It's midnight, the best time to make a secretive and swift move.
Every single soul in the estate is asleep. Well, I don't know about the monsters like Klaus, Alexander and Sin, I'm pretty sure those people never sleep.
And the guards that are guarding the front gate, they're working night shifts. They're probably gonna be asleep too, but I'll not let my guard down, they might not be slackers.
I've already made my preparations to exit this building.
I walk toward the window.
I sling the bag I'm holding on my shoulder.
I'm hanging a small bag where I put some of my clothes, a map and my circle-weapon artifact.
I jump out of the window of my room.
Thud!
I land on all fours on the ground.
"Ouch."
"Damn, that was kind of high.", I whisper.
I stand up from the ground and I scan my surroundings.
There are no maids, no workers, nothing. It's clear, empty.
All the lights in all the buildings are off and the only source of light in the estate is the warm glowing hue showering down from the cleaved moon.
I crouch, the bag still on my shoulder.
I start walking slowly, vigilant and carefully, making sure to make no noise.
And I reach the large golden gate at the front of the estate.
The four guards at the front of the gate, outside the estate aren't sleeping at all, they're discussing who knows what.
I expected them to be asleep, but I guess the Flameworth guards don't slack off, why would they? After all, I heard that the Hetchor family always sent assassins to come after Alexander by this time of the night.
Okay, slow and steady, covertly slip past them.
I reach the gate without making a single noise.
Now to climb this shit and make my way out of here.
"Hey! Who's there?!"
Shit.
I've been found.
I'll just play it cool.
"Open the gate."
My voice is loud and authoritative.
The men shudder as they hear my voice.
I cannot see their faces clearly. I can only see their red uniforms and the red rings of mana around them.
"Who are you?"
One of the guards asks, his voice is hostile but shaky and he's already In a battle stance.
"I am Charles Liam Flameworth. Your Young Master."
I speak, I'm holding the gate, looking at their faces through the gate.
"The bastard?"
His words click a switch in my brain.
"What did you say?"
"You're the bastard aren't you?"
He turns to look at the other guard beside him with a sneer on his face. "Ain't he the bastard?"
The other guard replies, "He sure is, I can see his red eyes shining brightly."
The first one has two rings...
"Huh?"
The first guard turned his head to look at me as soon as he heard what the other guard said.
"His eyes are shining red? Wait- what did Vice-captain Klaus say about the Flameworths and their glowing red eyes."
He's trying to remember something and the other guard just shrugs.
The second one has two rings too...
"Ah!"
It seems he remembered what he was searching his brain for.
I turn my head to look at the other two guards, one is taking a piss at the corner of the street and the other one is sitting down on the floor, looking unimpressed as he rests his chin on his hand.
The third one has two rings and the one sitting down has two rings too. Doable.
"Call me a bastard. One. More. Time."
I declare, my voice filled with spite.
"Vice-captain Klaus said that when their eyes are glowing red, we should just bow our heads and do whatever they say without questioning."
The first guard blurts.
"Pfft, but who's gonna bow to a bast–"
Wong!
I summon a magic circle on my palm, and in that brief moment– I aim the magic circle in my palm in the direction of the open mouth of the guard, shooting a tiny ball of flames inside his mouth.
"Argh."
He holds his throat as he chokes and he falls to his knee.
Taking advantage of the situation I created, I jump over the gate and ignore the guards who rush to the aid of the choking guard.
"I'm going out, nobody stops me. And if any of you wants to stop me from going out, well, you're welcome to try."
I walk away from them. The guard sitting on the floor doesn't even care about me or his choking colleague. The other three are still trying to figure out what happened to the choking idiot.
Maybe they're just Cannon fodder or something. Because there's no way the guards of the family– people that are supposed to be capable of killing several assassins are that weak.
I continue walking. I'm about twenty steps away from them now.
The street is littered with mud and my shoes are dirtied already, to be expected, my leg sank in the mud.
But I can see the buildings on the street, they're all made with wood and are poorly built.
I'm starting to see the difference between a noble house and a normal, commoner family.
They're small houses.
They're still livable though.
I'm having a bad feeling–it's like I'm being watched.
Goosebumps are on my body, and all the hairs in my body stand up.
I turn back to look at the Flameworth estate.
It's far now, but I can still see the top of the buildings.
Wait, what?
I squint my eyes.
I see various mysterious figures on the roofs of all the buildings in the mansion. Their entire bodies are covered and I can't see them well because of the distance from the building and because it's partially dark.
I can see the glow of their rings from here... they're all on Sin Morderego's level. Six rings.
And they're all looking at me. I can feel it.
Are those the real guards?
I shudder, and I swallow hard, I was being watched the whole time and I didn't notice. I didn't even feel their presence.
They were probably ordered by Alexander to let me pass.
I shake my head and decide to stop thinking about it.
I turn to keep walking.
I've reached the end of the street, and I can see it.
The horse-drawn wagon Alexander prepared for me.
Finally, it's time to begin my new chapter.