The Most Arbitrary Wizard

’After all, I’m only Tier Three right now—a far cry from my former power of Tier Ten and beyond. If I don’t work harder, forget Olivia and Daeli, I might not even be able to handle my little sister-in-law.’

This was also why he hadn’t gone with Elvire to the Blazing Angel Family.

’If Daeli has also been reborn and recognizes me, I might just have to turn myself over to the Blazing Angel Family—in every sense of the word.’

"Then let’s go," Eleanor said, raising her hand.

To be honest, setting aside the Magic Power boost and the bounty, she was personally quite interested in the painting. The First Saintess and Mr. Blake had been lovers, and when lovers exchange paintings, they are usually portraits. This meant the painting likely depicted Mr. Blake’s true appearance. She had long wanted to see what this legendary figure actually looked like and if he was as handsome as the books described.

"Alright, alright! It’s four votes to two! I say we move out immediately!" Tony exclaimed excitedly, shooting Sean a look of pure approval. ’That’s my boy,’ the look seemed to say. ’I knew I wasn’t wrong about you! When it comes to guts, at least, you have my respect!’

Sean couldn’t be bothered to acknowledge him.

’If my face is actually in that painting, we’ll see who’s respecting whom.’

"Let’s go, go, go! Into the city!" Tony urged.

"I know you’re eager, but try to contain yourself," Johnson said, sounding exasperated. "We’re still stuck in traffic."

Although he and Ryan didn’t approve of stealing the painting, they wouldn’t ditch their teammates now that everyone else was set on it. It was just that the traffic wasn’t going to do them any favors; it was as gridlocked as ever.

They were stuck from noon through the afternoon, and it wasn’t until nearly dinnertime that the group finally passed the tollbooth and entered Old Mundo City.

"Sean and I will go get the hotel rooms. You guys go scope the place out. We’ll meet up later at the Flame Dance Bar in the city center." Eleanor assigned the tasks. Despite her youth, when she took charge, she had the air of a true leader.

"Wait, why are you two getting the rooms?" Johnson asked.

"It’s simple," Eleanor said. "Sean’s Tier is lower than yours. I wouldn’t feel comfortable with him doing the recon."

The ball was being hosted by the rulers of Old Mundo City, the Little Gista Family. As one of the Church Court’s direct vassal families, although the Little Gistas were only a Baron Family—a lower title than the Florist Family’s—their actual strength was on par with any Viscount Family.

So, reconnaissance was risky. If they were discovered, forget about taking the painting; they might not even be able to get away themselves.

"I can understand Sean not going, but why aren’t you going either?" Johnson asked, seeming to take issue with this.

Eleanor replied as if it were the most obvious thing in the world, "Because I have to protect him."

"By that logic, I can protect him too." Johnson turned to Sean. "Come on, I’ll go get a room with you."

Sean: "?"

’No, no, no.’

"You should probably just go do the recon."

’Even if it’s just legitimately getting a room, doing it with another guy would still feel weird.’

And so, having been decisively rejected by the man himself, Johnson could only shoot Sean a resentful glare before getting out of the car and turning right with Tony and Ryan.

Once the three of them left, the car suddenly became quiet.

"Do you know how to drive?" Eleanor asked.

Sean answered honestly, "No."

Eleanor thought for a moment. "Then I guess I’ll drive."

With that, she slid into the driver’s seat. "I don’t know how either, but I’ve ridden a broomstick. It should be similar enough."

Sean: "?"

’No, it’s very different!’

But before Sean could protest, Eleanor had already slammed on the gas, following the GPS straight to the hotel.

「Half an hour later.」

The two of them arrived at the hotel parking lot, miraculously unscathed.

Sean’s heart had been in his throat the whole way, terrified that Eleanor was going to drive up onto the sidewalk.

But in reality, Eleanor’s driving was very steady. The few times on the road when it looked like she was about to crash into someone, she was doing it on purpose.

"Just messing with you. I actually have a driver’s license," Eleanor said with a grin after getting out of the car, teasing Sean for his terrified expression. "Look how scared you were."

Sean didn’t believe her for a second. "Don’t make excuses for your terrible driving."

"Fine, don’t believe me then," Eleanor huffed, but her smile returned in an instant. Humming a little tune, she pulled Sean toward the hotel lobby. "Come on, the elevator is this way."

