16. Behind the Scenes with Rohtas

It had been overcast since morning.

I—Rohtas, butler of the Fisalis manor—was standing in the servants’ dining room, currently in the midst of a meeting with Cartham to discuss the purchase of ingredients.

“Looks like a storm is on the way,” the head chef remarked, staring out the window.

“Quite,” I replied, likewise gazing up at the sky through the glass.

“And of course this has to be the one day the master won’t be coming home.”

“Yes. Let’s hope the madam isn’t left feeling too lonely.”

“My thoughts exactly.”

I glanced up at the sky once more. If a thunderstorm was all we had to worry about, that would be one thing, but the recent news regarding a band of thieves troubling Rohze was no less ominous than the weather. Notorious for carrying out their crimes on stormy evenings or moonless nights, the bandits had been running unchecked throughout the capital.

Seeing as Master Fisalis was known throughout Flür as a man of means, his manor was liable to be targeted any day now.

“We’d better review the emergency protocol while we can.”

“Emergency protocol?” Cartham repeated, overhearing my mutterings. “Oh, let me guess—you’re worried about those bandits everyone’s been talking about, non?”

“Precisely.”

“From what I hear, they’re a slippery bunch. Even the chivalric order has been struggling to track them down.”

“It couldn’t hurt to prepare ourselves for the worst-case scenario, wouldn’t you say?”

“I agree with you completely.”

“I’ll call upon Bellis and the captain of the knights so we can all go over the emergency procedure. I’d like you to sit in as well, Cartham.”

“Yes, sir.”

We were always prepared for the worst, but nevertheless—it was important to ensure that everyone was on the same page every now and then. An ounce of prevention was worth a pound of cure, after all.

* * *

Soon afterward, I summoned Bellis and the captain to my office, and together we consolidated our emergency response plan.

If Master Fisalis was away from the manor, contacting him would be our first priority. After that, we would get the madam to a secure location. Depending on the situation, we might even guide her toward the hidden passageway. In the event that the entire staff was incapacitated for whatever reason, I, Cartham, Bellis, the captain, and a few of the most elite members of our secret service and knight-guard unit would break off from the larger group.

We went into greater specifics than that, of course, but that was the overall gist of the protocol.

“The hope is that we won’t have to worry about any of this, but in these troubled times, we must brace ourselves for the worst.”

“Yes, sir!” all three men replied.

Later that day, I would be truly thankful that I had held that meeting.

* * *

The weather grew worse and worse as the day dragged on, and by sunset those ominous clouds had given way to a raging tempest. The windows were a more immediate concern than any bandits. What a disaster it would be if those turbulent winds were to send a tree branch flying straight through the glass window panes!

Crash! Almost on cue, I heard the sound of a window shattering, followed by the deafening screech of a whistle cutting through the darkness.

It was the alarm whistle—one we would blow to notify the rest of the manor in the event of an emergency. Custom-built to carry its sound over a large distance, its trill could be heard just about anywhere on the manor grounds, inside or out.

Everyone, to your positions at once!

I heard another whistle sound from upstairs. Not the bedroom, I hope. The source of the sound on this floor... might be the banquet hall, if I had to guess.

With how poor visibility is due to the violent winds and rain, some ruffians must have used that to their advantage and slipped past the watchful eyes of our guards!

Acting almost on instinct, I extinguished the light of a nearby candlestick, made a grab for the decorative sword hanging on the wall, and ducked behind a pillar to survey the situation.

My speculation about the windows of the banquet hall appeared to be correct; a group of ill-bred hooligans soon kicked open the door to the room and stomped their way down the corridor.

That’s one, two...six of them in total, it seems. The rumored band of thieves had more members. Wait, no... I heard glass shatter upstairs as well, so it would follow that the rest of them came in from there. Figuring out exactly how many men they have with them would be an ideal place to start.

From the look of it, their plan was to split up and ransack the mansion in pairs. The men spread out, taking off in different directions.

It was then that the knights who had been standing guard outside burst into the manor—perhaps because they had only just now confirmed the break-in.

