2 days later

"This is good wine. Is there no discount, though?"

Inside a market in Astoria, two individuals stood before a stall where they haggled for a particular product.

"Mister, this stall is owned by a brutal member of the thieves guild. I'm sorry, but you understand my predicament. Even if I wanted to give you a discount, I just couldn't." Behind the stall, a young man spoke regretfully with a fearful tone.

Actually, he wasn't really afraid; he could tell that Enzo and the girl on his side were thieves guild members, but so was his elder brother. They couldn't use their status to get a discount from him.

"Come on, it'll soon be the Festival of Lights; discounts are normal," Mira, who was on Enzo's arm, retorted in a playful manner, haggling further while drawing the attention of the young man in the stall.

While this was happening, Enzo maintained a calm, natural face as he noticed Yankai and Raven right behind the stall.

For some reason, Raven was looking at him with a tinge of annoyance, seeing him hold hands with Mira. It was indeed a very awkward gesture…

But it was necessary, as Mira could not do what Raven could.

Somewhere inside the stall of the young man, two blades floated through the corners, flying through edges and slowly lifting a badge.

Yes, this stall really did belong to a thieves guild member, an old friend of Yankai.

And as for why they were here… it was to steal from him.

"Got it." Raven muttered, her lips moving as she signaled to Enzo while she grabbed ahold of a pass in her hand and pocketed her knives.

Seeing this, Enzo sighed in relief and quickly dismissed the young man by buying the wine from him and walking away.

'Spending other people's money can be blinding.'

While he walked hand in hand with Mira through the streets, Enzo couldn't help but think in his mind.

Snowfall was essentially paying for their project without knowing; not only did the 300 years of lifespan pay the other part of Sword Cleaver's fee, the additional 50 years were financing everything else.

As they walked, suddenly Enzo felt a push from his left side as Raven came between the two of them, holding them both playfully.

"Hehe, Sister Raven is so rough." Mira smiled coyly, rolling her eyes before removing her arm from Raven's hold.

Raven was the cold type who didn't show a lot of emotion, but it was quite obvious that she liked Enzo. Mira liked pushing her these days in an attempt to show it despite her denial.

"Hehe." Enzo smiled bitterly for a second at the spectacle before looking back at Yankai, who had just joined them from the side.

Both of them were a bit oblivious to what was happening, but it felt like some inside joke they couldn't understand.

"Are you sure it's a good idea for you to go in alone?" Yankai, ignoring the drama, said to Enzo with a look of concern.

3 days

They had 3 days before the Festival of Lights and the grand execution of Yaro. They had to truly understand what they were up against and find something to use in their favour first before going in. And to do that they needed to infiltrate the thieves guild stronghold.

Contrary to popular belief that the stronghold was inside the city center, they knew it was in the mines inside the mountain.

The most logical person to do it was Yankai; he knew the place, what to avoid, and what to look for. But he was essentially a fugitive here; if anyone caught him he'd be dead and their operation would be exposed.

So naturally they agreed on the next best thing.

Enzo

"My abilities are adapted for these kinds of things. Don't be worried," Enzo said, looking at the worried Yankai and smiling.

The actual reason they couldn't let him do this was different. His elder brother was most definitely imprisoned in the mines. Allowing him to go there would have more consequences than they were ready to pay for.

"I've got the pass. You guys busy yourselves with other things; I'll be back in the evening."

Soon they parted ways, as Enzo made his way up the slope of the city and closer towards the mines.

The mines were barricaded from the rest of the settlement. To unsuspecting tourists and denizens, it would seem like some sort of environmental protection from industrial activity, but Enzo and the rest had done thorough investigations and knew this was not the case.

'So there's an essence mine in here somewhere.'

Enzo thought to himself, shrouded in shadows at the corner of a building, looking at the heavily gated mining facilities.

Star essence was not just an illegal resource to mine; it was also the precursor to several massacres throughout the universe. The fact that a small-time gang leader like Vegar could have this under his control was beyond him.

"Void, concealment mode," Enzo muttered under his breath as he strapped the void coffin to his back.

This was going to be very dangerous; he needed as much help as he could get. So he brought the void coffin.

The air suddenly churned around the coffin on Enzo's back as it decreased in size and slowly became invisible.

In this mode he couldn't use it, but if needed he could unconceal it whenever he wanted.

"The shadow is me and I am the shadow… Shadow Step." As soon as that was done, Enzo muttered under his breath and phased into the shadow of the building beside him, crossing a distance in seconds.

Shadow Step was still limited in distance, so he could only jump from one shadow to another, closing in on his target.

In one second he crossed the gate; in the next he was at a halfway point, and soon he emerged from the back of a moving wagon and silently flashed to the side of a mine entrance.

No one noticed him, not even the guards, right up until he appeared at his target.

'I hate mines,' muttering under his breath, Enzo took in a breath of hot air before rushing in.

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