End Online: Volume 5 by D. Wolfin

solvent that should lighten the stain.
    An alarm quietly goes off on the watch I have next to me on the
table. It’s time to leave to pick the girls up from school. Placing the dagger
down in front of me, I quickly make some adjustments to my appearance before
heading out.
    An hour later, I am out front of Jordan Grammar Academy. The
academy is in the middle district and is split into two sections. One for the
junior students, grade one to six, and one for the senior students, grade seven
through to twelve. The sons and daughters of many prestigious families from all
the way up in the Upper District attend here, which is precisely why I had my
nieces enrolled here. Connections formed now will be with them for life, and I
am sure they will one day thank me.
    Enrolling the girls in such a high class school would normally
be impossible for me as someone from the Lower District. Yet I managed to call
in a few favors, and the usually upturned noses accepted my girls with smiles
on their faces.
    Joelle and Shari walk out of the school gate with one of their
friends, stopping momentarily to look around for me. It takes them awhile since
I am parked amongst all the other parents and even a few butlers, but they
eventually spot me standing next to my car expectantly.
    Joelle says her goodbyes to her friend, who also heads off
toward his own parents. Seeing who his parents are, I immediately know his
identity.
    ‘So, he is a Lord,’  I
think to myself with a sigh.
    I don’t mean he is a lord as in royalty, but as that he is
someone from the Lord family. They run an investment business, managing the
purchases and sales of assets on others’ behalf. The family is quite successful
at what they do, but that industry is full of top class businessmen where the
ruthless dominate the weak. It is truly a dog eat dog world to be in.
    “Auntie, we’re here,” Shari says enthusiastically upon reaching
me, as if I did not know they had arrived.
    “Yes, I trust you enjoyed school today? Now, hop in the car and
we will head home.”
    “We always enjoy Friday,” Shari continues, speaking for both
herself and Joelle as they get in the car. “That’s because we get to speak to
Holly tomorrow!”
    “Oh, is that so?” I can’t help but frown as I get into the car.
    These girls are far too obsessed with their brother, but that
does have merit in itself. Their love for that failure of an older brother is
something I can use to make them obey me. I must teach them consider the
Sylvester family’s heritage and future as their responsibility, no matter the
actions necessary. They may blame me for it, but I know that one day they will
come to understand.
    ***************************************************
***************************************************
    -Mikhail-
    As soon as my spies spot Lost and his party leaving Swordbreak,
I immediately make my move to break out of the confines of the guild that was
created around me. No, created around my soul bound skill. The former guild
leaders, now elders of the new guild, are incredibly cunning. They constantly
set traps and post guards in inconvenient locations to prevent me from
escaping. My title of guild master is a prison.
    I only have one chance to escape. I have memorized the movement
of the guards. When they are posted, and where. After this attempt, the
deployment will inevitably change to prevent it from happening again.
    I have secretly been training a skill in crafting cloth items;
mostly clothing. I craft a makeshift rope with this skill, vaguely similar to
what the princesses use to escape their confinements in commonly known
children’s stories. The thought of escaping like this is degrading, but the
ploy will be all the more effective due to being unexpected.
    Waiting for nightfall and the midnight shift of the
guard, I silently bide my time. Once the hour approaches, I quickly extend
the cloth out the window and down five stories to the ground. I slide down the
rope at a speed