Journey of the Son of Ares

"House Boerlow," Balgair read out loud, "reportedly has no connections to Numen on the basis of their decline."

He flipped through other notes of his, but there was not much he could find on House Boerlow specifically. He had studied all the most important houses in Mircrest and even those outside of Mircrest to complete his data, but there wasn't much to be found.

"So, the house is going to shit and Numen doesn't care to help since they would rather have another house rise to fill the spot and just form a connection with them," Balgair voiced his thoughts to nobody. The room of the inn was empty enough for it to have a bit of an echo despite its lack of size. Or then Balgair was just hearing things.

He sighed and leaned his head back over the backrest of his chair.

'I doubt I'll need to read through history for this, though. Boerlow was established when Numen was founded and began its decline before Numen began expanding all over during these past years. As weird as the sudden expansion is, it works out. And since the banks are charged outrageously for the protection of large assets in this current economy, Boerlow most likely has a safe of their own,' he thought.

"Well, I guess that's that. Time to go see what that place looks like."

***

The Boerlow mansion was located south-east of the slums on the northmost border of Mircrest and took two days of travel. Balgair had left straight away since he was in a bit of a hurry, and even after all the wait, the sight of the mansion did not disappoint. The house may have been on the verge of collapse, but it was still the Boerlows. The house was probably still among the hundred richest houses in the nation.

The estate was larger than Balgair had expected, and he had expected a lot.

It had likely required hundreds of square meters worth of space to be cleared of the trees that tightly packed the surrounding area. On top of that, the whole area was protected by tall, spiky metal fences that allowed one to see the mansion, garden, and the smooth stone path that led to a square-shaped fountain that stood right in front of the mansion.

The mansion was highly textured, with pure white walls that seemed smooth, like the work of a sculptor.

Balgair walked off the gravel path he was on and started circling the mansion, just far enough to not attract the attention of the guards that stood in pairs at the entrance and all around the mansion.

When he reached the side of the mansion, the backyard came into sight. There lay other houses, which, on the other hand, while luxurious when compared to normal houses, were bland brick buildings of a light-brown color.

'Such a noble thing to hide all the ugly,' Balgair thought with a yawn and a crack of his neck.

He counted eight buildings in total that seemed to belong to guards and servants. Their size was probably enough to house 40–56 people in relatively good conditions. Likely, about half of that number were guards. It wasn't a job Balgair had any business doing on his own.

Balgair tapped on his head a few times and started looking through the windows.

When all that was resolved, Balgair headed back to the entrance. He entered the gravel path and began walking towards the guards while whistling. The guards turned their heads toward him, and not long after, the gate opened.

Out came a man with short brown hair and a face so flat one could've thought he was born with his head under a boulder. "Who are you? What are you doing here?"

Balgair smiled sheepishly and took off his imaginary hat with a nod. "I'm with the Rust Bank. I heard you were in need of our services."

The man's nose crumpled up. "What are you talking about? I've never heard of such a bank."

Balgair tilted his head in confusion. "We heard you cut ties with your bank and were looking for services from others."

"My master has done no such thing, and there has been no appointment made by any banker. Leave this place before I make you," the man said, waving Balgair off.

Balgair suppressed a smile. "What? Please just let me talk to Sir Gaius."

The guard was taken aback. "Sir Gaius? There is no Sir Gaius here."

"Oh, please. This is the Gaius mansion, is it not?"

"No, this is the Boerlow mansion."

Balgair looked around with his mouth wide. Then he gave a low bow. "My deepest apologies. I have wasted your time."

The guard shoved Balgair who proceeded to stumble a couple steps. "Apology not accepted. Get the hell out of here, you incompetent bastard."

Balgair walked a few steps with his upper body crouched down before straightening his posture. He then dug a cigarette out of his pocket, lit it, and inhaled some smoke before scoffing with a grin as his eyes narrowed into slits. 'What a dumbass.'

***

Three days later, in the dead of night, Balgsir arrived under the bridge with a cigarette tucked in between his lips. After he met Cade's deadpan eyes, he spit the cigarette out and waved at his partners with a smile. "How's it going?"

Aurelius seemed to have fallen asleep on his feet but quickly shook awake after Balgair arrived. "Everything is going well."

Balgair's smile widened, but his eyes dropped. "And I don't give a shit." Aurelius' face dropped. "So, how about we get to business?"

