After my unintended promenade wearing nothing but emperor's new clothes, I smoothly resolve the wardrobe malfunction situation like the responsible adult I am - completely ignore the girl who just stands there with eyes of a frightened deer, chanting "mammoth...mammoth..." like a broken record player, put on my freshly issued set of flax clothes and go towards the mess hall, making doubly sure to inspect every single person I pass. After the, what I call, "Vale incident", there is no reason not to suspect everyone, especially the servants. In a way, it's mortifying that such capable people serve under a bunch of greedy braindead sloths. I might be exaggerating here, but this is an equivalent of giving toddler a button that launches nukes, with all the codes already helpfully punched in - just give an order and enjoy the bloody fireworks.

After making doubly sure that I'm eating from the same cauldron as everyone else, I sit down and make small talk with aging maid aunties, knowing full well what gossip loving chatterboxes their ilk is. Apart from uninteresting rubbish of who has affair with whom, I managed to pick up several useful tidbits. For one, I now roughly know the currency and its value. A hundred copper coins equals one silver coin, a hundred silver coins equals one gold coin, ten gold coins equal one platinum coin. To be frank, I don't get it at all - no matter how you look at it, a hundred silver coins should definitely be far more valuable than a measly gold coin, this is nothing short of a daylight robbery. However, that might not be true for this world - they might have silver mines scattered all over the place for all I know, that should explain the horrendous exchange rate. Anyway, I digress. What I gathered from this is that it would do me good to exchange all the money I earn into gold coins. Lugging around tens of kilograms worth of copper coins sounds nightmarish.

With breakfast done and over with, I asked Vale to guide me around the castle - having him close is much less unnerving than going alone, knowing he skulks around watching me without giving away his position. Thankfully, this ordeal paid off in droves: I have found three perfect candidates that will help me ensure my survival in this serpent nest. Firstly, an innocent looking maid who is clearly a spy, judging from her abilities. This one wouldn't be able to do a thing even if she notices that her skills vanished into thin air. Just like the noble who graciously donated his Deceit to me, this one too wouldn't run around shouting on the top of her lungs what exactly was stolen from her. Candidate #2 is a stablehand. Looks like he was a distinguished warrior in the past but after someone lopped his dominant arm off in battle, he was deemed useless and sent to tend to horses at the stables. This one clearly wouldn't mind me tampering with his skills. And finally a crazy looking old bum who just can't stop drooling. I weren't sure why such a dubious fellow was allowed free reign to just...wander...around the halls, before Vale called some servants who promptly carried the poor psycho away, showing him utmost respect. After checking his status, I've surmised that he must be previous king's bastard son. And even though the old coot is crazy as a bat, he is still a treasure trove to me - although the list is pathetically short due to his low level, he still has some skills that are reserved to those of a royal bloodline. It would be foolish not to use him.

On the way back I've decided to nab another skill from Vale, the one which absence shouldn't be too noticeable - Sense hostility. The moment I've done so, I wished I were dead - a feeling of being impaled by a thousand needles, burnt, gutted like a fish and having a crowbar heated to the point of melting shoved down my throat assaulted me all at once, making me fall on my knees and nearly throw up on the carpet that was worth a fortune. Someone here definitely wants my head on a platter, but due to just acquiring the skill and being in pain, I didn't manage to pinpoint the exact location. Brushing Vale away with a lame excuse of feeling under the weather due to lack of sleep, I retreat back to my room.

The following days felt relaxed yet strained at the same time, due to the fact of my hit-or-miss power being restricted to two uses a day. Knowing of the possible backlash and its severity, only an insane or desperate person who is about to die anyway would dare to go over the limit.

Info gathering was progressing smoothly, but came to a frustrating halt quite fast. At the moment I thought someone made a hush order to stop assisting me in any way, but it turned out to be that people around here are just truly ignorant and not interested in worldly affairs, like frogs in the well who see a tiny part of the sky and believe that is all the world has to offer. Still, despite their poor knowledge of geography, it was possible to think of a short term plan for the future. Let's say that Delfina kingdom is at the center of a map. To the north-east one can find the beastkin country Fornica, deep in the woods, surrounded by a mountain range from the three sides. Seems like a perfect location for defense, but this really bites them in the ass now that Delfina applies much pressure on them and there is simply nowhere to run or request supplies from. The only reason their country haven't fallen yet is the fortress placed at the bottleneck location, making it easy to repel attacks. I'm interested in beastkin, but Fornica is definitely a no-go. I doubt they appreciate humans all that much with constant attacks, banditry and abductions with following slavery being generously thrown at them by ol' Harold's lackeys. That only leaves Berg, kingdom of commerce, on the west. Unlike Delfina's human supremacists, these fellows are much more accepting and laid back - the main virtues there are money and attempts to uphold their neutrality. Although they don't have a big military force, Delfina wouldn't try to swallow them anytime soon. For one, they are apparently allied with several other countries further to the west. They are also the only ones who can provide certain goods, like salt for example. Such a monopoly is no laughing matter, considering that there are zero rock salt deposits around Delfina, not to mention the steady depletion of iron ore mines in the vicinity and such.

