Alucard walked ahead of Sunny, looking around carefully like a secret spy checking his surroundings for danger. Before Sunny could react, Alucard pulled him into an alleyway and covered his mouth with his hand—a move that immediately earned Alucard an elbow to the liver.
Alucard barely reacted, still keeping a watchful eye on their surroundings before letting Sunny go.
"Hey, what was that for, you maniac?" Sunny said, spitting on the floor in disgust.
Alucard chuckled, pulling Sunny deeper into the alleyway and basically dragging him along the outskirts. Finally, once they were far enough away from any nearby guards, he spoke.
"We have to quietly get inside the castle now," Alucard said, slowly grabbing Sunny's hand to pull him forward. However, Sunny suddenly yanked his hand back.
"What do you mean quietly? You weren't very quiet when you broke every window in my room."
Alucard tilted his head in confusion.
"...Yeah, obviously it was a distraction. I was trying to gather attention—wait, you don't actually think I was dumb enough to yell about mistaking Nephis's shadow for yours and break through three windows for no reason, did you?"
Sunny suddenly felt a little embarrassed that he had thought exactly that, before instantly feeling a surge of anger toward Alucard.
"Wait, okay, I don't really believe that. But let's say it's true—what's your actual plan then? I'm not coming with you without knowing the plan."
Alucard sighed dramatically, grabbing his head in annoyance before leaning against a nearby wall.
"Gods, I wish I had some alcohol right now." Alucard mimicked the motion of chugging from a bottle before sighing again, this time without the dramatic flare. "But fine, I guess I'll explain the plan to you. Basically, I'm going to copy a piece of sorcery that was written down in the center of the castle."
Sunny nodded reluctantly, then decided to voice a question left unanswered by Alucard's explanation.
"Okay, but why me? Why not bring Caster, or Effie, or maybe even Kai?"
Alucard shrugged.
"Well, I actually did think your shadow was there at the meeting for a few seconds before I realized I was wrong. But that mistake put a few ideas into my head, and with those ideas, you ended up being the best option out of everyone."
Sunny squeezed the bridge of his nose in annoyance, frustrated at not getting a clear answer, or at least the specific one he was looking for.
"Okay, cool, I get that. But *why* did you think I was the best option?"
Alucard began listing the reasons on his fingers, giving a slow, obnoxious nod with each point.
"Well, for starters, we can eliminate Effie completely, since this is a stealth mission, not an eating competition. As for Caster... yeah, I think I'd rather leave him right where he is, since he seems very happy there."
Somewhere else, Caster was sleeping soundly, lulled to sleep by the gentle heartbeat of the woman he was hugging.
"So now it's down to either Kai or you. Honestly, I wanted you both for the exact same reason: I need someone to scout for me and warn me when someone is coming. And well, you are the absolute best when it comes to that specific scenario, bar none."
Sunny felt a brief flash of satisfaction at having his ego stroked for once, right before the annoyance of being played rushed back in.
"Why do you need a damn scout anyway?"
Alucard answered as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.
"Well, I can't let people know what I'm doing. Otherwise, they might investigate the sorcery, and well... you know what could happen if you mess it up even slightly."
Alucard gestured toward his crotch while making a snipping motion with his fingers.
Sunny knew he probably didn't have a choice now, especially since his own curiosity would kill him if he let this opportunity go.
"Damnation."
Alucard straightened up, patted Sunny on the back with his left hand, and walked forward.
A few moments later, Sunny realized what had just happened.
"Wait, what did you pat my back with? Hey, wait! I'm talking to you, damn it!"
Meanwhile, just to annoy Sunny, Alucard refused to elaborate. Doing this brought Alucard immense joy; he had always dreamed of having a younger brother old enough to bully, since the twins were always too young for teasing. Sunny, on the other hand... he was the perfect sacrificial lamb.
They kept walking and sneaking until Alucard and Sunny finally reached the castle, where they prepared to scale the walls.
Well, Alucard did.
Sunny decided to get his revenge by using Alucard as a living elevator.
"I hate you, Sunny," Alucard said in annoyance. It was already hard enough climbing with one real hand and one blood hand, but now he had to worry about making sure Sunny wouldn't fall and get hurt. Not that Alucard actually cared about Sunny getting hurt—it was just that if he did, he would probably piss and moan about it, giving their location away to everyone.
Meanwhile, Sunny was smiling from ear to ear as he told Al, "If you would stop talking and just keep climbing, we would be at the top already."
In case anyone wondered why these two idiots hadn't been spotted yet, the answer was simple: the Starlight Cloak, AKA Alucard's most useful Memory—besides Gluttony, of course.
"Now you're calling me a memory, you bastard?"
Alucard ignored Gluttony's arguing. Instead, he kept climbing until he finally reached the top of the castle walls, where he promptly dropped Sunny on his ass.
"Hey, you are the worst taxi I have ever seen. I am giving you a one-star review."
Alucard rolled his eyes as he dropped down from the wall. Sunny hesitated for a second but hopped down right after him.
Immediately after landing, Alucard stuck his arms out and caught Sunny like a baby.
"Aww, you fell right into my arms."
Before promptly dropping Sunny on his ass again.
After that, they managed to get past a few guards out front using less-than-secretive methods.
Alucard shot a guard who was patrolling in front of the others straight in the leg. Once the rest of the guards rushed over to check on their friend, it was incredibly easy to slip inside and head toward the sigil in the middle of the castle.
Pulling a piece of leather from his coat pocket, Al gestured for Sunny to start scouting for danger. Then, Al sat down and began copying down everything he saw.