District 42-Chapter 212: Leonel’s doubt
Casper finally was walking off from the side of Kaleb. He wasn’t willing to go further with that conversation since he could not get more important information from him. Even if he could, there were more interesting people to talk to within that meeting, and it was a must to talk with each one of them to take maximum advantage of that situation and raise his knowledge regarding the Jarls.
’Fortunately, no one is asking me about my name... The Jarls don’t seem to bother to know the names of people that are at a lower level than them, particularly the ones participating in this party... That’s ideal, because they could find a way to search up my name, and then discover that there is no register in the Castle of someone like me.’
They did all that operation doing a lot of preparation beforehand, but some things couldn’t be hidden so easily and quickly. The time they had until the Seasonal Meeting was very short, and the plan to go there disguised and gather information among the Jarls was decided in that reunion in the last few days before the event.
Casper strolled randomly once again through that Mansion, always admiring all the luxurious things that were spread there. Its structure was just amazing, and the soldier, somewhat, found it to be quite attractive to the eyes.
While he was passing through the corridors and rooms, he tried to spot another person to talk with. There were people from different interesting families there, with some activities that could do some good for Casper to know more about, but the main focus there was the mission. He needed to find the right Jarls to talk with.
’Now, that noisy idiot isn’t here anymore. He probably went to take more drinks or maybe annoy someone else. It was stressful to be with him, but he was like a magnet that attracted people nonstop towards himself; and always important people, by the way.’
As he walked slowly, he ended up facing stairs, going up to the third floor. Since he couldn’t find anyone he needed to converse with on the second floor, he found it to be a good choice to go up.
Once he got there, Casper stood beside the handrail of the stairs, right on the last step. He looked from right to left, analyzing the place where he was entering.
The third floor was less similar to a normal house with rooms, kitchen, and bathroom, and just opened in a huge single room that seemed more like an assembly room.
There was music playing in the background, but it was very low. People weren’t dancing at all, just talking and talking, like in the floors above.
The only difference that the White warrior noticed in that assembly room was that there was more woman with their respective husbands there. The place was more crowded than the other floors, maids were struggling to serve all those people with drinks and food, and the Jarls seemed to be a bit more excited there.
"I think that they are having a lot of fun here, huh?" Casper mocked, looking sadly to the old and worn-out soundbox that was on the side, barely able to work normally.
’ I still wonder if fight is the only thing that this folk finds as being a leisure activity...’ He shivered just at the sight of his hard time at one of those sporting battlefields built in Uppsala.
Casper shrugged, finally stepping into the assembly room and walking towards that crowd.
’I don’t have anything to lose here, anyway. I just need to care for the time I will lose while in here. If I do so, everything will be alright.’
He continued his chase to find more of the Jarls he should talk with while keeping attentive at his surroundings.
...
Leonel was sitting with a bunch of Jarls. There were, at least, 4 or 5 representatives of different families with him. They were on one of the various living rooms of that mansion, sitting on a huge couch and drinking a lot.
The Sgail had a high tolerance to alcohol, so he wouldn’t get drunk, different from the others who were already struggling to keep their bodies steady, even though they were sitting.
’I remembered the days when I could get drunk... They were very funny.’
He looked carefully to the sides, seeing that the room was getting emptier, and the people who were still there were quite busy drinking a sea of mead or then talking like parrots.
Leonel took his smartphone from his pocket, swiftly typing on it and calling to one of the Sgails from group A. something was bothering him since the first 3 hours of the meeting passed, and he wasn’t willing to wait to discover what it was.
"Yes, sir!?" The Sgail answered his call immediately.
"Did you see any strange movements through the streets? Do you think you could lose someone since it’s night?"
He knew that a Sgail never would find the night a bother, or a limitation. On the contrary, they learned throughout all their training to take advantage of the night and work in the darkness.
However, he needed confirmation. He wanted to make sure that his subordinate was confident enough.
The response he got was just the one that he was expecting.
"No strange movements. It’s been a while since people stopped to go out to the street. Also... Of course, sir. I wouldn’t let anyone pass even in a night without moon."
At the same time as Leonel found those words to be reassuring, they were concerning him as well. They made him believe more in his partner, but also fear that something was off.
He ended the call, keeping his cellphone in his pocket.
People around him were too drunk to notice that he was on a call, so they just kept acting like idiots. 𝒻𝑟𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝑛𝘰𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝘤𝘰𝘮
’I already took enough information from them. Time to leave.’
Without saying anything for those Jarls, the Sgail stood up and left that living room.
He had a serious face, and his mind was working at full speed. He was passing by every window of that mansion, looking to the outside and trying to spot someone.
’There is no way that they wouldn’t attack by now. The Seasonal Meeting is already coming to an end. The last thing that is missing is the speech of the elder from one of the families... If they don’t attack now, it will be late afterward...’ He was trying to think of a reason why that organization hadn’t made a move until that point.
"That’s very strange. I would expect that they would be moving around the city, even around the mansion, preparing themselves. But group A didn’t spot anything... Was this mission a mistake? Are they doing something else now? They acted really boldly until now, but it doesn’t mean they would be aiming for something so reckless as invading one of the most popular events of the Castle..."
Leonel walked through all the mansion, passing from all corridors and rooms he could think of, and going up and down on all the floors. There was a bunch of people walking there, it was more crowded than he thought it would be. In truth, it should have had a lot of space to walk, due to how big that mansion was.
The Sgail ended up going to the main entrance and opening that door.
Outside, just a single lamp was illuminating the streets and the artificial moonlight of the Castle. The shadows were spread around, and various spots were darkened to the point that the Sgail couldn’t see very well. He squinted his eyes, looking at that scene, his heart bumping inside the chest as if something could happen at any time.
Beside the entrance, the doorman was sitting in a chair, taking a nap. It wasn’t an option for Leonel to ask if something was off out there. He probably fell asleep in the first chance he had to sit on that chair.
’I can’t see anything around here either. The movements I can notice are from the Sgails of group A. But, other than them, no one is around here yet...’
Leonel would be very stressed at the sight of a bunch of people trying to invade such an important event with unknown objectives. However, he was two times as stressed because nothing was happening, his anxiety was rising to high levels.
’At any time... it can happen... But they barely have time now...’
He was even prepared to convince himself that that night would not be like they predicted, but before he could get to any conclusions, someone put a hand on his shoulder, startling him.
It was a Jarl warning him about the upcoming speech.
’Ok... That’s the end. They would just have time to do something if they were already inside here...’
Then, he realized something that made him nearly paralyze.
’If they were.... already inside here...’
He remembered how crowded that mansion was, and the many Jarls he didn’t remember to have seen before.
’The invasion... happened since the start!’
