Faerun: The arcane mage is still too imprisoned.

The sun was high in the sky, and sunlight streamed in through the window on the second floor of the Mole's Tavern, casting a warm yellow patch of light on the rough wooden floor.

"Knock knock"

Lance was awakened by a knock on the door.

He opened his eyes and stared at the yellowish ceiling for a few seconds before fully waking up from the remnants of deep sleep.

Why am I sleeping so soundly?

Lance couldn't help but ask.

"Knock knock".

There were two more knocks on the door, the rhythm steady and unhurried.

"……Come in."

Lance's voice was still hoarse from just waking up.

The door was pushed open a crack, and Cielsa stepped in. She had already removed the leather armor that allowed for easy movement, and was only wearing a simple shirt and trousers underneath.

Her long, silver-gray hair wasn't tied up like yesterday; instead, it was loosely draped over her shoulders, the ends still slightly damp—clearly, she had just washed up.

The light of dawn outlined the delicate contours of her profile, her pointed ears peeking out from among her hair, trembling slightly.

She walked over with light steps.

"Lord Lance, I hope I haven't woken you up?"

"But you look beautiful even right after waking up!"

Cielsa leaned against the table, her violet eyes carefully examining Lance, who was still lying on the bed, somewhat drowsy.

Lance didn't answer immediately, but slowly sat up and stretched his stiff shoulders.

"What's wrong?" Lance asked, speechless.

Cielsa didn't mind at all; on the contrary, she found his confused look rather cute.

She sat down in the chair at the table.

"I overheard some talk in the tavern," she said, her expression becoming more serious, "about Baron Yodl."

"I've heard from those people that you were originally supposed to be sold to Baron Yodl, haven't you?"

Lance threw off the thin blanket and got out of bed, his bare feet touching the slightly cool floor. He walked to the window, opened it a crack, and let in the cool morning air.

"Hmm~"

Lance gave a soft snort.

"Baron Yodl lives in the northwest of the central city, near the border of the upper city."

Cielsa began to recount the information she had heard.

"His mansion wasn't particularly large, but it was heavily guarded. It was said that there were at least two squads of private soldiers on duty year-round, each with about ten men. The baron himself rarely appeared in public and spent most of his time at the mansion—but he loved to host banquets."

"A banquet?" Lance raised an eyebrow.

"The Baron is known for his love of pleasure and frequently invites other nobles and wealthy merchants to banquets. It's said that these banquets feature various special programs," Cielsa said with a hint of disgust.

"I heard there's a banquet at his place tonight."

"Perfect!" Lance clapped his hands. "The banquet is noisy and there's a lot of people coming and going; it's the perfect opportunity for me to infiltrate!"

"You're going to make your move tonight?" Cielsa was taken aback.

"While I don't think you'll let him off the hook...aren't you being a bit too hasty?"

Cielsa frowned. "I only heard that he might not even be hosting a banquet tonight!"

"It doesn't matter," Lance shrugged. "You can still infiltrate even without a banquet, it's just a different method."

He spoke of it so casually, as if infiltrating a nobleman's mansion and assassinating a baron were as simple as eating a loaf of bread.

"……OK."

Cielsa stared at him for several seconds, her lips moved as if she wanted to say something, but in the end she just sighed.

Monks are all intelligent people; they wouldn't put themselves in danger... right?

……

The two went downstairs and had breakfast together—a simple stew and white bread. To be honest, the taste was just average—at least for Lance.

During this time, Lance quietly listened to the idle chatter of the diners around him, gathering information:

"...Have you heard? That jewelry store on East Street was robbed again last night...the third time this month..."

"The tax officials are raising taxes again, damn it, are they trying to kill us? If this keeps up, I might as well become a robber..."

"I've been staying home less at night lately. I heard that several homeless people have gone missing near the South Gate again... The patrol says they ran out of the city on their own, but who believes that... I even saw someone's head before..."

"The Yodl family is hiring servants again, offering quite high salaries, but no one dares to apply..."

This last sentence caught Lance's attention. He paused, his spoon resting on the rim of his bowl, and listened intently to the conversation at the other table.

There were two middle-aged men dressed in coarse cloth, who looked like dockworkers, sitting in a corner against the wall. They spoke in low voices, but Lance, with his 16-point perception, could still hear them faintly.

"Why don't you dare go?" one of them asked, his tone filled with curiosity.

"You don't know?" The other person looked around, lowering their voice even further.

"That old pervert Yodl only targets good-looking young boys. The kid they took in last year was supposedly a refugee from the south, and he was incredibly handsome... He was in there for three months and never came out again."

"And then?"

"Later? Someone said they saw similar corpses in the mass graves outside the city..." The speaker made a throat-slitting gesture, "Not a single piece of good flesh on their bodies, tsk tsk."

The person asking the question gasped: "Really?"

