Chapter 52: Just Waiting

"Understood, my lord!" Theo immediately stood up from his chair, looking rather excited now that Caelan had finally given him an order.

"Wait, before you go." Caelan raised his hand to stop him before he could completely go. "Make sure you get people who can act."

"Act, my lord?"

"Yeah. We’re going to put on a little performance."

Theo blinked in confusion, but after seeing the smile on Caelan’s face, he decided not to question him any further.

"Of course, my lord. I’ll make sure to select the most suitable members."

"Good. And tell them to bring some weapons, but nothing too serious serious. Just proper ones."

"Understood!"

With that, Theo hurried away to make the necessary arrangements, leaving Caelan standing beside the stall.

Once Theo disappeared into the crowd, Caelan turned toward the direction the carriage had gone and rubbed his chin thoughtfully.

Hehe. If I can’t find an opportunity, I’ll just make one myself.

His plan was actually quite simple.

Since Lady Renswort was traveling in an ordinary carriage without attracting much attention, he figured it would be easy enough to arrange a small incident along the road.

A few bandits would suddenly appear, threaten the carriage, and just when things seemed to be getting dangerous, he would arrive and save the day.

It was a classic trick he had seen countless times in movies and novels.

The hero saves the beautiful noblewoman from bandits, and she becomes grateful to him. Caelan couldn’t help but grin at the thought.

And it was not as if he had not saved quite a lot already. Might as well stick to that. After all, all he needed was an excuse to introduce himself and perhaps become acquainted with her.

After that, gathering information should become much easier.

Man, why didn’t I think of this earlier? He was rather pleased with himself.

There was just one small problem. The entire thing had to look convincing.

- - -

About half an hour later, Theo finally returned with five men following behind him. All of them were dressed in ordinary clothes. They didn’t look different from the other people walking around the capital.

"My lord, I’ve brought the men you requested."

"Oh, good!" Caelan looked at the men before nodding approvingly. "Can you guys act?"

The men exchanged a few glances with each other before one of them stepped forward.

"Yes, my lord. We have experience in disguising ourselves and carrying out various assignments."

"Perfect." Caelan smiled before gesturing for them to come closer.

"Alright, listen carefully to what I’ll say. Here’s what we’re going to do." He then began explaining his plan.

The five men would disguise themselves as bandits and intercept Lady Rensworth’s carriage along the road leading toward the temple. If they weren’t able to catch it, then they’d wait for her return journey.

They would threaten the driver and make enough noise to create the impression of a robbery. Then, at the right moment, Caelan would appear and drive them away. Still they had to make it all believable.

"Remember, this is just an act," Caelan reminded them. "All you need to do is scare them a little. And I might hurt you. All of you will get compensated afterward."

"Understood, my lord."

"But don’t hold back in fighting me back too."

The men nodded seriously.

Caelan couldn’t help but feel a little impressed by their dedication. Although he was asking them to do something ridiculous, none of them really cared. It seemed like as long as you said what they needed to do, they wouldn’t question it at all.

Man, these guys are really loyal.

"Alright, then. Theo, do you know which road we should take?"

"Yes, my lord." Theo immediately took out a small map from his bag and placed it on the table. "According to our information, Lady Renswort’s carriage will be taking this road toward the temple."

He pointed toward a narrow street on the map. Unlike the main roads of the capital, this one passed through a quieter part of the district before connecting to the road leading toward the temple.

"Isn’t that a little far from here?" Caelan asked as he examined the map.

"Not really. If we take the hidden ways from our personal map, we should be able to arrive before the carriage."

"Oh? That’s good, then."

Caelan nodded before looking at the five men again.

"Alright. You guys should head there first and prepare everything. Make sure you don’t attract too much attention while you’re waiting."

"Understood!"

The men immediately bowed before leaving the stall. Theo was about to follow them when Caelan suddenly called out to him.

"Oh, Theo. One more thing."

"Yes, my lord?"

"Make sure no one else gets involved. I don’t want some random person trying to help and ruining everything."

"Of course, my lord. I’ll make sure our members keep an eye on the surroundings."

"Good." Caelan smiled in satisfaction.

With everything arranged, he finally felt a little more confident about his plan.

Of course, he knew that staging a robbery wasn’t exactly the most honorable way to introduce himself to someone. But as long as nobody actually got hurt, he figured it wouldn’t be too bad.

Besides, it wasn’t like he was planning to rob her for real.

After making sure everything was settled, all of them headed toward their destination. With Theo leading the way, they followed the shortcuts marked on the Night’s personal map.

Unlike ordinary maps sold throughout the capital, this one contained hidden passages, narrow alleys, and lesser-known routes that the organization had discovered and documented over the decades.

It was the result of years of information gathering by different generations of Night members, making it particularly useful for moving around the capital without attracting much attention.

Thanks to these shortcuts, they managed to reach their destination in just 20 minutes, much faster than Caelan had expected. The five men had also arrived and were already preparing their disguises nearby.

After checking that everything was in place, Caelan found a spot where he could observe the road without being noticed. Now that all the preparations were complete, there was nothing left for them to do but wait for Lady Renswort’s carriage to arrive.