Chapter 79: An Accomplice

Lusac strode through the hallways with purpose, but he remained on alert for any sign of Shelbs. His [Sixth Sense] wasn't triggering, but that was bad news in this case since it meant he wasn't close to Fresa-Ersht, and he really wanted to save her from being assassinated.

Maybe he should buy a new [Skill] before he went at it with the professional assassin…

No, he didn't have time to do that, and from what he could remember, he didn't have any stellar anti-assassination options anyway. He would have to save Fresa with the few [Skills] he did have and his other non-system talents.

Lus picked up the pace, walking fast enough that it might as well be a jog as he climbed the stairs to the second floor.

Still no sign of Fresa.

His mind ran away with worries, part of him convinced that he was already too late.

Or maybe he'd been incorrect in assumption. Perhaps Shelbs wasn't here to kill Fresa, just some other secretly hidden close relative of a different politician.

Or maybe Shelbs was just going to kidnap Fresa-Ersht, get a large sum of money, and then turn her over unharmed.

He sighed. Those were nice ideas, but both were clearly fantasy scenarios he was using to ease the guilt over the fact he sort of helped out the woman trying to kill his friend. What he wouldn't do to go back to the simpler days where his only worry was finding a blasted artifact without getting caught.

Lusac was on the third floor and making his way to the proper wing when his [Sixth Sense] triggered.

That was good news. That meant Fresa-Ersht was nearby. He wasn't too late after all.

He slowed his pace so as to not look suspicious as he approached the hallway where he noticed a glint of light purple. His [Sixth Sense] warned that there was only one guard in the corridor with them, but to his relief, he saw no sign of Shelbs or her cleaning supplies.

Maybe the Watcher was looking out for him today, and Shelbs might have already finished and moved on. He might be worried for nothing.

"Hey, Fresa," he said casually as he finally caught up to her. Hopefully he didn't look too stressed or out of breath.

"Lus. What do you want?" she asked curtly.

"Is that the soup for Trwq?"

She rolled her eyes. "Obviously. Crrn mentioned you screwed this up the first time. Trying to screw it up for me and ruin my image?"

Lus's steps faltered for a minute at her sudden, outward anger. Some petty part of him wondered if he shouldn't just walk away if that was going to be her attitude, but he quickly reminded himself that this was a matter of life and death, and he couldn't afford to play games.

"Can I walk to the door with you? I wanted to chat about something else," he said.

Fresa's eyes narrowed. "I'm not going to give up going for that traveling spot with Chef Savannah, no matter what you say. Stop trying to cut out the competition. If you aren't talented enough to earn it, that's not my problem."

"That's not what this is about. I'm not even trying out for that spot," Lus quickly explained. Of course she thought this was about the coveted position of assisting Chef Savannah when she went on the road to film a high profile culinary show. He'd been surprised the Senator would hire a head chef knowing he would have to part with her for several months less than a year after she started, but apparently Chef Savannah was just that good.

Ever since their head chef mentioned that she was going to take one of the line cooks with her to assist as her temporary sous chef–Crrn had to stay behind to run things at the mansion–the good feelings between all of them had dissipated, replaced by aggressiveness in hopes of getting what could be the step up to culinary stardom.

Since Lus was only supposed to be here for a few more weeks anyway, he had no interest in the competition or trying out for the spot. He already got to travel the galaxy making food, only his work was actually fun instead of getting bossed around by the stern chef.

"Then what is it about?" Fresa kept up with her steady pace, her hands firm on the tray of food.

"Well, uh, it's about…" Lusac hadn't thought ahead enough to actually come up with what he wanted to say to Fresa since he was only looking for an excuse to keep walking with her.

"Uh huh. That's what I thought." Fresa turned to him, her look angry.

His focus drifted from her face to the wall behind her, a bunch of fancy wallpaper, some artwork, a vent…

A vent with something sticking out of it!

Fresa-Ersht's grip tightened on the tray. "Lus Andrews, you–"

Lus cut her off by grabbing her shoulders and pulling her to the floor, splattering soup and crackers all over the both of them. Just as they hit the ground, a blaster bolt hit the wall opposite of the vent.

Lusac immediately moved so that his body shielded Fresa from the side where he first saw the weapon.

"What was that? Lus, get off me!"

"Someone is trying to kill you, Fresa. I'm keeping you safe," he responded. He kept a hand on her shoulder, forcing her to remain prone against the ground as he leaned up to look around. The vent was clear, and there was no other sign of Shelbs.

Before he could give Fresa the good news, two [Invisible] arms wrapped around him and jerked him away from her.

"I'm not the bad guy!" he shouted, struggling hopelessly against a hold that was far too strong for him to break, even with his 8 [Strength].

Juze-Quiv appeared out of thin air, a strange device composed of metal and a large valer crystal in his hand.

"Stavi and I will get her to safety. The rest of you handle him and his accomplice," the Nemarian ordered.

The Kremel–at least Lus assumed that was what the beefy arms holding him belonged to–yelled his agreement as Juze-Quiv dragged Fresa away.

"I'm trying to help," Lusac said, still attempting to free himself.

"You're under arrest for attempted murder," his [Invisible] captor said, one arm pinning Lus's arms to his torso while the other one worked on cuffing him.

Lus watched as they took Fresa away, and he caught sight of the barrel of a blaster in a different vent.

"Duck!" he screamed.

Despite thinking he was in on the plot, the leader of the guards listened to him, and the Nemarian took Fresa to the ground again, covering the politician's daughter with his own body.

"Shut up," some different [Invisible] guard said before backhanding Lus across the face.

