To Reclaim the Treasure

"Now, now, the honor is mine." Wolfe chuckled. He was, in fact, afraid that Emilia might hold some grudge against military men, but it seemed he was wrong here. It was unexpected that being an ex-solder will impress her. On the other hand, the lancer also felt surprised how his sniper eye had been noticed by this woman. "And that's a great pick with my eye, milady Emilia, as I used to be a sniper on the Longfort. My arrow shot accurately even in huge distance."

It was nostalgic thinking about those memory, as much as it was painful to realize that he couldn't return to such period of time. After the incident, he spent countless time simulating the incident that took away his eye, but all of that was pointless.

"Well, but that's until I lost this eye." He pointed at the eye patch, and said. "A blind man like the me now can't become a sharpshooter anymore, so I picked this spear instead, it could be a giant arrow, don't you think?"

Not for too long, they found a way to climb uphill. It appeared to be a huge crack on the mountain of which inside had a man-made stairs that led them up top. Hopefully, it will go to the same hilltop they expected.

"Training, gaining experience, that's what my boss said when he kick me here."

Wolfe simply answered as he followed Emilia into a narrow stairway, that he could take a good look at her nice figure again. While he was wondering if he could get closer to her before he left Plegia, the woman gave him a warning, fortunately of another matter.

"Got it." The blind lancer checked his weapon again and made sure it won't make unnecessary sound by hitting something. It didn't take them long to see a few bandit patrols sitting together, chatting carelessly.

At this range, I should be able to shoot them swiftly with an arrow... thought the ex-sniper before he came back to reality and made a hand signal to Emilia. He pointed her to that ground of thieves before tabbing the thumb at his neck, and ended it with a finger on his lips.

The meaning was as simple as 'let's finish them quietly'.

Wolfe discreetly approached the thieves while preparing his spear for throwing.

enemy (open) enemy (close)

Enemy:
Level 3 Thief
Level 8 Mercenary
Level 6 Fighter

((OOC: Sorry, Squishy, I didn't know the site moved to .org until recent. ^^))

Wolfe checked at Emilia before stepping forward carefully. He was quite confident that she will back him up flawlessly, however, the man didn't miss to prepare a second plan if things won't go as he expected. He planned to have a surprise attack at one of the trio, then they can take care of the other two without making much noise. With that in mind, he kept telling himself to trust his thief companion a little more.

If it was to get her treasure, he should be able to trust her.

"Hey."

An unexpected greeting got attention of one of the bandit watchmen, the axe wielding one turned around just to got pierced at his head by a lance tip. One down, two more to go, the lancer counted.

"What the---!" As expected, the remaining thieves who were in shock immediately stood up in panic while drawing up their weapons with shivering hands. This will be easy for both Emilia and himself.

"We're looking for someone-" Wolfe's single eye scanned quickly and found that none of them had a wound on their hands. "but the guy doesn't seem to be here, unfortunately."

Enemy (open) Enemy (close)

Level 3 Thief
Level 8 Mercenary
Level 6 Fighter

Wolfe didn't have time to give Emilia his reply immediate as the bandit with a blade ignored the caution and attacked him. Although his blow was filled with uneasiness, but the ex-soldier could tell this one was quite skilled for a thief. He might be at disadvantage if it was another circumstance, but he won for this time.

The dull tip of his lance hit at the man's chest, the lancer then struck the man's leg which forced him to knelt a bit. Another clean hit made him fall unconscious. Wolfe panted a bit after he confirmed his victory, he then turned to the living bandit that was pinned down by Emilia in an envious position.

"Right, that depends on your decision." Walking over, the blind lancer looked at the thief. He didn't appear to by a smart type that will be able to deceive either himself, not to mention Emilia. "We're looking for the guy who raided the town last week. Apparently he stole a relic of a dangerous man who went as far as hiring us. As for evidence, the man got shot at his hand, you have any idea?"

"Err...I think I know, but can ya promise you ain't gonna kill me? My life is worthless like dogs, but still I don't wanna die yet..."

