Kapitel 127: Haste

It's been two days since Michael and Tiffania were forced to live in a hidey-hole in the slums, the duo taking great care to conceal their temporary home and ward off any slum-roamers who might attempt to harm Tiffania while he was away.

Their suspicions had proved correct, as only around two hours after Tiffania had sent away the mind-erased knight, a whole platoon visited the place, dragging the chained-up inn owner out as he begged for forgiveness.

Michael watched as they scoured the inn and questioned the inn owner after not finding anything. They weren't looking for him and Tiffania specifically, only the mage who'd messed with the knight's mind. The platoon, after getting tired of the man's 'silence', carried him over to the gallows where he was strung up for treason...

Michael could have probably done nothing about it, but the inn owner had tried ratting them out, so he got what he deserved in his honest opinion.

He hadn't done all that much in these two days, only continuing to scout out the city, prison, and looking for whatever his targets lived. Unfortunately, with his escape from Cromwell's control and Earl Tatiana's death not long after, the other nobles had been frightened like deer facing headlights.

Despite the 'celebratory occasion' of Prince Wales soon to be execution, none of the nobles who'd tormented him had dared showed their faces, in private or public settings. Rumours of their assassinations were actually beginning to pop up, but Michael doubted that they held any credence... After all, he'd promised himself to be the one who finally ended them.

The only one of Michael's targets that'd showed themselves was Baron Jargkon, the man who'd had him butcher innocents, either for his pleasure or just to get rid of them... Michael hadn't been able to locate him as of yet, as the man was almost constantly on the move, moving through hidden passages around both the palace and various villas around the city, did he know that Michael was coming for him? If Michael had to guess, probably.

Still, his plans continued unabated, which is why he was now slowly sneaking along the top of an aqueduct towards the military academy and barracks with a wet sack filled with half-rotten pufferfish livers.

The livers of course had been thoroughly mulched to make sure they mixed with the reservoir water well enough. Tomorrow was Prince Wales execution, so hopefully, the poison would cripple enough of the guards to allow him to strike at Baron Jargkon without anything impeding him. Plus, he supposed it would also help the loyalists rescue Prince Wales.

Michael shakes his head and continues sneaking over the roof of the aqueduct like a shadow in the night, his form completely invisible with the help of Cloak and Dagger, as well as Shadow Dance.

Soon enough, he reaches a perch overlooking the barracks reservoir, and so he waits. It was currently around 10 PM, but with a few guards still milling around, he wanted to make sure his fouling of their water went off unnoticed.

An hour and a half pass by when he finally spots his opportunity, quickly dumping the disgusting sack of mulched organs into the reservoir.

*Sploosh!*

The red and grey chunks easily fall into the water, some floating on the top, while overs sink to the bottom. But all almost immediately begin dissolving. The livers had been thoroughly cleaned before being mulched, so there wasn't much blood to discolour the water, only leaving the small insoluble chunks and the trace amounts of fluids that accompanied them as the only evidence.

Michael grins at his success and quickly sneaks away, the poison would affect whoever drank it in a few hours, and since Prince Wales execution would be happening late in the morning, a large portion of the barracks and military academy would be sick or dead by the time things started getting chaotic.

"Let's see how you deal with this, Cromwell."

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Early in the morning the next day, Michael and Tiffania were quickly getting ready for today's event... Well, at least, Michael was quickly getting ready. Tiffania herself was so nervous that she was struggling to pick out practical clothes for the job, not to mention actually putting them on with her clumsy hands.

Again, she'd refused to wait behind while Michael did all the work, not that doing so was really an option today... Michael was sure the whole city would break into riots, not just from the prison break they were about to start, but also because of the lack of guards, loyalists, and maybe even those mind-controlled citizens. Truly, Michael didn't have a fucking clue what was going to happen, so it was best to keep Tiffania close so he could protect her.

"Tiffania, just calm down... Everything will be fine, trust me. I haven't been spending the last four days doing nothing, so all we can do now is hope that things work out in our favour. Worrying about it isn't going to help." he says, patting her on the back and shoving the most heavily padded clothes she has available into her arms. "Now get ready, we're leaving as you're dressed."

The duo leaves the slums after Michael stores everything into his inventory, and they immediately head towards the prison. From Michael's memory and planning, the easiest place to strike was surprisingly the front doors of the prison. This was because every other entrance was barred with thick stone and heavy metal, making it impossible to breach unless you've got some heavy artillery accompanying you.

The front entrance however was designed more to keep the prisoners in, than intruders out. The thick, metal-reinforced wooden doors would prove enough to keep a small army out... If they were locked.

Obviously, the place had been on heavy alert as Prince Wales was to be executed soon. Fortunately, the lack of guards meant that patrols were smaller and further apart than usual, which would allow Michael and Tiffania to slip inside fairly easy.