The central ring was a competition of who had the biggest pockets. Every single property had one dominant building and some form of garden. Some had smaller huts or towers around the edges, likely for servants. Still, they had to work with limited space. One could only fit so many buildings in the walled-off district. That led to some creative architecture.

Most residences were built from stone with the occasional wooden support. There were towers, domes, flat or slanted roofs, balconies, some of them gardens of their own, fancy carvings along pillars and walls, painted stone reflecting scenes of humans or the aspects. One of the more common symbols was the Church’s cross worked into glass windows. I later learned that the Cathedral had a monopoly on glass production and every single pane had to be transported from there.

The two buildings marked on my map were about 250 metres apart. There were three others in between them. The [Organizer] lived a little further towards the wall and his home was a single comparatively small building with three storeys and a slanted roof. The garden was only a third of the property and surrounded by a stone wall. A quick survey revealed no magical protections from the outside. It was still possible that only one room or a safe of sorts would have spells cast on it.

Locust of Redrock’s home on the other hand was nearly twice in size with a garden taking up two-thirds of the property. The building was almost next to the palace walls, only one other mansion in between. It had a central part with huge windows looking into a grand hall and two wings leading along the garden. A small group of huts separated the second garden that was being used for vegetables. Somehow, the man had gotten his hands on a lamp of growth and was producing what looked to be expensive herbs and fruits. Most of the property had, once again, no warding. The only exception were the two upper levels of the east wing. That had to be the bedrooms of his family and his office.

I was scouting from the air at first to get an initial impression. Just before dawn, I pulled from my [Mingling] Skill and did my best to appear like an ordinary owl. I also dragged my aspects around to appear the same to any magical senses.

I landed in a tree overlooking Redrock’s front door and simply stayed there for the next hour. Servants came and went, most of them carrying groceries or other simple purchases. One woman in an expensive dress followed by her daughter also entered. I listened to conversations about the weather, the cook catching a cold and the lord’s son being insufferable. Very much nothing unexpected.

Eventually, I decided to change my location to give me a vantage point looking into the warded rooms. Sadly, all of them had curtains behind the glass windows. Even my ears were unable to make out any interesting sounds. I satisfied myself with noting the guards’ positions around the property and moved to the potential second target. This was the place to confirm the [Spymaster]’s information unless everything was stored in the warded area. I would get to that tonight.

The small house was much easier to observe. There were plenty of dark places in the properties around it for me to sit in. A quick headcount gave me six people inside the building plus two guards on both the main entrance and garden gate. They looked lazy and inattentive.

Inside, I found a slightly fat man working on a desk. The metal shutters were wide open to let in fresh air. A floor below, two women covered in makeup were gossiping in loud voices. I ignored their blabber about whose son and daughter were making out and which nobles were having an affair. A maid stood ready by their side, making sure their cups of tea were full. At least they were not drinking wine this early in the morning. The last two people were a chef and a butler currently busy in the kitchen. The former was preparing lunch while the latter was cleaning dishes. They kept conversation to a minimum.

A deeper scan revealed a slight whiff of vis coming from the office window. I was confident there was something to be had. I just had to be careful not to get caught.

I used the time waiting for a chance to think about the assassination. And about my overall place in human cities. It felt a little weird. Many of them were not used to seeing a sapient animal and stared or sometimes even ran away. It was much better when I was with Alex or Circe but I had never felt like this in the Dwarven Hills. Granted, I was almost the height of a dwarf. That probably helped as well.

Now that I was in the human plains and spending time in their underdeveloped cities, I was getting a little annoyed with people. Other than my friends, there was no real reason to stick here. I was hoping the Cathedral would at least be interesting. But maybe there was another solution. I had once tried to move my shadows to form a dwarven shape and pass as one. The lack of speech and my weak ‘fingers’ had stopped that quickly on top of being found out. I also liked being an owl. But for moving in human cities, it might be convenient to at least be able to pass as one. It would also let me find a much easier way to get to my targets.

Then I remembered that most guards tended to use [Identify] on anyone trying to pass them. I would be found out incredibly quickly. Unless there was a Skill to block [Identify], I could at most use a form like that to distract.

Movement from the office finally pulled me out of my thoughts. The butler had entered the room and was telling the [Organizer] to come down for lunch. The man barked and ordered his food to be brought upstairs. The butler insisted since they had a guest and a few minutes later the office was empty. And the shutters were closed. Of course, that could not stop me.