Seeing as I’d happened to stumble upon the captain of the guard, I dragged him into the shadow of the pillar to find out what was going on. “A rundown of the current situation, if you would.”

“Yes, sir! A gang of thieves broke into the manor under the cover of the storm,” the captain explained, keeping his voice down. “We believe they’ve forced their way in through the banquet hall—and most likely, the second floor bedroom too.”

“The bedroom? That’s not good.”

“No, it’s not.”

“First things first—we need to get word out to Master Fisalis.”

“Certainly. I’ll go fetch us a messenger.”

“In the meantime, I’ll go ahead and write up a note. While I’m taking care of that, summon a handful of knight-guards to the secret chamber.”

“Yes, sir.”

With a quick glance around the area, the captain slipped off into the darkness, keeping his footsteps light. As soon as he had vanished from sight, I used the hidden door to access the secret chamber, where I would await the arrival of Cartham and the knights.

There, I jotted down my message for Master Fisalis. It wasn’t long before the messenger showed up; the very moment I handed the note to him, he turned on his heels and hurried off towards the royal palace. I beg of you, get the word out to our Master post-haste!

I watched the messenger go with a silent prayer—but once he was gone, there wasn’t a second to lose. We needed to remove these intruders from our manor as soon as we could.

Almost as soon as the message-bearer had left, a knight who had gone to check on the state of the bedroom returned. “Madam Fisalis and her maids have been taken hostage. There are four bandits in her chambers, and they’ve ordered the servants of the manor to assemble themselves in a larger space,” came his report.

“Four thieves in the bedroom, hm? In that case, there must be at least ten bandits in total. Very well. Go ahead and round up all the servants in the parlor—with the exception of Cartham, Bellis, the captain of the guard, and a handful of our best knights and secret service members in accordance with our set procedure. Have someone else play the part of the butler—any manservant will do. Hide Mimosa and Daisy here in the secret chamber. I’ll handle the men ransacking the mansion, so I’m entrusting Madam Fisalis to you.” I stressed the importance of the task at hand, giving the knight my jacket as I did.

There was no time to have second thoughts. Sticking to the predetermined protocol, I began handing out orders.

“Yes, sir.”

He took the jacket off my hands, then went back out again.

This was the worst-case scenario. To think Madam Fisalis had been taken hostage!

Seeing as she had Dahlia, Stellaria, and even more attendants than usual by her side, I was confident she would be all right—but that didn’t mean we had any time to waste in coming to her rescue.

* * *

“Cartham, Bellis, and the secret service, reporting for duty!”

“The captain and his knights, reporting for duty!”

Shortly after the knight had left, Cartham and Bellis arrived on the scene—just as punctually as I’d expect of them. With this, we were finally ready to leap into action.

“Madam Fisalis and the maids were relocated to the parlor.”

“Mimosa and Daisy are both safe inside the secret chamber. With how rough the storm has gotten, even if Daisy were to start crying, I doubt anyone would be able to hear her.”

“...Thank you,” said Bellis in response to the knight’s report.

The last thing any of us wanted was for an infant to get mixed up in this mess. I could hardly imagine anything more heartbreaking.

“According to a knight who scoured the perimeter, there don’t seem to be any bandits left outside the manor.”

“Understood. That confirms that there’s ten of them in all, then... As much as I like the thought of apprehending every single one of them before Master Fisalis makes it back, considering the hostages, I believe that would prove difficult. First, we ought to focus our efforts on clearing away the thieves outside the parlor.”

“Quick and careful is the way to go here,” said Cartham, a grave look on his face. He had Dahlia and Stellaria to worry about, after all.

“That goes without saying. Be sure to stay on your toes.”

“Of course.”

There was no need for more discussion at this point. Bellis took the secret service with him, while Cartham, the captain of the guard, and I each brought along a handful of knights. We went our separate ways, determined to deal with these thieves.

“Take care, everyone.”

“Yes, sir!”

And with that, we were silently on the move. We’ll make those bandits rue the day they broke into the Fisalis manor!