"Why would I lie to you? My cousin works in the patrol team. He told me about it when he was drunk one time... He saw that corpse with his own eyes, and it scared him so much that he had nightmares for days."

The man paused, then added, "And not just one. They 'recruit' people every few months, and then..."

"Shh! Keep your voice down!" His companion suddenly tensed up and nudged him with his elbow. "Do you want to die? If the Baron's family hears us, we're all finished!"

The two immediately shut up, lowered their heads and ate heartily, no longer speaking.

Lance withdrew his gaze, finished the last bite of stew with a blank expression, and put down his spoon.

It seems that this Baron Yodl is indeed "famous far and wide".

He picked up the bread, broke off a small piece, put it in his mouth, and chewed slowly.

My mind is already starting to plan tonight's actions.

After breakfast, Lance and Celsa left the Mole Tavern and began their formal "scouting."

The city of Rild is much noisier in the morning than in the afternoon. The streets are crowded with pedestrians, carriages, pack animals, and vendors' carts are mixed together, and the sounds of hawking, bargaining, and children playing are constant.

Lance pulled up his hood, and Cielsa covered the lower half of her face and her prominent pointed ears with a headscarf. The two blended into the crowd, inconspicuous at all.

They first took a stroll around the central district.

The central district is noticeably cleaner and more orderly than the lower district. The streets are wider and paved with smooth stone slabs; the buildings on both sides are mostly two- to three-story stone and wood structures with whitewashed or painted exteriors, and many also have small courtyards.

The shop signs are more exquisite, and the goods sold range from ordinary grains and cloth to exquisite handicrafts and magical materials.

Lance noticed a shop window displaying scrolls, potions, and basic magical items—the prices on the tags surprised him.

"A single scroll of [Magic Missile] costs ten gold coins." Cielsa saw it too and whispered enviously, "That's enough for an average family to live on for ten years."

"Anything related to magic is exorbitantly expensive. That's why everyone says that magicians are both ruthless and rich, and the ruthless they are, the richer they are."

"Where is it expensive?"

Upon hearing this, Lance was displeased. "Sometimes, why don't you look for the reasons within yourself? Has your income increased over the years? Have you been working diligently?"

"It's been this price for so many years... I'm going crazy!"

"……what?"

Cielsa was at a loss.

"Don't say these things in front of the mage." Lance quickly regained his serious demeanor.

I also noted down this location.

Continuing northwest, the buildings became increasingly grand, and the frequency of patrols increased noticeably. The pedestrians were more elegantly dressed and more composed—or rather, more arrogant.

"We're almost in the upper town," Cielsa whispered. "The Yodl's mansion should be on that street ahead."

Lance looked in the direction she indicated.

It was a relatively quiet street, lined with neat rows of trees. In the middle of the street, a three-story stone building stood.

The outer perimeter is a nearly three-meter-high stone wall, with broken glass embedded in the top to prevent climbing. Two heavy black iron doors are tightly closed, with intricate family crest reliefs on them—an eagle grasping a scepter.

Even from a distance, you could see two guards standing at the entrance, dressed in half-body armor and with long swords at their waists. They stood ramrod straight, their eyes scanning the street warily.

"It should be." Sissa nodded.

"Let's go around in a circle," Lance said.

The two kept their distance from the guards and walked slowly along the street, passing in front of the mansion's main gate, then turning into the alley next to it, going around to the side and back of the building.

The side wall was the same height as the main gate, but there were several pieces of glass that appeared to be broken in one place—it could be due to years of disrepair, but Lance thought it was a deliberate trap.

The back wall is relatively low, but it is right next to a narrow dead-end alley, which could cause some trouble if you get stuck inside.

The back gate of the mansion was a smaller iron gate, also tightly closed. But Lance noticed several empty wooden barrels piled up near the back gate, as well as two flatbed carts that were half-unloaded—clearly used to transport banquet supplies.

He continued walking around the mansion, memorizing the surrounding terrain, possible escape routes, and blind spots.

The whole process took more than an hour. During that time, several wagons carrying food, drinks and decorations came and went through the back door. The servants were busy, and although the guards were strict in their checks, they only asked a few simple questions before letting these people who were obviously suppliers pass.

"It seems the banquet is indeed being planned," Lance said. "It's going to be quite large."

"How do you plan to infiltrate?" Cielsa asked, "Disguised as a delivery person?"

Lance shook his head: "Too troublesome, and too easy to be discovered. I have a better way."

He didn't specify what method it was, but Cielsa guessed it was probably related to magic; mages always have ways to deal with all sorts of situations.

The two left the vicinity of the Yodl mansion and returned to a more bustling area in the central city, where they strolled around for a while.

Cielsa was clearly interested in those exquisite but useless little trinkets, and Lance was generous, granting her every request.

It's just a few silver coins; it's not really anything valuable.