When the next day finally came, the members of Gellor's mercenary group found themselves enjoying what they presumed was going to be a peaceful morning.
"Mmmm… it's always nice to have a drink when you first wake up in the morning. It really gets my blood pumping." Ariana held a tankard in her hand and took a long sip of her alcohol.
"I suppose." Finch said, nursing a drink and a headache at the same time. "I'm surprised that you were able to sleep well after what happened. I could barely fall asleep while worried sick if we needed to leave in the middle of the night, but nothing happened. So I stayed up not getting a single wink."
"We were asked to stay in inns and be prepared to leave just in case. The wording was very clear that there was only a chance, and well, don't you have faith in Lord Asher?" Ariana whispered underneath her breath. "I've had my frets too, but worrying won't do you anything. You should know that. Frown too much and you're going to get wrinkles—Sir Cambrian's not going to like that."
"Then I'll make him pay for my beauty products." Finch rolled her eyes. "He knows how stressful this line of work is."
"Not as stressful when we saw Sir Cambrian's wife though. She was scarier than any Rune Beasts we've ever encountered. I reckon that Frenzy Apes are nothing but small pups compared to her." Ariana laughed and elbowed her friend.
"Hah." Finch shook her head. "Please spare me the opportunity of thinking about that old hag. I've already suffered enough."
"You say that, but I can't help but notice you eyeing Lord Asher." Ariana coughed quietly into her drink.
"What?" Finch turned to Ariana, red-faced. "Did I hear you correctly?"
"Huh. No denial." Ariana smirked. "Typical, Finch."
"Where's Gellor and the others? They went on another inn didn't they?" Finch said, changing the conversation and craning her neck to look at the window. "You told them where we were staying right?"
"I did, but…"
The door to the inn slammed open and a multitude of mercenaries stepped inside of the inn. They gazed around the vicinity and then eyed the two women at their table, alongside other folks that were dressed in mercenary-like attires.
"You two!" a man stepped forward and glowered at them. "Where were the two of you last night? What are your gifts?"
"Huh." Ariana blinked.
"That's…" Finch frowned.
"Under the Bergan's Band authority, you are required to comply and provide us answers or face serious consequences." The man barked then turned to the innkeeper serving his clients. "Give us the keys to their rooms."
"Woah, woah, that's not something you guys should do! You just can't barge into someone's room without any permission." Ariana protested and launched to her feet, eyes flashing with furiousness.
"Apologies for my friend here." Finch smiled placatingly and pushed Ariana back down to her chair. "We're a little surprised, but what seems to have happened? Our innkeeper can attest that we were here all night. We're more than willing to cooperate with you folks."
Finch's words calmed the angered man a little, and he looked around the entire inn before speaking loudly.
"The Bergan's Band has experienced some theft and we're looking for the culprits. It is in everyone's best interest to comply with our search."
This time the man no longer threatened them as much, but the message was still received.
Ariana and Finch shared discreet looks with one another.
'Did Lord Asher do this? Nobody else could have done something like that and pull it off successfully!' Ariana thought, feeling impressed.
'Is this why he asked us to stay put in inns? So we wouldn't get involved in the danger of the situation. We all have our alibis thanks to Lord Asher.' Finch thought, feeling relieved.
Elsewhere in the city, the rest of Bergan's Band marched through the streets and searched for the culprits of the theft.
"Somebody, no doubt has a gift that allowed them to sneak into the vaults." One of the members hissed to another. "We need to find the ones responsible for it, everyone is suspect otherwise."
Gellor, Albus and Barty who were on their way to Finch and Ariana's inn found themselves getting stopped by a familiar face.
"Hey!" Harold looked visibly stressed out and waved them over. "Where were the three of you last night? Where are the girls and those two new recruits too? You guys haven't been anywhere suspicious, have you?"
"What's the matter?" Gellor asked.
"We were just in our inns the whole night." Barty said.
"But the atmosphere seems really tense, doesn't it?" Albus noted as he glanced around the street. It was filled with a lot of Bergan's Band mercenaries investigating and interrogating everyone.
If it hadn't been obvious before, it was clear that Bergan's Band had a strong force in Cutlass City as everyone complied to their demands.
"I trust you guys to have not done anything crazy." Harold said, looking stressed and tired. "But either way, be careful. Someone stole from Bergan's Band and the whole city is being searched for the ones responsible."
Gellor, Barty and Albus all paused for a moment but then quickly talked.
"Is that so? That's terrible." Gellor said.
"How could someone have stolen from the Bergan's Band?" Barty asked. "Their storage buildings are incredibly secure."
"Yeah, that's the thing we'd like to know too." Harold said.
"That's something real bad isn't it? Was it stolen right from underneath their noses?" Albus asked before whistling slightly. "Incredibly talented, would have liked to seen it happen."
"Hey, speak a little more carefully." Harold narrowed his eyes on them. "Again, I trust you guys but the others don't. So be on your best behavior and keep your heads down."
"Will do. Thank you for informing us." Gellor clapped Harold's back. "We appreciate it a lot."
"Okay, carry on." Harold rubbed his face. "I'll see you guys next time, hopefully when things aren't as bad as today."
But that wasn't even the end of things.
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