"How do I know you won't leak news about our cooperation afterward? You've got quite the record when it comes to breaking trust," Aldric continued negotiating with the Shadow Assassin.
The assassin, ever straightforward, replied without hesitation, "I have a fairly large spatial pouch. No one except me can open it. We'll load everything inside, and you can keep the pouch for now. Once I finish handling the aftermath, I'll contact you. Then we'll split the loot evenly and part ways—you take your bright road, I'll take my narrow bridge. You'll never hear from me again. And since the Shadow Assassin organization will surely start hunting me down once they learn of this, you can rest easy—I won't be dumb enough to cause myself more trouble."
"Deal." Aldric nodded toward Vittoria. Vittoria helped the assassin to his feet, while Aldric's great sword never once left the man's neck.
Looking at the wary Aldric, Colin, the assassin, sighed helplessly. "The spatial pouch is inside my jacket, on the right side—there's a hidden pocket there. Be careful with it. I stole it from a mage; it's quite valuable."
Aldric gave Vittoria a look, signaling her to proceed as the assassin said. He kept his sword at the ready, ready to strike the instant the slippery man tried to vanish into the shadows—a trick that had left a deep impression on him before.
Vittoria carefully searched the assassin. Aside from the pouch he mentioned, she also pulled out a number of gadgets: a compact folding hand crossbow, several glass vials filled with vividly colored poisons, and a variety of small, unfamiliar contraptions.
Soon a little pile of mysterious items cluttered the floor. It was baffling how he had managed to carry so many things concealed beneath his formal servant's attire without anyone noticing.
"Miss, watch your hands, will you? A man's got to have some privacy," the assassin grumbled.
The so-called "spatial pouch" turned out to be nothing like Aldric's dwarven-made one. Instead of a plain cloth bag, this was a heavy metal badge—palm-sized and weighing at least two kilograms.
[Leomund's Secret Treasure Chamber]
A personalized spatial storage device crafted by the mage Leomund himself, forged from pure mithril. Provides up to 2.154m × 2.154m × 2.154m of storage space. However, after being mocked by the wizard Maduncan, Leomund invented the "Leomund's Secret Chest" spell named after himself and never used this prototype again.
Usage Requirements: Intelligence not lower than 12 points; possession of the current activation password.
Material: Mithril.
Craftsmanship: Magical inscription engraving, mithril molding.
Trait 1: Provides two daily uses of Create Water.
Trait 2: Provides one daily use of Unseen Servant.
– "What's the point of this thing, anyway?" —Mordencan.
After reading the description, Aldric's mind began to turn rapidly. Ten cubic meters of storage space! He was already calculating how to quietly claim this treasure for himself.
"Alright, I see your sincerity now. Open it up—before anyone notices we're here, let's get to work and strip this place clean! Not a single coin left behind!" With the precious artifact now serving as collateral, Aldric finally lowered his sword.
The Shadow Assassin casually slipped out of his bindings, as if the ropes were merely decorative ribbons tied around a gift box.
Rolling his wrist and covering his wound with a handkerchief, the assassin complained, "Do you realize how much trouble this cut will cause me? I'll need to drown myself in perfume to hide the smell of blood—not to mention all the cosmetics I'll need to cover the scar. If it gets infected, I expect extra medical expenses when we split the loot!"
"Quit whining and get to work!" Vittoria snapped, shoving him from behind.
But before her words even finished echoing, her hand passed straight through the assassin's body—it was only an illusion.
In the blink of an eye, his real figure materialized behind her, a thin, razor-edged dagger pressing lightly against her throat. Despite his modest height of around one-seventy, he still managed to make the move look dangerous.
"I'm making this clear—we're partners," Colin said sharply. "I really don't want to provoke a powerful witcher like your master while I'm on the run. I've already shown plenty of good faith! But if you betray our deal later, I'll make sure you experience exactly how Shadow Assassins collect their debts."
He then lowered the dagger and stepped back, raising both hands to show he meant no harm, watching the two intently as he waited for a definite answer.
"Fine," Aldric said firmly. "It's a deal. Once this is over, I'll give you your fair share of the treasure, and I won't come after you." He extended his right hand.
Vittoria snorted, clearly unhappy about the earlier ambush, but the assassin shook Aldric's hand anyway. "And I'll take this secret to my grave. Agreed."
After that, the three—plus one invisible servant—worked tirelessly for the next forty-five minutes. Every last gold coin in the vault was packed into Leomund's Secret Treasure Chamber. The longest part of the process was Colin painstakingly locating and dissolving the magical seals placed on each item using a special alchemical solution.
When they were finally done, the once-splendid vault was completely bare. The three of them exchanged grins—indeed, nothing builds friendship faster than pulling off a heist together. Even Vittoria now found the assassin far less unpleasant to look at.
"Antoine will be heartbroken when he finds out," Vittoria said, mentally estimating her share of the profits, already forgetting her earlier irritation.
"Hmph. He'll just feel the pain for a while," Colin muttered. "You have no idea how much profit this city generates every single day! There's no easier place to make money than here. If I hadn't been foolish enough to think this place was doomed, I wouldn't be in such a sorry state now. Those Chaos cultists—serves them right for dying by your hands!"
"Don't forget your part," Aldric reminded him sternly. "Clean up after yourself. If anything goes wrong, our deal's off."
"Relax," Colin said with a smirk. "A Shadow Assassin's service always guarantees customer satisfaction."
He pulled out a small mirror, touching up his makeup. Within moments, he had fully reverted to the calm, magnetic-voiced butler persona from before.
"Former Shadow Assassin," Vittoria muttered pointedly.
Colin's hand froze, and he nearly smeared lipstick across his cheek. He shot her a glare but said nothing.
The trio quickly exited Antoine's treasure vault and went their separate ways. Aldric and Vittoria, carrying Leomund's Secret Treasure Chamber, left the lord's manor in haste and joined the anxious dwarf waiting at the gate, heading together to his forge.
(End of Chapter)