I reincarnated in game

39 Time for Action

In the morning, Hugh, Judi, and Kenneth met for breakfast.  They all seemed a little preoccupied with their own thoughts … after they finished eating; they went back to Hugh and Kenneth’s room. 

While Hugh donned the camouflage machine, Judi approached him to tie the leads to his wrists.  With a determined look on her face, she said, “I am going with you.  You will need someone to watch your back and there is greater safety in numbers.”  When Hugh went to interject, she continued, “There is nothing to debate … I am coming with you!”

Looking at Hugh, Kenneth said, “I want to come and help you, too.”

Hugh smiled at him and said, “No, Kenneth.  I promised your Pa that I would look after you.  I cannot take you with me today because it would be too dangerous.  Judi is skilled in fighting, should it come to that.” 

Kenneth hung his head, clearly disappointed.  Hugh continued, “Actually, it would help me … uh, that is, Judi and I, if you stayed here at the inn.  If we aren’t back by suppertime, we will need you to let James know that we went to the town square to look for Bishop Paul.  That way, he will know where to look for us if he is able to.” 

Judi and Hugh had started to leave but were stopped at the door by Kenneth’s worried inquiry … “But you will be coming back here, though, right?”

Judi had already passed through the door.  Hugh turned, “We will do our very best,” he said, in what he hoped was a confident tone.  He had actually been thinking back to the scenario in Valari.  The enchantment on the counterfeit coins had been able to deceive the goons and Mr. Townsend; the priest’s higher level of perception allowed him to see that something was amiss and he was able to dispel the magic revealing the fraud.  His camouflage device worked for both Judi and Kenneth who were at or below his level … would someone who was at a higher level than him be able to see through his camouflage and detect his Crystal appearance?   

Hugh gave himself a mental shake and chastised himself for worrying about what he could not control.  He reminded himself that he needed to keep his wits about him and focused on the task at hand; for both his and Judi’s safety, he needed to be alert to everything going on around them.

They made there way down to the town square pretty much in silence.  When they arrived, the carnival events were in full swing; vendor’s hawking food, drink and trinkets; games of chance and contests to show skill and strength were everywhere.  Townspeople filled the square even though it was still only mid-morning.  The two friends joined the crowd, and hopefully, appeared to be enjoying the festivities like all the rest; their eyes, however, were busy looking through the crowds for their target.  They saw a few of the local priests mingling with the crowd but steered clear of them … Hugh didn’t want to run the risk of them being able to see through his disguise. 

Their surveillance did not yield any results until early afternoon when the bishop was seen with his entourage in the square.  They had not seen him enter so did not know where he had come from.  Keeping their distance, always with several people in between, Hugh and Judi tracked his movements.  The bishop walked around the square responding to greetings from the locals with a wave but the smile on his face looked a little stiff.  His aloofness made it seem as if he was just out in public for appearances sake; that otherwise, these activities were beneath him.  After approximately two hours, they saw him heading for a very opulent inn at the edge of the square.  He, and those with him, went straight past the front desk, not bothering to check with the attendant.

“It looks like the bishop is staying at that inn … he didn’t stop to check in so they must recognize him.  Let’s go inquire about renting a room to see if we can find out which room he is in,” said Hugh.  Together they approached the man behind the counter.  Hugh quickly scanned the epithet and saw that his level was Level 15 … “Good,” he thought, “He won’t be able to see through my disguise.” 

Hugh cleared his throat as he prepared to engage the man in conversation, Judi positioned herself a few feet to his left … she had spied the inn’s guest register.  The entries appeared to be in a bold hand which she could easily read upside down.  She just needed a few minutes to be able to scan through the several entries showing there. 

“Good afternoon, sir,” Hugh began.  “We would like to inquire about booking a room for the rest of National Week.  Would you have one available?”

“I am sorry, young man,” the employee said.  “The king has reserved our entire establishment to accommodate his invited guests and all their attendants … we have no rooms available.”

