( Luke's POV )
"Man, I don't understand why they gave us a 24 hour gaming extension when the gala was only going to run 4 hours over normal time….. now I'm stuck in this room for the next 3 hours without anything to do.
So boring" Luke muttered to himself, as he started to perform push-ups on the luxurious guest room floor.
Although the room interior was great and it was a pretty chill place to hang-out, Luke could not wait for the morning, since that would be when the curfew ended and he would be given to roam the palace freely while interacting with various dignitaries.
Surprisingly, the royal gala was a lot of fun for him.
The nobles talked to him amiably and he could gain the political favor of many factions and powerful individuals through his interaction with them.
Overall, although the DarkSky guild could not get the administrative rights to their number one pick the Oakhill Barony, they got the next best thing to it, where he played an instrumental role in the negotiations.
"2.5 months till the Arc Ship enters the mana passage 'Rainbow Pathway' and our real bodies start to transform....
Once the Grand Tournament ends, we would have barely any time to prepare for the annual auction, as once the second evaluation takes place and the game enters the second phase.
The entire meta will shift.
Sigh, it's such a bother to know about future events.
Makes you feel constantly stressed for no reason….." Luke muttered to himself as he kept hitting the push-ups.
*Alarm*
*Alarm*
*Alarm*
Suddenly, as he was hitting his routine push-ups, alarms started to blare loudly throughout the castle walls, as this phenomenon piqued Luke's interest as to what was going on?
Walking up to the room's window, Luke glanced outside to see what was going on, however, except for Palace Guards scrambling over the roof and on the ground, he could not figure out much else.
"Maybe there's an intruder?" He wondered, however, without any proof or context, he could only wait and watch for now.
Soon, ten minutes passed and the hustle and bustle outside did not seem to die down at all, as someone suddenly opened his door and a few Virex Operatives in their signature masks rushed into his room.
"What's going on?" Luke asked in confusion, as while one Virex operative judged his expression, the others thoroughly searched his room.
"Empty everything you have in your possession for inspection…. Now!" A Virex operative said authoritatively as Luke raised his hands above his head and calmly let them know that he was carrying nothing and that they could search him freely.
"He's clear-" said the operative searching him, as the Virex officials left his room almost as quickly as they entered it, leaving Luke to wonder as to what exactly was going on?
*********
( Meanwhile Leo )
Leo was only a few meters away from his room, when he heard the thumping footsteps of guards approaching his location from behind.
"I won't let you go, Ben Faulkner..." one of them seemed to be shouting, as judging by the tempo of his footsteps and the distance of his sound, Leo estimated that he would reach his location in roughly ten seconds.
Starting to pick up speed himself, Leo knew he needed to take the gamble of now or never as he started to run towards his own room while igniting a few smoke bombs.
Throwing a few down the passageway in the distance, some outside the passageway into the garden below and most outside his own room, Leo created an entire field of no visibility, where he was the only one with enough visionary acumen to navigate, while everyone else would be forced to pause.
"SMOKE! SMOKE! HE'S HERE- THE INTRUDER IS HERE-"
"BACKUP, WE NEED BACKUP, HE'S TRYING TO GET AWAY- BEN FAULKNERERRR IS TRYING TO GET AWAY"
With his heart beating out of his chest, Leo quickly began to strip out of his guard clothes and threw them all over the ledge into the garden where he had already thrown smoke bombs prior.
*THUD*
A loud thud sound could be heard when he threw the armor down below, as one of the guards heard that voice and jumped down below alongside him, shouting "DON'T LET HIM GET AWAY-"
Tip-toeing behind through the three remaining guards that were slashing and hacking wildly in the smoke, Leo cautiously approached the Royal Maid, who was sitting terrifiedly outside his room, with a key hanging around her neck, which was the lock to open his room.
Very gently taking that key off her neck, Leo opened his room, before placing it back over her head as he slipped inside before the smoke died out, closing the room as gently as he could.
Once inside, he quickly and frantically waved his hands, to dispel any black smoke that had slipped into the room when he opened the door, as he quickly changed into the robes made for him by the Royal Tailor, and assumed a fighting position on the far end of the room, as he breathed raggedly.
Somehow. He had made it back into his room unnoticed, however, the circumstances under which he had reached his room were extremely suspicious.
He was sure that someone would soon open that door and come inside to interrogate him, where whether or not he would get away with this crime would be determined by how well he acted.
If he showed any lapse in his expression, his gaming career would be finished forever.
The stakes were as high as they could be and he had already somehow made it through 60% of the plan without being caught.
If he could somehow manage to complete the remaining 40%, he would achieve something that was only achieved by his master before him.
Which was the grand feat of getting away with murder within the Royal Palace.
—-------
/// A/N - Bonus chapter for hitting the PS target, good job everyone!
Sorry it's a day late ///