Delivery!

Annie smiled as she entered the library, Lilin following behind her with the bag of tax money. Their footsteps were heavy, and the rattling of the metals in the bag made enough noise to grab Deuce's attention. He quickly got up from his desk and made his way to the sounds, gasping as he saw Annie had returned.

"Ah, Granny Smith!" Deuce cheered as he rushed over. "Goodness, you LOOK like a granny now."

Annie nodded, smiling. "I'm glad to see you again, Deuce. You've finished learning how to manage the library by now, I presume?"

Deuce nodded eagerly. "Yes! Miss Six taught me everything, and now I can run it by myself! Now, you're here for... Accounting, right? Yes, I can hear the money in the bag! I'll make sure it all makes it to its place!"

Annie nodded, and Lilin hauled the bag over to Deuce's desk. She set it down, and the boy started to count it all out. He was incredibly quick, his hands moving fast and his eyes flicking around as he mumbled and whispered numbers to himself. He even sorted the bits and coins into stacks that he grouped together to form groups of values that Annie had no hope of parsing. However, while this was their intended purpose for being here, they had a different purpose to fulfill as well.

"Deuce," Annie said passively, "there's something else we need to ask of you."

She felt Lilin's elbow as it sharply jabbed into her side. "Ow!"

Lilin glared at Annie. "It's rude to talk in a library unless it's necessary."

Annie looked back at Lilin, wondering what she was on about. Then, it hit her. The King probably had surveillance all through the castle. Lilin was probably trying to get her to stop talking before she said anything compromising.

"Ah, right," she said. "Maybe I should write it on a note, instead?"

Deuce nodded. "Yes, certainly. I can read it when I'm done with this."

With that, Annie and Lilin went to a far corner of the library. They had been occasionally tasked with restocking the recording booths, so Annie knew where to find parchment and writing materials. They used something shockingly similar to pencils, only the mineral wasn't graphite. She had no idea what it was, but it created bolder lines and dulled far faster. Annie wrote: "So, we write instead of speaking?"

Lilin nodded, writing back "There's a constant audio monitor, but writing isn't totally safe. Just don't make it really obvious we're writing about something to avoid detection."

Annie nodded again and erased what she had written, then started to write out what she wanted to say to Deuce.

"At some point, the Generals will be visiting. When they do, it is imperative that the Throne Room is not guarded. Lilin and I will need entry."

Annie passed the note to Lilin. She took it, read it through, and nodded in approval. With that, the two of them made their way back to Deuce, who had finished sorting and counting the money and placed it back in the bag. He smiled in greeting, adjusting his glasses.

"So, that note is for me, yes?" he asked, taking it as Annie offered it to him. He began to read it, his eyes widening as they darted across the few words written on it. He flipped the paper over and wrote something on it. He flipped it back over and held the note up as if reading it again. The back of it now read "Knock something over so it makes noise."

Lilin, without hesitation, turned around and started to walk. Her wing slapped a painting she always thought was ugly, knocking it from the wall. It started to fall, and Deuce shouted before it could hit the ground.

"Deafening field!" he shouted, waving his hand. A wave of Mana washed over the room, and Annie felt her ears reacting strongly to the sudden, harsh silence. It wasn't a silence in the traditional sense, it was a total absence of any noises at all. Nothing could be heard at all for a moment, not even her heartbeat or breathing. Then, it slowly eased. The painting had hit the floor, but no sound came from it.

"Okay, we have a few seconds before it's suspicious," Deuce said. "My mother tried to rise against the King as well. She was killed. Are you certain this will work?"

"No," Annie replied, not questioning how Deuce had put together so much in so little time. "But if Lilin can handle the Mana from the throne, it will."

Deuce nodded, hurrying over to pick up the painting. "Wonderful. I can trap most of the knights in this library, so long as the visit won't happen today. The elites, especially Tristan and his men, won't be sent to my library in an emergency. You will have to do something about them. Most of the others will be trapped here."

"So, what the hell is this 'deafening field'?" Lilin asked brashly, "are you just... Allowed to hide your library's noises from the King?"

"No, but I can convince everybody that I have a sensitivity to loud noises. I can use magic to hide all sounds from everybody to protect my tender little ears, you see."

Annie smiled proudly. She had known this boy was clever beyond measure, and was happy to see him prove it before her very eyes. Lilin, on the other hand, was completely taken aback. She had never seen something like this- or was she also being hid from? How many things were happening under her nose that she never knew?

"Alright, field off!"

The Mana once again rushed over Lilin and Annie, but it was not as overwhelming this time. Annie's mind felt relieved to hear the ambience of air moving and her body's functions once more, though now it was rather irritating to hear her heart beating so loudly. Lilin didn't like hearing her body either, so she started to hum a little tune. Annie immediately recognized that tune, turning her head and smiling at the memory.

"Ah, Lilin, perhaps with our free time we could listen to those Sound Stones?"

Lilin turned to Annie with a big grin. "Oh, hell yeah!"