“Here you are,” Viktor said with a smile as he set the box and the pair of long-handled scissors, wrapped in a cloth, on the counter. “This is everything you've ordered. If there’s any problem with them, just come back and let Alycia know. She’ll sort it out.”

  Renee reached out, opening the box to see its contents: gloves, shoes, padding, coils of rope. “Thank you,” she said, returning the smile, and placed the rest of the payment on his palm.

  “Are you going to cut the branches right away?”

  “Of course not. The herbs can’t be planted until spring anyway. That’s why I said it wasn’t urgent. Still, I can begin when the cold passes, so that everything is ready when the season decides to cooperate.”

  Ah, yes. A sensible person. Totally different from the other blonde who had declared today—in the depths of winter—the grand opening of her shop, weather be damned. And behold, the only soul passing through that door was the one who had already paid, and was only here to collect her things.

  After the sole customer of the day had left, Viktor took out a wooden board with “CLOSED” written on it. He stepped outside just long enough to hang it on the door, before quickly retreating to the warmth inside. Then, he headed for the stairs.

  He pushed open a door on the second floor and let himself into Alycia’s workshop. Or storage room. Or lunch room. Nap room. Classroom. All of them at once. Oh, Jeanne happened to sleep here at night too, though he had no idea where, given the way all kinds of junk sprawled across every surface.

  Inside, there were three women, seated on various chairs scattered across this chaos.

  “Why am I the one who had to deliver it to her?” Viktor asked as soon as he entered. “I’m not even an employee here.”

  “Did you forget the part where you’re my apprentice?” Alycia said with a grin. She winked at him while tilting her head in Claire’s direction.

  Ah. With my “sister” here, I’m supposed to play along, huh?

  The blonde looked undeniably gleeful, clearly planning to take full advantage of the situation to boss him around. Not that he minded it much. Any excuse to talk more with Renee was a good one.

  “By the way,” he said, “are you alright with leaving the door unlocked down there? What if someone sneaks in and steals your stuff?”

  “Don’t worry,” Alycia said nonchalantly. “There’s a mechanism in place. We’ll be alerted the moment someone opens the door.”

  Well, it was not like there was anyone who actually wanted to steal her bizarre contraptions anyway. Anyone sane, at least.

  “Let’s go back to what we were discussing,” Jeanne chimed in. “So, you need to meet Rennald face-to-face somehow, right?”

  Claire nodded. “Yes.”

  “Don’t worry. With us on your side, nothing is impossible,” Alycia said with a strange cheerfulness that was completely immune to reason. She didn’t appear even the slightest bit troubled by the fact that, by any sensible measure, her shop’s opening had been an utter disaster. Instead, all her attention was now on the “strategy meeting” that was taking place in her cluttered workshop.

  “Do we even know where Rennald is these days?” Jeanne asked. “He’s been out of the public eye for months. He might not even be in Daelin anymore.”

  “He’s still in town,” Viktor said. “In the caravan station, in fact. I’ve asked around. It turns out he’s got the entire top floor reserved for himself. It’s both his office and his residence. He could live there a whole week straight without ever setting foot outside.”

  “That’s... impressive,” Claire said softly. “I can’t believe you’ve learned that much already.”

  Well, I happen to have a spy there.

  Jeanne laughed. “Quinn does have a knack for making friends.”

  “Top floor, huh?” Alycia mused. “How many floors does that building have exactly?”

  “I don’t know,” Claire said. “Five, or six. Judging from the outside.”

  There were five. The first and second floors were where anyone with business in the station could walk freely, where clerks met merchants and adventurers, handled paperwork, and kept everything running smoothly. As one climbed up, however, the floors became increasingly restricted. The third floor was where caravan timetables were managed, escorts arranged, maps updated, routes analyzed. There was also a dispute chamber for resolving conflicts between merchants. The fourth floor was for the station’s top brass, off-limits to outsiders who didn’t have special permission. Sometimes, Rennald would come down there to hold a meeting with his top lieutenants, but lately, his brother Hamond was the one running the show.

  You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

  And finally, of course, the top floor. The Overseer’s personal domain.

  Viktor knew all of this thanks to Yvonne. But naturally, he was not going to spill the full details here. Doing so would be very suspicious. After all, such information was far beyond what “a kid who asked around” could uncover.

  “It’s going to be very hard to reach the top floor,” Claire continued. “One of the station staff or guards would notice and stop us long before we could get anywhere near him.”

  “We’ll need a distraction then,” Alycia said brightly.

  Jeanne nodded along. “Like a fire...”

  “Or an explosion,” Alycia added without missing a beat.

  You two...