Hugh could see that Judi was still looking at the register and wanted to keep the man’s attention focused on him to give her a few more minutes.  “Oh, that is disappointing.  My wife and I were hoping to be able to find a place near the focal point of the festivities.  My wife is a huge fan of Saint Elizabeth and wanted to be able to be present for the royal engagement.”  Judi gave him a subtle “thumbs up” below the level of the counter, out of eyesight from the clerk.  “I guess we will just have to look somewhere else.  Thank you for your time.  Have a good day!”  The two of them left through the front door.

“Thanks for keeping that guy busy,” Judi said as they got back outside.  “I was able to see that the bishop has six rooms reserved on the ground floor numbering from ‘7 West to 12 West’.  When we were following him in the square, I counted about ten or eleven in his group.  I suspect that he occupies one room by himself; that would mean that there would be at least two people in each of the other five rooms.  Because it was reserved as a block of rooms, I wasn’t able to see which of the six rooms is his.”    

“Well that is somewhere to start anyway,” replied Hugh.  “Let’s go around to the back and see if we can find a way to get inside for a little more reconnaissance.”  They made their way around to the back of the inn where they found a door opening into a small alley … it was probably where the vendors made deliveries to the inn.  Fortunately, because of all the activity in the square, there was only one other person in the alley and he was several doors away. 

Judi and Hugh opened the back door to the inn and saw that they were in a short hall that made a “T” with a larger hall running east and west … possibly the “main hall” with the guest rooms.  On one side, sounds of kitchen activity came through a partially open door.  On the other side, there was a sign over a closed door.  It read “Linens / Uniforms / Supplies”. 

Hugh had turned the knob on the second door and found it was unlocked.  He motioned Judi to follow and quietly moved into the room.  Just like the sign said, the room held linens and, more importantly, uniforms.  “I have an idea,” he said.  “If we are seen wandering around in our winter coats, we will definitely attract unwanted attention.  Let’s stash our coats here.  We can find you a maid’s uniform; then you can put some of those towels and sheets on the top shelf of this cart.  We’ll open up one sheet and drape it over the sides to cover the bottom shelf of the cart.  Given the small confines, we’ll have to move the cart into the hall for me to squeeze into the space between the two shelves.  You can then push the cart along the hall to the bishop’s rooms and check them out until we find the one he is in.  Once we do, I will jump out from under the draped sheet and go into his room.  You can grab one of these dusters and make yourself busy ‘dusting’ in the hall while keeping a lookout.  What do you think?”

Judi grinned.  “Would you like one towel or two, sir?” she said with a fake accent and a totally innocent look on her face.

Hugh quickly readied the cart while Judi put on a maid’s uniform.  “How about we just put our coats in with you instead of leaving them here?” Judi asked.

“Good thinking!” Hugh responded.

Hugh opened the door to see if the hall was clear.  A woman was right outside the door.  She was obviously surprised at their sudden appearance.  Before she could scream out, Hugh clapped his hand over her mouth and pulled her into the room; he pushed the door closed with his foot as he dragged her to the back of the tiny room.  In so doing, the coat the woman was wearing fell open; they could see she was wearing a maid’s uniform.  They couldn’t risk her raising an alarm.  “Tear off a couple of strips from one of those sheets,” he whispered to Judi.  “We’re going to have to bind and gag her so she doesn’t blow our cover.”  Then looking at the maid’s frightened eyes, he said, “Sorry about this but we have no choice.  We won’t have to hurt you if you cooperate.  Do you understand?”

The girl nodded. 

Judi brought over the strips of cloth.  She rolled up a smaller strip and helped Hugh wedge it into the maid’s mouth.  They then made sure she couldn’t spit it out by placing a second strip over the gag and tying it securely at the back of her head.  Other strips were used to tie her hands behind her back and tie her ankles together.  They propped her against the wall next to a rack of towels then looped the last strip of the torn sheet between her arms to secure her bound hands to the leg of the rack … she wouldn’t be going anywhere in a hurry!        

