The Deceiver's Path - Chapter 98 - Of Thieves and Saints (Patreon)

Elissa sat at the desk in her room, a quill held in her left hand as she stared at a blank piece of parchment. The appearance of a demon meant she must immediately inform Penelope, the abbess of the Dawnward host, warning of an aspectborn piercing the Veil. In turn, the leader of their order would contact the Archdukes of Ariss, who would call upon the Sainted Host.

She had no illusions about what would happen when the host arrived. They would purge the entire city. Every last man, woman, and child would be obliterated to ensure the infernal corruption hadn’t spread.

The fact that so many thousands would die didn’t particularly bother her. They were a trivial price to pay to keep the empire safe. What bothered her was that her order would consider her mission a failure.

Leaning back in the chair, she placed the quill aside. If she could capture or kill the demoness, then she might yet salvage this disaster of an expedition to Kalmyros. Should she present the demon’s head to Abbess Penelope personally, all her failures should be forgiven.

However, the appearance of another heretic had sown the seeds of doubt in her mind. A young girl had awakened with a celestial class of all things. To the best of her knowledge, there hadn’t been a heretical caster from that realm since Thronefall.

The fact that one had appeared now filled her with worry. Was something cataclysmic brewing in this city, unnoticed by those loyal to the empire? Holy scripture foretold the Veil dividing the realms would eventually collapse after the actions of the traitorous dragons, but the Undying Emperor was prophesied to return long before that occurred.

If the Veil failed without the Emperor and the Thirteen Sovereigns to protect humanity, then all realms would spill over into the Mortal Realm. The ensuing chaos would likely destroy all life on the planet.

Taking a deep breath, she quieted her mind. She must trust in the Undying Emperor. In humanity’s greatest hour of need, he would return to conquer the realms. Until then, she would continue to root out all heretics who threatened the empire.

Elissa rose to her feet and pushed the chair back. For now, she would delay calling for the Sainted Host. She believed she could deal with the demonic threat with the forces at her disposal.

However, she had continually underestimated the demoness, who had proven to be resourceful and dangerous. The ability to cast illusions also added a wrinkle to any plans. She would need to draw the demoness out into a place where she couldn’t escape. Where her illusions would be useless.

She needed to bait a trap for the demoness.

Thankfully, the Undying Emperor had delivered exactly what she needed. She had two known associates of the demon, along with another heretical caster. She would use them to draw out the foul demoness. With the entire might of the city at her disposal, she would slay the monster with righteous fury.

Of course, the casualties would most likely be terrible. Already, dozens of aspirants had died in the previous attempt to apprehend the demoness. Though most, if not all of them, had been slain while trying to cowardly flee from the enemy of the empire.

Still, she would sacrifice every adventurer, wayfarer, and aspirant in the city to stop a filthy demon.

Placing the paper back into a drawer in the desk, she spun on her heel and marched over to the door. She swung it open and nearly collided with Imilce outside.

The younger woman started at her appearance before smoothing down her robes. “Inquisitor,” she said, bowing her head. “The Lord Mayor Constantine has once again sent a message to you. The situation on the streets is… deteriorating.”

“And what does he expect me to do about it?” she snapped. “Such duties are beneath our order.”

“He… believes the extravagant bounty you offered for the death of the girl Piper is sowing discord.” Her eyes widened as Elissa scowled. “Those are his words, not mine. However, he goes on to say blond-haired women are being murdered in the street by the score. The entire city is descending into chaos.”

Elissa waved her hand dismissively. “If the price of capturing a demoness is the sacrifice of a handful of innocent women, then I am more than happy to pay the toll. Is there anything else?”

“Lord Mayor Constantine states he may take action against the order if we do not cease our actions immediately.”

“Does he not understand what we hunt?” she said, her voice trembling with rage. “A demoness is a catastrophe, a natural disaster of unrivaled magnitude. We must stop her at all costs before she grows strong enough to call upon a horde of her malevolent brethren.”

“Many people are claiming the giant demon was nothing more than an illusion. After all, it didn’t kill anyone...”

“Anyone who stood in its presence knows it was a real demon.” Elissa took a deep, calming breath. “Kindly inform the Lord Mayor that I will take any future written complaints as sedition against the empire. Furthermore, tell him I will call the Iron Host if needed to quell any dissent. His included.”

“Should I write those exact words?” Imilce blinked rapidly. “I’m not sure he will take kindly to threats…”

“Yes, you should,” Elissa said firmly. “The lord mayor must learn he cannot interfere with an inquisitor. Once we have concluded our work here, I will petition to have him removed.”

Imilce nodded and hurried away. She’d learn not to linger after being given orders.

Elissa closed the door to her room behind her and hurried down the hallway. She nodded as she passed other sisters, many of them averting their gazes. Pursing her lips, she considered restoring their food rations. After all, she wanted them in peak physical condition when they fought the demoness once more.

After a moment of consideration, she decided to end their punishment and order a feast tonight. If all went well, they were going to slay a demoness tomorrow. She wanted them strong for what would surely be a bloody fight.

·        

The blazing sun beat down on the surging crowd, making tempers short and causing people to jostle against each other. Wisp smiled at taking in the scene. This was the perfect environment to pick a few pockets.

After the alleged demon attack yesterday—she never believed nonsense like that—thousands of people were attempting to flee the city. They were either rushing to the river in the hopes of booking passage on a ship or crossing over the bridges to head to another city.

And when people fled from their homes, they carried all their valuables on their person. She felt like a mountain lion sizing up a herd of helpless goats.

This is the best day of my life.