I found my way onto the window sill and quickly shifted inside. The shadows left behind on the outside were pulled back as fast as I could manage. I was confident nobody had seen me since there was no noise of people moving anywhere nearby.

The office was not very spacious. One wall had a shelf with some books, a quick scan telling me they were accounts for some kind of business. Plenty of different types, in fact. There were mines, traders, foresters, sawmills quarries. Anything that had relation to construction was in his ledgers. There were also several names, most of them repeated a few times. The most common one was Locust of Redrock. My target. I had already confirmed the connection between the two men.

My senses scanned for the source of vis I had felt earlier. There was a painting on the opposite wall of the [Organizer] and his wife together with a young man. It was entirely mundane. So was the desk and the two chairs standing close to it. A little glass cabinet showed some highly detailed carvings from marble. Nothing magical. Scanning the blank walls was of no help either and even the ceiling and floor were entirely mundane. The only hint I had was the man who had left the room. Was he carrying something magical on his body? Why had I not made that connection earlier?

I was not convinced I had simply missed that detail and stepped up to the door. A quick listen told me everyone was busy. Wife and husband were talking with their guest while the maid stood ready to serve them. The butler was helping the chef with the finishing touches in the kitchen.

I decided to use [Eldritch Shift] once again to pass by the door. As soon as I got through, I found a trace of vis once again. It was metallum and cognitio. Some kind of knowledge sealed away. There was also a faint hint of vinculum.

I followed the trail through the hallway. It led past the staircase and stopped right before a small door. It only reached a head above me and it was locked. I carefully felt for the dimensions on the other side with my shadows and found not enough space for me to shift through. Instead, I pushed into the lock with a tendril of darkness and carefully tried to pry the lock open. Luckily, it was no mechanical marvel and simply had two bolts that needed to be pressed a certain distance. The door did not click open because [Sneak] muted the noise.

I looked inside. It was a broom closet. Literally. A shelf was built into the wall almost two metres deep and a broom laid on every level. My eyes scanned the darkness and soon found my target. There was a small chest not much bigger than my head which exuded the magical aura I had sensed earlier. It stood at the very end of the lowest shelf with a small hook holding onto a metal ring. The hook was attached to a stick that had been tucked into the wall and was impossible to see if you were a human just taking out the broom.

I double-checked and only the chest had vis coming off it. A simple manipulation of shadows and I quickly had the item pulled up right in front of me. It looked like mundane wood inlaid with gold. The vis told me there was some kind of trap. I walked around trying to figure out the purpose and trigger for it but found nothing. Instead, steps on the staircase interrupted me. I moved the chest back in place with my shadows and hid in the darkness, locking the door behind me. I even made sure to use [Eldritch Shift] to turn into my thaumium and crystal form for additional safety.

The steps passed by the closet once moving into another door. Then, they returned and unlocked my hiding place. I stared into the eyes of the oblivious maid.

She bent down and reached into the lowest shelf. A sure grip pulled out the hook and with it the chest. She put in a second much more intricate key and the small object clicked open. She took a pile of bundled documents out and quickly skimmed them. Then she grinned.

“Finally!”, she whispered.

I connected to her mind with [Telepathy]. Somehow, she did not flinch.

“I have the goods”, she sent, “Tell the boss.”

Shortly after a second presence tried to enter the telepathic connection. This time she flinched.

There was silence for a moment.

“Do you have the goods?”, a male voice asked.

“I… Yes. I’m moving out.”

The third party retreated and the maid carefully put the box back into its place. It took only a minute before she was out of the closet. I shifted into the hallway after her steps disappeared and quickly left the building the same way I entered.

“Who are you?”, her voice came just as I settled back into a tree. I observed her leaving the house and glancing around.

“That does not matter”, I answered, “Why do you want those documents?”

She started walking down the street just as I had returned to my normal form. I started blending in with the environment as I tailed her.

“The boss knows.”

“And who is your boss?”

“… is this a test?”

“No”, I sent along with an image of my visual on her back from a few seconds ago.

“I see. If you want this, I can introduce you to the boss.”

“I only want to read it. Maybe we can make a deal?”

“I am expected to deliver in ten minutes. I have no more than a minute spare time.”

“Very well. Introduce me, then. I will follow you.”