Hugh managed to squeeze into his hiding space along with their two coats.  The cart wasn’t designed for the extra weight but at least the wheels rolled freely on the polished floor so it didn’t appear that Judi was struggling to move the cart along to the intersecting hall.  She turned towards the west end … the room numbers adjacent to the junction of the halls showed ‘1 West’ on the one side and ’1 East’ on the other.  There were rooms on each side of the hall.  Judi bent over the cart and, in a low voice, said, “From the looks of it, the far end of the hall on the right would be where the bishop’s rooms were.  I think we should go right to the end of the hall and work our way back.  There doesn’t appear to be an exit at the far end; this would be our quickest way out if we need to leave in a hurry.”

“Go for it,” was the equally soft reply.  Judi pushed the cart in that direction.

With towels in hand, Judi knocked on the first door and listened for a response.  A voice called out, “Yes.  Who is it?”

“Housekeeping … fresh towels,” Judi replied. 

“OK.  Come in.” 

Judi pushed the door open.  Two men were sitting in the room talking; neither one was the bishop.  She deposited the fresh towels and collected the soiled ones before exiting.  “One down, five to go,” she said under her breath.

The same thing happened in the next four rooms; each room had two men.  By process of elimination, the next room had to be the bishop’s room.  Room 7 West.

She knocked on the door.  No response came.

She knocked a second time … nothing. 

She tried the door … it was unlocked.  She saw the robes the bishop had been wearing in the square hanging in the closet by the door.  Nobody appeared to be in the room; however, there was a closed door on the far side of the room. 

Judi moved to the cart.  “The room on the left is his room.  His robe is hanging in the closet just inside the door … I don’t see him.  I saw a door on the far side … it might lead to an adjoining room,” she whispered to the sheet.

“Is there anybody in the hall?” Hugh asked.

Judi looked up and down.  “No,” she replied.

Before she had finished her response, Hugh ducked out and entered the room she had indicated.  He crossed the room quickly and listened at the second door.  He heard two male voices … one definitely belonged to Bishop Paul. 

Hugh retreated to the door where Judi was standing.  “He is in there but he has someone with him.  We can’t have any witnesses.  I am going to hide here in the closet until the other person leaves.  I heard a sound like a chair being moved … maybe whoever it is will be leaving shortly.  You can do some ‘dusting’ in the hall.  Once he is alone, I won’t be long,” he said with a meaningful look.

Judi reached out and touched his arm.  “OK … be careful!” 

Hugh closed the door.

Judi picked up the duster off the cart.

Hugh waited in the closet … his hand on the dagger which he had tied to his belt and hid under the folds of his shirt … it wasn’t very big but it would do.

After several minutes, he heard the other door open … he had left the closet door open slightly so he could see into the room.  The bishop entered the room, still in conversation with a second man.  A local priest followed behind.

“OK.  You go get the others and have them meet back here in five minutes.  Father Dave and I will go to the kitchen to arrange for supper to be served in our makeshift office.  We can dine in there while we discuss the details of our part in the engagement ceremony,” the bishop said.

Hugh pulled the closet door in.  The three men went to the door leading to the hall … one man turned left towards the bishop’s other five rooms; the bishop and the priest turned right towards the short hall leading to the kitchen.  Nobody paid any attention to the maid in the hall who had momentarily halted her dusting.

Hugh opened the door leading to the hall.  Two quick steps; he was back into his hiding place.  “We can’t do it today.  The whole gang of them is coming back here in just a few minutes.  The bishop and the priest are going to the kitchen.  Take the cart back to the Linens room.”

Judi pushed the cart back to the intersecting hall and headed back to Linens.  She opened the door so they could put the cart out of sight … the maid was gone!

“Hugh, grab out coats!  We got to get out of here fast!  The maid is gone … she could be raising the alarm!” Judi said urgently.

Hugh jumped out with their coats … without pausing to put them on, the two rushed the short distance to the rear door and out into the alley.  They ran back out to the square where they donned their winter garments. 

Nobody appeared to be following them and no unusual activity was evident …

“We had better get back to the inn … Kenneth will be worried.  We’ll have to come up with another plan,” Hugh said.  To himself, he said, “Now I know where you are staying; our next meeting will be different!”