Chapter 152: Luring the Snake Out of the Hole – Part 2

As the carriage was about to turn into the streets of the Upper District, Dean opened the carriage door, jumped out, and disappeared around the corner—he had already obtained the address.

Of course, the credibility of this address was not high at all.

It was as if Zimo had warned him—trusting a Spy’s guarantee was truly a sign of being out of one’s mind.

However, Dean did not care.

Whether the address was true or false, or a dangerous trap, he had already made his intentions known—Dean believed that his previous actions would be conveyed by Zimo to any Spy the other party knew.

And for Dean, that was enough.

He only needed to give these Spies an impression, the impression of ‘he has arrived’.

As for the rest?

Dean stood in the Shadow, watching the departing carriage, and moved stealthily toward the address in his memory.

Although it was possible that it was false, it might also be real.

Of course, the most likely scenario was a trap.

And Dean eagerly hoped for the latter two possibilities—one fell, one bird, plus deepening the ‘impression’ on the remaining Spies. Dean had no objection to killing two birds with one stone.

…

The Lower District, the Civilian District.

It lacked the prosperity of the shopping street and the noise of the docks.

But it had the breath of ‘life’ for everything there—the smell of cooking smoke mixed with garbage, mingled with the scent of livestock feces.

Although Marquis Vauban worked hard to govern the area, when Dean stepped into it, he could tell by the smell alone that the governance effects were quite weak.

Perhaps it could stay clean for a few days after each cleaning, but after another two days, it would return to this messy state.

In fact, within the Emerald realm, except for the Capital of Emerald, Dean had never truly seen a clean Civilian District. Even under the jurisdiction of the Emerald Grand Duke, it was only slightly better than the Four Northern Counties.

After all, you cannot blame a group of people who are rushing to make a living and forget to maintain their personal hygiene.

Of course, Dean did not care at all.

Dean, who had once stayed in the sludge of a sewer for two whole days for an assassination, completely ignored these smells.

However, that did not mean he could ignore other things—dogs!

Although wealthy merchants and Nobles kept dogs in their households, those dogs were mostly useful only for hunting and were kept in animal sheds most of the time.

Even if some were kept outdoors, there were only two or three.

The Civilian District was different.

To feel safer, dogs had almost become a necessary member of every household. If economic conditions allowed, Dean would not be surprised if every household had two or three times more dogs; after all, in such a remote place, if something happened, besides kitchen knives and sickles that could be used as weapon s, the most reliable defense was the watchdog kept by the family.

What about the patrolling guards?

Compared to the Upper District and the area outside the shopping street, the Civilian District was always the last place visited.

However, Vauban City was different at this moment. The recent attack on Vauban Castle by thieves meant that the Civilian District was also full of patrolling guards, which caused significant trouble for Dean, who was trying to sneak in.

Once the dogs barked, the patrolling guards would inevitably appear.

The number of dogs distributed in the Civilian District before him made Dean have to be even more careful and alert—

‘A dog at night is worth three alert adults!’

Dean was one of the few to truly agree with this statement from the Old Thief.

Taking five times the usual amount of time, Dean arrived at the destination—he leaned against a windward Shadow away from the dogs’ line of sight.

As for choosing a windward place?

Dean had more headaches regarding their sense of smell and hearing than their vision.

The only somewhat lucky thing was that, based on the houses in his view, there were no dogs inside—after a few times of mimicking dog barks, Dean could confirm this.

Of course, he could also confirm that there were quite a few people inside.

At least five people!

Although this was very typical for a Civilian District family consisting of parents, two sons, and one daughter, those heavy footsteps and the angry shouts directed at the barking dogs made Dean realize that everyone inside was male, with not a single Lady. Moreover, that robust shouting indicated that the residents inside were strong.

Dean carefully inspected the house in front of him, confirming that the house had only the front door as a normal entrance. Then, Dean’s gaze shifted to the windows—after all, the previous shouting came from behind that door, implying that someone was acting as a sentry there.

The house before him was a typical Emerald style building, two and a half stories high.

If one wanted to monitor the surroundings, the terrace at the highest point was obviously the best choice—therefore, Dean could be certain that there must be a sentry on the terrace.

