章節 17: Grand Escape
Jack currently had his back against the outer wall of the mansion and was slowly making his way toward the front door where he could teleport back inside.
Reaching the corner of the building Jack turned invisible and swung around the corner. Seeing that the designs on the front of the mansion did not allow him to keep walking he lowered himself so that he could hang from the ledge and move across it like that.
Reaching the front door Jack swung down and landed quietly inside. Walking into the ballroom Jack stood behind a pillar making sure that no one saw him and turned visible. Jack used a bit of fire Mana to dry the tears off of his shoulder and chest before stepping out from behind the pillar.
Jack at this point was exhausted from over using his Aura, and then using Mana, but he didn't show it on the out side. Seeing that the after party was just about to begin Jack spotted Reginald in the crowd looking pale and glancing everywhere. Seeing jack approaching him he visibly calmed down and regained color in his face.
Sitting down next to Reginald they 'watched' the play before quietly talking to each other.
"Success?"
"Yes, almost got killed but I have gotten it. They noticed me but didn't see my face so don't worry."
"Alright I trust you"
The rest of the party went on as usual and Jack did not mingle with anyone. Although he wanted to mingle and establish relationships it would be odd for him to only appear in the later part of the party putting suspicions on him as the culprit.
Instead Jack stayed out of most peoples view and kept an eye on Reginald similar to how a concerned 'registered' would act. Soon the after party was coming to an end Daniel stood up on the stage where a performance had just ended.
"Ladies and Gentlemen I am sorry for having to announce this, but during the promenade a very precious item was stolen." Daniel paused letting the information sink in, his eyes jumping around observing the audience members .
"So we will have to search each of you before you leave the premises, again I am sorry for the inconvenience but do please try to understand our predicament." Daniel bowed his head before walking off the stage.
As peoples gaze switched from Daniels figure to the door they saw 2 imposing men standing in the way of it. Jack recognized both of them as the guards who were standing by the office earlier. Jack resisted touching the pouch that contained the emblem, and remained standing with a calm expression.
Whereas Reginald was turning his face the other way to not let his panic show. Clenching his fists Reginald started sweating and turned slightly to look at Jack. Jack simply nodded and smiled at Reginald.
Soon a low level of turmoil swept through the guests. Some people checking their pockets to see if they had something which they weren't supposed to. Others started looking at each other suspiciously. Some people even started pointing fingers at each other saying that they were acting differently than usual.
What started as a quiet murmur grew into a loud roar of people falling victim to mass hysteria , and soon the ballroom was filled with accusations and near violence. It wasn't until a man pulled out a knife did Daniel speak again.
"HALT, esteemed guests please do not misunderstand, it very well could have been an outsider that knew there was not a party happening tonight and struck. We will simply search you for the item as you leave. If you do not have it you have nothing to worry about."
Daniels voice carried through the room and seemed to give everyone a sort of reassurance that everything was fine. Calming down the crowd started laughing awkwardly and scratching the back of their heads.
But Jack was looking at Daniel with mixed emotions. "Clever not only is this going to search everyone here but also take an attendance. If someone had already left this would catch them and give them a lead onto who the thief was."
As the guests slowly started lining up to be searched, Jack and the rest of the Cast's all got in line with him trying to remain as inconspicuous as possible.
(Alright how the hell am I going to be able to hide this pouch) Jack peeked ahead at the guests to were currently being searched.
One of the guards was holding a person in place while the other was using Mana on his eyes, presumably to search for the emblem or anything the emblem could be hiding in. The guest was obviously very nervous but after a few seconds the 'registered' gave a sign to the other guard and let the man go.
Jack did a little experiment in line, taking a silver coin out of his pocket he started playing with it, rolling it through his fingers before eventually flipping it in the air. Several people glanced but seeing that it was just a coin and that 'unregistered' who become 'registered' were often odd no one paid to much mind to it.
Checking to see if it was heads or tails Jack pretended to put in back in his pocket. In reality he had made the coin invisible, once the coin was invisible he flipped it into the air once again to see if it would appear.
It did not.
He then placed it in Reginald's hand and waited to see if it turned visible. Reginald was visibly confused before coming to enlightenment when he felt the coin in his hand and held it out for Jack to see.
(..7...8...9...10...11... and it's visible again.)
Jack counted in his head for how long it took to turn visible after he no longer infused it with Aura. Satisfied with the results Jack actually put the coin inside his pocket and then waited patiently in line.
Soon they were at the front door and Reginald stepped up calmly as one man held him still and the mage scanned him. Daniel was watching the entire Cast family and their 'registered' with suspicous eyes.
Keeping a poised expression Reginald was let go, but before he left Jack brushed a piece of fluff off of his shoulder.
Daniel narrowed his eyes at Jack, as the man held him. The sensation of being scanned was uncomfortable, it felt like someone was poking a finger into each and every part of his body nearly making him flinch.
Finding nothing wrong with Jack he was let go, walking next to Reginald he gave a subtle wink. As the last Cast was scanned Daniel approached them.
"I am terribly sorry about the searching, but of course what was stolen was your families emblem, so you can understand the importance. We will do everything in our power to find the thief." During this little speech Daniel was scanning each member to search for reactions.
Finding no unusual ones he kept his suspicions to himself and directed his eyes onto Jack.
"I don't believe that we have met before, although it is a bit late to say this but I hope we can get along like the rest of the Cast family" Daniel extended his hand out.
Jack put on an aloof face, "I too hope that we can be on good terms, after all I wouldn't want to be on the wrong end of the stick to the family only second to the Royals"
Jack took his hand and shook it once before letting go, "Just give me a shout if you need help catching the thief or any other business, of course it can't go against my contract and it wont be for free"
Daniel looked puzzled before looking down at his hand and seeing, what could only be called a business card was sitting in his hand.
He opened his mouth to say something but by the time he had risen his head the Cast's were already walking toward their carriage.
=========
Inside the carriage, everyone was grinning smugly.
"How did you manage to do it?" Asked Olivia.
"Trade secret of course, if I told you how I did it I would be out of business and the Cast family would have another outlaw besides me to deal with."
Olivia simply 'hmphed' and leaned back in her seat.
"Well the fact is that now we have it back, but what are we gonna do with it? We can't exactly just say we found the thief tomorrow or anything." A soft voice spoke up.
Jack looked toward Theresa, "I already planted the seeds for that, don't worry I have it under control."
Seemingly satisfied with Jack's confidence the carriage went into a victorious silence.
============
Back in the Hildegard's mansion, Daniel was walking back in forth in his office with his hands behind his back.
"What did you say the perpetrator looked like again?"
"His face was blurred so I don't no what it looked like but he was maybe 175-185cm(5,8-6,0) tall and he was wearing dark rugged clothes. He was extremely agile and came in through the window."
"So your saying that all we have to go off of his a vague height, rugged clothes, and that it's a man. Nothing else what the color of his hair was, his shoes, what his voice sounded like, ANYTHING AT ALL?!"
The man hung his head shame, "N.. No"
Daniel stopped pacing and then smiled, "Alright that's fine at least we have something to go off of. Here I'm not an unreasonable man, if you test this new invention sent by the Royals then I will let you off with no punishment."
The mans eyes glistened, "Really?"
"Of course"
Snapping his fingers the mage brought forth to Daniel a small wooden case. Opening it Daniel held the device in his hand. If Jack were here he would recognize it as a revolver. Loading in 6 shots he pointed the barrel at the mans head.
The mans face visibly paled, "Wai- BANG!"
The man lay dead on the floor blood pooling on the wood floor.
"Clean this up" Daniel snapped at his 'registered'.
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