For somebody who isn’t a noble, this guy’s estate is huge. It isn’t as big as the duke’s estate… or V’Rel manor. But it is probably the third largest estate in this town. To be honest, this has come in quite helpful. The gardens leading up to the house have provided us with plenty of cover to sneak around. The guards seem largely inept as well. They have likely grown complacent due to the fact that nobody in their right mind would launch an attack on somebody with such powerful underworld connections.

  I say that… I have no idea about the underworld or his connections… I am making assumptions based on what Chloe said earlier and the fact that if this guy has made enough money to earn all of this through criminal dealings, so it stands to reason that he is very good at them.

  It looks like it should be fairly easy for us to get inside. There are a few guards patrolling the gardens and a couple at each entrance… but they should be easy enough to take out quietly. No way of knowing how many are truly inside the premises however without sneaking in… and I doubt that Damecus is going to wait long enough for me to do a full scout of the interior. Quite frankly, I’m surprised that he agreed to wait for Chloe.

  Hang on… there is a carriage pulling up the road towards the house… odd time of day for somebody to be arriving… it’s gone dark… I suppose nighttime meetings are probably quite a frequent occurrence in his line of work.

  As the carriage pulled up to the front of the mansion, we got a good look at the occupants… and… oh shit…

  Damecus: “Does that child look familiar to you?”

  Dwynfel: “Same eye colour and bone structure… I’d be very surprised if he wasn’t related to Timothy in some way.”

  Damecus: “Then we are done waiting.”

  Dwynfel: “Damecus… you promised Chloe that you would wait for her.”

  Damecus stood up.

  Damecus: “I made no such promise. I said that I would not fuck this up. And I will not. If that boy and his mother make it inside, then they have hostages. That puts them at risk and makes our job harder. I will not allow that to happen.”

  I mean… he has a point… but the second we do this; they will know we are here. Then we have no choice but to proceed. As I said before, we have no idea how many of them are inside. This could end up being a total disaster, and… never mind… he’s going.

  Damecus: “Take out the roaming guards. The ones by the carriage are mine.”

  Shit… how many are within earshot of the carriage as of now? Umm… three… I count three. Right… that should be easy enough… with my arrows I should be able to take them out before any of them realise what’s going on.

  Right, first target, by the fountain… nobody is looking in his direction… if I time it right… ha… yes… got him… and he fell into the fountain… makes his body less likely to be seen. Next target… next target… shit… which one… fuck it… the one by the far tree. Yes… right through the eye. It has been so long since I got to do some stealth archery… I forgot that this is my strong suit. Right… number three…

  Woman: “AAAAAHHHHHH!”

  So much for stealth… fuck… concentrate… he’s by the hedge maze… shit… he heard her… he’s running towards the front entrance… fuck… I hate targets that move at speed. Ha… nailed it… one in the leg to slow him down, then one in the temple. Now… to quickly get my arrows back and catch up to Damecus.

  The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

  When I eventually made it to the carriage, Damecus was attempting to calm the rather hysterical woman down. She was still screaming, despite Damecus’ best efforts to talk her out of it.

  I can’t say I blame the poor woman… looking around this carriage, no wonder she’s terrified… he’s smashed them all into the ground with such force… they are just bits… pieces of skull and brains are all over the place… her dress is splattered with blood… as is Damecus. Plus, let’s face it… I doubt the woman has much experience with lizardmen. Regardless of Damecus’ renown… making such an entrance is going to terrify people.

  The thing that eventually caused her to snap out of it was her son bursting out of the carriage.

  Boy: “Mum, did you see that? That was so cool. He just appeared and was all like “raarrrh” and then they were all like splat…”

  Woman: “That is not something that should be amusing you! He could kill us!”

  Damecus: “I have no intention of harming either of you.”

  Woman: “You just brutally murdered these men! Not to mention that you are a lizardman, a species known for its brutality, being backed up by a goblin no less.”

  Damecus: “Keep your petty racism to yourself. Your husband made some poor decisions and these men intend to kill you because of it.”

  Woman: “I have no husband.”

  Damecus: “This child is the spawn of Timothy, correct?”

  Woman: “His father is called Timothy, yes.”

  Dwynfel: “That that must mean that you are Josh. Pleased to meet you.”

  Boy: “My name isn’t Josh.”

  I looked at Damecus with confusion.

  Dwynfel: “Hang on, Timothy definitely said his son was called Josh.”

  Not Josh: “That’s not my name.”

  Woman: “Josh is his other son.”

  Dwynfel: “He only mentioned one son.”

  Woman: “Of course he did. The legitimate child is the only one that ever gets mentioned. Who cares about the bastard child? When I see him, we shall be having words!”

  Dwynfel: “Listen, we don’t have time for this. You need to get out of here.”

  Woman: “And go where, exactly?”

  Dwynfel: “Anywhere… just not here!”

  Woman: “Oh, so now that you know he’s not legitimate, suddenly you don’t care!”

  Fuck’s sake… focus on the situation, you annoying woman!

  Damecus: “Can you operate a carriage?”

  Woman: “Of course I can, I’m not an idiot!”

  Damecus: “Then take the carriage to the guard station and ask for Chloe. She will make sure you are safe until this is done.”

  Woman: “Fine. But I am saying right now, if this turns out to be some elaborate trick, then I shall be reporting the pair of you!”

  Does this look like a trick? She literally saw Damecus smash skulls into the ground so hard that they exploded… but yeah… sure… the guards just had fake heads to fool her… is this woman insane?

  Not Josh: “Can I watch you smash some more bad guys in?”

  Damecus: “Alas, no. It would be too dangerous.”

  Not Josh: “Aww…”

  Woman: “Get in the damn carriage, we need to go!”

  Not Josh: “Urgh… fine.”

  Not Josh climbed in the carriage. The woman grabbed the reins and off they went.

  Damecus: “It would seem that Timothy has been a tad indiscrete.”

  Dwynfel: “No shit… now what do we do? No way nobody inside heard all that screaming. And what about Timothy’s wife and other son? What if they’re already…”

  Before I even finished that sentence, the front door opened and a butler emerged. He glanced down at the dead men on the ground… he looked more irritated at the fact that it would need to be cleaned than anything else.

  Butler: “Mister Vox requests that you speak with him inside. All this unpleasantness on the doorstep is terribly common.”

  Dwynfel: “Damecus?”

  Damecus: “By all means, lead on.”

  Damecus gestured for the butler to lead the way before leaning down to my ear.

  Damecus: “If the woman and child are in there when it kicks off, protect them. I will do the rest.”