Edolas: Thieves Guild Sabertooth

12

The entrance to the underground vaults was quiet as Yukino stood guard. It was the first time in the one-and-a-half months since she'd been hired that she'd been allowed so close to them. Of course, she wasn't alone. One of the younger (though still roughly twice Yukino's age) guards was on duty with her, a jovial man named Jura with a large, bushy moustache. He'd made several jokes at the beginning of their shift, though she hadn't been able to understand most of them because he was already chuckling halfway through. Those he had managed to finish had been pretty funny though, she'd give him that.

Six hours into the shift, however, neither felt like making jokes. The only thing keeping Yukino sane was the fact that Rogue, or Mr Solace, would arrive in about half an hour.

"Hey, Jura? How long have you been working here?" She decided to ask. He turned to her.

"Twenty years this winter. Man, to think it's been that long! I'll be going bald soon, I tell you." He answered cheerfully.

"Don't worry about it, I'm sure it will look good on you. But I think it's a bit strange how everyone here is so old. No offense." She tacked on the last bit at the end once she realized her inquiry could be taken the wrong way.

"None taken. They're just worried that people will try to infiltrate the Bank now the magic's gone." Jura told her.

"Yes, I understand that, but is it really so much easier to break into now? Any thieves that want to try their luck would have to do it without magic."

"Well, I guess the higher-ups are worried because we don't have our tasers or scrying glasses anymore, so they have to trust us instead. They're scared we'll make mistakes and they don't want to trust new hires too much." Jura explained.

"That makes sense. I guess that means I'm a pretty big deal, huh?" Yukino joked.

"That or they were desperate."

-

Rogue walked into the Bank of Edolas with confidence. It was several times larger than the bank in Calla and built mostly of marble. This was the place they were going to rob. Looking at it, he was certain this would sate even Sting's ambition.

He focused on keeping the spring out of his step as he approached a bank teller.

"Good afternoon." Rogue pulled his license out of his coat pocket. "Ebony Solace, safety inspector. I'm here to inspect the security of your establishment."

The teller froze for a moment before going off to get a supervisor. He returned with one, and after a careful look at Mr Solace's license, he bade Rogue to follow him. A boring tour of the records and a slightly more enjoyable tour of the standby room (they had coffee and donuts) later, Rogue was allowed to see the vaults. Rogue pretended to take notes on a clipboard the whole time.

They passed Yukino and another guard, who let them in after checking their identification. Inside the enormous cavern were several dozen passages that branched off in all directions. Candles lit up the cavern, their flickering lights reflecting off the crystals that jutted out of the walls, floor and ceiling. Four guards were inside, one of whom walked over to check their identification again. Rogue focused on looking stern but at ease, not an easy feat when he was terrified that someone would notice an imperfection in his forgery. He wished Sting had been the one to make it.

Thankfully, the guard finally handed Rogue his license back.

"Alright, sir, I'm going to need you tell me the state of each vault. I know which ones are beyond recovery, but I would like to see them nonetheless. As for the others, could you tell me which ones were magically defended, which ones are high security, and what exactly that entails." Rogue demanded calmly.

"With all due respect, Mr Solace, shouldn't you know most of this already?" The supervisor asked suspiciously. The question was expected, though no less inconvenient.

"Of course I do. The Bank of Edolas has been keeping the nation's riches safe for centuries. I have studied them extensively. I need you to tell me so that I can report to the higher-ups on whether or not the supervisors of the bank know how things function. So please do not leave out any details." Rogue answered coldly. The man before him began to sweat.

"Of course not. I know exactly how things are run here."

Rogue took basic notes on the regular vaults. They might need to break into them instead if there were too many complications with the lost vaults.

"The floor of this tunnel is rigged to collapse if someone sets foot on it. It used to be deactivated by pressing this button three times. It was also supposed to rebuild itself once it collapsed." His guide explained.

"How long is the fall?" Rogue asked. He knew from the blueprints that it was 200 meters into an underground lake.

"A couple hundred meters. No one could survive that. Even if they could, the sound of the collapse would alert the night watch." Alright. That one was probably off limits then. It was too bad, as the cavern below had a hidden access tunnel for the purpose of recovering bodies, which could have been useful were the collapse quieter.

"This pit used to be covered by an illusory floor. This lock created a bridge across if you used the right key. The pit leads to the same place as the last one." His guide continued at the next cave down. That looked promising.

"And there's no other way across?" Rogue pretended to do his job, lest the supervisor became suspicious.

"Nah. We've tried everything."

They moved on to the next tunnel.

"This one doesn't have any traps, but it could only be opened by someone of the right bloodline. The Vellin family was furious that they lost all their wealth overnight, let me tell you. Didn't think we'd ever hear the end of it." The supervisor grumbled. Rogue nodded sympathetically.

"This is the last one. It belongs to the royal family. Whole tunnel is reinforced with adamantine. Not sure where the door is. King Faust was the only one who knew. I think the new king has the key, but the magic's gone so it doesn't matter."

The inspection concluded, Rogue promising that the bank would get the results within two weeks.

-

Sting was busy drafting up new identities for his guild mates when someone knocked firmly on his door.

"Come in."

Orga walked in and sat down opposite Sting, who put aside his paperwork.

"Orga. To what do I owe the pleasure?" He asked flatly. The smuggler opposite him wasn't fazed.

"I need to lie low for a bit. Trouble with the crown, you see. Been getting too bold. So I thought I'd drop by." Orga explained smoothly.

"So you thought you'd bring the attention to us. How thoughtful." Sting commented.

"Like Rogue doesn't. Or does he get away with it because he's pretty?" Orga asked. The pencil Sting had been putting away snapped in half.

"Rogue gets away with it because he contributes to the guild instead of only dropping by when it's convenient." He retorted.

"Sure." Orga snorted. "So what is he doing?"

"He's on a job with Yukino." Sting hoped Orga would go away soon.

"Jealous?" No such luck.

"Why would I be?" Sting asked tiredly, hoping to get the message across.

"Well let's see; she has a nicer personality, she doesn't spend her days sitting around in some dingy basement and she has a sense of humor." Orga listed smugly. 

"Are you going to contribute while you're staying here or are you going to get out of my sight?" Sting asked, letting the chill he'd been holding back seep into his voice. Orga finally seemed to get the message, to Sting's relief.