The Insider System

Chapter 68: Guild Secrets

With Nia gone, Lake sat down again and thought about the odds Millie would end up with Nia instead of Solomon. He also had to factor in that neither could happen, and Millie would never get up the courage to ask Solomon out, and would just act like Nia just meant they were good friends.

Lake stopped thinking about this, it was only interesting if he got to see it happen. Millie didn't know how to hide her emotions, so he would know exactly what she was thinking. "I'm surprised you actually waited." Lake looked up to see Lucas was back from his business and said. "I'm a man of my word."

"No you're not." Lake laughed because both might be true, he really didn't know. It didn't really matter because Lucas was clearly joking. You didn't say things like this to someone you planned to spend a few hours with unless it was a joke. "Did they say how long it would take?" Lake wasn't too specific but Lucas got what he was talking about.

"They said no, so I wouldn't be expecting it any time soon." Lake didn't think they would ever say no, just ask for money. Lake wondered if the person who said no was actually Lucas, maybe he thought they were asking for too much. It was possible the thieves guild was more careful than Lake thought and this had been unlikely to work in the first place.

"Is there another way to get it? Are we going to be forced to just ask for it?" Lucas got back to pulling books out and said. "Just because some of them said no doesn't mean there isn't someone willing to do it. Just have to wait till someone takes the job." This made it sound like the thieves guild didn't have higher ups, but instead was just a collection of free agents.

It was why they had to wait because the people Lucas had just gone to speak to had most likely been on the upper end of people you could hire and with them saying no that meant Lucas had to wait for some less skilled thief to take the job. It wasn't worth Lucas's time to talk to every person in town that might be willing, not when they had so many books to look through.

"The next closest is probably a few hours away. Would you like to go for a ride later?" The next closest journal was just out of town as far as Lake could tell. "It depends on what this book we're looking for has in it, most likely it will be nothing, but if it's something that needs my attention we'll have to hold off on leaving."

This was fine with Lake because he wasn't ready to run away yet anyway, so really he was just trying to get Lucas in the habit of going out to get journals with him, because eventually they will have to go on a multiple day trip, and that would be when Lake would try his luck.

...

They only had two bags left and with nothing really worth mentioning Lake was starting to wonder if they had missed the thing the thief had been hinting at or maybe it was less of a big deal than the thief thought it was. Maybe when Lucas had seen it he hadn't actually cared about it.

Lake really doubted the thief had the nerve to lie to Lucas, especially when the thieves guild didn't guarantee their members safety the way the Assassins guild did. "Here it is." Lake looked up to see a tan leather book in Lucas's hand. The fact he didn't instantly try and hide it made Lake guess it wouldn't be bringing about the destruction of the guild.

"So, what is it?" This had been built up in his mind over the last hour and a half they had been looking though one uninteresting book after another. "It belongs to one of the guild members, it has the location of a few of the people outside the guild written in it. Overall its a mild breach of security not that big of a deal unless it fell into a very specific group of peoples hands. If I had said no to buying all these books the same deal would have been made to them and we would have been dealing with a few of our members going missing in the next few days."

It seemed like Lucas was thinking this had been worth it in the end but Lake had found this to be a huge waste of time. At least this meant they would be going on another cart ride. Lake was hoping the journal was somewhere they didn't need to send a thief and they would just get it themselves.

Lake had become mildly interested in what would happen after they had all the journals. The fact that one was down in the dungeon obviously hidden by someone who became a god meant they were definitely important and something interesting would happen when they finished with this process.

Lake would continue to gather them after he escaped and in the future he would come and help finish the set. For himself that was Lake bet he wasn't the only one who thought this was the road to an artifact. It might also be why Lucas cared so much, Lake didn't think Lucas wanted to use the artifact to become a demigod.

He was pretty sure Lucas just wanted to know what it was, and make sure it hadn't gotten destroyed or stolen by the Demon Lord like the rest of Amanda had been. Lake wondered what Lucas's relationship with Amanda had been. He was clearly obsessed with her, and Lake wanted to know if they had actually been close, or Lucas was just a fan.

"Let's go in the morning. I really need to actually get some guild work done, so just come down in the morning and we'll leave." Lake wanted to know if Lucas would be fine if he brought Joy with them. She would keep Lake from getting on Lucas's nerves as much, since he would have someone else to talk to.

"Would you be fine with Joy coming? She actually likes to talk to me unlike you." Lake knew putting it this way would most likely result in an instant yes, and he was right. Lucas nodded his head as he finished pulling the last of the books out. "Yeah that's fine we need guards anyway." With Joy joining them this time Lake hoped he could make it a guaranteed thing in the future.

Lake was planning on having Joy help in some way if he thought it was necessary, and for that she needed to be around. "Alright I'll see you when I walk back through." Lake had to go downstairs to tell Joy she would be coming with them, and that would mean he would walk though Lucas's office on the way to his room after he was done.

"I probably won't be here, I have a meeting with the author of this journal." Lake wondered if someone was about to get into trouble, or if Lucas just wanted to know how the journal had gotten out of the guild. Lake was sure it was the second Lucas wasn't really the hard ass type of boss he would need to be to yell at one of the masters.

Either way Lake was going to kill some time in the dungeon. There was no reason not to with him heading all the way down there. He could probably get Rogue to level 8 by the time it was time for bed. "Ok." Lake stepped onto the elevator and rode it all the way down to the dungeon.

Lake used the Mark he had placed on Joy to see which guard she was, he was still unable to tell because they all looked the same. "Hey Joy, I'm here to hunt some more." Lake looked directly at her to mess with her, he knew she would be thinking how was he able to tell. "Ok lets go." As they stepped into the dungeon Lake felt his stomach start to ache and realized he had yet to eat today.

It wasn't a big deal, just mildly annoying. "Joy, you got any food?" Lake knew Joy usually had food in her bag because he had eaten it before. "Yeah I have a piece of fruit. I'll give you it once we reach the first lit room." This would give Lake a chance to tell Joy she would be coming with them in the morning.

Getting into the first chamber Lake leaned against a wall and received the fruit. Before he bit into it he said. "Joy, me and Lucas are going out tomorrow, and I asked if you could come." Seeing she didn't say she didn't want to, Lake said. "I order you to come with us out of the guild tomorrow." And with that the preparations were done.