Wolfe glanced at Emilia a bit, as he was afraid that she will do the same to the very first thief. He nodded at her to loosened her knife grip a bit.

"I may hit you to sleep just to be safe, but I can promise." The lancer then asked his companion as reconfirmation. "Could you spare this one, lady?"

"Thank you." Wolfe switched position with Emilia as he had his spear ready. The disappointment was noted, as it was shown all over her face, but he will apologize later, probably with some treasure. The lancer didn't trust the man just yet, and he doubted he'd trust the information wholeheartedly. He gripped the polearm one bit to remind the bandit that he will not show mercy to trickery, his sniper eye also stared at the bandit's without any interrupting from blinking. "You may start."

"Okay..." The bandit glanced at the lancer once. He was probably thinking about giving false info, but he seemed to changed his mind after noticing the eagle eye. "The guy you're looking for is most likely 'Jester', we called him 'J'. He returned from the town last week with a golden statue, it is real shiny, we think it will sell a lot in black market. I also note that J's been having his hand bandaged... that must be it."

Golden statue seemed like what he was hired to retrieve, a small one but heavy enough to slow down the running thief to get shot. "Okay, where can we find this friend of yours?"

"Oh, he should be near the treasure room in the fortress basement." This time, his voice revealed some potent of hatred in it. "He want to be recognized by the boss and become the left handed man with it, ya know. Aside from his bandaged hand, he is always wearing a bandanna, a paled yellow one."

"Treasure room... , very well." Wolfe repeated, he glanced Emilia a bit knowing she will be interested. He didn't think there will be so many valuables in there given the size of this band of bandits, but there could be something usable at the least. "Anything else you want to let us know?"

"Hmm... no more." The bandit shook. "That's all I know, just do as you promis--Ack!"

The man was put to sleep with the dull tip of Wolfe's spear. He left the man with other corpses and looked at the fortress when they were closer to it. The building was about three or four floors together including the basement, it looked rather old and the structure inside should be a bit messed up.

"Seeing the fortress, I think the boss should be at top, we probably should sneak to underground to get our treasure." He spoke to Emilia. "He may keep the treasury room's key with himself though. I wonder if you are also a specialist in unlocking stuff, milady?"

((OOC: probably one more round before our final battle. ^^ ))

"Right." Wolfe chuckled when Emilia explained about her profession. He also felt safer to know that the lock was nothing when he went in with her. Her confident made him certain that he chose the perfect companion this time. "If there is, it'd save use plenty time. Let's look for one while inspecting the outside then."

Both of them walked closer to the fortress, none of the guard was in sight. The lancer's sniper eye also kept scanning at windows in case someone noticed them, but he spotted no one. It was until they were near the building that they heard some voice. He eyed Emilia once and found that there was no need to warn her about keeping quiet, as she already did it better than himself.

Wolfe peeped though the small hole on a wall, he saw a few thieves talking. However, none of them appeared to be his target as non of them had hand injury. He sent hand signal to the redhead and continued searching for other way in without alerting the local thieves. Finally, they found one that his body could probably go through. He watched inside carefully before sneaking in, it was a bit difficult with his weapon but he somehow managed to go inside. He then waited for Emilia.

Inside, he found the stairs to basement floor. He led Emilia down through the old stairway until it ended. There, they found five thieves, behind them was a big cell that was locked well. The local thieves grouped together and played some gamble games with cards. More importantly, the one who was a shuffler had an old-looking bandanna over his head, and a bandaged wrist.

'Bingo.' Wolfe pondered while hiding in shadow. He gripped his spear well and looked at Emilia, nodding. Time to work.

enemy (open) enemy (close)

Enemy
- Thief (J) : Lv 10 | Thunder sword
- Warrior Lv 5 | Steel Axe
- Bandit Lv 12 | bronze Axe, Hand axe
- Mercenary Lv 4 | Wooden sword
- Mage Lv 7 | Fire

Wolfe waited for Emilia to land a first strike as he followed after her. When the axe bandit was wounded at his arm by the thief on his side, the lance quickly stepped in and struck the man at the opposite shoulder, sending him down to the ground with pain. He then blocked the incoming berserk wooden sword and managed to hit him back for once with a dull end.

