I don't stick around to watch the prisoners free themselves. That would be at odds with the performance I have put on so far. Instead I grab the heavy pouch of coin and disappear into the forest. I go just far enough so most of the freed men and women won't be able to see or hear me anymore. I'm not so sure about Lofn, but that is a risk I'll have to accept.

That doesn't mean that I'm not doing my best to move stealthily though. Especially as soon as I change direction to head back the way I have come. In fact I move quiet and careful enough to keep progressing my [Stealth] skill. The skill is getting so close to the next level up, its tantalizing.

Finding my hidden gear on the other hand turns out to be a little more tricky than anticipated. In the end I manage though before I can get too frustrated. I have to follow my actual tracks back to get there though. Well, at least I earn some progress for my [Perception] and [Survival] skills this way.

I'm not in a hurry to get changed this time around. Not as much as before anyway. That doesn't mean that I dawdle though. Changing for me means more than just changing clothes and armor too. I focus on myself and the appearance I have gotten very used to by now. Then I can feel the change wash over me as another considerable chunk of my Mana reserves drains away.

The change, not exactly a minor one in reverse either, still feels weird. At least it earns me another divine whisper at the back of my mind.

[*Ding!* Your racial skill Change Shape has leveled up to level 5!]

Nice! I would love to level this skill a lot more, if only it wouldn't eat through my Mana reserves like it does. I still need to learn to properly fake a different status though. Masking mine is a good first step, but it hardly is the end of this particular road.

I'm already in the process of getting dressed in my own clothes again, when a thought strikes me. I should have asked Ediva how she does it. I'm pretty sure her signature spell eats Mana like crazy, yet she was able to cast it several times in relatively short order. She has to have some skill that improves her Mana regeneration! And I totally forgot to ask! Maybe she still is in town? Maybe I still have a chance. I'll have to check once I get back to Riverrun.

First things first though. I still have to tie up a loose end. Back in the body I'm most comfortable with and wearing my own things once again I bundle everything else back up to return to the spot where I left the tied up guard whose shape I assumed for this escapade.

She is indeed still where I left her and is still in miserable shape, closer to death than anything else. She is curled up into a small bundle of misery.

It's almost enough to make me reconsider my course of action. I have to remind myself that she would have sold those prisoners into slavery to earn her captain and herself some extra coin without any hesitation. She isn't the one deserving any lenience or a second chance or anything of the likes. Thoughts like that are reserved for the people that were locked up in that cage.

She only becomes aware of my return, when I drop her bundled up belongings at her feet. Her eyes widen in fear as I pull my utility knife. Her relief when I only cut the leather strings binding her wrists and ankles, her relief is almost palpable. She is still worried though. That much is clear. She doesn't even make a move to grab her things. Not right away at least. Instead she shies back a little when she spots her weapons bundled up with the rest.

I decide to speak some clarifying words.

"Get dressed, but don't get any funny ideas. Even with your weapons at hand I'd probably squish you like an annoying bug before you can put any plan you may come up with into action."

The message is pretty clear and the way I deliver it standing above her in the dark of night in the even darker woods has to be pretty intimidating. Thus the following divine whisper doesn't exactly come as a surprise.

[*Ding!* Your skill Intimidate has leveled up to level 6!]

I take a step back as she gets up on shaky feet to get dressed. I could in theory heal her, but I don't really feel like it. Not even the temptation of quick and easy progress for my skills can tempt me in this time around. It would be, in my eyes, a wasted effort.

Edyta recoils a little, her nose wrinkling and her brows furrowing, as she slips back into her armor.

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

"What … what the hell did you do?"

I snort. It's not an expression of crude and cruel amusement though. Some blood might have gotten on her things during the brief melee with the slavers and the other guard. I haven't paid it any mind so far, but this serves as an important reminder, that I might be well advised to take a quick bath in the river myself before I return to town.

"Wrong question. The real question is, what did you do? As far as anyone still alive can testify, you killed the other guard and your business partners, those slave traders, to make off with the coin intended for the deal."

I drop the big leather pouch full of tingling coin at her feet for emphasis.

"Judging by the sad state of your own pouch no one will, in all likelihood, even question this turn of events."

