Mana Star System: Soul Rebirth 61 61 Espionage

At the sandy, yet luxuriously clean, home that Dr. Gilbert inhabited, the trio stood.

"Dr. Gilbert, it was an honest pleasure meeting you," said Striga with her hand extended.

"The pleasure was all mine, Striga. Hearing about what happened to ye, and then going to tell Horrigan that he's a c.o.c.k was wonderful," said Dr. Gilbert as he shook her hand in earnest.

"Thank you for your information Dr. Gilbert, it answered some questions which had been plaguing me for weeks at this point. When we first came here, I didn't actually think we'd get so much out of this entire trip!" laughed Donis.

"What did you think you'd find here? Some old coot who had no backbone?��� Dr. Gilbert said as he shook Donis's hand.

"Well, something along those lines, yeah,"

"Boy, you can't have a weak spine when dealing with Dragons. The moment you show weakness in this line of work, you die."

"Ah," said Donis, realizing what his profession really is.

"Tough business, I see," he continued.

"Real tough. Anyway, you'll be gone from here soon. I'm happy that ye can leave, and I implore you guys to do so quickly. If the threat of the Sandracons is big, I don't want you guys getting conscripted. You've both done far too much already, you don't need to go any further for this town who wont even appreciate you guys," said Dr. Gilbert, looking into both of their eyes.

"Thanks, we'll leave quickly. Goodbye Dr. Gilbert," said Striga as she picked up her stuff and walked out of the building.

"I'm gonna go make sure she's okay. Thanks again Dr. Gilbert," said Donis as he walked out the door chasing after Striga.

Dr. Gilbert sat down with a sigh escaping his mouth. He cleared out his desk and neatly stacked some papers in front of him, putting away his work. He looked out the window and began reminiscing of the days long gone.

Donis jogged out of the house and found Striga perched upon a stone bench. She was looking down on the floor with a far off look. Donis slowed down and sat beside her.

"So, I know I probably shouldn't be asking this, but what's on your mind cap'n?" asked Donis with a soft smile.

"Horrigan really got to me, ya know? He kicked my family out of town because of my decisions. Kinda hits your hard," spoke Striga with a flat tone.

"There anything I can do to ease the burden on your mind? You don't have to tell me what you did, just if you wanna share, it might lighten the load," said Donis, trying to ease Striga in whatever way he can think of.

"Thanks, but the tales old and pointless. I was young, rowdy, and totally against what the militia here stood for. They were lazy, complacent and worst of all, greedy."

"I got sent here when I was younger to clear out a den of Sandracons, and my entire family decided to move in with me. We stayed here for a while and I decided to join the militia because at the time, they seemed to be getting things done. At least on the surface it seemed like that."

"The town here has always had this pleasant air, but there were lots of underground deals for the more "exotic" stuff. Like drugs, illegal ingredients, and slaves. I spoke out against them, tried my best to do my job, or so I thought. I basically caught the wrong guy, he paid off the captain of the militia, he went free and I got punished for it. I left, they told me I'd be discharged dishonourably. I didn't care, and I thought that was the end of it," continued Striga.

"Yet here we are, years later finding out that my entire family got cast out for my actions. f.u.c.k the lot of them, but my brother was the only other good person amongst them. Unfortunately, my parents and I didn't have a good relations.h.i.+p, and I lost all contact with them. So, I have no clue where my brother is, or how to help him," sighed Striga.

"Hmm..." hummed Donis.

Donis sunk into thought for a brief moment, contemplating on how to help his captain. He could do many things, but solve personal issues that may be decades old is not in his repertoire.

"What if we went to your house and looked for clues?" perked up Donis after a few moments of silence.

"I'm literally banned from this town. If I get caught sneaking around in private property I could get into serious trouble Donis," sighed Striga again.

"What if we went to your house and looked for clues, but sneakily?" smiled Donis.

Striga looked up from the floor and directly at Donis, unable to hold back her laughter when she saw how serious he looked.

"Fine kid, but if we get caught, I'm ditching you," she laughed.

"Deal!"

***

Later that evening, at the Rubens household.

Donis and Striga had bought some dark clothing and some garbs to cover their faces. They had been scouting the house for the last few hours and nothing seemed to be out of the ordinary. The guards still seemed to be far too relaxed, not even going down the alleyway they were looking at, relaxing around the lights and smoking what seemed to be pipes.

