Osian walked on the rooftop of a building full of chimneys.
He glided over the rooftops like a ghost, even though he was clearly walking normally.
Lorraine, trailing behind him, couldn't help but marvel.
‘How does he never get caught?’
It wasn't just one of the warlock's minions watching the air.
There were five of them in all, circling the perimeter periodically, keeping an eye out for potential intruders.
It would be nice if there was some sort of pattern, but the birds' movements weren't particularly organized.
Lorraine, who was well watered in the fixer world, thought this didn't seem right but Osian was insistent on leading the way.
The recklessness of his behavior was not only remarkable, it was to be applauded.
Once they were completely out of sight, Lorraine looked back in disbelief that they had actually succeeded."The warlock's bird has poor vision."
Osian, who had been walking ahead of her, spoke up.
Lorraine flinched, wondering if Osian had seen through her for a moment.
"If you go to a higher altitude to try to overcome that, the opposite happens: objects become smaller, making it harder to spot enemies. You're forced to stay at a certain altitude."
It couldn't be so far away that it would appear too small, and it couldn't be so close that it would have a narrow field of view.
"If you're always moving at a certain altitude, you naturally know the extent of the terrain they can see. Once you know that, it's easy to dig in."
Osian explained how he had managed to slip past this surveillance network without being detected.
Lorraine was even more puzzled.
‘But how do you know the field of view or the blind spots?’
Knowing these things doesn't make you successful.
On the contrary, it's a skill that only those who have learned it through countless practice sessions can implement.
‘So, this guy has fought against warlocks so many times that he’s used to it?’
Lorraine stared at Osian's back like she was looking at a monster but Osian's mind was elsewhere.
‘It's been a while, too. It's not uncommon for warlocks to use bony beasts as their minions.’
The early playable characters in this game are weak.
They're slow, their attacks are weak, and they die ridiculously easily.
The same goes for the sturdy and stable Wandering Knight character.
As you progress through the quests, you'll occasionally have to slay warlocks performing secret rituals, and that's when the difficulty really gets hellish.
‘In the forest, every beast was the warlock's watchdog, and it was madness to try to move under their watchful eye.’
When it's time to break into the warlock's lair, the game changes genres from a fantasy RPG to an extreme undercover thriller.
‘One wrong step and the undead would come at you from all directions.’
Then you'd see a gray screen that almost certainly meant your death.
How to move while removing the familiars?
The moment you touch the familiars, the Warlock sends out an army of undead.
You'll be devoured by them, and it's game over again.
'If you're a rogue, it's easy to get in because of your stealth infiltration skills but not for a sluggish knight.’
As a sword-and-shield character, you'll have to sneak in under the familiar’s eyes.
Obviously, it's not easy, and I died a lot.
Things like where the warlock's familiars can't see, the familiars behavior patterns and the warlock's responses.
‘Still, his surveillance is much weaker than the warlocks I knew.’
Osian marveled at the fact that there were only five birds flying around.
Lorraine thought that was a lot, but she couldn't know that.
'Don't warlocks usually have at least fifty birds like that?’
Not just any bird.
A minion made of the bones of an eagle or a hawk was no small feat for the opponent.
They have the same range of vision as a normal bird or eagle, but have the speed advantage.
‘And in severe cases, they even handle bugs.’
When I went near a bush that was buzzing with grasshoppers and the undead swarmed me, I wanted to smash my keyboard.
It's a good thing I channeled that anger and released it when I faced the warlock, or else it would have been a fixed expense on my paycheck.
‘I'll have to be careful with this.’
He learned necromancy, but I can't feel relieved at that level.
On the contrary, he could be incredibly dangerous in other areas.
'It's a disease, so it's probably going to use an AoE attack. If I give him time, we'll be at a disadvantage.’
Eventually, the two arrived at their target, the fugitive warlock Carl Jackson's makeshift hideout.
Lorraine pulled a small brass telescope from her waistband.
She identified a building and nodded.
"There he is. Carl Jackson. I've got him."
"Yeah. I see him too."
"You can see......?"
Lorraine sized up the distance between Osian and Carl Jackson's hideout.
As a sniper, she'd never been criticized for her eyesight, but compared to Osian's, she felt inadequate.
"......What floor is it?"
"Fourth floor, second window. He’s sitting in the corner."
She asked, just in case, and got a precise answer.
"......Something about being around you makes me feel so shabby."
"That's because you're not disciplined enough."
