“You’re ready for it?” Rizzo whispered in his ear with a tint of both fear and excitement.

They were half a dozen walking quickly in the deserted streets of the sleeping city. Belanor wasn’t with them, and it was another older cultist by the name of Arbelladon who was leading their mission.

They had already avoided numerous patrols on the way there, and they were now closing on their target. The mission was to steal important documents from noble houses. There were multiple missions going at the same time, and each had been assigned a street to steal from.

Mahon wasn’t sure if they had set up multiple missions at the same time because the cultists really didn’t know where the information was exactly, or because they wanted to make it harder to know what they were stealing.

Probably a bit both.

His group of six had split their roles for the mission, and Mahon had been selected with Rizzo to keep watch on their surroundings while the four others broke inside the houses to borrow some documents.

Rizzo wasn’t one of the bravest persons Mahon knew, but at least he was pretty straightforward. He said what was on his mind the moment he thought about it, and he didn’t care if there was a good moment to say it or not.

“I really need to pee.” The man spoke again, despite Mahon’s effort to kill any conversation.

They had to stay quiet or they would have trouble with the patrolling guards. Mahon prayed for the success of this mission, not because the cult needed the documents, but because he didn’t want to see anyone killed tonight. He was not in the mood.

“I’m gonna pee.” Rizzo said again.

“Yes, go on.” Mahon finally said, holding back a sigh.

The cultist had the wisdom of removing his green cape first and left the spot where they could see the whole street from the shadows. Less than thirty seconds later, Mahon could hear a loud scream coming from where Rizzo went.

Shit. Guards.

For a full second Mahon remained still, unsure of what to do. Should he let the man get caught by the guard and stay here to watch while making sure the operation wasn’t a fiasco? Or should he go help the man and risk the entire mission if things went wrong?

“Fuck you, Rizzo.” He said to the silent night before removing his own green cape and rushing to help him.

He left their weapons and other stuff hidden in the shadows and ran to where the cultist had disappeared. Just before the intersection, he went back to a normal pace and mimicked the winding steps of a man who had drunk too much.

Mahon turned on the next street, and the scene appeared in its entirety. Rizzo was peeing against a wall while four guards were approaching from a dozen meters away, swords unsheathed. By chance, the cultist had not chosen a luxury house to pee on, and the guards weren’t too hasty to make him stop.

“Hey, Stapo!” Mahon called, mimicking a drunkard. “You can’t run like that, man! Look at where we are. It’s not our district.”

He approached Rizzo, who was trying to pee as fast as possible to finally be able to move away, and clapped his shoulder.

“Come with me, Stapo! Look, there are even guards. What are you doing peeing here? You’re too drunk!” Mahon spoke loudly so the guards could hear, and from the corner of his eyes, he could see they were already sheathing their swords back.

He whispered to Rizzo in the meantime. “Play a drunkard or we’re gonna get fucked. You’ve a weapon on you?”

“No, I left my sword with you.” Rizzo murmured back as he fastened his pants.

“We’re sorry!” Mahon shouted to the guard with his tipsy voice. “We’re leaving now. He is done.”

“We… we’re gonna drink again, right??!” Rizzo asked loudly while staggering to stay upright and leaning on Mahon.

Mahon could see the guards had now relaxed attitudes. They always met drunkards during their patrol, and no one wanted to get peed or barfed on. Still, they continued to walk towards them.

“No, no, no. No! No more drinking for you! Look at you, Stapo. I’m gonna put you to sleep and you don’t come here again, right? You drank way too much.” Mahon pulled Stapo towards a perpendicular street, hoping the guards wouldn’t deviate from their usual patrol path for two drunkards.

Alas, his prayers weren’t answered and the firm voice of a guard resounded in his back.

“Wait! Stay where you are!”

Mahon tried to push his luck. “I’m sorry, I’ll put him to bed now!” He answered them.

He pulled Rizzo away from the main street, but they had barely walked a few meters when the guard called him again with a harsher tone.

“I said stop! Don’t move if you don’t want any problem.”

Fuck.

Mahon’s brain worked into overdrive to find a way out of this mess. He could feel the body of Rizzo tensing up, prepared for action. He shook the man and whispered in his ear.

“Don’t try anything. We can still make it out. We’re just two drunkards.”

“We can’t let them bring us with them.” Rizzo murmured in answer, his tone indicating his readiness to take down the patrol with his bare hands.

“If we take them down, it will compromise the mission.” Mahon argued again through gritted teeth. The argument did something as the man relaxed a little, and Mahon pursued. “Let me try something. It’s not over already.”

The guards were just a few meters behind them now, and although they hadn’t unsheathed their swords, they all had their hands on the handle.

“What are drunkards doing in this luxurious residential area? And what ar…” The sentence trailed off as the man stared at them.

Mahon immediately knew they were fucked.

“Mahon?” The man asked with a surprised look. “You’re not at school for the banquet?”

The patrol wasn’t the usual city guards patrol. It was a Pine Hill Officer Institute patrol. There was an eerie silence during which Mahon could see the different emotions going through the faces of everyone present.

The students were shocked at first, before doubt settled in. What was Mahon doing here exactly? For a nobody to get lost here was one thing, but for a military student, it was an entirely different matter.

Alone, he could still have avoided their questions and found an excuse. But he was with Rizzo. He saw incomprehension slowly changing to suspicion on Rizzo’s face, and Mahon knew it would not end well.