Lus's [Sixth Sense] triggered, but it was for something different. He couldn't explain it, but somehow he just knew that it wasn't one of the guards.

He opened his mouth to shout a warning, but the guard who slapped him clamped a hand over his mouth, turning his words into muffled grunts.

That's it, he thought to himself. With a clear mind, he turned on the one [Skill] he expected to be useful in this situation.

[Activating Dash for 50 seconds]

The world slowed, and while his opponents maintained their [Strength], Lus had enough freedom to move that he could attack.

First he put all his [Strength] into a headbutt into the Kremel holding him. Almost immediately the grip around him released, allowing him to focus on other guard. While he couldn't see, his [Sixth Sense] was surprisingly accurate, and he was able to land a solid punch into the other guard's stomach.

A strange, prolonged noise reached his ears, and he looked down the corridor to see a slow-motion blaster bolt heading straight for Fresa-Ersht and Juze-Quiv.

Wasting no time, Lusac sprinted towards them and managed to get there just before the bolt, allowing him to shove the pair out of the way. He dipped under the bolt and ran towards the cause.

It was an [Invisible] person, but for whatever he could distinguish that this one was unlike the guards. It must have to do with how the [Invisibility] worked. Perhaps this was someone with a true [Skill] while it seemed that the guards all used a temporary set up with borrowed power channeled in valers.

Lus panicked. His [Dash] was going to run out, and there was still a hidden assassin right in front of him. Assuming it was Shelbs, she wouldn't hesitate to put him down and then complete her mission.

He reached out and managed to grab a pair of arms, dropping the blaster rifle to the floor where it became visible. Heaving, he dragged the personage away and into the nearest closet. It wouldn't do much, but surely she'd be thrown off by the sudden change when time resumed its normal flow.

Thinking of the enemies outside, he locked the door and then moved as much stuff in front of it as he could in a type of blockade. He'd only just finished when the next set of notifications came.

[Dash deactivating]

[Cooldown: 5 minutes]

Since he was trapped in a closet, there was no noticeable difference in the world around him until the [Invisible] person he'd dragged in turned off her [Skill] and became visible.

It was Shelbs, and while she still wore her cleaner's uniform, she also had on a tactical vest full of other equipment. She was also pissed off, and if she'd had a gun in her hand, she probably would have shot him on the spot.

"Wait, I saved you," Lus said as she reached for a secondary pistol on her vest.

"You screwed my mission over. I don't take kindly to people who do that," she hissed. "No need to worry about finishing your mission because I'll end you here."

"I couldn't let you kill Fresa," he argued. They were in a tough position though. Surely someone saw them go into the closet, and the lock and blockade wouldn't hold for long. As long as he kept her distracted, maybe those guards would come save him, or even the security officers.

The problem was that if he allowed Shelbs to be captured, she'd turn him in, and the whole mission would be a bust. Not to mention he'd end up in some Core prison, never to see the Argo and her crew again.

But if he let her go, she might try to take Fresa out again. And even if she didn't, he would still look really, really guilty.

"I'm not a fan of people who let sentiment get in the way." Shelbs pulled the pistol out.

"No. Because of the [Invisible] guards. I didn't think you knew about them," Lus said in a half-truth.

"You have a system." Shelbs' face turned from anger to surprise and a hint of excitement. She laughed. "Holy Core, how are you so bad at this if you have a system?"

He shrugged. "It's new. And I'm a [Chef] so it's not easy."

Pounding on the door started, and he reached back to ensure the blockade would hold a little longer.

"The vents. If we go in there, they won't find us," Shelbs said, motioning to the vent above them. "I can get us out."

"Wait. A second ago you wanted to shoot me, and now you want to save me?" Lusac hesitantly looked at the pistol she had pointed at his chest.

"When you were an annoying twat trying to save a politician's daughter because you had a crush on her, I wanted to shoot you. Now that you're just a poorly trained mercenary with an underutilized system, I've decided to take you on as my apprentice," she explained. She handed him the gun. "You'll need this."

Shelbs swept various supplies off the shelves and began climbing up to the vent as Lus watched dumbfounded. Clearly she had a system, and that meant she could teach him a lot of cool stuff. Maybe even cooler stuff than Nippy.

"I can't go with you. I'm sorry. I have to finish my mission." He held the gun out to her as she reached the vent. "But I'll lie to protect you as long as you leave Fresa alone."

Shelbs shrugged. "Your funeral, Lus." She took the gun back and disappeared into the vent. Lus watched her go and wondered if he shouldn't have taken his escape chance instead of facing what came next.

Lus replaced the vent cover and did what he could to calm his nerves. He then huddled into a corner and tried to make himself seem disheveled, slowly putting together a plausible lie.

The door slammed open, the last of the blockade exploding in the force as three of the manor's security officers stood in the doorway, weapons trained on him.

"P-please. Don't shoot," Lus whimpered. "She took me in here and told me she'd kill me if I moved. I-I think she might have set a trap."

The officers stared at him warily, one of them stepping up slowly while carefully scanning the ground.

"I don't see anything," he said.

Lusac huddled further back into the corner, hoping that lying counted in the [Charm] category since that was one of his better stats. "I-I don't know. It all happened so fast. I couldn't even see. One second I was in the hall, and the next, I was in here with a gun against my head."

"Sounds like [Dash]. If the intruder was [Invisible], it makes sense they'd have access to that one too," one of the other guards pointed out.

The first officer grabbed Lus and forced him to his feet. "Come on. Let's have a little chat about what happened."

The security officers surrounded Lusac and made him wear cuffs as they escorted him away from the corridor. He glanced back at the closet and once again questioned his decision to stay.