What about the first-floor kitchen and second-floor bedroom windows?

The shadows of people flashing occasionally through the gaps in the window panes nailed with wood planks also indicated that there were sentries in the same positions there.

Undoubtedly, every potential blind spot of the entire house was being monitored.

Breaking through from anywhere would be discovered, which was quite troublesome for most Thieves.

However, for Dean, it was only slightly more difficult.

After all, compared to the targets he had assassinated in the past, the scene before him was merely somewhat regular, far from being tight—a building without even Magic eyes or alarm traps, obviously, Dean’s evaluation was not excessive.

Silently, Dean climbed up the wall of the house like a gecko—the wall, mainly made of wood with bricks and stones as auxiliary materials, was incredibly easy for Dean to climb.

The only thing he needed to consider was the two sentries acting as guards in the windows.

However, dealing with such people was a breeze for Dean.

After all, Dean had already clearly seen through their habits of surveillance—mainly the front of the window and the left and right sides.

As for above and below?

They obviously did not open the windows and stick their heads out for such a cumbersome method of checking.

Dean silently thanked these wooden plank windows that blocked most of the view in his heart, and used this gap to quickly approach the terrace in a rhythm of climbing, hiding, and climbing again—

Step, step…

At this position, Dean clearly heard the sound of the sentry standing on the terrace pacing back and forth.

Dean pressed tightly against the gap between the terrace and the second-floor window, starting to calculate the direction of the sentry’s pacing based on the pitch of the footsteps.

“Six steps!”

Dean silently confirmed in his heart as he listened to the footsteps gradually fading away.

And when the footsteps became clear again, and then there was a pause during the turn, Dean’s left hand suddenly grabbed the edge of the terrace, his arm muscles contracted suddenly, and Dean’s entire body shot up like a bird, clearing the terrace railing, and then, like a fallen leaf, stood quietly and steadily on the terrace.

In front of Dean, the sentry holding a Crossbow was walking towards the other side.

A quick lunge, and the shadow side of the Flash Dagger appeared in front of the sentry’s throat as Dean covered the latter’s mouth, then slashed sideways and backwards.

Along with the trachea, most of the neck was cut open.

Just as the Blood erupted suddenly, Dean pulled the sentry’s collar, instantly reducing the sound of the blood spraying to the lowest level.

Although this was a terrace and very open on all sides, facilitating the dissipation of sound, Dean still remained sufficiently cautious when facing a potential Grand Knight-level opponent.

The Corpse was quietly placed on the terrace. Dean tiptoed and felt his way to the small door of the terrace.

The unlocked small door allowed Dean to easily sneak into the room.

Dean did not act rashly. He stood quietly on the ladder leading from the second floor to the terrace, perked up his ears, and listened to the movements on the entire second floor.

However, except for the sentry guarding the side bedroom window, there was no movement at all.

“First floor…”

Dean thought silently in his heart, and he did not hesitate for a moment, stealthily moving towards the side bedroom.

Then, in the same way but even easier, he eliminated that sentry—compared to the terrace sentry who was constantly watching in all directions, this sentry who focused all his attention on the window was a piece of cake for Dean, especially since the door was not even closed and was left open.

However, after this easy target was eliminated, the remaining targets required Dean to think and make a plan—

At least, when facing a Grand Knight, Dean definitely did not want to see two Knight-rank level guys join in the siege.

Similarly, Dean had no confidence in eliminating two Knight-rank level guys in such a narrow space without being discovered by that Grand Knight.

And after just a moment, Dean had his own plan.

He stepped onto the stairs leading from the second floor to the first floor.

Step, step, step…

Unconcealed footsteps were enough to attract the attention below.

“Who is it?”

Such a questioning voice immediately followed, and upon not receiving an answer, the sound of a sword being drawn amidst a burst of hurried footsteps sounded immediately.

Dean did not rush down. He walked down the stairs slowly.

Every step had the same pace.

Even the volume of the footsteps was the same.

And only when he saw the three shadows appearing at the staircase entrance did Dean draw his Longsword—

The cold sword edge began to shimmer with a sharp glint.

“Kill!”

Dean, holding the sword in his right hand, shouted lowly, and his body pounced down like a Fierce Tiger.