The Insider System

Chapter 67: Intermission

Lucas had just left the room to do what he called business. Lake was pretty sure he was going to contact the thieves guild again but Lake hadn't asked. Lake knew the job of breaking into the palace was on another level, so Lucas might be going to talk to someone more powerful than the little thief he had seen earlier.

They still had a few more bags to go through and Lake had said he was going to stay till Lucas returned so they could finish. Lake had nothing better to do because he had been holding off on leveling any jobs that didn't give Agility, because he was scared he would hit the max of 200 in a stat, and not be able to level an amazing job he had unlocked.

He had lifted the ban on Agility because he needed it to run away from Lucas who seemed to have hit the max already. This left him with practicing Alchemy and Lake had done this a few times in the last week but he found it really boring. He knew there was cool stuff he could do once he got better, but all the knowledge he needed to gain first was a real pain.

That just left looking at some of the books they had just unpacked Lake had put off getting better at magic after he learned how closely intertwined elements were with their god. You couldn't really avoid meeting the god if you wanted to master their element. It was how they found people to recruit.

Lake knew if he was to max one of his mage jobs he would probably end up catching the eye of the god in charge of that element, and he was scared they would be able to see the Insider, or at least some of the things it had done to him. Lake knew the reason he was so limited in the things he could do was he was technically a prisoner.

It was hard to tell because he spent so much time around the warden, and they seemed like friends, but him being here was keeping him from doing any crimes, or exploring what the Insider could do. If Lake had been out on the street he would have already been able to hit level one with the Insider which was probably when its real abilities would come out.

Lake had yet to get the next mission from the insider but he knew it was because he was in such a peaceful atmosphere. If he was doing all sorts of things it would have happened already. He was pretty sure he would get it as soon as he used the last skill he had gotten from a mission, Impersonate but he had been too scared to use something that would change his appearance, because he was pretty sure he was being monitored in some way at all times.

With his skill Trespasser he didn't need to worry as much, but he was pretty sure people were able to be invisible using magic, so someone could have eyes on him at all times. This thought almost made him sigh at some point he was just going to be forced to accept there was no way to make a perfect plan to escape.

There were just too many uncertainties for him to be able to account for everything. Him just relying on himself was one of his main problems. Maybe marrying the king's daughter was a good idea. It would force Lucas to let him out of the spire alone to see his wife. It would be extremely rude to the king if Lucas got in the way of Lake making the next king.

Lake would actually just run away using the time that excuse bought him but he bet it would work. "Lake, do you know where master Lucas is?" Lake looked up from the book he had yet to start reading to see Nia had just walked down the stairs into the office. Instead of answering that he could know where Lucas was, Lake said. "Nia, will you comfort my wife when I'm gone?"

This was targeted nonsense, and it showed on Nia's face. A mixture of confusion, and worry. "Why would I do that? You're not even married right?" The order those two questions were in said a lot about Nia. Lake hadn't had a good way to ask her if she liked Millie the way he thought she did, and even if he did there was a good chance she would deny it if it was her big secret.

Another reason was there was no reason to make her mad just because he was nosy. This wasn't going to be a part of his big plan or anything he just wanted to know before Millie and Solomon got together because Nia would probably react badly towards him if he had anything to do with it.

After a while of him just looking at her, Nia realized he was just messing around, and calmed down and reasked her original question. "Where's Lucas?" Lake used the mark he had placed on Lucas's amulet to see where he was. The dot was just somewhere in town so Lake pointed and said. "He's that way."

Nia looked at him like he was an idiot and said. "Are you saying he's in town?" Lake nodded. "Then why not just say that?" Lake shrugged. "Alright, I'll come back later." Lake started laughing, and said. "Man that Solomon has it too easy." Lake wanted to use Nia to waste as much time as possible, and he knew this would get her going.

Lake had also chosen what he said carefully because it could mean multiple things and still allow them to have a conversation. Nia would be thinking how Millie liked Solomon for no apparent reason and Lake could mean anything else and they would still be able to meet in the middle. "Yeah, I can't believe how easily he was able to get Millie to forgive him."

This was a classic way to see the actions of the person you liked. You would make up anything to make it not their fault. The reality was Solomon did nothing, and Millie had asked him to come back all on her own, but since Nia had made Solomon the villain she would blame everything on him. "I got him good with that cheese though."

Nia smiled as she recalled Solomon barfing out the food the other night. Lake bet she had missed what had made him think it was so funny so he said. "The manner in which he barfed was akin to a baby in both amount and substance." He also used a fancy voice because it made what he said more elegant, and barf talk needed that.

Nia didn't really react to what he had said which made it a little awkward. It was always rough when a joke fell flat but then he realized what had happened Nia was about to cry and him being a clown wasn't going to stop that. Lake realized this was about to get ugly, and it might result in her pouring her heart out to him, and he didn't think he was going to be as comforting as she thought.

Lake knew he was a cold calculating bastard, but tears actually still got to him. He guessed the part of someone that reacted to others' misery was more ingrained than a conscience. He was pretty sure he didn't react like others though, people crying just made him super uncomfortable, and it was a super buzz kill, no more jokes until they were done.

"Nia, are you sure you want to do this in such an open place? Lucas could be back at any moment." Lake was pretty sure he could still stop it if he said the right thing. He decided to try and use the fact Nia would probably not want to look weak in front of Lucas to get her to control herself.

Seeing the first tear well up Lake knew he had failed. It was going to happen, but after watching her cry in silence for a while, Lake realized as far as someone crying went he had hit the jackpot. She wasn't the type that tried to talk while crying so this experience would be less gross. People got spit everywhere when they said something particularly upsetting to them.

It was like pressure had built up all of a sudden and it caused them to gush every now and then. Lake knew how to make Nia feel better, just say something she was too stubborn to accept and then she would get angry and stop crying. "Nia, Millie doesn't know you like her, and you can never tell her because she will stop talking to you."

Lake didn't think this was actually true. Millie was nice and also pretty easy to control so Nia actually had a good shot even if Millie didn't swing that way, of course Nia wouldn't force Millie into a relationship but she could. He had just said this to make her get mad, he had chosen this line because it would be what Nia was afraid of.

Her anger towards him might lead to her dealing with her problems out of spite. Just to prove him wrong would be a good enough reason for her to say anything to Millie she felt she needed to. Seeing her face get slightly more red, Lake knew it had worked. He had forgotten she might be able to just beat him up depending on her stats so he got ready to block.

If she decided to kick his ass his plan would still work though, so either way was fine, but she just gave him a look he couldn't really read and walked up the stairs. With the number he had done to both her and Solomon, he bet one of them was bound to affect Millie in some way, so he bet lunch was going to be interesting tomorrow.