Restarting From Genesis

Merlin saw the group return several minutes later, followed closely by a much larger horde of civilians.

The large group all gathered around the temple, and from the fragments of mumbling he had heard, it seemed like a large majority of the group weren't entirely sure why they were there.

It seemed that most of them had just followed along due to curiosity, but eventually a rumour was spread around that Madame Hartlace was going to be speaking at the temple soon in regards to the terrible rumours regarding her and the illegal dealings of the orphanage.

Those who were curious stuck around while a small group who didn't seem that interested left. The crowd became rowdier as they waited, but eventually the star of the show had arrived, escorted by several city guards who appeared to be acting as body guards.

Madame Hartlace took to the stage, making sure she walked up a couple the temple steps so that she was physically above everyone else before she began speaking.

As she stared down on the crowd, she began explaining the rumours that were being spread around about her to the crowd. The rumours were fabricated and twisted just enough to paint her in a positive light. It seemed she had put a lot of effort into shutting down the rumours for good, labelling it as nothing more than a slanderous campaign to ruin her.

Surprisingly, the name of the thieves guild was dropped as a potential culprit. She didn't seem to have much evidence to support her claims, but half of the crowd seemed to be eating it up regardless.

'So this is the game she wants to play.' Merlin thought to himself while he continued listening to the woman ramble.

The crowd seemed to have shrunk after a few minutes, those who were still suspicious of her had left, while those who believed her stuck around until it finished.

Eventually the public speech came to an end, and Madame Hartlace started making her way towards her residence. Merlin followed them from a distance, making sure to blend in with the rest of traffic.

The crowd filling the streets started to thin out as Merlin followed them into the more expensive area of the city, and Merlin started getting strange looks from people once more.

'I should probably splurge on a fancier outfit eventually.' He thought to himself as he continued walking.

Eventually Madame Hartlace made her way inside a large building, while the city guard who were acting as her bodyguards left as soon as she entered.

Merlin slipped into an empty side street as the city guards walked past, he continued down the side street until he found an area that broke line of sight with the main street.

After double checking that nobody was around, he quickly changed into Ghostsaw's outfit. It consisted of tough black pants that were easy to move in but had way too many belts for no apparent reason, and a black hooded shirt.

Merlin tied his white hair back with a piece of twine from the ball of it that he had laying around in his inventory. He then put the replica mask on and threw the hood over his head, hiding the rest of his hair.

"Kind of wish this world had hair ties." He groaned under the mask while throwing both of his daggers into his inventory.

He grabbed Ghostsaw's blade out of his inventory, a slightly cold sensation ran up his arm briefly, causing his hairs to stand on end. He shook off the strange feeling he felt from the blade and sheathed it by his side.

Now that he was dressed for the part, Merlin stepped back out onto the main street, he seemed to be getting even more looks now, but he ignored them all and quickly made his way into the building that he saw Madame Hartlace enter moments prior.

As Merlin walked into the building, he was introduced to the sight of a well-furnished house that was clearly owned by a wealthy individual. He saw a few maids walking around who all collectively stopped what they were doing and stared at Merlin with a sense of horror as he walked further into the house.

One of the maids, an old woman, approached Merlin, With a fearful voice, she asked Merlin to follow her into the Madame's office. Merlin simply nodded his head, he didn't want to have his disguise ruined by someone realising his voice wasn't right, at least not until he finished his task.

The maid lead Merlin up a flight of stairs and towards a room with a large decorative door. Merlin could hear speaking on the other end of the door, but the voices immediately silenced when the maid knocked on the door.

"What is the reason for this disturbance." A familiar feminine voice rung out from the other side of the door, albeit somewhat muffled. "This better be important, I'm in the middle of a meeting."

"Madame, your special guest is here to see you." The maid nervously answered before staring at Merlin.

"Is he now..." The woman's voice replied. "Gentlemen, although we've just started I'm afraid we'll have to take a small break for now. Please make your way towards the entertainment room while I tend to this time sensitive matter."

Merlin watched as the door to the office opened, and several rich-looking individuals who didn't seem too pleased getting kicked out had appeared on the other end, a few of them gave dirty looks at Merlin, while others had a fearful gaze similar to the maids.

It seemed a few were in the know, while others were oblivious to the identity of the man Merlin was pretending to be.

'I guess you're not that famous after all.' Merlin thought to himself. 'Then again, I suppose not being recognised is kind of the point of being an assassin...'

The maid joined the group of men, leading them away while leaving Merlin at the open door.