Days pass, all seems fine and steady, everything is going according to plan. It should've been that way, but...

On the fifth night I received an unexpected guest.

- !!!

I wake up from my slumber and jerk my head to the right by instinct.

- Tch, not bad for a whippersnapper. I were right about you after all, John Norman the Venomous Serpent.

Not yet fully grasping the situation, I see a familiar face.

Vale.

Fucking. Vale.

In his right arm he firmly grasps a serrated knife which is now firmly lodged into the pillow my head was resting on a moment ago. In his left - an orb glowing with dull golden sheen. The same device they used on all of us at day one to ascertain our status.

Shit. Shitshitshitshitshitshitshit! When and where did I screw up? I were 100% sure he would definitely come after my head the moment I leave on the seventh day, why the sudden change in schedule?!

I grab his right arm with my left and set loose a hook to his ribcage with my right. He groans and lets go of the orb. I sprung forth and upwards, delivering a powerful headbutt to his nose. We fall off the bed, Vale is growling profanities but is quickly shut up with a straight punch to the teeth.

- Thanks for coming over right after midnight, asshole.

I steal his Assassination arts and Silent steps, then snap his neck like a twig. One sickening sound later he lies there motionless with a look of disbelief at being killed by one of his own techniques.

As adrenalin slowly weakens its grip on my body and my rugged breathing returns to normal, my mind is thrown into overdrive once again, analyzing the crappy cards I've been dealt.

- Okay, alright, wonderful, truly fantastic. Thanks a bunch, Vale. Being a nuisance even after kicking the bucket, what am I supposed to do with the corpse, huh?! I'll just tell them, "hey, old man Vale just came to say hello at night, tripped, fell and snapped his neck", is that what you want me to tell them?! Oh. Oooooh... Yeah, that is actually a great idea now that I think about it. Thanks Vale, you are a champ.

I pat his shoulder to show my appreciation but his neck *khhhrg*s another sloshy sound that makes me physically cringe.

Indeed, there is no need to panic. I didn't do nothing, poor Vale here was too clumsy and off'ed himself. In this situation having a corpse should be a boon, it's not like forensics exist in this world, right?~ If Vale suddenly disappeared without a trace while observing me on Harold's orders, I'd be the prime (and only) suspect. But if he died with me having an ironclad alibi - that's a whole another story. Enough chitchat, I've got a lot of work to do before sunrise.

I stuffed Vale's still warm corpse under the bed in case someone entered the room while I'm out, grabbed the orb and dagger, opened the window and jumped out. First things first, I use both the newfound Silent steps and Detect presence (that I got from the spy girl, and which, in combination with Sense hostility, saved my hide earlier tonight) to easily avoid getting caught by stationary and patrolling guards. I reach the wall that has thick foliage and bushes on the other side, and fling the orb and dagger one after another over the wall. At first I wanted to simply bury them, but after a bit of pondering I came to a conclusion that identification items like this pose a very real threat to my life and thus should be researched to figure out a surefire way to fool them; as for the dagger, it seems to be made of a metal or alloy unknown to me. I've used combat knives extensively in the past due to...reasons...therefore I know the price a sharp, durable and perfectly balanced tool like this holds.

With that done, I sneak right past the sleeping guard into the warehouse and snatch a needle, some thread, two bottles of awfully stinky booze resembling moonshine. One bottle gets emptied into the pond, with that preparations are almost complete. There is only about an hour left before sunrise.

I make a dash towards Vale's room and thoroughly thrash it, trying to make is little noise as possible. Broken mirror, torn curtains, smashed ornament and a bottle of strong booze on the table. Poor Vale must've been reminiscing something unpleasant, huh? Poor guy.

With some forty minutes left before servants rise to work, I drag Vale's body all the way to the west wing staircase, the one on the opposite side from mine. Forcefully shove the booze down his gullet, not minding the fact his shirt get stained too - this will only make it more believable. Then I send him flying down the long staircase with a kick and leg it back to my room as if my life depends on it. Because it does.

By the time I've reached my destination and proceeded with stitching the sliced up bed and pillow, a bloodcurdling feminine shriek full of terror could be heard in the west wing...