Surprise Test

When reinforcements arrived for the boy, they were left confused because there was no one at the location, nor was there any clue that could be followed up on. While they were trying to figure things out, Shui had knocked out the boy and left him in a different alley before slipping past the loosened blockade. He may have also managed to discover two extra tickets on his way out, but there were no witnesses to the act.

When he returned to the inn, Alia hadn't returned yet and he didn't know when she would be back, so he went up to his room. He used his hearing to check on the twins as he walked by their door, and both seemed to be asleep. They might have had something to talk to him about, but it would have to wait until tomorrow.

Shui wasn't feeling tired, so he decided to check on the puppet he had infiltrating Malirin Forest. Fortunately, the moon hunting dog beast spirit was able to keep its life despite the failure of its team and was now working on building up its reputation so that it could get a higher position under the silver tiger great beast. Its colleagues often mocked it by bringing up the scout team's failure, but the beast spirit wasn't easily susceptible to taunts and was able to ignore them.

As it wasn't a tumultuous time, there weren't many methods to choose from, but luckily Shui was able to make contact with Cin through the puppet, so it could get support. Cin still hadn't firmly settled into any faction, but he seemed closest to the silver tiger great beast so it was much easier to make connections.

There were no problems on their side, so Shui withdrew his perception before the night was over and happened to catch Alia as she phased through the door.

"Looks like you didn't have any problems."

"Naturally. I know how to take care of myself."

"I guess so. I hope you didn't attract another cult."

"I already told you that's out of my hands. You always put a lot of effort into hiding, but you still can't stop everyone from noticing you."

"True."

"Nevertheless, I also don't want to deal with another following, so I tried to keep to myself as I had fun."

"I see. By the way, were you able to use any of the facilities without an access card?"

Alia nodded and then gave a nonchalant response, "I have to admit, it's a good system, but still nothing too hard for me to manipulate."

Shui wanted to ask how exactly she bypassed the city's system, but once she yawned and found a spot on the couch, he gave up without reluctance.

Early the next day, Shui had planned to have breakfast with the twins, but an alert from his underground guild ID made that impossible. He informed them that he would be out and left them money in case they wanted to explore. Unlike a certain spirit, he didn't have to worry about them shamelessly taking his money, but it was a problem how reserved they were.

He made it to the antique store that housed the underground guild as quick as he could, but the news that awaited him wasn't very pleasant.

"So you're saying that I have to pass the test to meet him?"

"That's right. It seems he's tired of us sending failures, so he decided to take matters into his own hand. His exact words were, 'If they can't even overcome an obstacle like this, then they have no business discussing anything with me'.

It sounded arrogant, but Shui could understand the importance of this test. Testing a knife before you bought it was common sense, so there was no reason not to test a bodyguard who would be protecting your child. Even so, this test wasn't something to look forward to. It was simple, but still extremely difficult, especially for someone new to the city.

The client had rented a room in a certain hotel and the test was to get inside the room without the hotel staff being aware. This would normally just be one part of Shui's usual method of assassination, but the difference was that as an assassin, he could choose where to approach his target. Even assuming that the client didn't try to make the room impenetrable, it would still be an arduous task since the hotel in question had the best security in Area C. It was the sort of mission that he would like to take days to prepare for, but he was only given until noon to complete it.

Nevertheless, Shui rose to the challenge and began thinking of how to accomplish this task. He bought information about the hotel from the bartender, thankfully at a discount though he would have liked it to be free, and used it to form the basis of his plan.

Once he felt ready, Shui exited the antique shop and went to find a mecha-car.

"If you want, I wouldn't mind telling you how to fool the city's systems," said Alia.

"Really?"

Although he was comfortable with his current idea, Shui wouldn't refuse a chance to make his success more certain.

"Sure. Just pay me about 1000 high quality spirit gems."

Shui immediately began ignoring her and went on his way. As she was almost always with him, he knew that she was well aware that he barely had that much money on him, so he didn't bother to treat her seriously.

"Are you sure you want to ignore me? Failing this test and getting caught won't just make it harder for you to get on that ship. If it comes to a battle with the city, you'll lose."

Defeat was a rare occasion for Shui, but as an array master, he knew that there was no exaggeration in Alia's words. Even if he resisted capture, he had no way of escaping this technologically advanced city. However, he chuckled a reply.

"Then all I have to do is not get caught, right?"

"Fufu, that's true. Since you're confident, I'll try to stay awake, so don't disappoint me."

"We'll see."

In Sector C3, there was a hotel for nobles and esteemed figures who lacked qualifications to enter Area B. The nobles were normally quick to complain, but they would usually quiet down after a few days here. In the packed Area C, this hotel was one of the few places with extra space for a garden, greenhouse, pool among other additional facilities for the guests' enjoyment. The hotel building was only as big as a Duke's mansion, and so had a lower capacity for guests than average, but it used the latest in spatial expansion techniques to give each guest ample space for their stay.

An experienced salesperson could likely spend hours praising this establishment, but the only features that Shui focused on were the ones that would hinder him.

Before someone could pass through the gate to land a foot on the premises, a special access mark would have had to be placed their access card to show that the person was approved to enter. Bypassing this security measure was Shui's first objective.