Free Web NovelChapter 228: The Mayor (1)
As midnight descended upon Haven’s Refuge, a blanket of darkness enshrouded the city, providing Shinon with the perfect cover for his covert mission.
But he needed to be careful. According to Miro, the guards were ruthless at night, and only a select few people were allowed to roam the streets.
If anyone other than those people is found lurking on the roads, they are immediately taken into custody and tortured as they are seen as spies and dealt with as such.
Moreover, the guards carried lethal weapons and were known to kill strangers without hesitation. Although it only happens when the culprit tries to ’escape’.
After his encounter with the guards earlier, he did not doubt that these guards had killed more than mere escapees. But Shinon was in no mood to confront them or discover the truth.
’Let’s get going before someone catches wind of the situation.’
The exploration he had undertaken earlier with Miro had proven invaluable. It had not only familiarised him with the layout of Haven’s Refuge but also revealed a crucial piece of information—the admin building.
It was where the mayor resided and where records of every citizen to ever live in Heaven’s Refuge were stored. It was the first lead Shinon had to follow to learn more about his father, and he couldn’t afford to let it slip away.
Shinon moved silently through the dimly lit streets, his footsteps barely making a sound. He knew the city was heavily patrolled, and his presence had to go unnoticed.
Thanks to his abilities, shadows clung to him like a second skin, concealing his presence from the outside world as he moved around the city.
After twists and turns and evading a few patrols, Shinon reached the building he was looking for. However, it was surprisingly quiet around the place, considering the number of guards that were stationed there.
As he approached the admin building, Shinon’s heart raced with anticipation and worry. Anticipation was because he was eager to find out about his father and worried because he knew the slightest wrong moves could lead him to his grave.
Unfortunately for him, the entrance was the only way inside the building, and it was also the place where most of the guards were stationed. They were spread like landmines, and Shinon had to be careful not to get too close to them, or they’d notice his presence.
As he got closer to the guards, he noticed they were vigilant, their watchful eyes continuously scanning the vicinity. Shinon couldn’t afford to be seen, so he needed a way in without drawing attention.
Using his shadowmancy, Shinon blended with the darkness, becoming one with the night itself. He moved with the fluidity of a phantom, slipping past the guards’ line of sight like a whisper in the wind.
He had acquired it through practice, but even then, his command over the skill wasn’t perfect and could spell disaster. If a single soul noticed an eerie shadow moving by itself, they would undoubtedly be interested in it.
Despite Shinon’s mastery, he couldn’t live in the shadow forever and would eventually be found out. But thankfully, none of the guards stationed outside noticed him as he slipped past the gates and inside the building.
Once inside the admin building’s courtyard, Shinon encountered more guards patrolling the area. They were another unwanted obstacle, and he knew a direct confrontation would jeopardise his mission. Instead, he relied on the lethality of his shadowmancy and stealth.
One by one, Shinon incapacitated the guards, his movements swift and precise. A deft hand to the throat, a gentle chokehold, a strong attack to the back of their head, and they crumpled to the ground, unconscious but unharmed.
He could have easily killed the guards and dragged their corpses inside his domain if he wanted. But since he knew these guards were mere pawns in a larger game, it wasn’t right to kill them.
Besides, he didn’t know if the guards were tagged or something. Throwing them inside his domain might have triggered some alarm, and Shinon didn’t want that.
Hence, he decided it was best to hide them somewhere close to where they were stationed. But he didn’t forget to swipe one of the guard’s radios before continuing ahead.
With each subdued guard, Shinon inched closer to his objective. The admin building overlooked him, and in its shadow, he saw snipers stationed above.
’How did these people not notice me?’
Shinon wondered if he had gotten lucky or if the snipers were amateur enough not to notice his presence. Regardless of the situation, he decided not to press his luck and continue forward. fɾeewebnoveℓ.co๓
He knew entering the building was the most challenging part of his mission. Now that he had crossed those barriers, the only place with the guards should’ve been were the mayor’s quarters and the repository.
This observation was important as Shinon had no idea where the repository was. So he assumed that one of the places where the guards frequented the most had to be where the storage was.
Shinon started from the side hallway, his shadowy form gliding through the corridors like a spectre. The building was eerily quiet, its occupants lost in sleep’s embrace.
Shinon’s eyes scanned the corridors, searching for any signs of activity or surveillance. He had to be especially careful now as he didn’t know when or where the guards might arrive from.
As he ventured deeper into the building, Shinon’s thoughts were focused on his task when the blinking icon appeared on his map.
’Why now of all times?’ Shinon cursed under his breath before taking a good look at the location.
Upon closer inspection, Shinon realised it was close and in the direction he was headed.
Although he was there to look for clues about his father, and his disappearance had haunted him for too long, he could take a couple of minutes to see what the urgency was for as he headed towards the blinking icon.
He saw a couple of guards standing in front of the door and decided to deal with them as quickly as possible. It took him a few seconds, but he finally reached a locked door that, according to his map, led to the inner floors of the admin building. freeωebnovēl.c૦m
As Shinon opened the door, he realised it was undoubtedly the most secure area, and he knew that breaching it would be his greatest challenge yet.
While no guards were stationed inside, the entire hall was rigged with alarms. One misstep could trigger the alarm, and it would be the end of his little late-night adventure.
’This’ll take some time...’
Thankfully, he managed to evade the alarms and make his way towards the only room at the end of the hallway. Now, the door before him was the only challenge in his way.
’Alright then, time to make a proper thief out of myself.’
With a subtle manipulation of shadows, Shinon produced a set of lockpicking tools from the darkness and got to work. His nimble fingers danced across the lock with practised precision.
Minutes passed like hours as he focused all his attention on the task at hand, and just as he was about to give up, he heard the sound he was trying for so desperately.
Click.
The lock yielded to his efforts, and the door swung open silently. Shinon slipped inside, his senses on high alert.
The room was dimly lit, with rows of filing cabinets lining the walls. It was a treasure trove of information, and Shinon knew then that he had found the repository he was looking for.
’Did the map know what I was looking for, or is it something else?’ Shinon wondered as he walked inside the room. ’I can think about it all later. First, let’s get to work.’
With that, he began to search, scanning through the files. Names, addresses, histories—all were properly documented in those lists. It was a time-consuming task, but Shinon was undeterred.
He knew it was the only shot he would get at it and didn’t want to waste it no matter what type of risk he had to take.
Hours passed as he delved deeper into the archives, yet Shinon couldn’t find his father’s name. Frustration began to gnaw at him, but he knew looking for one man’s information inside hundreds of files was like looking for a needle in a haystack of data.
At last, when he had almost resigned himself to failure, his eyes fell upon a file. It was dull in appearance, just like the other files in the haystack. But something attracted his attention to it.
When Shinon opened it, his heart skipped a beat. There, in black and white, was a name—his father’s name. The file contained information about his father’s last known whereabouts, activities, and interactions with the Eclipse.
"He... was here... I can’t believe this!"
Shinon’s smile widened like never before as his eyes welled up. Even though he had arrived in the city to look for his father, somewhere in his heart, he thought it was all in vain. But now that he knew his father was alive, a wave of relief washed over him.
However, the happiness didn’t last for long, as a moment later, sirens were ablaze in the building. The radio Shinon had swiped off of one of the guards cackled to life as an announcement of an intruder being inside the building was made.
"Fuck!" Shinon cursed as he tore the pages containing his father’s information and slipped into his shadow, ready for the onslaught of guards waiting for him.
