Fantasy Cursed Island

[Fangs9090]

Roy and Katsuo searched the area below the prince's window, but they didn't see anything obvious. There was a lingering scent though, one that smelled of alleyways rather than castle gardens. It led up to the castle in one direction and straight to the city wall in the other direction.

 

[Darkling0096]

"Hmm," Jalin 'looked' up the wall to the prince's window, pointing his cane and firing the handle to get an estimate for what kind of power would have been behind the throw or whatever launched it. His cord could only reach up to the middle of the third floor, but it did give him an idea of what kind of power would be behind a tool or a throw that could do that. It was definitely more than could be accurately done from the ground on the first try by a manual thrower. At least he assumed it was the first try, because no one mentioned there being a broken piece of glass in the window, and he was pretty sure the prince would have been woken up.

"There is something," Jalin pointed with his cane, "It goes in that direction, it smells of alley filth."

"That's a lead, then," Turac nodded, "Lead the way." Jalin nodded and began to follow the trail.

 

[Fangs9090]

Roy brought up his amulet as he followed after Jalin, contacting the girls.

The scent trail right to the wall before heading up it. They certainly hadn't taken any normal paths to get anywhere.

 

[Darkling0096]

Siege was... predictably not available for contact. Whether that was a good thing or not remained to be seen, but she was not taking calls and nothing was visible or audible with the amulet.

"Hmm," jalin frowned, "this is strange..." The wall was higher than his cane could reach, but definitely not out of the reach of whatever tool that was. "Someone has been taking pains." They took the least convenient route.

"This does not strike me as a professional anymore," Turac frowned. His mother would never take such a convoluted path when there was an infinitely easier one available.

 

[Fangs9090]

Katsuo looked up at the wall. "They knew their theft would be discovered. Even if they were tracked, they made sure it would be difficult to follow. Anyone without the same skills and resources as them, or else something better, would be slowed down, allowing them get further ahead."

Emilia was the one to answer Roy's call, at which point he addressed her. "Hey, we're following the thief's trail. Are you going to accompany us or stay there for now?"

Emilia glanced at something Roy couldn't see. "...I think we'll be staying here for now. We'll call you when we're ready to meet up."

 

[Darkling0096]

"Yes, but what is more conspicuous?" The man scaling walls and buildings, or the man casually walking out the front door with the rest of the people.

 

[Fangs9090]

Katsuo shook his head. "Conspicuousness matters not when you've shrouded yourself in the shadows."

Roy spoke up. "Hey, we're not here to critique the thief's methods, we're here to catch him. If he did something dumb, that just works in our favor, but the longer we debate it, the further away he gets."

 

[Darkling0096]

"Well, without wings or climbing ability we cannot follow the thief's path," Jalin sighed, "Sinach is almost definitely unwilling to help us, and Emilia is preoccupied."

 

[Fangs9090]

"Then we'll have to wait for her to join us or mark this part of the wall so we can identify it on the other side."

 

[Darkling0096]

"I do not believe we have that much time," Turac sighed, "Do either of you know the Polymorph spell?"

"I do not," Jalin shook his head.

 

[Fangs9090]

Roy shook his head. “I do not... And I regret to say I have not yet figured out wind magic to where I can augment my own jumps.”

 

[Darkling0096]

"Then we have a problem," Jalin frowned, "We may require your mother's help, there is a mirror within Katsuo's bag."

 

[Fangs9090]

"Or Emilia, since she could scale this wall."

 

[Darkling0096]

"Then call her," Jalin put his hands up, "Time we are discussing this is time the thief is using to put distance between the castle and his prize!"

 

[Fangs9090]

Roy nodded and pulled up the amulet, calling Emilia again. He spoke up once she answered. "Alright, now we actually need your help. We need to get over a wall and don't have time to go around."

Emilia paused before nodding. "Alright, but who's gonna watch Nidia and Siege?"

 

[Darkling0096]

"I'll go keep an eye on them," Turac sighed, "It's not that big a deal."

 

[Fangs9090]

"That'll work."

Emilia nodded. "Alright, I'll head over then."

Roy nodded back and gave her directions to find them before ending the call.

 

[Darkling0096]

"Stay out of trouble," Turac nodded before he headed back to the party's chambers to relieve Erina of duty, "Where are they, now?"

"This is too precarious," Jalin sighed, "This was well-planned, they knew the prince would be arriving back home today, else they would have waited much longer to launch the heist, since they knew the prince only put it down to sleep." He stroked his chin and thought, "That means the thief was someone well-resourced and close to the court to know this information and be able to make their move in time."

 

[Fangs9090]

Emilia pointed to the doors. "Siege is in there, Nidia's in there. Nidia wanted to share a room, Siege didn't."


Roy shrugged. "Or they planned ahead, kept their preparations ready, and witnessed the prince walk in through the gate with his entourage."

 

[Darkling0096]

Turac nodded and sent Emilia on her way. He knew better than to walk in on Siege, so he knocked on the door to the room Nidia was in. "Nidia?"


"Either way, this was incredibly well thought out." Jalin shook his head, "This thief will not go down easy, if they have not already disposed of the gem."

 

[Fangs9090]

There was a bit thumping from in the room before Nidia eagerly opened the door. “Yeah?” She was undressed again.


“They didn’t head to the city, so the chances of them having sold it already are low. They probably don’t want to sell it where they stole it anyway. They may plan to stash it somewhere though.”

 

[Darkling0096]

Turac paused, then stepped back, "Nidia, where are your clothes?", she was dressed when he'd last been here.


"You are missing my point," Jalin shook his head, but dropped the subject as Erina approached, "Ah, we need your scaling ability to follow the thief over this wall."

 

[Fangs9090]

"Over there." She turned and point to where her clothes were neatly folded at the foot of the bed. "I wasn't using them."


Emilia looked up at the wall. "Easy enough. Do we all need to get over it or just myself?"

 

[Darkling0096]

"Put your clothes back on, it's not bedtime."


"I need to track the thief, but if you can tell us what is up there, I believe Roy will be able to tell us the most likely path," Jalin nodded at Roy, "Having grown up with a master thief."

 

[Fangs9090]

Nidia looked at Turac again with a smile. "It could be if we wanted it to be."



Emilia nodded. "Understood." She hoped up and began climbing up the wall.