolled the mansion. They walked in pairs, one of them holding a magic lamp, the other remaining on guard. They didn’t seem to be aware of the intruders. One of them even yawned. It looked like just another night for them.

Leyla made a sound.

“Who’s there?” The guards turned in her direction, but she had already gone behind a wall to hide herself. The guards headed to the third floor. While they climbed the stairs, she used her sleeping spell on the one behind. He fell, his fall slowed by a gust of wind. The carpet helped muffle his sound. Wasting no time at all, Leyla used another spell, causing the second one to fall asleep.

“Nice one.”

“Of course. It’s me, after all,” Leyla said with pride. They worked together to bring the two guards into a small storage room. This room wasn’t locked, and the chair wasn’t there.

“Is your magic alright?”

Leyla had been saving up, minimizing her use of magic. Maybe she went wild this time because this was the last chair. She would return not long after.

“I’m fine, worry about yourself.”

“Alright.”

They proceeded to the second floor. There were no guards there. The guards they captured might be the ones tasked with guarding the second floor. A quick check of the key revealed that they would still need to go down. Taking out the guards now meant that they would face less trouble when going back up.

Upon arriving on the first floor, they checked the hallways. No signs of any guards. The mansion was huge, however. Some might be patrolling other areas. They must remain vigilant.

“It’s supposed to be around this area,” John whispered. They spotted another pair of guards at the end of the hallway. These two were facing the window, but they would surely notice them approaching. It wouldn't be hard for them to turn to the left and spot them. Leyla used magic to tickle one of the guards, causing him to turn to the right, facing away from John and Leyla.

“Huh? What happened?” his friend asked, turning in the same way as him.

“I don’t know. It feels like wind. Is there a window left open?”

“I didn’t remember seeing any.”

Now, they were facing away from Leyla. Turning their bodies one hundred and eighty degrees would be much more difficult. Leyla cast the sleeping spell, and before his friend could react, John jumped and held his mouth. He tried shouting, but Leyla cast a sleeping spell before he could do anything.

“Nice. It’s here.”

Neither John nor Leyla could lockpick. Since they already knew that the chair was inside, Leyla could teleport in and out. She brought out a green chair.

“Let’s go.” She teleported them back to the office on the third floor.

They arrived right in the middle of a swordfight.

“Hiyaah!”

“Whoa!” John ducked right as a sword came flying over his head. A few seconds late, and he might have lost his head.

Isak was in the middle of trading blows with several guards. Leyla quickly used her sleeping spell, knocking the guard out. John used this chance to push the guard away, sending him into his allies.

“There's more!?” one of the guards shouted.

“Where are our reinforcements!?”

John stood to the side. He wasn't able to fight, and he wasn’t good enough with magic. He didn’t want to accidentally spray Isak or Leyla with water. He stayed as far away as he could from the other two, hoping not to impede them.

“Did you get everything you need?” Leyla asked. She was still sending her sleep spells at the guards, while Isak held them at the door for her. They fell one by one. Isak himself used the blunt side of his sword to knock them out. Even with his skills, two people couldn't fight a horde of trained guards. They were being pushed back.

“I have it on that bag over there!” A small sack was behind the desk. It was filled to the brim with paper. John went ahead and grabbed it. He had his hands on the chair and the bag. They would bring these items along if they teleport.

“Let's go!”

“Alright.”

Leyla reached out her hands. Her left hand touched Isak's back, her right on John's shoulder.

But nothing happened.

“What?”

“What's going on!?”

“I can't teleport!”

The color drained from John's face. As if confirming his worries, Leyla spoke again, “I've run out of magic! I can't teleport!”

“What do we do now!?”

They couldn't defeat the guards. Isak had been fighting before they arrived in the room. Even with his training, there was only so much he could do. He was losing. Since Leyla lost her magic, she couldn't support him.

“Change of plans! You two get out of here! I'll hold them up!” Leyla shouted.

“But, what about you!?” John asked in panic.

“I told you before, didn't I? They can't harm me.”

“Are you sure?” Isak asked, still swinging his sword. They had been pushed back to the far end of the room, near the window. Attacks came from all around them. Isak couldn't find space to counter.

“Trust me!”

Isak and Leyla switched places. Leyla could no longer use magic, so now, she used her wand as a physical weapon.

“But-” John tried calling out, but Leyla cut him off.

“Just go, stupid! I’ll be back once the chairs are complete!”

“Fine!”

Isak grabbed John, and the two jumped out of the window.

•••

It was a lie. Without her magic, Leyla couldn’t return to that space. But that wasn’t important.

She continued fighting. Without magic, a mage couldn’t possibly hope to keep up with trained soldiers. Her wand, not designed to fight steel blades, shattered. Losing her weapon didn’t make Leyla any less motivated.

“I’ll make sure you humans regret this!” she roared, charging into the group of enemy guards. While she was much stronger compared to a regular human, she couldn’t make up for the numbers disadvantage.

“Take this!” She pummeled her fist at one of the guards.

“After them!” one of the guards shouted while trying to get past her, but Leyla blocked him. They must have realized that they couldn’t go past Leyla, so they changed their plans, focusing on taking Leyla down. It didn’t take them a lot of work to hold her down.

“How infuriating.”

•••

A fall from this height would harm them, but Isak managed to land on a nearby tree before jumping onto the walls that surrounded the mansion.

“After them!” one of the guards shouted, but the fight there wasn't over.

“You'll have to get through me first!” Leyla roared, fighting through the wave of enemies.

“John, follow me,” Isak whispered, guiding them away.

•••

They managed to sneak through the night, arriving back at the guild.

“Won't they check this place?” John asked. To his surprise, Ellie shook her head.

“The boss doesn't really care about what happens over here. Besides, he'll just assume Isak isn't stupid enough to come to the guild after a heist.”

“And I did come here?”

“'Cause you're stupid.”

“Are you a noble yourself, Ellie?”

“What even gives you the idea?”

With how casual she acted with Isak, he figured she would be someone high-ranking.

“Still, will Leyla be fine?” Ellie voiced the question in everyone's minds.

“She said she'll be fine…”

“Could she fight off that many people?”

John didn't know. As a laikaat, she surely had some abilities that humans weren't capable of. Maybe she'll come through the door later that night, brushing off their worries.

Kei probably knows something.

“I'll take a break.”

“Alright. I'll remain here on standby,” Ellie said. John could only hope that she didn’t fall asleep.

“I’ll get these documents sorted. We should be able to free Leyla soon…” Isak said, trailing off. The concern was clear in his mind. It looked like he was abandoning Leyla, but that was the best option right now. They only knocked out the count’s guards. If they return, they may face greater numbers.

John took the chair back to his room. He closed the door, locked it, and for the last time, grabbed the key. Kei appeared in front of him not long after.

“I got you the last chair.” He showed the green chair to Kei. Kei’s expression lit up with a bright smile.

“Wow, good job, John! It’s finally back… You didn't try it?”

John shook his head. “What does this chair do anyway?”

“It gives you a lot of money.”

For a split second, John regretted not sitting on the chair. He admonished himself for thinking that way while his ally was still somewhere out there.

“Well, time for me to fulfill my promise.”

She transported the two of them into an empty space.