Fear Tactics | Job | Yseult Gans

n a lonely hill on the edge of Peace Village, there stood a single modestly-sized house which the locals knew well to be the home of a great Rune Knight. He fancied himself a crusader and sought to bring down Basilisk Fang; the greatest error in that move was perhaps his openness about that goal and the aggressiveness with which he pursued that goal. Having continuously been a hindrance in the operations of the dark guild, Basilisk Fang sent one of its own on a misty night to put some much-needed fear into the naive knight. There was no violence necessary nor straight intimidation, just a simple message to be made clear: the Basilisk can find and catch all its prey. With that in mind, the Basilisk agent of fear tonight would be a deadly cobra that had been defanged. Even without the means to kill, the cobra had a habit of instilling fear into everyone around it.

The cold snow that followed Yseult had reached the house far before she did. The moonlight shifted through the mist and culminated into a bright and beautiful light reflecting off the snow and illuminating the White Witch's path. As she slowly and carefully walked up the hill as to not draw suspicion, she looked up and saw the layers of snow peacefully slip from the angled rooftop. No smoke at all erupted from the chimney, suggesting all the house's inhabitants had gone off to bed. Her gaze then turned down when she felt the shifting of the neutered cobra in her white robe-like dress. The serpent was small enough that it fit snuggly into her pocket where she hoped to keep it warm and safe from the deadly coldness that must have felt like a living hell to cold-blooded creatures such as that one.

Yseult ignored the bodily complaints of the snake and crept up on one of the house's windows. She picked one and cautiously peeked through it despite the frost clinging to its surface. Beyond it, she found a bedroom occupied by two sleeping figures. They were obviously far too large to belong to tonight's target. She paused before moving on, however, as she thought how much simpler it would be to simply remove the Rune Knight himself from the equation. She thought against it, though, and assumed it would make for a better example against future self-proclaimed heroes like him. She then moved on to the next window she found on the side of the house and by good fortune, it appeared to be a small boy's room. It was decorated with the toys of a youngster after all and appeared to be home to a small body sleeping beneath the blue blanket on the little bed.

An outstretched, gloved hand grappled the window and tried to quietly yank it open, but it proved a futile effort when she found it to be locked. She scowled at the impediment and resolved to find another way inside. She moved on to a third window, where she noticed it led to a long hallway with various doors on the side. The White Witch tested her luck once more and reached out for the window which she inconsistently found to be unlocked. She carefully raised it up and entered the house one leg at a time. The cool air and thick mist followed her inside, but she felt confident she would be leaving before it shook the Rune Knight awake from his slumber. She stepped once before a loud creek arose from the wooden floorboards but followed it up with a much quieter step.

With a mental map in mind, Yseult navigated to the little boy's room and carefully pushed it ajar after fighting with the bronze doorknob for a few seconds. It creaked only slightly more than the floorboard from before but did not appear to rouse anyone from their sleep. She stepped into the darkened room, using only the moonlight as a guide, and walked silently up to the boy's bed. He appeared to sleep so peacefully but the White Witch was certain he would not be as peaceful when he awoke. She reached into her dress and produced the defanged cobra she was given. It looked eager to finally be set free and Yseult acknoledged that wish by place it on the boy's bed before it slithered under his blanket. She gave the sight one last glance to ensure the serpent would stay there before nodding to herself and approaching the boy's window. She unlocked it from the inside, opened it, and stepped out in the same fashion she had entered the house.