* * *

As far as I was aware, no one outside the Fisalis manor had access to its floor plan. That blueprint was stored in a safe in the basement, where there was always someone standing guard. Anyone who tried to make off with it would be arrested on the spot, so I had to assume there was nothing to worry about in that regard.

Seeing as most valuables—jewelry in particular—were generally kept in the closet belonging to the lady of the house, I figured that was where they would look first. Since the madam had been there when they had entered, the thieves already knew which room was her personal chambers.

With that in mind, we rushed toward the bedroom, only to find that my prediction had been right on the money. The ruffians were busy turning the place upside down.

“Shh! They’re here,” I whispered.

Hiding ourselves behind the door, we took a peek at what was going on inside.

“Check out all these pretty dresses and jewelry!”

“Finders keepers!”

“Are we gonna be able to fit all this stuff in our bags?”

“Pack ’em up as tight as you can! Hey, why don’t I go call the rest of the guys over to help us out?”

“Good idea!”

From the sound of it, they were rooting around in the closet. We could hear their cries of excitement coming from inside.

“We strike the moment he walks out of there,” I instructed the knights in hushed tones, and they communicated their consent with a wordless nod.

One half of the pair stepped out of the closet, and I could sense him heading in our direction. We held our breath and waited for the right moment to make our move.

Step by step, he drew closer and closer to the door...

Now! I signaled the knights with my eyes. Then, without a moment’s delay, I slammed the hilt of my sword into the man’s stomach. His eyes popped open in surprise at the unexpected blow, and he promptly crumpled on the spot without so much as a sound.

Well, that was easy.

I oversaw the knights tying up the unconscious man, then crept ever closer to the closet. Pressing my back against its door so as not to make any noise, I listened in on the situation inside.

“Okay, my bag’s just about full. Heeey, you done out there?” called the other thief, who clearly hoped to leave this place with more dresses and accessories than even his greedy arms could carry. “What, not back yet? He’s sure taking his sweet time. Oh well, guess I’ll wrap some of this stuff up in a sheet and carry it outta here myself.”

Under the impression that his collaborator was still busy outside, the man stepped out from the closet. From my hiding place behind the door, I brought the hilt of my sword down on the base of his neck. It was a clean strike, and the bandit collapsed in a breathless heap.

Whew. That takes care of this room.

“Tie him up too. Remain here until further instruction.”

“Yes, sir!”

“I’ll go check on the other rooms.”

Leaving the knights to stand watch over the two captured thieves, I left the bedroom behind to provide backup wherever else it might be needed.

* * *

Surely there must be more thieves prowling the manor in search of loot... But where?

Just as I was racking my brains for their potential whereabouts, there came a loud crash, followed by a softer thud—the sound of something heavy toppling to the ground.

A...bookshelf, perhaps...? Has a bookshelf fallen over? Should I check the library, in that case?

Since that was my best guess, I hurried to the library and flung open the door, only to find Cartham and a couple knights squaring off against two strange men amid a mess of scattered books.

“Cartham!”

“Rohtas! Did you take care of things on your end?”

“Indeed I did. We secured the bedroom in no time at all.”

“Impressive! For our part, we found these two ruffians rummaging through another room and managed to corner them in here.”

“I see.”

“All right, boys, let’s do our best to catch these crooks. We wouldn’t want Rohtas putting us to shame.”

“Agreed.”

With a fearless grin on his face, Cartham brandished a sharpened kitchen knife. The knights drew their swords as well.

For caution’s sake, I held my own sword at the ready—though I was quite confident Cartham could handle the task on his own.

The enemy raised their daggers in turn. “It won’t take more than the two of us to take you wimps down!” one of the thieves declared with a grin. Confident in his abilities, that one.

“Dear me. It seems like they’ve taken us for your run-of-the-mill servants, Rohtas,” remarked Cartham, giving a wry shake of his head.

My lips curling into a grin, I replied, “Go ahead—teach them what a mistake it was to target our manor.”

“You’re the ones who’re makin’ a mistake!” shouted one of the bandits, irked by our unflinching demeanor, before rushing in to make the first move.