Edyta blanches visibly at my declaration, here eyes glued to the bag of coin. There is a new shake going through her body. She is terrified, almost scared out of her wits now. Her voice in turn is barely a whisper.

"You have killed me. You might as well have put a knife between my ribs yourself. The moment I stop running I'll be dead."

I'm tempted to roll my eyes, but I don't. Of course I could have killed her myself. It would have taken hardly any additional effort at all, considering her state. That wouldn't serve my purpose though. Thus in the end I only snort once more.

"Well, you better not stop running then. In fact you better hurry up. I have a small boat at the river. That should give you a little head start."

There is, of course, no boat, but she is so desperate to not even question my words. Another whispered notification is my immediate reward for the lie.

[*Ding!* Your skill Bluff has leveled up to level 7!]

Another little bit of progress for my scoundrel class. In fact I'm making so much headway, that I might just be able to live with myself even despite all the things I have done tonight and the things I'll still have to do.

The soon to be former guard of Riverrun finishes dressing in her usual clothes and gear. She picks up the heavy bag too, weighing it in her hands for a moment before she slings it over her shoulder. It's like I can see the wheels in her mind turning, as she considers just how far the bag's contents will get her.

To be perfectly honest, I don't know. I never even looked inside the bag. Just by the weight alone I'm pretty sure though that it's not filled with bronze pennies though. It's a fortune for sure even if I don't know how big a fortune exactly. It doesn't really matter as far as I'm concerned anyway.

As my unwilling accomplice finished fastening her sword belt around her hip I point in the general direction of the river.

"Let's get going. Don't dawdle. I don't have all night and neither do you. Especially you don't have time to waste. You really want to be as far from here as possible by the time news of your daring heist begins to spread."

She doesn't need any more prompting than that to get going. Thankfully she still isn't thinking this through properly. Otherwise she would already be questioning this course of action. Honestly, she really isn't a good guard. She wouldn't make for a good rogue either though. Neither comes as much of a surprise though. I have already seen her in action at the city gate before after all.

In the end I make only some minor adjustments to the course she picks herself. And even that is only to keep up the pretense that I know where we need to go to get to the mentioned boat. The boat that doesn't exist at all. I really only want her by the riverside, at a spot that is not too obvious but still visible from any passing riverboat.

It's only when we reach the riverbank that she begins to suspect that something is wrong. She turns to face me.

"Where's that boat …"

That's all she gets out before I close the distance between us. She cringes as realization dawns upon her. The punch she expects never comes though. Instead I hook my foot behind hers and give her a good push, making her fall into the shallow water of the slow flowing river.

The reeds break her fall a little. Enough so that I don't get any notifications right away. Just as well. As she turns around to get up on her hands and knees, while coughing up mud and water, I trip her again. This time I don't let up. I plant my foot firmly on the back of her head and keep her face under water. She still has some fight left in her, but it doesn't do her any good in the end. I only stop and take my foot off the back of her head, when I receive the expected notifications.

[*Ding!* Hit! Edyta's Health reduced by 11!]

[*Ding!* You have defeated Edyta, a guard of Riverrun!]

This is the part that makes me feel the worst. Not even my [Brawling] skill improving another little bit can change my mind this time around. This wasn't even a fight, much less a fair one. I couldn't take the chance of her eventually telling a tale of some mysterious woman who framed her for murder and theft though.

She should have realized that she is, as far as I'm concerned, a loose end. One that needs to be tied up.

I let out a long sigh and look around. The bag of coin has tumbled into the water. I step over the dead woman to open up the latch that has already become partially undone anyway. Almost right away glittering coins, all gold and silver, spill forth. Well, at least it seems the life of a slave is not a cheap commodity.

The glitter of gold and silver should draw attention to the scene before long even if the body doesn't. Good. I pick up a single silver shilling.

"For Fox."

Then I start to backtrack away from the river edge, taking care to walk in the guards footsteps as I retreat walking backwards, just as I was already careful when coming here. This of course won't fool a good tracker, but for a casual observer, like riverboat men drawn by the spilled coin, it might be good enough. It's good enough to make my [Survival] skill progress a little too.

Time to get out of here, have a quick wash somewhere else at the river, preferably upstream of Riverrun, and meet up with Núira and her cousin at the mill afterwards.

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