All that remains is to find the estate of the family involved in the assassination attempt from this side, the location of which I have only a dubious idea. And this is despite the fact that I have even less understanding of my current location.
Well, I've been in tougher situations than that.
With all those four-story buildings around, the city looks more like a maze.
And the rare blue light from the crystal shards built into the lanterns doesn't make it any easier to find the right path.
Fine, I just need to get higher and figure out which direction from the castle in the middle of town I'm in.
From there, I can already move to the noble borough where all the estates of any significant noble family are located.
Next, I just need to find the right house, and from there, go in and get anything that might even hint at my involvement.
And the last part.
Find out who's involved.
Get rid of those involved.
Set the house on fire and get away as far as I can.
Good thing it's just a small baron family.
It's just a shame that until then I'll have to save aether and travel the old-fashioned way on foot.
Or I can always run into a signpost.
Works pretty well, too.
Turns out I was not far from the place I needed to be.
All that's left is to do everything planned and get out before dawn.
Based on the position of the moon, I'd say I'll have about four hours to do all of that.
That's more than enough.
While I'm on my way there, I have just enough time to remember everything I know about the Blackthorn household.
A small baron family with an affinity for fire, who for some unknown reason got it into their heads that they could get away with helping to organize an assassination attempt on the crown princess.
What foolishness can be driven to by the banal lust for power.
Anyway, that's not my concern.
I'm finally more or less getting there.
Noble borough, one would think that such a place would be defended close to the level of a royal castle, but that's not quite the case, the degree of protection depends mostly on the guards that each house has assigned to its estate.
So while I'm not trying to infiltrate some rich duke's territory, absolutely no one is stopping me from moving from shadow to shadow while I'm looking for the place I need.
I clearly don't need to go to the center, but even in the remote areas, some estates look quite rich and with minimal security. I wish I had more time.
A little frustrating, but the search took a little longer than I had hoped.
Mostly because I've walked past the right place a few times. I certainly didn't expect luxury, but I also didn't expect it to be located in the most remote area.
Only the place I want shows any signs of life, all the other estates nearby show clear signs of neglect.
The mansion closest to me looks like it's about to fall apart, the gates are long rusted and the right half is even missing. I'm not sure if anyone has been here in the last couple of years.
With a little luck, even in such a seemingly wealthy area, it will take a decent amount of time after I'm already gone before anyone notices anything.
The very estate that I need doesn't stand out as anything special, surrounded by walls with a gate guarded by two guards.
From the gate to the mansion there is a stone path surrounded by a green lawn and a small garden, as far as I can see there are a few patrols walking around the area, but no one comes near the gate or the mansion itself.
A plain two-story white stone mansion with a portico at the entrance and a flat roof without any possibility of entry.
Looks pretty good considering the surroundings.
Now I could always just break in, it's doubtful that anything here could pose a threat to me, but it would be highly undesirable if someone showed up before I left, better to do it quietly and forget about this place.
Especially since once I get in I can only get out on my own two feet, for the same reason why I can't just walk through the shadows to get inside.
Because of some smart guys in the past who clearly abused this sort of thing, now every single even slightly important building has at least the most primitive shard with protection against it, damn them, my life would be so much easier if it weren't for this.
What's worse is if the defenses on the mansion really were primitive I could just force my way in.
And since I can't, that means it's close or on the same level as me. Which is alarming for a place like this.
It is also not easy to get into the building if I don't want to break anything, the times of the regular keys for the nobility are gone. Now there are smart doors that can read the signature.
Depending on the price of the door what you need to get through will vary.
If you're lucky it'll just be some item, sometimes you might have to carry someone's hand while you explore a building.
At worst it will read the aether to enter, and since after death in a few seconds all the aether dissolves into the air it is likely that you will have to either act very quickly or find someone new, well this is only in theory I've been lucky enough to never encounter something like this.
Based on the identical crest rings on all the guards, I'm going to go with the first option.
The good thing here is that although people protect their home from teleportation inside, they rarely do the same with the whole area, to which they very often post guards with a direct pass to the house.
And I really don't want anything to change.
It's hard not to think that for all its silliness, this place is still harder to get into than the royal castle. I wish I could find the thing that let me walk through the shadows inside, but it could always be a one-time use, and I have limited time.
Now it's time to think about the best way to do this.