It was refreshing being out at night. The crisp wind was cool against her cheeks and the village fell into softer details, like a pleasant dream. It was a lot easier on her eyes. She knew goblin liked to do raids at night, but this was the first time she considered they might actually be nocturnal. They could even be crepuscular, a thing Suncat insisted she was whenever Ratface woke her from a nap. In Lurian, they didn’t really have a chance to sleep during the day, they had to be attentive in case any elves came by. How many of her habits were from trying to appease them all these years?

  She shook her head. A problem for later. Right now, she had to find her way into the guild. She looked across from her perch on the inns roof. Alvinshire may be weird but at least they followed the objectively correct choice of having their rooves within jumpable distance of each other. It made nighttime prowling much easier. The guild was a few rooves over. None of them were houses just shops. Odd for a small village like this but she supposed they didn’t want their house on the main road. She gave Halmir a pat then jumped over to the next roof, landing with a crouch. She’d only brought Halmir because as a rat he was immune to crime, at least that seemed to be the rat boys understanding. At least she knew he wouldn’t take issue with her life choices.

  They jumped from roof to roof until they were standing on the guilds. Usually at this point she’d try sneaking through a window or a chimney but both of them were locked. Good instinct on the guilds part. Luckily, she had the best lockpick known to man. She put Halmir down and let him get to work. He scrambled around until he found a small hole and squeezed through it. Ratface struggled to find the hole even after he snuck through it.

  A few minutes later and there was a click from one of the windows followed by it opening and Halmir sticking his head through. She climbed down from the roof and slipped through the window to look around.

  They’d found themselves in a floor above reception. The room they were in had a few tables and comfortable chairs but little else of note. There were some paintings on the wall. It looked like a nice area.

  Ratface glanced at Halmir, her sneaking was largely theoretical. The actual technique she had down fine. All goblins got taught how to sneak at a young age and their parents were strict; one mistake in the real thing and they wouldn’t just get themselves killed but everyone with them. As a result, she was as quiet as the rat next to her most of the time. That didn’t mean she knew what room this was. It didn’t look like anything she’d seen in her village or Claudette’s mansion.

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  “Break room,” said Halmir. His musical voice whispered across the room. The rat had a lot more experience with this sort of thing. He was very worldly for someone she’d met in a garbage heap.

  They snuck through the room until they got to the next door. Halmir turned into a rat and squeezed under the gap between the door and the floor. A faint squeak from the other room let her know the coast was clear. Ratface carefully turned the handle and pushed the door open. It wasn’t that she didn’t trust Halmir, it would just be careless to not check. The next room was just a hallway and the two of them spread out into it. Ratface read the doors, she had a passing familiarity with common now, while Halmir squeezed underneath to check them out.

  In theory, Ratface could just go back to the receptionist desk, but she was wary of being on the first floor. It felt less safe. She was rewarded for her arbitrary caution when she came across a more gilded door. It was of a fancier wood and had a faint carving of a spear and sword on it. Ratface would have recognised it as the guild master’s even before she read that on the door.

  She leaned her head against the door and listened. She couldn’t hear anything. She went to get Halmir to check before she noticed that it was sealed against the floor. She didn’t think even the rat could get through.

  She tried the door and found to her surprise it opened easily. The room itself was as fancy as the door. It had a mix of tasteful trinkets from a life of adventuring. On one shelf was a horn from some creature and on the wall was an old painting from a dungeon. It spoke of someone experienced but not gaudy. On the desk in the middle of the room was a sheaf of papers. It looked official and if Ratface was a betting girl that’s what raid orders would look like.

  She frowned. The documents being out went completely against the rest of the decor. The way this room was set out suggested someone careful and thoughtful and the unlocked door and left out documents spoke of the exact opposite. On a hunch, she focused her magic sight.

  Thing lines of magic crossed across the room. It was like the place was covered in magical spider webs. Ratface didn’t know what the lines did but she could guess. It was probably an alarm. It’d be too extreme to be deadly. What if the wrong person sprung it?

  That was a problem then. Ratface knew that the papers would be baited to catch whoever they were after. The problem was if the trap was meant for her, that was definitely the information she needed.