She watched a fat merchant waddle by, with an even fatter coin purse on his belt. If she played her cards right, she wouldn’t need to rob anyone for months. And she could finally pay Maria’s ransom.

Slipping through the crowd, she readied her [Pickpocket] skill. With her ability, she could remove the man’s coins from his purse with a simple touch of her hand. Her skill had only failed against one girl so far, but she had some sort of freakish illusionist class.

She dodged through a pair of adventurers, receiving a dark glare from them. But they weren’t her target, so she didn’t care. She scurried forward, her hand at the ready. All she had to do was snatch the purse and dart away.

As she extended her hand, something shot out and grabbed her wrist. She froze with her fingers brushing against the man’s money purse.

She’d been so close! How could she have gotten caught? She hadn’t even seen a guard.

I bet they had that stupid stealth skill.

Her fear turned to confusion as she looked up to see an unfamiliar aspirant and wayfarer looming over her. The aspirant had long red hair, almost unheard of here in the south, freckles and a round face. Meanwhile, the wayfarer had long dark hair falling in waves around her shoulders, and soft features with full lips. Both obviously spent way too much time on their looks.

“I wasn’t doing nothing,” she protested. “Now let me go!”

“I need your help,” the red-haired young woman said. “I promise to make it worth your while.”

“I doubt you could afford me.”

The aspirant released her wrist, and she watched forlornly as the merchant waddled away, his coin purse jingling with each step. So much for earning enough money to free Maria.

Rubbing her wrist, she turned to leave. If she got lucky, she might find another mark to steal from. A nearby family rushing across the bridge looked as if they might have some coin.

The aspirant stepped forward. “You said if I ever wanted to get rich, I should come and see you.” She lifted her eyebrows meaningfully at the end of her sentence. “Remember?”

Recognition slowly dawned on Wisp. “Piper?”

“Not so loud,” Piper whispered. “I’m not the most popular person in town at the moment.”

“You know, there’s a 40-gold piece bounty on your head…”

“Do you honestly think you could collect it?”

The wayfarer tugged Piper’s sleeve. “I told you this was a mistake. If you just give me some time, I can get us into the Ares family manor.”

“It’s this or my way,” Piper said coldly. “And you said you didn’t like my way.”

 “Don’t worry,” Wisp said. “I’m not turning anyone in. I’d probably be dead way before I saw a single coin.”

Wisp cocked her head thoughtfully to the side. “But what’s this about the Ares family manor? They’re loaded. If you’re robbing that place, I’m so in.”

Piper blinked. “You are?”

Wisp nodded. “What could go wrong with an illusionist in my group?” She gestured at the dark-haired wayfarer. “And she’s probably got a half-decent class, too.”

“I’m a wind mage,” the woman said stiffly.

“Sure, whatever.”

Piper stepped aside as a wagon trundled past, the driver shooting them death glares. But they had every right to stand in the middle of the bridge. Did the wagoner think he owned the place or something?

Once the wagon had moved past, Piper gestured for them to head to the side of the bridge. They walked over to the railing where they had more privacy.

“Do you think you could get us inside?” Piper asked as she gripped the railing tightly. “There are a lot of guards at the gates.”

Wisp sniffed. “I have plans to get into every manor in the city.”

As she was talking, she activated [Pick Pocket] and leaned to the side. Her fingers brushed against the wayfarer’s purse, and coins poured into her palm. She deftly pocketed them, feeling a bit annoyed at only finding a handful of coppers in the purse. Shouldn't wayfarers have more money?

Piper rolled her eyes. “Give Eleni her money back.”

The wayfarer’s eyes widened as she groped at her money pouch. Upon finding it empty, her expression darkened.

“You little thief!” she thundered. “I should have you put in the stocks.”

Wisp tried to look innocent. “Who me? I bet someone else robbed her on the way here. She’s not very careful, you know.”

“Wisp…” Piper said, her exasperation bleeding into her voice.

“Fine.” She fished out the coins from her pouch and walked over to Eleni. As she handed them over, she slipped off the woman’s ring. The piece of jewellery had a tiny moonstone mounted in the middle of a golden band and probably cost a fortune.

“And the ring.” Piper facepalmed. “Plus, anything else you took.”

Eleni glanced down at her hand, and her mouth dropped open. “You want to work with this delinquent? She should be in jail… or worse!”

Piper shrugged. “She’s a good thief. I’m hoping she can figure out a way into the Ares manor.”

Wisp watched intently as another merchant hurried past. They were easy to recognize from their richly embroidered clothing. But unlike the previous one, this man had a hulking bodyguard keeping a keen eye out. She didn’t like her chances of slipping off with his bulging coin purse.

“Focus,” Piper said in an exasperated tone. “Stop looking at every merchant who walks past.”

“Fine. When do you need me?”

“Right now,” Piper said. “If you get us inside, I’ll give you one-third of everything we loot from the manor.”

Eleni looked horrified at Piper’s words. “I’m not looting from a first citizen of the empire. This is a rescue mission and nothing more. I could ruin my guild’s good name if they catch me stealing.”

“Alright,” Piper continued. “You get half, then.”

Wisp narrowed her eyes. “Does that include gold and magic items?”

“Yes,” Piper said, tapping her foot. “Anything. Now, can we get going, please?”

“I have the perfect plan for getting into the manor,” Wisp said, a feeling of excitement stealing over her. She’d always dreamed of robbing a noble family in the inner city. “How do you feel about being servants?”

Piper and Eleni exchanged a look before nodding in unison.

“Whatever it takes,” Piper said. “I’ll do it.”