Isekai For Hire Chapter 19: Eavesdropping

Read chapter 19 of Isekai For Hire by wk_rust on NovelPedia.

Eavesdropping Lorena hurried down the street, doing her best to seem casual. She had lost sight of the three targets once they turned the corner, but she was almost to the intersection. She slipped into Stealth and turned left, finding them several yards ahead. She dropped Stealth and let her years of surveillance experience take over. Naith, the level 35 Hunter was trailing behind the other two. She used Identify on them. Weaver, human, level 98 Warrior Harkyn, human, level 35 Mage Her shoulders tensed as she took in Weaver’s level, but a note of curiosity bubbled up. What was Weaver doing with two people who weren’t even half his level? Harkyn and Weaver were in a hushed discussion, but she was too far away to make out any of it. Naith’s snake stopped and Lorena froze, slipping back into Stealth as it turned its head, tongue flickering about. She followed them through Old Town until they came to a nondescript looking building several blocks from the bar. Lorena managed to use the shadows to get half a block away, hiding in an alley. She strained to listen, but they were too far and too quiet for her to make out anything concrete. She stuck her head out around the corner to look for cover and saw an abandoned crate sitting on the sidewalk, only twenty feet away from them. Naith was standing back, her head scanning up and down the street. She looked right at Lorena, her heart pounding. Then the clouds shifted, and sunlight bathed Lorena in warmth, and sunlight. Lingering Shadows - Stealth extended for 3 seconds Lorena lurched back around the corner. Just go back, I’m sure we can get what we need from Boscar. No, we need to hear this. I just need to get to that crate. That’s impossible, there must be twenty feet of sun between here and there. Lorena visualized the sidewalk. Could she cross that distance in the three seconds that Lingering Shadows gave her? She wasn’t sure. If she wasn’t in stealth, probably. But with the 20% movement speed reduction there was no way. What about Sprint? Lorena pulled up the description, and it did indeed say it was usable in Stealth. A 60% movement speed increase would put her at 40% increase speed with Stealth active. She could make that work. I never had anxiety before you came along, you know that? Lorena bit her lip, smiling. Really? I figured a farm would be stressful. Ren huffed. Fine, I did. But that doesn’t make this any less stupid. Lorena stepped out from around the corner and activated Sprint. Lingering Shadows - Stealth extended for 3 seconds Her legs itched. Her arms pumped. She was still so far away. Two seconds left. Naith’s snake looked down the street, rising up to match Lorena’s height. Oh god he can see us! She checked the buff. One second left. They were fine. She kept pumping her legs. As the buff rolled to zero, she dove behind the crate, landing in a painful skid as the rough cobblestone scraped at her skin. Her heart was pounding in her ears so loud she couldn’t hear anything else. She pressed her back against the crate and tried to activate Stealth. It seemed to stutter a second, like it wasn’t sure if the shadow was enough, then she saw the contrast of the world shift. That was too close. Voices came into focus, drowning out everything else in the world. “I agree the blacksmith is the better target. But you haven’t found a way around the enchantments, right?” Weaver said to Harkyn. His tone was harsh, stressed. They must have been stuck for a while. “I have not. From everything I have seen they are impregnable. But there has to be another way. Maybe we intercept the delivery?” “No that doesn’t work. It has to be from the shop all at once, and we have to get past the enchantments. Until then, this job is on hold.” Someone opened the door from the inside and greeted the three of them, then they all filed inside without another word. Lorena stayed perfectly still for several seconds after the door shut, then crept toward the alleyway, letting Lingering Shadows take her out