  “Let’s make this absolutely clear,” Claire said sharply, a frown deepening on her face. “What I want to do is to meet the Overseer and deliver an invitation from Guildmaster Isadora. Causing damage to his property, any damage, is out of the question.”

  “Got it,” Alycia muttered.

  Why do you look disappointed?

  “That puts us right back where we started,” Jeanne said. “Is there any way to get through all the floors without being noticed?”

  “Or you don’t,” Alycia said, her grin spreading across her face. Whatever disappointment she might have felt moments earlier had vanished without a trace. “Let’s climb the outside wall and enter through a window.”

  “Putting the wall-scaling part aside,” Viktor said. “How, exactly, do you plan to do that without being seen by anyone?

  “Oh, silly Quinn,” the blonde replied, her face becoming more and more punchable by the second. “We don’t do it in broad daylight. We do it at night. You said it yourself, didn’t you? Rennald stays on the top floor all week without ever stepping outside. Which means he’s there after dark, too.”

  “So basically, you’re suggesting a burglary,” Viktor said flatly. “Even if Claire manages to reach Rennald that way, what then? He sees someone going in through his window, he screams for guards, and she’ll find herself in chains before she can even say a single word.”

  Claire rubbed her temples as she let out a weary sigh. “Is there any way to do it that isn’t illegal?”

  Time to take the reins. Viktor decided that he had let the blonde derail the discussion with her crazy ideas for long enough.

  “Actually,” he said, “from what I’ve heard, Rennald doesn’t live at the station full-time. He goes back to his estate on the east side of town at the weekends, then returns to his office at the start of the next week.”

  “Really?” Jeanne’s eyebrows climbed. “Then we don’t need to reach him at the station at all. We could go straight to his house instead.”

  Viktor shrugged. “I don’t know where it is exactly, but I’m willing to bet it also has walls and fences and guards. Trying to get to him there won’t be any easier.”

  “How does he travel between the two places, anyway?” Alycia asked. “By coach? If that’s the case, how about we intercept him on the way?”

  “An ambush?” Viktor let out a dry chuckle. “Don’t forget that he won’t be alone. His guards will stop you before you can get a hand on the door.” He paused. “No. If there’s any moment when he’s even slightly exposed, it’s before he got inside the carriage, when he’s leaving the administrative building.”

  Claire nodded slowly. “In order to go from the top floor to the courtyard, he’ll need to pass through the hall on the first. We can wait for him there—”

  “He won’t go through there,” Viktor interrupted her. “There’s a side door leading to the courtyard where his coach waits for him. It’s usually locked and only opens when he’s using it. That’s how he comes and goes without attracting unwanted attention.”

  “Then how...”

  “We linger in the courtyard around that time, and when he steps out of the building, we go straight to meet him. It only takes a few seconds for him to climb into his carriage, so that’s the only time window we have. We can’t afford to hesitate even for a moment.”

  “By ‘we,’ you mean...?” Jeanne asked.

  “Claire and I.”

  “Then what do we do?”

  “You and Alycia will wait in the hall, pretending that you come there to have business with the station,” Viktor said. “When we suddenly approach Rennald, his escorts may raise an alarm, and the guards stationed inside might rush out through the front entrance. Your job is to make sure that doesn’t happen. Block the door somehow for a few minutes.”

  Alycia grinned. “Oh, I can definitely do that.”

  Actually, their real job was to cause a commotion on the first floor so that Yvonne could act, but of course he was not going to tell them that. Much easier to sell the plan if everyone believed their actions were meant to help Claire.

  “Are there that many guards in the hall?” Jeanne asked. “I’ve been there a couple of times, and I don’t remember seeing more than a handful at most.”

  “Most of them stay on standby in the basement,” Viktor said, “which is where the caravan station keeps its vault. Money, contracts, ledgers, everything and anything important. Naturally, it’s one of the most heavily guarded areas of the building. So, they might be mobilized if something happens upstairs.” Then he added, “I’ve also heard there’s a holding cell down there, to lock up troublemakers.”

  Claire stiffened a little. “They can... lock us up?”

  “Don’t worry. As long as no one gets hurt and nothing important is damaged, I highly doubt they’d go so far as to arrest you. They might question you, though. In that case, just blame everything on Isadora.”

  Which was totally fair, considering that the Guildmaster was the one who gave Claire this ridiculous mission in the first place.

  “I see,” Claire said. “Looks like that’s our only real shot.”

  “Remember, everything we do is meant to get Claire close enough to Rennald to say her piece. After that, we’re probably going to get grabbed by the guards. Once that happens, just surrender peacefully, blame Isadora for everything when asked, then wait to be released. Don’t do anything unnecessary.”

  “Got it,” the three women said.