The carriage drove Kris and his comrade through a gravel path in the middle of the forest and the comrade commanded the person to stop after a while. They arrived at a clearing in the huge forest, the sunlight shining down on the empty field of grass, however, the sun changed to a slightly orange colour, signaling that it was near sunset.

          The clearing was exceptionally beautiful, birds and insects being heard throughout the empty and serene forest. Some flowers were blooming randomly in the empty field of grass, making the environment much more vibrant.

          Kris got down from the carriage along with his comrade, who hurriedly paid and sent the driver away.

          “Off you go.”

          Kris and his comrade scanned their surroundings, before Kris nodded his head at his comrade. His comrade walked to the middle of the clearing, squatting down and grabbing onto something in the middle of the field, surrounded by thick grasses and flowers. He pulled something up, revealing it to be part of the field, it was a patch of grass and soil covering up a circular metal object.

          Kris approached him, immediately disappearing into the ground when he stood in front of his comrade. His comrade looked around, taking a step forward and like Kris, he disappeared into the ground, holding the metal object above his head, his hand hooking onto something below the metal object to cover the hole. 

          The both slid down a manmade hole and they landed smoothly on a patch of soil, a manmade path of soil being built that lead straight to ladder at the end of the corridor. The only source of light were the lanterns that they carried on themselves, since there is hardly any oxygen down here.

          They climbed the ladder, finally reaching the top of the ladder as Kris pushed the metal object above him, moving it aside. The journey to the ladder was an incredible task, since there was no source of oxygen in this small tunnel, all members in mercenary were trained to hold their breath for at least five minutes, hence, that’s why the Dragoons were a small group of people, since they comprise of men capable of completing this feat.

          However, the journey through this small tunnel was always worth it, this is because when they reach the surface, they are greeted with a warm and welcoming sight.

          “It’s the boss, and Zak!”

          “Hey, Zak!”

          “Boss, welcome back!”

          “Zak, come here! I have something to show you!”

          “Boss, got anything new?”

          It was a courtyard of a large house, that was made of wood and the courtyard was surrounded by wooden dummies with many different kinds of slashes on them, shooting targets with arrow markings and in was in the middle of the wild, hidden away from public sight.

          Muscular men surrounded Kris and his comrade, known as Zak, some of them shirtless, glistening with sweat and others had dirt marks on their shirt and faces. There were many different kind of faces among the men, from menacing ones, to innocent looking ones and handsome ones or just those with scary-looking scars on their faces.

          However, all of their faces brightened up when they saw their boss and comrade arriving back, sheathing their swords and putting their bows down. Of course, they all had one thing in common, which was their feather earring on their right ear and dragon tattoo on their arm.    

          It was a small group overall, comprising of less than twenty members. Kris and Zak greeted them back with warm smiles, everyone one of them patting each other on the back, smirks and chuckles being exchanged here and there.

          “Where’s Yun?” Kris asked, looking around, realising that his right hand man wasn’t here.

          “He’s cleaning himself up.”

          “Alright, everyone gather up in the house in twenty minutes, there is something I need to say.” Kris ordered, and all of them complied without any hesitation, heading back to their training.

          Zak nodded his head at his boss, walking off to train with the others while Kris headed off in another direction, towards the trees.

          “I’m sorry, Boss!” Someone shouted right in front of Kris, startling him slightly as he saw a tanned man bowing right in front of him, not lifting their body up.

          “Aman.” Kris sighed, shaking his head at him.

          “Did you not receive the message I sent?”

          Just as Kris said that, a pigeon came flying out from the windows of the huge house, letting out a cooing sound and landing on Kris’ shoulder.

          “Yes, I did, boss but I still can’t forgive myself for my mistake.” Aman, the man who apparently let the Shadow Rogue get away, due to his injury in the rib, said guiltily.

          Kris let out another sigh, scratching his head before lifting his hand up.

          “Just don’t let it happen twice.” Kris’ hand landed on Aman’s broad shoulders.

          “…and don’t push yourself so hard.” Kris added, walking away, patting Aman on the shoulder.

          Aman just stood up, staring at the back of his boss as he walked away, his eyes lighting up.

          “Thank you, boss!” He hollered, bowing down again and Kris just waved at him, disappearing into the trees.

          Somewhere in a river, there was an unknown half- man submerging himself into the water, before emerging out and slowly walking to the land. The clear water surrounding his hip that was covered up by a black cloth pants, swayed along with his movement. He was lean and tall, his short, spiky raven-colored hair glistening in the sunlight due to the water.

He was wearing the same iconic earring and tattoo like the others.

