The Insider System

This content is taken from 𝒇𝒓𝓮𝓮𝔀𝓮𝒃𝙣𝒐𝓿𝓮𝓵.𝒄𝒐𝙢

Less than an hour after Lake arrived, Lucas exited his bedroom. "We'll be leaving in a few hours. Was that the only thing you wanted to ask?" Lake wasn't surprised Lucas knew why he was here, but he did have another question, so he said. "How long will we be gone?"

"A few days at the most, but you'll be free to leave any time if you need to. You could give back to the guild in a few hours with your speed." Lake knew Lucas was correct, so he nodded and said. "I'll see you in a few hours then." He wanted to stock up on things like food just in case Lucas was right, and they did end up staying away from the guild for days, and he still hadn't tried on his armor yet to make sure it would fully fit without any adjustments.

The armor looked his size, but he wouldn't really know until he put it on for the first time. Thankfully, even if he was wrong, most armor came with straps that he could adjust himself, and it would only take a few minutes if that needed doing.

...

A little under 2 hours later, Lake returned to Lucas' office and took a seat to wait. He knew Lucas would tell him to leave if it wasn't close to the time for them to go to the Metal Domain yet. Three minutes later, Lucas looked up from his desk and said. "There are a few things I want to say before we leave. First, your money for the items the other day is ready, but it's enough that I wouldn't recommend you carry it on this trip with us."

Lake didn't need the gold right now, so he nodded and let Lucas continue. "Second, there are still Demon Worshipers in the Metal Domain, and I wanted to make sure you thought about returning after what you'd done while there."

"You're right; we should probably split up before we get into town. I was planning on getting my reward, and if the Demon Worshipers are still around, they might know who I am after I do." Lake didn't want to go into all the things he had done because he would have to explain killing thousands of undead and Demon Worshipers and ruining a large part of the Demon Worshipers' plan when he killed all the gargoyles that were underground with him.

"What kind of rewards? I doubt it would be worth it if it's just more gold." Lucas was probably right, but the thought of passing up what should be a large amount of money really bothered him when he didn't think he would be in danger by retrieving it.

Even if the Demon Worshipers did catch him, he could just run away again or change his identity if it was really bad. "I think it will be fine; I'm getting my reward from the Metal Temple directly."

"Even if that's the case, I would still like to split before we enter the city." Lake gave Lucas a nod and took out his map so they could plan the trip for a few minutes before they left. "I appreciate you sorting out the ones that belong to Demon Worshipers. I know you did it to make it easier on me."

Lake was happy Lucas noticed, but it hadn't really taken him that long, so he said. "It wasn't hard to do; I only spent around an hour sorting which groups own each item."

"Well, it will still save us a lot of time. Felg told me you gave almost everything you brought back to him last time. Will you be doing that again because we'll have to sell most of the things we bring back to outsiders to afford to pay you so much gold constantly?"

Lake had always assumed the guild had almost infinite money, so hearing Lucas say they couldn't afford to pay him unless he was all right with selling to outsiders made him a bit worried. Word would get around that the guild was selling such high-level items, and people would notice they were all recently stolen, and when that happened, they might come looking for who was making it possible in the first place.

He also didn't think the guild would want to have their name sullied by doing this, so he asked. "Would you like for me to give the guild the first pick and then bring the rest of the Thieves Guild from now on?" This would be the best method for them to get rid of the items if Lucas wanted to avoid getting called out for stealing.

"Don't worry, the Guild will handle all the dealings with the Thieves Guild for you. We would never sell these items ourselves."

"Then what are you asking me? I thought you were trying to get my permission before drawing attention to me."

"No, I was trying to see if I should go ahead and set up the deal with the Thieves Guild now before leaving the city. It will let us get paid quicker when we get back, as they'll be ready for us with the gold." If that was the case, then Lake had no problems with them handling a bit more business before leaving, so he nodded and said. "All right, I'd be fine with that."

"Okay, follow me to Feld's office. He should know who the person in charge of the Thieves Guild is in the city." Lake wasn't surprised that Lucas was making it sound like a new person had taken charge because all the thieves in the city had fled as soon as the war started.

"Is Felg a member of the Thieves Guild?" Lake knew this question had a high chance of not being answered Because it could be considered a secret, but Lucas didn't seem to mind telling him something like this because he nodded before saying. "Technically, yes, but he isn't active."

"By not active, you mean he used to be a thief, right?" Getting a nod, Lake followed his first question up with a second. "How did he become a member of The Guild? Did you recruit him on purpose?"

"No, I found him on a raid of Thieves who had stolen from the Guild. I was going to kill him, but he shouted something about having a legendary skill before I could and deciding it would be a waste if he was telling the truth, I made him take the loyalty curse then and there. He's been working for the guild ever since."

"Is he a fence? I know they're the criminal equivalent to shopkeepers, right."

"It's definitely one of his jobs." Lucas stopped speaking as they'd arrived at Felg's office already. Going in, Lake saw Felg dealing with what he assumed to be customers and was about to get in line to wait. Lucas seemed to think their business was too important to wait, though, because he waved Felg into the back room with them, completely disregarding the people who had already been in line.

"Felg, get in touch with the people you know in town and have them set up a deal for at least 20 items like the ones you received the other day. We might not bring that many back, but if we do, I want them bought within an hour." Felg started to nod almost as soon as Lucas started to speak and didn't stop even as he began to answer. "That's no problem. Everyone would be happy to have such things."

"Good, we'll be back in a few days. Come on, Lake, it's time for us to go." Giving Felg a small wave as they left the room, Lake saw another way he could make money in the future. There were loads of criminals around that needed to be dealt with, but instead of just killing them, he could probably ask Lucas about hunting them down for the guild to hire.

They would need to take the loyalty curse, but he had faith that he could force someone to drink it, or whatever. "Lucas, how does the loyalty curse work, is it a potion you make someone drink?"

"That's the most common way it's used, but the ones who know how to make that potion can just curse you like they're casting a spell."

"Would you pay me to gather people with legendary skills for the guild?" Lucas actually took a long time to answer this question, which made Lake think he'd say no, but this turned out to be incorrect. "I would, but now is not a great time for something like that. We would also need to find good targets for you in advance to avoid starting any wars." 𝘧𝑟𝑒𝑒𝓌𝑒𝒷𝘯𝑜𝘷𝑒𝓁.𝘤𝑜𝓂

Hearing his proposal get accepted, Lake had a new line of questions for them to talk about on the way to the Metal Domain. "Lucas, would you tell me about curses on the way there? I'm not at all familiar, and I feel like knowing even a bit would help me if I'm ever face-to-face with someone trying to curse me."