Limits

The next morning, we left the mountain. Three masters, and their disciple ran through the forest. "We will make a stop in Senberg. I will ask for information over there. We will need to target a few of those Royal Guards, but we should aim for the weaker ones", Nathan said. Yater nodded, and said "Yes, but not weak enough, for the Royals to simply stage an investigation. Remember, we need an uproar".

We all agreed on that, and sped towards Senberg. I already heard of that city previously, but never visited it. Although we would visit it, I had no plans of sightseeing. 'I already waited too long. The sword has to return to the rightful owner' I thought. A few weeks went by, and we arrived at Senberg. The city was quite large, but nothing compared to the Imperial City. I saw a large tower inside, and it was the docking place for the Falkon. Fox already explained to me, that not every city had such tower. Of course there were different means of disembarking as well as embarking Falkon, from places that didn't have those towers.

We booked some rooms inside an inn, and Nathan went out to gather information. He knew quite a lot about that organisation, as though he was part of them. He returned late in the evening, and brought us all the necessary information. I asked out of curiosity "Do you belong to that group or something?". Nathan smiled, and replied "I used to, but I'm retired now. They still treat me like some sort of great figure, but I don't really care for that". He then explained our plan. "We have six targets. They belong to the middle class of the Royal Guards, and there are only 21 of them. If we get rid of six, they will mobilise their forces".

I asked "Wouldn't the Royals shut themselves in, because of the danger? I mean, I can infiltrate the Palace, but then again". Nathan smiled, and replied "That is why I have another piece of news". All of as looked at Nathan, and waited. He continued "You told me about the woman who has your sword. They were able to find information on her too. With the new Emperor on the throne, she became a general. A high standing one at that. This alone would be useless, if not for her second role. She is responsible for the Royal Guards".

Yater exclaimed, "That's it! She will probably act herself, if she finds out that her guards are dead". Nathan nodded, and said "Precisely. We will take care of the Royal Guards. Two for each of us. Can you handle that Irwin?". Irwin laughed, and said "You two old fools have no idea…". Irwin continued talking, while we didn't pay him any attention. Nathan turned towards me, and said "After we are done, we will lead them around, until the leader shows up. Then it will be up to you. We will make sure, no other Royal Guards will disturb you guys".

I asked, "Isn't that a bit risky though?". Nathan shook his head, and said "The strongest Royal Guards are always at the side of Emperor. They will not move without him. Emperor on the other hand, will not move out if the Empire is not endangered. If we killed off many Royal Guards, then yes. We will only kill a few, and not of the higher class. The Emperor will have no ground to handle that himself, and will send his sister".

I nodded, and said "Let's do it then". Yater stopped me while saying "We rest today. We will need to be in our top condition. Remember, this is not something we should take half heartedly. There is a chance the Emperor could intervene, and that is when we have to run. Forget your sword or anything, we have to get out. Fighting an Emperor, and his Royal Guards, would only end badly". I nodded my head, and went to bed.

We resumed our journey the next day, after a hearty breakfast. We still had a few good days, before we reached the Imperial City. Yater urged me to practiced at all times. Besides that, he also asked me a few times if I figured out anything about illusions. 'He must be worried, otherwise he wouldn't act like this' I thought, and decided to reassure him. "Don't worry so much. Didn't you witness the improvements I made? I didn't become arrogant over the night. I will kill her, not play with her".

Yater seemed to ease up, but he replied "I have a bad feeling". There were obviously many things that could happen. No one could guarantee for our plan to work, it was the most likely. Both me and Nathan saw it that way, and Nathan was much more experienced in assessing such things. 'If things go wrong, we will run. The Emperor will not compromise his safety, over a few Royal Guards' I thought.

Days passed, and we arrived in the area of the Imperial City. Nathan already informed us that there was a law in place already, against anyone wearing a mask or face coverings. There were some exceptions, but the face of that individual, had to be known by both Royals and soldiers. We? We wouldn't enter normally. Yater could smuggle us no problem. Without anyone realising how we looked like, or that we even walked past the gate.

That was exactly what happened. We entered the city, without anyone even realising we were there. While we walked through the streets, Nathan said "We will wait till the evening, before we take action. Irwin, remember to do it as silently as you can. We are not asking you to sneak, but don't make a ruckus". Irwin replied "I know alright! Just because I'm a master in the Art of War, that doesn't mean I can't kill people without destroying half of the city".

Yater looked at Irwin for a while, and asked "Are you sure?". Irwin was about to have another fight with Yater, so I stopped them and said "I have someone to visit. He's a friend of my family. I wonder if he is doing well. You guys can go to the inn first. Just tell me which you will choose, and I will join you". Yater was against it, and said "You can't walk alone! What if they recognise you". I looked at Yater, and pointed at myself. "Recognise me? What about now?". My face changed a bit, and I became a bit shorter. Added to that, the long hair covering my face and a beard. I was confident no one would recognise me. Yater replied, "Right, I forgot you can do that too… Fine, we will go to the inn called Tilla's Quill. Don't take too long".

I nodded, and headed towards Paul's workshop. 'It's afternoon, so he should be inside there now' I thought. Inside, I asked to see Paul, but they said he was no longer an owner. 'What the? Did he sell his smithy? Doesn't seem like Paul', I thought. I decided to try his house next. When I knocked on the doors, some complete stranger opened, and asked my business. When I explained that I was looking for Paul, he laughed. After a while, I learned why he laughed. Paul no longer lived in that house. For over 4 years, to be exact.

He and his wife got into difficult financial situation, and sold everything. Supposedly, they went to live in slums. With whatever money they had left, they bought a small house there. That was all I found out from that man. I had an urge to kill him, but he did nothing wrong. I had an idea, who did this to Paul. 'Royals will soon pay for that anyway. If my guess is correct, Paul was done in by the Royals. People saw us together, and they sold him out' I thought. My only clue was the slums, and that's where I headed next.