He climbed up onto the land, jumping up into the air to catch a towel hanging from the tree branch and shook his head once, spraying water everywhere, before drying himself up.

          Hearing a rustling sound, the man lifted his head up, his black eyes scouring his surroundings cautiously as he hung his towel over his neck, getting into a defensive stance.

          “Yun, relax, it’s me.” A familiar voice said and Yun relaxed his stance, someone stepping out from the trees and it was Kris.

          “Kris? Why are you back so early?” The man called Yun, asked, raising an eyebrow.

          “We received another job.” Kris smirked, gesturing Yun to follow him back and Yun obeyed, walking back with Kris. Grabbing his beige cotton shirt from the ground, Yun wore it, hiding the long scar on his back from the public.

         

         

          *****************************************************************************************

         

         

          Dozens of horses were galloping across the gravel path, surrounded by trees and bushes. Sergi was right, this place was hidden away from the public’s sight. Emi rode along with them, an emotionless expression on her face as she followed behind them.

          The object inside her hidden pocket suddenly becoming heavier and a sense of trepidation overwhelmed her.

          Shake off the feeling, Emi.

          It’s nothing.

          Her grip tightened as she bit on her lip.

          It’s nothing at all, Emi.

         

         

          *****************************************************************************************

         

         

          “All right, boys. Listen up, we are given a job to prevent any thefts during this auction and we are going all out for this job.” Kris told his comrades, spreading out a map of the mansion on the large wooden table in the house, a few small and sharp metal daggers in his hand.

          The sunlight from the windows, streamed into the house, revealing simple wooden beds around them and a large wooden table in the middle of the house.

          “Aman, I want you to lead a few members and no fighting, unless it is really necessary.” Kris ordered Aman, the tanned and muscular man nodded at his leader. His face looked frightening, he had a bald head and brown eyes.

          “Here, your team will take of this section.” Kris stabbed his dagger at one part of the mansion.

          “Yun, your team will take care of this spot.”

          “Zak, your team goes here.”

          Kris quickly briefed them, knowing that they knew what to do, since they have done numerous jobs like these before.

          “…and remember to wear whatever to blend in with the crowd.” He warned them.

          They all went to the saddles, climbing up onto their horses and setting off through the forest, proceeding to gallop once they were on a straight path to the public, a path once again that they created to be hidden away from the public’s view.

         

         

          *****************************************************************************************

         

         

          At night, a man and a woman made their way to a magnificent mansion that was filled with people on the inside, while on the outside, there was long queue, almost reaching the beautiful fountain outside of entrance of the mansion.

          Guards were standing guard outside of the doorway, reading and checking the names off the checklist of guests. The woman, dressed in a dark brown gown had one of her arm wrapped around a gentleman’s arm, who was dressed in a black and white tailcoat and trousers.

          “Why do I have dress in this again?” Emi muttered out, letting out a sigh.

          I hate dresses.

          “Bear with it.” Sergi just said coldly, and Emi had to admit, he looked utterly handsome like this.

          He’s a terrible person on the inside though.

          After a while, they finally arrived at the doorway of the mansion, the guards calling them forward and they read out their fake names to them.

          The guard nodded, checking their names off the list and asking them to proceed inside. However, as Emi passed by the guard on the left at the entrance, an uncanny aura surrounded the guard and the guard turned to look at Emi, their eyes meeting.

          Emi flinched back a little, surprised, a pair of mesmerizing black eyes staring back at her and she noticed that his dark brown hair was slightly longer than any guard she has ever seen in anyone’s mansion that she has robbed from.

          Their eyes lingered on each other a little longer before the both of turned away at the same time.

          That’s weird, they are normally strict on the rules among the guards.

          Emi wondered, frowning suspiciously, turning back to look at the back of the guard once more when they walked into the mansion.

          “What are you doing? Hurry up and walk.” Sergi hissed into her ear, tugging her forward as she stumbled, getting pulled out from her thoughts and she shook her head, nodding at Sergi and walking properly now.

          Meanwhile, the guard that Emi was suspicious with had an unfathomable expression on his face.

          Who was with that woman?

          He fidgeted, feeling a little uncomfortable in wearing a guard’s clothes.

          I should have chosen a more comfortable disguise.

         

         

          *****************************************************************************************

         

         

          The auction was beginning and everyone was standing around in the ballroom, excitedly waiting for the host to present the first item for bidding.

          The music was still playing, some guests were dancing on the ballroom floor, and others were staying at one corner of the ballroom, mingling with their friends or lover. One of them being Sergi and Emi, who were pretending to converse with one another, while in actual fact, they were observing the crowd carefully.