Light on his feet, he kicked off a nearby table, propelled himself into the air, and took a swipe at us with his dagger. He even managed to evade Cartham’s perfectly kitchen knife without so much as breaking a sweat.

“Oho, you managed to dodge that one? Color me impressed,” said the chef, an amused smirk tugging at his lips. “But...you’ll have to do better than that.”

Not a moment later, he hurled a paring knife at the man—a weapon that had materialized in his hand seemingly out of nowhere.

“Whoa! Guh...?!”

Things seemed to be going the bandit’s way as he dodged that throw with another jump—but unfortunately for him, the ever-nimble Cartham followed up almost instantly with an elbow strike. The man took the hit straight to the side, his body slamming hard against the floor.

“And here I thought he would put up more of a fight,” said my fellow servant, dusting off his hands.

The other bandit—who, until now, had been quietly watching this all unfold—made a grab for a nearby letter opener and lobbed it right in Cartham’s direction.

“Watch out!”

I deflected the blade with my sword, at which point the knights arranged themselves into battle formation and made swift work of the remaining thief.

“I’m going to check on how Bellis is doing. I ask that the rest of you wait here and stand watch over our two new prisoners. Keep an eye on what’s happening in the parlor, while you’re at it.”

“Very well.”

I left the library, intent on finding out what Bellis was up to.

That’s four down. Now then...what’s become of the remaining two?

* * *

The next suspicious noise I heard came from the waiting room next to the banquet hall, and thus, I hurried off in that direction.

“Ooh, what have we got ourselves here? Some mercs?”

“Let’s get rid of ’em so we can take our loot and leave.”

“In a fight, it’s quality over quantity!”

There, I happened upon Bellis and his escorts in the midst of a confrontation with the thieves.

The intruders clearly looked down on their opponents. Of course, that came as no surprise—by all appearances, their adversaries were nothing more than a ragtag band of servants.

Grinning, the bandits drew their daggers from their belts. One glance was all it took to know that they weren’t taking this fight seriously.

It was two against five. We had the advantage—both in quality and quantity.

This isn’t what I’d call a fair fight. As I watched the scene play out from behind the door, I couldn’t keep a grin from spreading across my face.

“I’ve got this. You guys worry about getting the rope ready.”

“Yes, sir!”

Bellis stepped forward, advising the secret service to stand back. Of course, he was more than capable of handling this on his own. I opted to merely observe from the shadows.

Interpreting his willingness to take them on alone as a mockery of their skills, it wasn’t long before the bandits lost their tempers. “Oh, you think you’re tough, huh? We’ll show you! Let’s go!”

“Yeah!”

The pair descended on Bellis together. In the face of their two-pronged attack—one from the front, one from the side—he ducked down to skirt around their blows.

The one behind him, eh?

It only took a split second for Bellis to discern which of his two adversaries had been thrown furthest off balance by his dodge. He swept the legs of the man behind him; then, the moment the bandit toppled to the ground, Bellis hit him with an elbow drop that had his full body weight behind it—and naturally, he went straight for the solar plexus.

What technique! Quite the impressive display, if I do say so myself, I thought, almost tempted to give him a round of applause.

With one last, breathless wheeze, the first thief was down for the count.

There was just one more to go.

Bellis snatched the dagger from the unconscious bandit’s hand, only to throw it as hard as he could at the stupefied accomplice. It struck home right on his opponent’s sword-hand.

Now that was a feat only Bellis could pull off. He purposely threw it so it would hit with the hilt, not the blade, so I doubt the man suffered worse than a bruise.

The man instinctively dropped the dagger at the sudden jolt of pain in his hand. Bellis once again moved in swiftly, kicking the two fallen daggers across the room before landing a back kick against the still-groaning thief.

The secret service stepped in to catch him as he went flying, and that marked the end of the second bandit.

With that, we’d caught every single one of the ruffians in the mansion, excluding the four in the parlor.

“Good work, Bellis.”

“Oh, Rohtas. Were you seriously watching this whole time?”

