Chapter 277: Infiltrator’s Maid Manual

Bastion’s celebration loomed ever closer. Mason had secured entry to the event, along with an invitation that listed Luke as his companion. Jack, meanwhile, had been slipping through alleys to their hideout, leaving bundles of supplies in an abandoned house nearby. Evangeline insisted on the precaution: if anyone trailed him, they wouldn’t trace the goods back to the group.

Inside the fortress, the Haven folk who had remained behind worked steadily on repairs. They patched cracks in the stone, reinforced barricades, and shored up inner defenses. Nothing obvious, nothing that would rouse suspicion if a scout wandered too close.

Through Jack came further news: Bartholomew had sent scouting parties deeper into the other section of the tutorial zone. His eyes were elsewhere. He was convinced Luke had fled in that direction.

So Luke’s last few days had been reduced to two things. Waiting, and learning how to walk in high heels.

“Why the hell do I have to practice this crap?” Luke muttered, or rather, Lucy muttered, teetering in the heels with murderous irritation.

Evangeline, arms folded, pressed a folding fan into his hand.

“You need to be a charming woman,” she said.

“Charming? I just need to stay at that damned party for a few minutes and then vanish!”

She sighed, long-suffering. “We need you to draw attention without drawing attention. If someone spots you in a corridor, you’ll have to improvise. You’ll need confidence, mystery, allure, charm.”

“I’ll just say, ‘I got lost, I was looking for the bathroom.’” Luke collapsed into a chair, sulking.

“That’s not how it works, idiot.” Evangeline snapped the fan shut with a crack. “And if the soldier tells you to go back to the party, then what?”

Luke froze mid-thought. “I’ll… improvise?”

The fan smacked against the table. “You need to be seductive.”

“I’m not seducing anyone!” Luke shot to his feet, glaring at her.

“Lucy, you have to use charm to captivate. Lure a guard somewhere quiet, then knock him out.”

“I’ll just kill the guard and stash him in my storage item,” Luke replied flatly.

“You’d kill an innocent soldier?”

He clicked his tongue, annoyance biting through the room.

“Being the good guy sucks…” he muttered.

Evangeline stepped closer, her gaze sharp enough to cut. “As a woman, you’ve got the confidence of a monkey.”

She flicked a folded sheet of paper onto the table.

“What’s this?” Lucy asked, suspicion in his tone.

“Lines I wrote for you, based on my kunoichi seduction techniques. Memorize them. I even noted when to use each one.”

Luke skimmed the paper. With each line his face darkened, veins throbbing at his temple. “I’m not saying any of this. I’d rather die than say this.”

“Your choice, Luke. But your life depends on it,” Evangeline replied without flinching.

The absurdity of the exchange hung in the air, but the plan itself was no joke. They returned to reviewing it, voices low and serious. Step one: Mason would escort Luke into the banquet. Step two: Luke needed to escape unnoticed. The ballroom had only one exit, guarded and well lit. Whether he tried to walk out boldly or seep through the doors as mist, both options carried risk. Mason’s role was clear: create a diversion strong enough to draw every eye, buying Luke the precious seconds to slip away.

From there, the path led to a marked spot on the map, the cleaning supply room. That was where Luke would shed the gown and disguise himself again, this time in a maid’s uniform. Evangeline herself had stitched it together from memory, piecing details Jack and Mason provided. A disguise meant for survival, not vanity.

The fan still lay on the table between them, its folded ribs like the teeth of a trap.

Disguised as a maid, Luke would make his way through the fortress toward the mechanism at its center. The place had been sealed off long ago, hidden behind freshly raised walls. No one knew of it except Bartholomew and Kruger. His task was simple in theory: carve a hole through the barrier.

According to Evangeline, the wall wasn’t particularly thick. Bartholomew had made sure of that, in case he ever needed access himself. Even so, Luke would have to breach it quietly, slip inside as mist, and infiltrate the mechanism room without anyone noticing.

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

Once finished, he was supposed to retrace his steps, slip back through the same opening, and return to the supply room. There he would swap back into the dress, rejoin the party as if nothing had happened, and remain until it ended. Only then would he leave Bastion’s fortress with the others. All of it hinged on drawing no attention.

Of course, they had backup plans. If reentering the party became impossible, Luke could abandon the disguise and make for the stairwell, climbing toward the upper levels in a desperate bid to escape. From there, he might even attempt to leap down from the fortress walls. But that was a last resort. He knew the truth: if it came to that, he wouldn’t make it out alive. Erza Grimhart or the soldiers would find him long before he hit the ground.

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