          A man and a woman walked into the mansion, and they managed to capture almost everyone’s attention. The couple wore expensive-looking clothes and the woman wore glittering jewelries that obviously captured everyone’s attention because of how bright it was, especially Emi’s attention.

          In addition, Emi saw the chain of the pocket watch the gentleman was holding in his front pocket, knowing that it was something worth stealing too.

          They are just begging to get robbed, aren’t they?

          Emi’s eyes sparkled with delight and Sergi nudged her, gesturing his head in their direction. She didn’t need to ask from Sergi what he is asking for, since she already knew it the moment she set her eyes on them.

          Leaving his side, she extricated her arm from his, walking forward languidly towards the rich couple when suddenly the music stopped playing and someone stepped onto the stage of the ballroom.

          “Ladies and gentleman, the auction will begin now.” The person that resembled a butler announced, bowing to the crowd and gesturing to the curtains as they drew back.

          Emi clicked her tongue, knowing that the opportunity to rob from them was now lost, especially since the whole ballroom was silent with anticipation now. She let out a little sigh, going back to Sergi’s side who didn’t say anything back, since he knew it was impossible now.

          If something happened, everyone’s attention would immediately be captured quickly and they didn’t want that to happen.

         

         

          *****************************************************************************************

         

         

          The auction went on and on, items that were displayed were ranging from paintings, to beautiful flower vases and artifacts or something unique.

          While the crowd was fascinated with the displayed items and eagerly bidding for it, there was an atmosphere of apprehension surrounding a few groups of people.

          A few pairs of guards were staring at one another in the whole ballroom, giving each other an encouraging nod and a few gentleman in the crowd did the same.

          Those who won the bidding was grinning happily from ear to ear, being called to the back of the stage to get their items and pay the bid.

          Deciding it was time, Emi looked at one person in the crowd, who was dressed as a gentleman, since he was one of the neater looking ones in the bandit group, and he would look much more convincing than the others. The gentleman was staring discreetly at Emi and Sergi, and after a few seconds, Sergi nodded his head at him.

          The gentleman nodded back and after a minute, a few people frowned at the curtains, seeing some smoke rising out of it and a guard ran out hollering to the crowd in panic.

          “Fire! Fire! Everyone, please leave the room!”

          The crowd panicked and everyone scrambled to get out of them room. Sergi and Emi instantly stripped out of their disguise, hiding in the dark corners, since the chandelier wasn’t bright enough to brighten up the whole ballroom.

          “Fire!”

          “Run for your lives!”

          “Oh goodness, the fire is spreading so quickly!”

          “Run!”

          Amidst the chaotic mess, guards were quickly scampering around the ballroom, leading the guests to safety while other guards were trying to put out the fire, but alas, it was spreading too quickly. The curtains were being engulfed by the hungry flames, and everyone quickened their pace.

          Kris frowned, knowing that there was something odd about this development and he removed his guard helmet, quickly gesturing to his comrades on what to do.

          Two groups of them ran and blocked the entrance and exit after the guests left, while another group dashed into the backstage. Kris scanned his surrounding once more, before running to the back of the stage.

          Sergi and Emi rushed to the back of the stage, while the other ruffians prepared for their escape. However, upon arriving to the back of the stage, they were greeted with an unexpected sight.

          Their group of bandits, whom they expected to rob the guests for their money were being held back by another group of people that dressed just like them.

          A black mask covered Emi’s face, only revealing her eyes to conceal her identity, since she was an infamous robber and she was dressed in her black leather suit, along with her belt that was hanging loosely on one side of her hip.

          However, she was stumbling backwards while the fire continued to engulf the curtains, providing them some light. The reason she was stumbling backwards wasn’t because of the fire, but it was because of the appearance of the other group of unknown men.

          The man that was standing in front of her and someone immediately captured her attention, she noticed that he looked oddly familiar and especially handsome, observing him more closely.

          Red dragon tattoos on their arms.

          A feather earring, just touching their necks that was red in colour.

          Her eyes were widening in horror and recognition, the guard that she saw at the entrance, the one that gave off the uncanny feeling was standing in front of her and Sergi and now she understood why.

          Why she felt that way about him.

          Don’t think it’s over yet, Shadow Rogue.

          Emi’s stomach was twisting around violently and she trembled slightly.

          “The Dragoons.” She whispered out, her knees wobbling slightly.

          They were smirking wickedly at the bandits, while Emi stared at them, petrified. The hidden pocket in her outfit suddenly becoming so much heavier than she recalled.

 

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Yeeeees! Finally finished, sorry guys, I'm updating slower, since I'm busy!