“Indeed I was. It’s not as though you needed the extra help, right?”

That comment was met with silence.

“Well, that accounts for all the thieves out here. All that’s left are the four in the parlor.”

“...What should we do next?”

“Good question. For a start, let’s round up the captured thieves in the entryway. That should make it easier to hand them over to the chivalric order when they arrive. I’ll drag the other four lumps over myself, so you go ahead and get a head start. Do your best to stay away from the parlor, and do be careful.”

“Understood.”

Once I’d watched Bellis and the secret service head off with our captives in tow, I went to fetch the men I’d put on standby earlier.

* * *

Now then, how to take back the parlor?

Just as I was about to hold a second strategy meeting right there in the entryway, I heard someone call out my name in hushed tones. “Rohtas!”

Why, that’s Master Fisalis! And his hair and his uniform are both soaking wet... What a storm he braved to run home to his wife!

“Master Fisalis! You’re back!”

“Yeah—we only just made it inside the manor. So, what’s the current situation?”

“There were ten bandits in total. There are still four left in the parlor, where they’re keeping Madam Fisalis as a hostage. As for the rest...we finished apprehending them moments before your arrival.”

“Seriously?!” When I pointed to the thieves passed out on the entryway floor, the master’s eyes went wide as saucers. “Er, well...all in a day’s work for you lot, I suppose. In any case, well done. So all that’s left are the men in the parlor?”

“Right.”

“Got it. We can handle them. More knights from the order ought to have arrived outside by now, so I want you to hand the thieves over to them, then meet up with the rest of us. We’re hiding out in the kitchen for now.”

“Yes, sir.”

Just as the master had predicted, there were now a great deal of knights gathered outside and poised to protect the manor. Exercising the utmost caution, I turned the captured bandits over to them, then went back inside to join up with the master.

Gathered in the kitchen were Master Fisalis, Platoon Leader Pulcherrima, and a handful of their subordinates. Though they were generally the fun-loving sort, right now they were the picture of dignified knights, their faces taut with concentration.

Master Fisalis was handing out orders with enthusiasm.

As imprudent as it may be to say so, watching the master work brought me a sense of relief—something along the lines of Oh, good, he actually knows how to do his job. I only ever saw how he acted off the clock, after all.

Touching though it was to see my deadbeat master hard at work, any tears of joy would have to wait until after the crisis at hand had been resolved.

Thanks to the deft command of our Master in his work mode, the four remaining bandits were apprehended in the blink of an eye, and we saw the safe release of both Madam Fisalis and the rest of the servants who had been taken hostage.

* * *

“Cercis! Were you hurt?! I get the feeling it was over before they even got the chance, but still!”

“Vi! What about you? Are you all right? I’m sorry you had to go through all that. I’m just glad I made it in time to get you out of trouble.”

“I knew you would come for us. After all, you’re my very own special knight. I got to see a very cool side of you today—why, I nearly fell in love all over again!”

“I’m happy to hear that. Driving my horse through the pouring rain to get here was more than worth it.”

Now that doesn’t sound like the Madam Fisalis I know! Why, I never imagined I would hear her fawn over the master like that... She really must have been scared out of her wits! Ahem, not to say that there’s anything wrong with being sweet on her husband, of course. Something tells me this incident only served to strengthen the bond between them. “Calm follows a storm,” indeed!

As heartwarming as it was to watch the madam rushing up to her husband and the intimate moment that followed, that wasn’t the only romantic sight to see tonight.

“Ria! Are you all right?!”

“Yes! Thank you for coming to save us. Oh, if only the storm hadn’t gotten so terrible, none of this would have happened...”

“Thank you for rushing here with Master Fisalis, Sir Corydalis. It’s all thanks to you that everyone in the manor made it out all right.”

It was Platoon Leader Pulcherrima who ran over to Stellaria. The rapport between the two of them was just as gratifying to witness.

As he stared helplessly at the sight of his wife and daughter showering the knight in gratitude, I heard Cartham mutter beside me: “Hey, what about me? I fought pretty hard too, you know!”