"Well, give us the briefing," Cade commanded monotonously. They had probably been waiting for quite some time.

"Sure. No budget will be needed, although I'd really like to spend your money," Balgair started. "I couldn't get any blueprints of the mansion, so I just went to look around the place. I managed to confirm that they are currently associated with a bank, so it is almost certain we'll find banknotes instead of gold. I got a good look at the things. Depending on how accurate my predictions are, the search and cracking the safe will take somewhere from half an hour to two hours. If I can't crack it, we will probably be able to take the safe with us if something goes wrong and time runs out. Also, according to my estimation, there are probably about 50 guards and servants. Half-and-half."

Cade put a hand on her chin. "30 to 120 minutes? If we just knock the guards out, we may not even get 10 minutes of peace."

Balgair nodded. "That's right. Logically, we should just kill them."

Aurelius immediately threw his hands to his sides in protest. "What?! We can't just kill them. They're just doing their job. These people have children. You can't just talk about them like they're puppets. They're human. Their lives have meaning."

Balgair leaned his head slightly forward. "Yes, they are human. Humans die all the time. What's your proposal here? Wasn't the heist your idea? Are you now suggesting we should half-ass the mission? What point would there be in going there just to leave things unfinished?"

"Can't we knock them out multiple times?" Aurelius proposed.

Balgair sighed. "You really think knocking out people is some kind of miracle substitution for killing? It causes brain damage. Have you even gotten hit in your life? Ever broken a bone? Of course, you haven't. You're a fucking brat." Balgair put a hand forward with his palm facing up. "Look, when you knock someone out, you are causing brain damage. That person might never be the same again. In some cases, that's worse than death. And you're suggesting we do that to them multiple times? You know, being knocked out twice in quick succession is almost guaranteed brain damage."

"Ah, but what if we tie them with hyperwire," Aurelius tried.

"There are probably more than 20 guards. All of them are essence users. You know how much hyperwire that will take? No matter the cost, it will also be impractical as hell when you consider the amount of time it will take to tie them up coupled with the chances they will all break out," Balgair answered before sighing. Aurelius kept quiet, so Balgair decided to voice some more thoughts. "Tell me, Goldilocks, have you ever considered what it means to be a hero? You want to be one, right? Well, let me tell you. A hero isn't someone who's morally righteous. A hero is someone who is capable of letting go of their strict morals and doing what is necessary to change the world for the better. If you really want to do this, you better do it right, or you'll only make things worse for everyone."

Aurelius raised a finger. "I—"

"Okay, shut up, both of you," Cade said, digging her ear with her pinky. "I'm tired of listening. Here's what we'll do." She took a deep breath before beginning. "The first step is to get the Boerlow family out of the mansion to make things go smoothly and lessen the amount of guards. You have a plan for that, correct?" She looked at Balgair and, who had his hands crossed. After he gave a silent nod, she continued. "Then we will go in during the daytime so that we don't raise the suspicions of the surrounding town's people in case there's noise. We will attack the guards first and incapacitate them all, after which we will take the servants captive. We will put them all in one place, which I and Aurelius will watch over as you go for the safe. We will make sure nobody escapes to alert others or try to come for you. After you crack the safe, we will leave in different directions and meet up here."

Balgair grinned. "You got a lot of trust in me?"

Cade chuckled. "I'm the one who will be taking the money."

Balgair's face dropped. "Oh, right."

"By the way, you know a guy who can exchange banknotes for gold, right?" Cade asked Balgair.

"Yup, I know one. He takes a 10 percent cut, but he's untraceable and trustworthy. I don't think you have any better options, either. It's rare to find a criminal who has the status to exchange fifties and hundreds without suspicion."

Cade nodded. "That's good."

Aurelius raised a hand, and only after Cade and Balgair put their attentions on him did he open his mouth. "What about disguises?"

Balgair raised his chin. "Ah, right, we have that hair of yours to worry about. Somebody sees it, and we're fucked. Nobody has that colored hair in these parts, so you'll be an easy guy to identify by just that one feature."

Cade dug at her teeth with her tongue before butting into the conversation. "Let's just get some cheap dark clothes, accompanied by balaclavas and masks. That will be enough."

"We can buy those on our way," Balgair said, and an amused smile grew on his face. "Now let's go. We have a mansion to rob. Goldilocks, boy-looking girl, and good-old me. Can't wait to see how this will go to shit."