>>162918 Approaching during the afternoon would require waiting another day. The soonest you can get there today is dusk.
[x] Approach from the lake.
[x] 4-round railgun with targeting glasses, (+1), M24A3 with remote trigger (+7)
[x] C-4 (+4)
[x] Shock gloves
[x] M1911, with “silencer” (+5)
[x] Eirin's shady drugs (+2)
It's hard to swim with all this gear. Thankfully, you got dropped into the pool and made to swim laps in full gear by your instructors multiple times. This is probably the first time you've ever wanted to thank them for that. Unfortunately, approaching from the lake at this time of the year means that the lake is pretty damned cold. You were, however, prepared for the eventuality of a really cold swim. You've got a nice, warm, black wetsuit. Unfortunately, it's tight enough that you couldn't fit camouflage under it. It's black, and it's a dark night, with a waning crescent casting its feeble light upon the lake that you're swimming across.
You'd have much rather waited for a completely dark night. In the new moon, she with night vision goggles is king. Hopefully vampires don't have an enhanced ability to see in the dark. That'd be some utter bullshit.
Man, if only I'd had an opportunity to scout out the place... It's a moot point. Besides, you're reasonably certain you did the right thing, patching things up with Sanae. You are significantly less certain that telling Sanae was the right thing to do.
But you can't let thoughts like this distract you. Back to the rhythm of swimming. Quiet and low, so that a chance look out the windows doesn't reveal you. The Scarlet Devil Mansion has a surprising abundance of windows for a vampire's mansion, but allegedly Remilia can walk out in full daylight. You're not sure about Flandre. In any case, they do seem to make concessions to the hated daystar, and the eastern wing of the mansion has a paucity of windows.
Nothing seems to notice you as you roll up to the shore. You deliberately avoided the small harbor behind the mansion, as that's likely a place that's got eyes on it at most times. That, and it's well lit. Someone's diligent with the outdoor lanterns. As far as you remember, they're just regular stone lanterns. You'll be able to easily extinguish them.
As you climb out of the water slowly, staying behind the mansion wall, you lay out your equipment for a final check. You've got your railgun, loaded and charged, with a backup moon clip. The targeting glasses you slide out of its protective pocket on your wetsuit, and put on. They turn on with no problems, a testament to the quality of the hasty waterproofing you did to a couple of the pockets of the wetsuit. They link up to the railgun just fine. Secondly, you lay down the M24A3. The remote firing mechanism isn't really designed to work the bolt on the rifle, but you think you've got it working. You didn't have as much time to test your adjustments to the mechanism as you'd like.
Mental note: invest in a semiautomatic rifle next time. You've got one sure shot, the one in the chamber, and four less-certain shots. Wait, hold on.
You work the bolt on the rifle, and bring up a round from the magazine into the rifle's chamber.
Now you have one sure shot.
Next, you lay down your M1911. The 'silencer' on it adds to the bulk, and you're not entirely certain it was a good choice. You might be wrong. The upside to the silencer is that your muzzle flash will be almost unnoticeable. Unfortunately, it doesn't do too much for the sound. It still sounds like a gun. Just slightly quieter. Hopefully the residents don't have much experience with guns, and they'll not know what the sound is.
You think for a moment. None of the residents probably know what a gun sounds like. Probably. You hope. That might give you an edge. You tap the side of your glasses, and your M1911 interfaces with the glasses as well. The displays for the railgun and the 1911 check out good. You rack the slide back and chamber a round.
You flex your gloves. You feel the wires running down the insulated channel you made for it in the wetsuit, to the small flat-pack battery. It's guaranteed for at least one incapacitating shock. Two, if you're lucky. Three, if you sold your soul to the devil.
Well. Now that I think about it, that might be better than the fairies. You let out a small, quiet, bitter laugh.
You pat the pocket on your non-dominant side. Eirin's pills are in here. You're reasonably certain you could do one without too many problems. Mixing them, however... Well. It's not something you want to do, that's for certain.
Finally, your insurance policy. There's a brick of C4 with a remote radio trigger detonator attached. You finish the wiring up quickly, and then strap it to your thigh, just below your pills. You pick up the 1911, and slide it into your holster. Before you reach down for the rifles, you arch your back and stretch a bit. You feel the tautness of the wetsuit straining against your figure, and take a deep breath as you relax your muscles to try and ease the jitters.
You take a look behind you. There is a small light on the mountain, by where the Moriya shrine is. You raise your M24 to the light, so you can see it with your scope.
There's a green-haired figure watching the mansion.
Sanae. I hope she's... Well. Now's not the time to be distracted. You sling the railgun over your shoulder, and with your M24 in one hand, you deftly vault over the fifteen-foot wall.
You land silently in a shadow, near the corner of the estate. The grounds are empty, and wide open. There's a lit stone pathway from the central courtyard and atrium of the mansion. The atrium is three stories tall, but most of that is empty space, with balconies on the second and third floor. The windows in there are designed for stargazing- that is, there is almost no solid wall in the atrium, just glass. Even the roof is glass. Crossing the atrium would be difficult. You should probably select a wing if you want to go in at this point. The east wing is lacking the number of windows that the western wing has, but there's still enough to be able to hop in on the second story. Unfortunately, none of them are open. The west wing has a couple of open windows, and in a few minutes of quiet observation, you see a couple of figures moving past the windows every so often. Fairy maids most of the time, and what you think was Patchouli once, on the third floor. Idly, you wonder where in the mansion the library is. The lights tend to turn on just before someone walks by, and off when they leave. When did they get electric lighting? Or is it something Patchouli came up with?
The survey of the rest of the grounds shows that on your side of the lit path (the eastern side), there's not much except shrubs, a couple trees, and a rock garden, in a surprisingly Eastern concession in this mostly Western mansion. On the west side of the path, there is a shed, the roof of which you could easily hop onto and ready the rifle for remote firing on. Of course, you could brace the rifle on the outer walls, they're pretty tall, though they do slope down to nothingness a couple of yards short of the small harbor. There are a couple of shrubs closer to the mansion, but they're something you'd really have to lie down behind to legitimately hide behind. No convenient hedge maze here. You could also, if you place the M24 on the wall, not brace it very well at all, so that the recoil carries it off the wall, and hopefully into the lake. This would have the added advantage of keeping the brass with it, due to it being bolt-action.
Anyway. Decision time. You've lurked in the shadows long enough, you don't want to be here all night. Shame you didn't think to bring your balaclava.
M24:
[ ] Brace on the wall.
[ ] Put on the wall, but don't brace it.
[ ] Put on the shed. (Requires crossing the lit path.)
[ ] Hold onto it for now.
[ ] Place elsewhere. (Write-in.)
Facing:
[ ] Atrium.
[ ] West wing, 1st/2nd/3rd floor. (Select one.)
[ ] East wing, 1st/2nd/3rd floor. (Select one.)
[ ] Elsewhere. (Write-in.)
Then, go to:
[ ] West wing, ground floor. It's closed, but you can likely open it silently.
[ ] West wing, 2nd floor window. It's closed, so you may not be able to open it silently. You're a rabbit, not Spider-man.
[ ] East wing, ground floor. (Requires crossing lit path.)
[ ] East wing, 2nd floor window. (Requires crossing lit path.)
[ ] Atrium.
[ ] Harbor.
[ ] Go around, to the front of the mansion.
– [ ] East side. (Requires crossing lit path.)
– [ ] West side.
[ ] Write-in.
And, just in case you think of something else to do initially that I didn't list,
[ ] Write-in.
Don't be afraid to ask questions. I know I didn't write to cover every possibility you can think of, and I will do my best to answer promptly.
