The Insider System

Chapter 63: The Palace

Lake had just decapitated an undead but was still short of leveling Rogue, the first job he had gotten to increase his agility to 101. It was a Good job that gave three agility per level so once he maxed it he would have 30 more agility. "Hey, Joy I need to be done for the day I'm going with Lucas to the palace."

Rogue was taking forever because it only had Exp bonuses for knife kills and it was only X2. He was on his way to level 8 but Lake was thinking maybe the last two levels weren't worth it. He should probably just move on to another job. He had only started with Rogue because he thought it sounded like something that one of the past insiders might have tampered with, but he was wrong.

Race: Human Lv.6 ( 9/10 )

Job: Rogue Lv.7 ( 356/640 )

Special: The Insider Lv.0 ( 3/5 )

Stats

Health 60

Stamina 60

Mana 60

Strength 15

Endurance 15

Agility 45

Dexterity 47

Perception 83

Intelligence 114

Charisma 11

Free stat points: 17

Rouge (G) Lv.7 ( 356/640 )

On level up:

Agility 3

Exp conditions:

Kills

Bonus Exp conditions:

X2 Knife Kills

Skills from job:

Quick Knife (G) Lv.1

Increases speed by 7% while wielding a knife.

Knife Throw (G) Lv.1

Increases accuracy of thrown knives.

"I'll see you later, Joy. I'm not going to lunch today, so I would recommend you skip it as well." Lake was upset by the fact that he was going to miss Millie's food today but it wouldn't be the last time he got to eat it. He was no longer planning on using this trip to the palace to escape, because Lucas would catch him in a matter of seconds.

Lake had moved the escape back a few weeks to give himself time to level up some of the jobs on the list. Stepping into Lucas's office, Lake saw a new bookshelf had been placed next to his desk and Lake didn't even need to ask what it was for. "Hey Lucas, I'm ready to go now." The trip to the palace wasn't very long, so he wasn't sure why Lucas looked like he was moving house.

Lucas was filling multiple bags with various items. "Lake, the thieves guild brought the journal last night, which means your skill works the way you thought." Lake was surprised the guild moved so fast, it had only been three days since they had gone out into town in the cart. "Where's the journal?"

"I haven't paid them yet, so they still have it." Lucas didn't look up when he said this just continued to pack the bags. "Is that what the bags are for?" Lake could see this being the case with how fervently Lucas was putting things into the bags almost like he couldn't do it fast enough. "The thief found something while they were looking for the journal and asked if I wanted to buy it, and since I said yes the price for the job went up."

Lake wondered what they had found, and it made him wonder if he had been right about the journal being in a collection. Lucas had also very obviously not said what the item was and this made Lake think maybe it was something he wanted to keep secret. Lake was still going to ask though. "What's the item?"

Lake really wanted to know because it had to be really good. "It's not just one thing. You were right about it being a collection which the thief took all of, and if it wasn't for the fact they won't tell me everything they got I would probably just buy the bag with the journal in it." Lake could see why the thieves guild would use this strategy.

Lake knew how exciting it could be to open loot boxes, and Lake found it funny the thieves guild had found this way of selling more stuff than people originally wanted. The fact these were actually loot boxes made it slightly funnier. "How many bags worth of stuff did they get?" From the looks of it Lucas was getting ready to buy quite a bit of stuff.

"23 bags. The person handing the payment for the journal hinted there might be something I don't want being sold to someone else in one of them, but wouldn't tell me which." Lake could tell Lucas didn't really care how much he had to spend. He would probably only get angry if it turned out the thief was lying just to make more money.

"Are we still going to the palace today, or are you too busy?" Lake was more just asking this so Lucas would tell him the plan, he didn't actually think the trip was off. "We'll leave right after I get the journal. I'll look through the bags later. It isn't too important to know what's in them after we have them. I just want to make sure no one else gets them."

...

Lake had just seen Lucas hand off the bags to someone and a few seconds later the same person brought 23 bags filled with books in. "This is the one with the journal, the rest can be moved to storage. I'll handle it later. Lucas told one of the guards that were over seeing the transaction what he wanted done, and then waved to Lake to get on the elevator.

"Once we get inside the palace don't get too far from me. My warding spells will keep you safe from any prying eyes as long as you're close enough." Looked like Lake would have failed if he had tried to use this trip to escape anyway. If he wasn't able to take more than a couple of steps away from Lucas before he noticed, there was no way he would be able to escape.

Lake had already given up on this plan so it didn't really matter. It just made him wonder who Lucas was worried about him being exposed to. "Who are you guarding me from?" Lucas looked at Lake and said. "Who knows, the royal palace is infested with spies from every organization. The king doesn't really care because it keeps him relevant. The only thing he has that's worth anything is the information constantly circulated through his court."

Lake had kind of wondered why there was a king at all when the guilds clearly had more power. If the king was some sort of information broker it made more sense. Anytime one of the guilds needed to know something they probably went straight to him and in exchange for a few crumbs of power the king told them everything he knew.

Of course this was all hinged on the fact the king had the best information. If there ever came a day someone knew more the kingdom would crumble, or at least for the king it would. Whoever the new king that replaced him was would just pick up where he left off. Lake bet the king's children would be the best candidates if you wanted to know something the king didn't.

That's how power struggles usually went on tv at least. He would know if he was right if they ended up meeting any of the king's children. If they did, and Lake was right about the king's children fighting for power they would probably receive a secret offer from whichever child they met for more information that might interest them.

...

The cart had just stopped in the palace's courtyard. Lake had done his best not to harass Lucas on the way over, because he didn't want Lucas to make this the last trip they took together, and it seemed to work because Lucas seemed to be in a good mood. "You'll be introduced to like a thousand people as soon as we step out of the cart. They will think you being with me means you're a big shot in the guild and they will use this opportunity to try and get closer with you. The only ones you need to be worried about are the ones that aren't alone. The bigger the group with them the more powerful they are here."

This was the type of advice only someone who had been playing this game for a while could tell you. The fact Lucas had made a little rule to follow in these situations really showed how many times he had done this. "I'm bad with names. Will that be a problem?" If it was, it would be best for Lake to pretend to be a servant or something.

Lucas didn't seem to think that was the case at all though because he said. "You're more important than anyone you're about to meet. Even the king himself has no real power over you, so them telling you their names is rude to begin with, so feel free to forget it." Lake liked this way of thinking about the people he was about to meet, because it really took the pressure off him.