She seemed to be in a very good mood.

Sean didn’t bother asking why.

He was in a good mood, too.

After all, he could legally slack off.

Riding in a car for that long was exhausting. Who would want to go do recon when they could rest in a hotel?

They got two suites in total. The moment he entered his, Sean flopped onto the bed, ready to spread-eagle and relax. But before he could even stretch out his limbs, Eleanor pulled him back up.

"Hey, don’t you dare actually slack off."

"Huh?"

Sean asked, confused, "Didn’t we come to the hotel to get rooms?"

’Now that the rooms are gotten, it’s time to rest.’

"It’s not that simple." Eleanor pulled two detectors out of her suitcase and tossed one to Sean. "You take the living room; I’ll take the bedroom."

They would rest, and Eleanor wanted to rest too, but before that, they had to check the rooms.

’So cautious...’ Sean thought. ’Have I really never paid attention to this sort of thing?’

Eleanor shrugged. "Can’t be helped. The Church Court forced us to be this way."

The world was full of their enemies. To survive, they had to be extra careful about everything.

As it turned out, Eleanor was right.

Sean actually found a pinhole camera next to the light fixture on the living room ceiling. It had the number "91" printed on it.

He had no idea which gentleman it belonged to.

After sweeping the rooms clean, Sean and Eleanor rested for a bit before heading to the Flame Dance Bar. By then, it was ten o’clock at night.

Tony and the others had already secured a booth and were waiting for them.

The booth was by a window, far from the stage, so it was relatively quiet.

On the table were a few bottles of cheap liquor and a hand-drawn fire escape map.

"This is...?"

"I copied it from Eve Mansion," Tony said.

Sean was amazed at their efficiency.

In just a few short hours, they had not only found out the location of the ball and the specific floor, but they had also figured out the mansion’s layout. Sean even suspected they had already planned their escape route.

With this level of professionalism, Sean wouldn’t have believed them if they said they hadn’t pulled off a few big jobs before.

Now that everyone was there, they wasted no time and got straight to the details.

"The art exhibition ball is the day after tomorrow at seven in the evening."

Tony said, "From what I’ve gathered, a lot of people are coming, and it’s a very mixed crowd—everyone from wealthy commoners to nobles of the Count rank. A rough estimate would be no less than two thousand people."

"Probably more than that," Kave said.

The traffic jam at the tollbooth that afternoon had been so bad they felt like they were about to get kidney stones. He’d believe it if someone said twenty thousand people were coming.

"That’s because of all the entourages," Ryan said. "Isn’t that how rich people travel?"

They’d love to bring all their household servants to show off their status and position.

But those people wouldn’t be allowed into the main venue.

The Little Gista Family had set aside an entire floor in Eve Mansion for the servants. The ball was upstairs, the servants were downstairs, and the wall between them symbolized an insurmountable class divide. There would be food and drink for them, but no art.

Servants were not qualified to view the Saintess’s artwork.

So, the plan to disguise themselves as Household Servants and sneak in wouldn’t work.

"If we want to get in, we have to go through the front door," Tony said. "And the front door requires an invitation, which is hard to get. We’d be better off making our move early and intercepting the painting before the ball even starts."

They had been short on time earlier and hadn’t found where the Little Gista Family was keeping the painting. But that didn’t matter. The ball was the day after tomorrow, so the painting would be delivered to Eve Mansion by tomorrow night at the latest. All they had to do was lie in wait.

Sean raised a question. "Why not just make our move during the ball?"

The Little Gista Family was going to display the painting for everyone to see anyway, so why go through the extra trouble?

They said "lie in wait," but in reality, they’d still have to search for it.

"Didn’t I just say the invitations are hard to get?" Tony said, annoyed. He felt like Sean hadn’t been listening. "Besides, the crowd at the ball will be a motley crew. Who knows how many High-tier Wizards will be there? They’re all potential enemies. Making a move at the ball would be even more difficult than moving beforehand."

"I see..." Sean nodded, indicating he understood.

Then he said, "So let’s make our move at the ball."

Everyone: "?"

Sean looked eager. "Don’t you think that would be more challenging, more exciting?"

"I get a thrill just thinking about pulling something off right under all those people’s noses. It’s like committing a crime in public. What about you guys?"

Everyone: "..."

’Shit, we’ve got a deviant on our hands.’

...

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