The two couldn't use sign language to communicate as Donis had no clue how to use it, even if the [System] would translate what Striga wanted to say. They both agreed on just using a basic plan that they had come up with before the mission.

Donis was to use his skillset to go in when the guards changed position, unlock the door, and get back. He then was to use the Max Bonus function of the [Keyless] skill and to create a duplicate key for Striga to use. She will then open the door herself, letting them both in and make it look as seamless as possible.

Donis used [Aura Rework] to first mute his presence visually by creating a small area of shade from the moonlight for himself, then he used [Trackless] to further m.u.f.fle his sound, and to give him an idea on how to move stealthily.

After setting up these two pre-requisites, he cast [Shadow In The Dark] and used the Max Bonus function of the skill to jump between shadows until he got to the door. He knew he had plenty of time between the guards coming this way and until he had to make a move, so he took things slowly.

Firstly he scanned the surroundings for any altered environments, or suspicious looking people that could have seen him using these skills. After ascertaining that nothing was out of the ordinary, Donis cast [Keyless] on the door and within seconds, it was opened with a click. Then using the Max Bonus function, he created a perfect copy of the key required for the door.

After jumping between shadows back to Striga, he gave her the key and had a single thought.

'Man, I'm so suited for a stealthy lifestyle it's not even funny. Though I am glad I chose these skills when I was younger, I'm also upset at so much wasted [SP]' laughed Donis mentally.

They changed out of their clothes and walked down the nicely lit alleyways, looking as casual as they could. After arriving at the Rubens household, Striga walked up confidently and "unlocked" the door. They both went in and closed the door behind them.

Only then did they both release a sigh of relief. Everything went smoothly, which was a sign that things were too easy, but neither of them wanted to vocalize their worries.

The place was dusty, but still furnished. Donis looked around and noticed that the house was still relatively kept. There were couches, chairs, even paintings that look like they've been stored here some time ago, but not decades ago like Horrigan suggested. Things were starting to feel out of place here for Donis.

Striga looked bewildered. She had this shocked look in her eye, but it held something else. Donis didn't want to seem too pushy, so he waited for her to speak on her own. Whilst waiting for Striga to open up, he roamed the rest of the house, perusing through different containers and whatnot.

There seemed to be food here that was stored only a short while ago. The jars and containers didn't fit in with the relative dustiness of the place. Donis continued to search through the different cupboards, and drawers until he noticed something out of place.

Donis always had his [Void Sense] active, but it was hard to distinguish between what is part of furniture, and what is not without also visually a.s.sessing it. After opening a cupboard Donis felt something amiss. His eyes were telling him the cupboard was empty, but the [Void Sense] was showing him that there was something behind it.

Donis called Striga over, who was still in her stupor, and showed her the cupboard.

"I don't get it, it's empty," she said.

"Though it appears so, I have my [Void Sense] always active, and it can tell me if something is hidden behind stuff like this," Donis said, withholding the whole truth.

"Wait, can you see like through stuff?" she asked.

"In a sense, yeah, why?" Donis answered a little uncertain of the question, as he literally told her he can do exactly that.

Placing her arm around Donis, she whispered into his ears, "I mean, can you see through my clothes?"

Donis went beet red and looked her in horror, "Of course not! It's not like that at all, it's ... it's"

"Relax, I'm just joking around hahaha," Striga laughed for the first time since her meeting with Horrigan.

Striga released Donis from her grip and with her other hand pushed past the barrier in the cupboard and found a hidden compartment. It was filled with notes, papers and photos. The two scoured what was in there, but unfortunately for them, there was no mention of Strigas family nor anything linking Horrigan to any of this.

There was just some shady looking info from drug deals, some photos of the members and their locations. It wasn't nothing as it gave them a clue where to go next if they so chose. It was sad to not see anything relating to Strigas family, and it was of course expected, though it still fell on their shoulders to decide whether or not to pursue this "lead".

"Striga, I know this isn't much, but if you want to, we can continue the search for your brother with this information here. I can't guarantee any luck though, but I will give it my best effort to help you since you've helped me," said Donis while perusing through the locations and dates.

"Nah kid, not today. I don't have any more time off after this expedition until next year. If the RI find nothing from this intel here by then, I may call you, that is if you're not busy back in the academy haha," laughed Striga, after placing her hand on his shoulder.

"Thank you, I appreciate it," she continued.

"It's nothing, honestly, I've done literally nothing," Donis laughed back.

Striga looked at him and smiled.