Re:Monster - Re:Vival

Day Seventeen (Part 1)

Before the sun rose, Ankou and I went into action. It was unfortunate that the others couldn't join us but stealth wasn't exactly their forte. That and yesterday's sales may well have painted a target on Lia's back so I had Ares and Mara guarding her.

As for the two of us; I wanted to know more about whatever the Lich had planned with the Town's Baron. We made our way across rooftops and through alleyways and dark areas before finally reaching the gates of the Baron's home. It was a large house that verged on being called a mansion but didn't quite make it. Unfortunately, it was fenced off the entire way around and even if we did get past, we would be left out in the open garden surrounding the house.

After completely circling the fence, I could only find the one point of entry. The front gate, guarded by two men in steel armour holding spears at their sides. I could always kill them and get past that way but I didn't want anyone to be suspicious come sunrise.

That's when I remembered one of the skills I got from the Lich; [Sleep Fog]. It worked like a charm, putting the guards into a long, comfortable sleep while the two of us snuck past with ease. The next part would prove a tad more difficult. With [Analyse], I scanned the surroundings leading up to the door, the windows and any other entrance I could find for traps or Magic.

The door and all but one window seemed to be sealed shut by some form of Magic. The one that wasn't appeared to be due to a maid airing out a room on the second floor. Perfect. The two of us clambered up the wall and quietly made our way inside when the maid had her back turned. The room seemed to be a secondary bedroom. The maid herself, exhausted and tired, kept looking between her work and the bed, making it very difficult for us to sneak out without harming her. Well, if she needed sleep that badly, I'd be perfectly fine with obliging her. I activated [Sleep Fog] and used [Aero Master] to push the fog towards her. While I was doing this, I had Ankou rush over and catch her to prevent her body hitting the floor and alerting anyone.

Following that, I had Ankou place her gently on the bed and tuck her in. She deserved the rest. Plus, if she got fired, I might be able to track her down and get some more information out of her about the Baron that only a servant could learn.

Or they might just kill her. No loss to me, really.

We proceeded to the next room carefully, sticking to the shadows and using [Sleep Fog] on anyone we couldn't just sneak past until we finally discovered the Baron's office. With [Analyse], I quickly found a safe hidden behind a painting on the back wall behind the desk. The Magic seal, which I discovered with [Detect Mana], on it would an issue though. It was like a finger print scanner. I likely wouldn't be able to just bypass it. Or could I?

I placed my hand an inch from the safe and activated [Absorb Magic] and [Drain Mana]. It took a little while to get used to the feeling but soon enough, the Magic Circle ceased to function. I was glad the circle remained but was left non-functional since it would look like it simply stopped working rather than it being tampered with.

When I opened the safe, I found a few things. With [Analyse] I discovered that most of it was useless but I finally found what I was looking; details on the Baron and the Lich's plan. It turned out that the both of them were worse bastards than I originally thought. It seemed that, according to the documents, they were planning on turning everyone in the town into undead under the Baron's control. They'd do this by literally turning the town into a giant Magic circle.

It was certainly disturbing but there was one thing that didn't make sense to me. There was no way that Lich would let anyone else rule. That meant that in all likelihood, the Lich was using the Baron's greed to accomplish it's own goal. However, how that would change now that the Lich was dead, I wasn't sure.

There was also something else. Written in almost illegible handwriting, there were details describing something called a Phylactery. The writings went on to state that it was a unique rank item with the ability to store a portion of an individual's soul to allow for potential revival.

Well shit.

Things just went from: I don't really care but I want to fuck with his shit. To: Whatever that bastard's up to, it definitely won't end well. Especially since I'm not sure how this Phylactery thing handles memories. If the Lich had revived and remembered us, it surely would have already told the Baron or come up with some ideas to put an end to us by now.

With that, I shoved the documents back into the safe, shut it tight and made a silent run for the same window we came in through with Ankou following behind me. Even if I was panicking a little bit, I made sure to use [Sleep Fog] on the guards at the gate again. If they got fired for that, it'd just be less enemies for us to deal with down the road. If they didn't, well, it was still funny so I'll call it a win.

By the time we got back to our room, the sun was just starting to rise and Lia had already woken up. An early riser I suppose, even after everything that happened the day before. I proceeded to explain everything I discovered to them, making sure to emphasise that the Lich was most likely still alive. Lia didn't seem to understand the issue and said that we managed to kill it last time before we ranked up so it shouldn't be too much of an issue.

I told her that the situation was different this time. It's got the backing of the Baron and all of the town's guards working for it this time. Plus, I still believe that the only reason we beat it was because the majority of it's skills didn't work on undead. In essence, I believed that even without whatever ritual it was planning, it could destroy the town and kill every living thing inside. If the ritual was completed, it'd be a nightmare. She seemed to understand after I said all of that.

All that was left to do was figuring out what to do now. Oh, that's an idea.

"Hey, Lia. Have you reported to whoever about the Jade Eagle party?"

Judging by her reaction, she'd clearly forgotten which actually worked out perfectly. Before she could panic and rush out of the room, I filled her and the others in on the plan I just came up with. Put simply, the four of us would go down to the adventurer's guild and report that we'd beaten the 20th floor; the final floor. Mara asked if that wouldn't attract unwanted attention if the Lich had revived but I let her know that was exactly what I wanted in the first place.

If we waited until tomorrow and no one had come after us, then it would be safe to assume that the Lich had no recollection of its own death. That said, it would no doubt know that the dungeon was cleared since it was revived. Knowing that bastard, it'd want to deal with its killers as soon as possible.

They started to understand where I was coming from so I continued. Chances were, if they found out it was us, they'd probably act immediately. After all, it was a Porter and three unknown, unregistered non-adventurers. Whether they tried to imprison, kill us straight away or play the long con and invite us for dinner or something similar, it would be our best bet in getting in and dealing with the Baron and the Lich.

As for why we'd have to wait until tomorrow; there were a few things I still needed to prepare or look into. To that end, I told Mara about the document detailing the town being turned into one massive Ritual Circle and asked for her expertise. She took the opportunity to say that she'd do her best and took Ankou with her for protection. Lia would need some sort of protection besides a shield so I told her she should go and buy a short sword or something similar for offence and to take Ares with her, both for protection and to rely on his eye for weapons.

The two of them seemed to take my words differently, with Lia being happy I was thinking of her safety and future skills while Ares seemed chuffed about being told he had a good eye for weapons. The two left soon after.

As for me, with [Recognition Interference] built in to my mask, exploring the town would be a breeze. I wasn't just looking around for fun though. Figuring out if there were any other routes, escape routes, particular dangerous guards or unexpected stuff in general was extremely important.