The Old Barrel General Store was supposedly named for its perpetually drunken owner and the large wooden barrels he kept outside the door.
Its doors had remained shut for the past week, leaving regular customers wondering whether the owner had drunk himself to death inside.
The shop was empty, its shelves pushed into the corners to clear a space.
Petro, a "Tongue" of the Assassins' Guild, had an honest-looking face and a stocky build. Nothing about him suggested an information broker operating in the underworld.
"Grisel, your swordsmanship has my approval. You can take part in the operation three days from now."
The man was a powerful swordsman, perhaps even stronger than Renato, but his technique fell considerably short.
This was a victory for swordsmanship. Pleased, Renato reached down and pulled Petro to his feet.
The little mage passed her "interview" even faster than Renato. The moment she entered, Petro spotted the magical glow of Mage Armor swirling around Perly and immediately nodded his approval.
Despite having just been knocked down by Renato, Petro sat on a chair as though nothing had happened and said:
"As for payment, the guild won't shortchange you. Once the job is done, each of you will receive thirty gold coins."
"Tell us about the actual mission. What do we need to do?"
"You're in the third team. There will be seven others besides you. Your job is to secure the perimeter of the mansion, eliminate the guards in the courtyard, and intercept any reinforcements the Reisingen family might send."
"Because you're the last recruits to join." Petro seemed to notice Renato's confusion and explained, "The guild has already put two teams through intensive training to breach the mansion's internal defenses. They work well together. They'll be responsible for storming the mansion and opening the Reisingen family's vault."
So outsourced staff really did get stuck on the perimeter. They weren't allowed anywhere near the core operation.
"Although you won't be storming the mansion, your task won't be easy." Petro spread a map of the Inner District across the table. "The target is at 1 Crown Street, right in the heart of the city. Within three hundred meters, there are two mage towers, three guard stations, and four companies of noble mercenaries."
"The third team's job is to hold out for fifteen minutes, then cover the second team and withdraw with them."
"According to our intelligence, Morteris Tower is currently unoccupied. Of the two mage towers, you only need to watch out for the mage Caster." Petro stood and took a booklet from a shelf. "This contains information on Caster. Read it, but you can't take it with you. The association is very unlikely to intervene, but we still need to be prepared. Mages are full of strange ideas, after all. They never play by the usual rules."
Caster was a mage of the evocation and abjuration schools, and one of the Mage Association's representatives stationed in Fried City. He had once taught at Aetherium Academy, but after losing a struggle among the faculty in Falania, he had been sidelined and sent here.
"A fifth-circle mage, and a fifth-circle mage of two schools at that! This... this..."
Perly's voice trembled, her hands tightening around the pages.
"Lady Renata, there's no need to be so nervous. Assessing every risk is simply standard practice for the guild." Petro spoke rapidly, as though afraid the little mage would back out. "In reality, association mages almost never get involved in city affairs."
"Even twenty-five years ago, when followers of the God of Murder stormed City Hall, carved out councilors' spines as sacrificial offerings, and plunged the whole city into bloody unrest... Archmage Morteris never took a single step outside his tower."
"The noble mercenaries are what you really need to focus on."
"The four Noble Mercenary companies serve the four prominent families that control the city. The Hearn family are newcomers, supposedly nobles from Constantis in the far south. They don't have many mercenaries, but those they do have are extremely loyal. Most are personal guards raised by the family from childhood."
"The Hearn family just lost one of their children. Their mercenaries are busy protecting the heir, so you can ignore them."
"The Novak and Atwood families are established local nobility, with histories stretching back over a century and deeply entrenched influence. When dealing with Falania, they stand together with the Reisingen family as allies. But on council matters, they often oppose the Speaker, sometimes fighting him and sometimes cooperating... The interests of the city's nobles are so tangled that no one can tell exactly what they're thinking."
"So you'll need to be wary of those two families' mercenaries. They're traditional noble troops, following Falania's ancient infantry tactics: a shield wall in front shelters the halberds, billhooks, and heavy crossbows behind it, steadily forcing the battle line forward."
The tactic was simple, practical, and thoroughly tested on the battlefield.
"As for the Reisingen family's mercenaries, they'll definitely rush to their employers' aid at full speed. You'll face them head-on. There's no avoiding it."
Petro took a roll of parchment from the shelf and spread it beside the map for reference.
"The independent mercenary company known as the Three Swords' Pact has a fifteen-year contract with the Reisingen family. It has seven full members and eleven auxiliary members. A typical bunch of mercenaries, with no real formation to speak of. They put their faith in individual fighting prowess."
"Their commander is the master swordsman Maximilian. He specializes in the greatsword and carries a famous enchanted adamantine sword called Steel-Cleaver."
The portrait showed a tall old man with white hair and a white beard, dressed in a dark blue robe and a cloak decorated with golden patterns draped over his shoulders. He held a greatsword as tall as a man in one hand, as though it weighed nothing.
"Gerhard, known as Arrow-Scratch, is an excellent swordsman, but his swordsmanship pales beside his archery. Rumor has it that he once fired two arrows in quick succession, hitting both eyes of a troll a hundred yards away."
"Bastu, known as Red Hair, is the young swordsman beside the master. He's the master's personal disciple..."
An independent mercenary company was the eventual destination of an ordinary adventuring party. If a party survived all manner of monsters, traps, and murderous lunatics, while also weathering crises of trust such as unfair divisions of loot or teammates killing one another to seize everything, it could build enough of a reputation to secure long-term employment with an archmage or a powerful noble and settle into a stable life.
Renato silently committed the information to memory. Though he had absolute confidence in his swordsmanship, he was no arrogant fool. He knew the gap between himself and Maximilian.
He certainly couldn't wield a greatsword as tall as himself with one hand.
"What about the guard stations? There are still so many City Guard soldiers in the Inner City..."
Perly began biting her finger without realizing it. Renato could see her growing increasingly anxious.
"Lady Renata, what's there to fear from those guards?" Petro burst out laughing and said dismissively, "A bunch of useless idiots, fit only to extort commoners and street vendors. I imagine Mr. Grisel could send them fleeing for their lives all by himself."
"Including the two of you, the third team has nine members, every one of them an elite fighter worth ten ordinary men. Even Falania's royal knights wouldn't necessarily be your betters in single combat."
"Besides, you may not need to hold out for the full fifteen minutes. If the plan goes smoothly, the second team's Quickhands can leave the mansion and join you within six minutes."
Apparently, they only needed to hold off the enemy for a short while. That explained why the guild thought the third team's ragtag collection of recruits would suffice. With that settled in his mind, Renato raised another question:
"How are we going to get so many people into the Inner City? And if things really get out of hand, they'll definitely shut the city gates. How will we retreat?"
Petro gave a faint, mysterious smile and said:
"The guild has several secret passages leading into the Inner City, along with dozens of safe houses connected to them. Trust the Assassins' Guild's professionalism. You'll understand when we gather."
He took out a brass pocket watch and handed it to Renato.
"Remember, we meet at one in the morning three days from now. The rendezvous point is 38 Widow Street in the Outer District..."
Before you continue