In his misfortune, he saw a possible way out because of that one person among the patrol. The person who had called him out. Allen.

Mahon felt Rizzo at his side growing nervous and glancing at him with wary eyes. The situation would get out of hand in less than a second, and before it would force itself upon him, Mahon made its move.

He moved with incredible speed and elbowed Rizzo in the temple. The man never got a chance to react and passed out, collapsing in Mahon's arms. Mahon let the man fall to the floor and faced the patrol.

“Listen, because we don’t have much time.”

“Wait, wait, wait!” A student interrupted. “Why are we even listening to him, he…”

“Shut up.” Mahon retorted with a sharp tone. “As far as I can remember, you’re all First White, while I’m First Green. So you’re gonna listen to me.”

The students exchanged unsure looks before Allen spoke for them. “Let’s hear him first. We’ll see afterwards.”

The look in Allen’s eyes wasn’t completely certain, but he gave Mahon the benefit of the doubt. Mahon nodded to him.

“I’m doing an undercover mission. This man here is a cultist.” He gestured for Rizzo under the widening eyes of the patrol. “Now my cover is almost blown up. Here is what we’re gonna do. You will take this man to Jorik and explain to him what happened there. He’ll know what to do and confirm my story.”

“You could be gone in the meantime.” Someone asked with a suspicious look.

“Yes, I could be. Or maybe not, and you’ll be judged for insubordination. And you already fucked up my mission. I’d advice not to push your luck too far.” Mahon retorted in a threatening tone.

The students didn’t move, hesitating at the weird situation. Should they risk insubordination but maybe catch a cultist’s mole? Or should they trust the only commoner at school about his so-called undercover mission?

Allen chose for them as he went to grab the cultist still lying unconscious on the ground. He turned to his fellow students and gestured for Mahon. “That man saved dozens of citizens from the cultists by risking his life when they made their appearance. I saw it with my own eyes. Let’s do what he says and see with Jorik. If he really is a cultist mole, he can’t spy more, anyway.”

Mahon exchanged a grateful look with Allen while the other students grabbed Rizzo under the shoulder and started dragging him away. Allen stayed a bit behind to talk alone with Mahon.

“Long time no see, Mahon. I can tell you’re hiding stuff. I hope you really know what you’re doing.”

Mahon showed a bitter smile. “I am. About my undercover mission. But I can’t tell you more. I’m sorry. Jorik’s orders.”

“I choose to trust you. For the old days. I just hope you’re still the man I used to know, because I don’t recognize who you are today.”

Mahon could see the dilemma in his past roommates’ eyes. He had indeed changed a lot in the past months. He had become more of the man Allen had seen that terrible night. He wanted to tell Allen, but he could see a spark of fear in the noble’s eyes. His feats with the sword during the rings were well known among the First White. The fact he was a monster at strategy had also been displayed during the numerous strategy tests.

He had grown too high and too quick, even more since he was a commoner, and it was suspicious. Unknowingly, Mahon had dug a gap between him and the others. Some people feared him now. A commoner couldn’t rise that fast. He was obviously hiding things. And no one liked a dangerous man with mysteries.

With a last nod, Allen joined back his fellow students and together they carried Rizzo away.

Mahon watched them disappear at the next intersection and walked back to his watching spot. A bit later, the rest of the cultist’s group exited the house. Mahon signaled to them the street was clear, and they rushed to join him in his hideout.

Some of the cultists were sweaty from the adrenaline of their thief. Mahon observed their legs and hands shaking as they dropped their loot. It seems they had hit big, because they had two bags full of documents.

Arbelladon, the leader of their mission, watched around with a frown before turning to Mahon.

“Where is Rizzo?”

“Caught by a patrol. I couldn’t help him.”

“Fuck!” Arbelladon cursed. “What happened?”

“A patrol arrived, and they spotted him. He decided to lure them away, so they didn’t find me or the hideout. I followed behind to see if I could help him escape, but he got caught by another patrol a few streets away.” Mahon lied.

“You saw it?”

“With my own eyes.”

“Did they kill him?”

“No. They stunned him and took him away.”

“By the Fada!” Arbelladon cursed again. “He knew he had to kill himself before being caught! We can’t stay here. They might come back soon. Rizzo knows too much. We are all compromised. Fuck!”

Mahon realized his mistake the moment the man started his sentence. He had been too focused on making Rizzo disappear so his own cover wouldn’t blow up, that he hadn’t thought about the cultist's own cover.

“He was brave. He will die without spilling it.” Mahon tried to convince Arbelladon, but the man shook his head.

“We can’t risk it. He knows our identities, most of tonight’s plan, and our hideouts. We need to move out of schedule.” Arbelladon didn’t hesitate further. “Everyone come with me. We’re leaving now! Take the bags and let’s go.”

The cultists didn’t need to be told twice. They grabbed their stuff and fled in the streets within seconds. Mahon scouted ahead to make sure they didn’t cross a patrol’s path, and the little troop managed to reach a safe cult’s hideout shortly after.

“We should be safe here. You’ve never been to this hideout before, right?” Arbelladon asked, and the cultists shook their heads. “Good, that means Rizzo probably hasn’t as well. We need to go fetch the others real quick in case Rizzo gives away their missions. You three.” He gestured for all the cultists beside Mahon. “Go to the Blue plaza, there you should find Maïa and her group. Tell them to gather here immediately.”

Arbelladon then turned to Mahon. “Together we’ll go to Belanor’s group. Let’s move, we can’t waste time!”