However, unexpectedly, it was his first time to hear Emilia's voice of pain. Truth be told, he didn't really expect to hear this even after this mission was over, but it happened. He understood as soon as he saw the magic flame.

"To think that there's a mage in a thief gang--" Wolfe aimed quickly at the casting magician before he threw the spear at the man. It hit the target accurately at his armed arm, the caster was forced by pain to drop his tome. However, the return was that the spear thrower became unarmed now.

The thief, who was their target, approached Wolfe in attempt to slash him. The lance dodged the first one and then blocked a second strike with his arm guard, however, he quickly pushed back the attacker and stepped backward. He felt numb at the arm he just used. It appeared to him that was not a normal weapon.

"A magic weapon, huh-"

Though the lancer didn't have much time to think, the wooden swordsman hit his right shoulder from the blind spot he couldn't see. It was not too painful thanks to his armor, but it called other thieves for a chance to scramble him.

Enemy (open) Enemy (close)

-Thief (J): Lvl 10, Thunder Sword - Attacking Wolfe angrily
-Bandit: Lvl 12, Bronze Axe, Handaxe - was hesitant at choosing target, but decided to assist the mage
-Mercenary: Lvl 4, Wooden Sword - Going berserk, damaged slightly, attacking Wolfe
Mage: Lvl 7, Fire - tome dropped, unable to cast a spell

Quickly caught the thrown weapon from his ally, Wolfe swiftly thrust it at the bandit's leg before he kicked the man down. The wooden sword almost hit Jester, the target, but he was quick enough to dodge, but unable to make another sneak attack with that chance.

"Thanks." Wolfe said to Emilia as he checked his condition, he had been injured but still fine overall thanks to his defensive skill that allow him to evade most of dangerous strike. "Looks like we play a bit too much with these punks, can you take the big guy, milady?"

The blind lancer twirled his spear once before approaching his target. He had to disarm the man first before he can interrogate him. He was lucky that they fought in the basement floor that the thunder sword was not much useful, and he approached confidently. The thief stepped back once and darted in to strike Wolfe, but the mercenary blocked it with a shaft. The lancer twitched a bit, as he felt numb at his hand, and kicked back at the thief.

It seemed they were finishing up, and should be soon to complete their goal.

enemy (open) enemy (close)

-Thief (J): Lvl 10, Thunder Sword - struggling with Wolfe
-Bandit: Lvl 12, Bronze Axe, Handaxe - given to Emilia

"What treasure!?" The thief questioned, not knowing what Wolfe and Emilia were after.

"Don't play dumb, Mr. J, we're here for the latest one in your collection." With this, the target seemed to understand now. He looked into the treasure room to where he kept the thing. He thought of a way to get out of this situation without losing the treasure, and his life. However, what Wolfe said to him next erased the thief's escape plan in his head. "Hand over, or die like dogs."

"I u-understand, I'll go get it for you." J sweated much as he said, he could only hope that his other friends can do him a favor by saving him from those strangers. He needed to buy time... "It's in there."

"Lady Emilia," He called the lady while handing a piece of paper to her. Inside, she would find a nice drawing of a golden lamp with luxury jewels which was what they came for. The blind lance said. "I'll take watch here, could you go with him and make sure he won't do any trick?"

The lancer then checked on each of fallen bandit guards around there, in order to make sure they were truly unconscious. He had to hit one of them to make him sleep a little more.

Wolfe knew he won't need to worry about Emilia when she was with that thief, no matter how cunning he could be. He made sure that the way out was secured for her. His spear was readied at his side while hie eagle eye scanned for any movement that would harm them.

Nothing unusual could be detected so far.

The blind man walked to the door of treasure room again to see if the targeted treasure was reclaimed, probably whichever Emilia desired to take as her own belongings. It should be fine to steal what had been stolen before, Wolfe thought.

"The way out is clear, can you find the thing?"