"Discipline is bullshit. So what are we going to do? He doesn't seem to have noticed yet."
"The easiest way is to surprise him."
"Surprise?"
"Yes. Though we'll have to be a little cautious about what else that filthy warlock might have done around the house."
Osian's head snapped to one side as he said that.
"What is it? What's going on?"
"We have an unwelcome visitor."
"What?"
Lorraine looked back to where Osian was looking, wondering what he was talking about, but there was nothing to see but the rooftops of the buildings billowing smoke.
*
Warlock Carl Jackson locked himself in his room, keeping a tight vigil on his surroundings.
'Shit. I moved too fast.'
It was all well and good stabbing Blossom Tier Pharmaceuticals in the back and running off with the recipe.
But the chase was too fast and I couldn't get far, and he was stuck in Sector 43.
He needed to get out of Tirna, or at least to the 50s districts, where they couldn't follow him.
'I'm sure they're out there right now, looking for me with lights in their eyes.’
He’s hiding now, but it's only a matter of time before they find him.
Fortunately, so far there's been no sign of pursuers.
At least, that's what the scouting familiars had told him.
Carl Jackson was relieved to hear that, but it was immediately followed by a feeling of self-doubt.
‘Holy shit. If only I hadn't gotten into debt with that stupid gamble!’
Carl Jackson had joined the Warlock's Union and earned the title of Warlock, a lowly but trustworthy rank.
If he had made the most of his major, he would have been able to live a decent life.
The problem, however, was that while he was certainly trustworthy on the job, his personal life was a different story.
Carl had gambled and lost money at a private gambling house, leaving him with a huge debt that he couldn't pay from his job.
Even warlocks who slept off the backstreet thugs had debts, and when they fell into debt, they had to pay the thugs who came to collect.
Such was Tirna, a place ruled by capital and where life weighed less than money.
Carl felt a surge of anger at his situation.
The way the bastards, who usually bowed to him, glared like hyenas when he owed them money from a gamble.
'Fucking assholes. How did I look so ridiculous?’
First, he had to pay off the debt.
He got a job at a pharmaceutical company called Blossom Tier that paid him a decent salary, but it wouldn't pay off his debts for the rest of his life.
So Carl Jackson did what he did.
He stole trade secrets.
‘If I can just take this recipe and sell it to other pharmaceutical companies, I can cover my debts.’
There would be money left over.
In the case of potion recipes, companies are scrambling to steal from each other anyway.
After that, he'll just take the money and flee Tirna to seek asylum in another country but Carl's plan went awry early on.
Unlike his original plan, he was quickly tracked down and was unable to escape far enough.
‘I don't care about the Blossom Tier, I can handle whoever comes, it's the other side that's the problem.’
It wasn't just Blossom Tier Pharmaceuticals that he stabbed in the back, but also the Warlock's Union.
They'd put their trust in him, given him their vote of confidence, and he'd betrayed it.
It probably cost the union some money, too.
If he were to be caught by the union, he would be better off dead.
As a fellow warlock, he knew better than anyone what they would do to him.
‘What went wrong?’
Until he ran away, he had an unfounded confidence that he would do well, but in reality, he didn't.
Carl regretted his actions in hindsight but regret is always too late, no matter how soon you do it.
‘Whoa. Let's get some sleep.’
He hadn't gotten much sleep on the run.
Judging by the lack of response from the familiars, the pursuers hadn't gotten this far.
Just when he thought he might be able to rest for a while and was about to breathe a sigh of relief, the bony head of a rat in the corner shattered with a loud crunch.
"......!"
Karl jumped up from the couch.
"Holy shit......."
The trap he'd set in the alleyway, just in case, had been triggered.
That meant his pursuer was this close.
*
"Uh, he's running away?"
Lorraine exclaimed as she watched Carl Jackson scurry away.
Osian was watching, too, and nodded.
"Looks like he noticed."
"Did he notice? I don't think any of his familiars are around here......."
"It's not us. It's the others."
"Others? You mean Blossom Tier guys, the ones who put us on a job and then stabbed us in the back?"
"It's better that way."
Osian's eyes gleamed.
"What better opportunity could there be for a cloistered warlock to venture out on his own?"
A third party intervening wouldn't change anything.
He's the one who’ll get him first.
"Let's move."
With that, Osian sped across the rooftops.
He was so fast that Lorraine didn't even think to follow for a moment.
"Wait for me!"
Lorraine, stumbling back to her senses, followed Osian.